EnMasse

Canadian Socialist · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:45 pm Post subject:

I am currently reading The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. It's a really good book dealing with the new shock and awe capitalism which has become predominant over the past 40 years.
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"It's the same each time with progress. First they ignore you, then they say you're mad, then dangerous, then there's a pause and then you can't find anyone who disagrees with you. "

Tony Benn

anne cameron · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 4:34 pm Post subject:

I've been reading a box of stuff sent me by the Druids...been wanting to know more-more-more for a long time, finally saved up enough $$ to send off for some material...pricey but might be interesting...so far it seems very new age-ish... A few years ago I did a similar thing with the Rosicrusians... my problem is I have real trouble taking seriously any kind of "ritual", it all seems so contrived and...well, I don't want to use the word "silly" but...yeah, silly.

Caissa · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 4:47 pm Post subject:

I'm reading the Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon. The premise is that Israel's UDI is unsuccessful in 1948 and they lose the subsequent war. The US provides in 1940 a territory in Alaska for 60 years as a Jewish homeland. The land is two months away from reverting to the State of Alaska. The main character is a homicide detective who is currently trying to solve the murder of a very good chessplayer turned drug addict who went by the nom de jeu of Emmanuel Lasker. Very much in the Noir tradition.

thwap · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:33 pm Post subject:

I've just finished

Victoria Glendinning's Swift bio

another Swift biography by the irascible A. L. Rowse

and

Diane Purkiss's The English Civil War

I'll talk about 'em when I feel like it. (Don't know why i feel tired allofasudden.)
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Man! I hate them fancy-lads!

thwap · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:35 pm Post subject:

Caissa · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:40 pm Post subject:

I'm reading The King's Gambit by Paul Hoffman. All about the wild and wooly world of chess.

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:36 pm Post subject:

thwap · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:57 pm Post subject:

You did indeed "gotcha" me. Smile

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Man! I hate them fancy-lads!

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:52 pm Post subject:

I feel a bit guilty about setting you up like that, buddy.

Anyway, I like George Grant's writing a lot. If you like Lament for a Nation, check out Technology and Empire, if you can find it. I found a copy in a used book store 15 or so years ago, but haven't seen one since.

Another reason I like Grant is the result I got when I wrote a senior-level paper about his ideas on Canadian nationalism when I did my PoliSci degree. We were supposed to write 20 pages. I wrote ten, and still got an "A." That's when I learned the value of an efficient writing style.
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"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi

"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl

thwap · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:31 pm Post subject:

S'all right. Isn't "Technology and Empire" by Innis? (I could google it, but I thought I'd discuss.)

((Now I'm going away.))
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Man! I hate them fancy-lads!

Hephaestion · Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:07 pm Post subject:

The Wheel of Time series, Book Six. Damn addictive... mutter, mutter, grump...
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin

TS. · Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:59 pm Post subject:

I have just finished rereading "Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America" by the late, great, Molly Ivins and by Lou Dubose. It was written in 2003, and already it was scary what Bush was trying to do. I hope somebody will write a book like that about the Harpokons, but I am not hopeful.
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson

Rufus Polson · Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:01 pm Post subject:

Hephaestion · Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:07 pm Post subject:

Meh... it's something to while away the time until George R. R. Martin's next book in "The Game of Thrones" series comes out -- now that is a awesome series! Very Happy

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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin

Raos · Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:08 am Post subject:

TS. · Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 4:25 am Post subject:

Has anyone else here read Guy Gavriel Kay's stuff? I love his books, but particularly his later ones.
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson

Tehanu · Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 4:31 am Post subject:

TS. · Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 3:35 pm Post subject:

thwap · Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 3:45 pm Post subject:

Bait and Switch by Barbara Erenreich.

Cartman · Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 3:51 pm Post subject:

Sounds like a good one thwap.

thwap · Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:17 am Post subject:

It's a pretty brisk read. So far, she's encountering these parasites in the form of humans called "employment coaches." You shell out hundreds (and then they hope thousands) of dollars to perfect your resume-ay, and then work on you presentability, self-confidence, and etc., ... and these "coaches" are all living in modest middle-class homes, showing that they're just one step above the entry-level corporate positions they claim they can get their clients into with ease.

But the sick thing is that some of them (almost all) foist bullshit new-age drivel to cover the banality of their advice, and have perfected ways to expose the weaknesses of a vulnerable, self-doubting, low self-eseteem down-sized middle-aged former corporate type and make them cry in front of a group and reduce them to a state of dependency on their "coaches."

