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Reccomend me a book to read :) - Page 6

post #76 of 93
5/15/08 at 6:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrBenway View Post
You could say that, but in my opinion, libertarians tend to have much more in common with convervatives than with progressives, despite being clearly distinct from either.

Be careful

Seriously though it is a very important distinction to make and isn't very fair to put in either classification.
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post #77 of 93
5/15/08 at 8:32pm
Thread Starter 
Hm.

Turns out we have a big unabridged George Orwell book which has 1984 and four of George's other books in it, sitting in a bookcase upstairs.

I might give that a read.

WE is nowhere to be found.. I checked the library catalog and its not there, so I'm not sure where I could get it.
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post #78 of 93
5/16/08 at 2:32am
Amazon.com: We (Modern Library Classics): Yevgeny Zamyatin, Natasha Randall: Books
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post #79 of 93
5/16/08 at 3:44am
I recently read Natsuo Kirino's book Out which was some good stuff. I love a good murder mystery!
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post #80 of 93
5/16/08 at 3:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by malldian View Post
Be careful

Seriously though it is a very important distinction to make and isn't very fair to put in either classification.
I'm not trying to brand libertarians as conservatives or liberals. I'm simply saying that the political spectrum from left to right is a continuum, and libertarians fall closer to the right than the left overall.
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post #81 of 93
5/16/08 at 4:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrBenway View Post
I'm not trying to brand libertarians as conservatives or liberals. I'm simply saying that the political spectrum from left to right is a continuum, and libertarians fall closer to the right than the left overall.
Well, it's at least 2-dimensional. Otherwise, we'll have silly fights over which side gets burdened with the nazis, jihadis, zionists, feudalists ... and also exactly where the different anarchists, deep greens and other luddites, pragmatists, Christian utopists etc should be placed on that single axis.

So if the conservatives get to claim the libertarians, who gets the unlikely honour of claiming the national socialists?

Methinks we might be straying here ... But since we're onto sci-fi, might I recommend Stanislaw Lem, in particular the Cyberiad? I can also recommend the Strugatski brothers (Picnic on the roadside) and of course Frank Herbert (Dune). If you want more modern thinking-man's sci-fi, I can warmly recommend Ken MacLeod, Greg Bear and Greg Egan.
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post #82 of 93
5/16/08 at 4:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solan View Post
Well, it's at least 2-dimensional. Otherwise, we'll have silly fights over which side gets burdened with the nazis, jihadis, zionists, feudalists ... and also exactly where the different anarchists, deep greens and other luddites, pragmatists, Christian utopists etc should be placed on that single axis.

So if the conservatives get to claim the libertarians, who gets the unlikely honour of claiming the national socialists?
You're right; this is off topic. But I'll make one final comment. In my opinion, the extreme right is functionally indistinguishable from the extreme left. I see no material difference between the evil represented by Hitler, an extreme rightist, and the evil represented by Stalin, an extreme leftist. Millions of dead bodies are millions of dead bodies. If you sail far enough south, you end up north.

Oh, and I second the Frank Herbert. After I read the Dune series, I read The God Makers, which cast an interesting light on some of the forces at work in the Dune saga.
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post #83 of 93
5/16/08 at 4:43am
One more Herbert. If you dislike fascism and are into dystopias, this book is absolutely spine chilling:

Amazon.com: Hellstrom's Hive: Frank Herbert: Books

I sold my copy in a sell-all-my-already-read-books spree, and it's one of the few regrets I have, among thousands of books sold.
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post #84 of 93
5/16/08 at 5:33am
Fraseyboy your finding is not uncommon, WE can be quite difficult to find,it realy is halfway into oblivion..

How is Frank Herberts style? Are there any less intimidating books than the Dune cycle to catch onto him? Is Hellstrom's Hive focussed on fascism? ATM i'd rather read on something else to get into some other themes..

And if anyone finds a book by Herbert Franke instead while looking for Frank Herbert have a look anyway! He's an interesting author aswell!


Quote:
You're right; this is off topic. But I'll make one final comment. In my opinion, the extreme right is functionally indistinguishable from the extreme left. I see no material difference between the evil represented by Hitler, an extreme rightist, and the evil represented by Stalin, an extreme leftist. Millions of dead bodies are millions of dead bodies. If you sail far enough south, you end up north.

Sorry to bring it up again, but i'd rather say these extreme "leftists" are no consistent and consequent leftists. Just like i'd say people militantly supporting Israel are certainly not anti-nationalists.(Please rethink it before you get it wrong)
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post #85 of 93
5/16/08 at 5:45am
Herbert's writing style is quote dense, and he portrays the inner world at least as much as the outer world. This is what I find most charming about him. Dune without the inner drama is a far less interesting book, though it by all means remain readable as an action novel. But some dislike this inner-focusedness with Herbert, and in some of his books the borderlines between the outer world and different people's inner lives become muddled. Destination: Void is such a book.

Hellstrom's Hive is one of Herberts rather easily accessible books. The antagonist in the novel is a human hive society. So it's really fascist collectivism on cocaine, crack, amphetamines and other hyperactivity-inducing drugs. It has taken fascism to its logical extreme conclusion, even to the extent of altering biology. It belongs on the shelf next to We, 1984 and Brave New World.

Quote:
Sorry to bring it up again, but i'd rather say these extreme "leftists" are no consistent and consequent leftists...
There's the trouble with the 1-dimensional view again. And anyway, none of us were present at the old French parliament to sit at the right, the left, or back on the hill.
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post #86 of 93
5/16/08 at 6:11am
This sounds like i'll be looking for Destination:Void and Hellstrom's Hive

Looking at those 100 must-read books i'd point at Camus again.
IMO Camus and Sartre are definite must reads
You cannot ignore the Absurd ..

I agree you can't treat it on such an one dimensional scale,
but as you have to cope with a one dimensional perception with many people- i think it's worth looking at what is the closest aproximation on this scale.
In my opinion most politicians aswell as most "extremists" end up in one big camp each both not being radical by their nature unless their goal is a selfish one/their own enrichment
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post #87 of 93
5/16/08 at 6:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by utilisateur View Post
This sounds like i'll be looking for Destination:Void and Hellstrom's Hive
Hellstrom's Hive. I don't recommend Destination:Void. I do recommend its follow-up, The Jesus Incident, though, after you have read Dune and Hellstrom's Hive. TJI can be read independently of DV.

PS: I don't have fonts small enough to continue the political debate ...
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post #88 of 93
5/16/08 at 8:59pm
Thread Starter 
Started reading 1984 yesterday. I quite like it. Reminds me of Half Life 2 somehow.
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post #89 of 93
5/16/08 at 9:42pm
I enjoyed the Bartimeaus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

Amazon.com: The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1): Jonathan Stroud: Books
Amazon.com: The Golem's Eye (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 2): Jonathan Stroud: Books
Amazon.com: Ptolemy's Gate (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 3): Jonathan Stroud: Books
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post #90 of 93
5/17/08 at 3:20am
Thread Starter 
Read the first book in that trilogy and found it kinda boring so I didn't bother with the next...

Guess they just aren't my thing.
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