All to string them along for more money.
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Man! I hate them fancy-lads!

lagatta · Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 12:33 pm Post subject:

Yes, it sounds rather vile. And they are teaching job-seekers to deny prejudices that really exist (ageism, women with "gaps" in cvs due to childbearing, laid-off workers as "losers" etc).

Tehanu · Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 4:54 am Post subject:

I love Barbara Ehrenreich. Hadn't picked up Bait and Switch yet, so thanks for the recommendation thwap!

TS, I'm not surprised you like the Sarantine Mosaic, being a classicist and all. It was good, but I liked the other two better. I think Kay is usually credited with inventing the subgenre of historical fantasy, isn't he? As someone who loves both, it's a grand combo.

TS. · Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 5:26 am Post subject:

Hephaestion · Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 10:28 am Post subject:

thwap · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:44 pm Post subject:

I'm about to tuck into Absurdistan.

Supposedly it's awesome ...

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 4:19 am Post subject:

I finished Amin Maalouf's The First Century After Beatrice, then started Audie Murphy's To Hell and Back, when the library called, saying my request for The Israel Lobby went through and that it was waiting for me. I have three weeks to read it because it's on a waiting list.

I can't believe anyone could have accused the authors of antisemitism or being anti-Israeli. I keep seeing an anti-Arab bias in the book.
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"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi

"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl

Raos · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:07 pm Post subject:

I'm very slowly making my way through The Key To Sustainable Cities by Gwendolyn Hallsmith. I must admit though, it has me thoroughly confused. She goes from upholding 'idyllic-small-town America as the paragon of healthy, sustainable virtue thanks to good old American freedom, small government, low taxes, and the best darned democracy imaginable' compared to (and I paraphrase) 'those post-communist rural shit-holes where they raise sheep for a living and don't have our access to consumer goods' to offhandedly mentioning that American capitalist consumer culture is the cause of unsustainable living, the rising prosperity gap and ever falling health and happiness in the face of rising affluence so fast it would make your head spin.

I mean, she actually says that government influence is to be avoided whenever possible because it undermines communities, especially when it provides social funding. And at another point says the whole capitalist system is to blame, and things won't get better until the whole system is restructured. I just don't know what to think about the book.

Rufus Polson · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:38 am Post subject:

Sounds ta me like you know exactly what to think about the book. Specifically, you think it's incoherent.

Diane Demorney · Bazinga! Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 4746 Location: Calgary

I'm just started reading "Sarah's Children" by our own lovely and talented Anne Cameron... I have it on good authority that it'll make me cry. I love a good cry.
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Scissors cuts paper. Paper covers rock. Rock crushes lizard. Lizard poisons Spock. Spock smashes scissors. Scissors decapitates lizard. Lizard eats paper. Paper disproves Spock. Spock vaporizes rock. And as it always has, rock crushes scissors.

TS. · Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 5:55 pm Post subject:

I have just started reading Lawyers Gone Bad: Money, Sex and Madness in the Legal Profession by Philip Slayton.
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 7:35 pm Post subject:

I just finished To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy. It is surprisingly well-written. He does a good job of showing how war dehumanizes soldiers, which leaves me wondering why he went on to do so many war movies in Hollywood.
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"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi

"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl

thwap · Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:17 pm Post subject:

Hephaestion · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:01 am Post subject:

The Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore (being the tale of Drizzt Do'Urden, and comprising the books Homeland, Exile and Sojourn). Excellent yarn, and a cut above a lot of fantasy tales.
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin

TS. · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:36 pm Post subject:

It has always amazed me the number of book series that were spun off of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (including Dark Elf). I wonder if anyone has done an academic study of the phenomenon.
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson

Raos · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:50 pm Post subject:

I loved the Dark Elf Trilogy! Have you read or are you planning on reading the Icewind Dale Trilogy, Heph?

Hephaestion · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:15 pm Post subject:

Not yet...
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin

radiorahim · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:25 am Post subject:

Hephaestion · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:45 am Post subject:

ShyViolet · Fulltime enMasse Member Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 675

In the Eye of the Sun by Ahdaf Soueif

Been working on it for a month now, and I'm not even halfway through Sad

I wish I had more time to read it, because it's been very good so far.

radiorahim · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:55 am Post subject:

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:41 am Post subject:

Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden, edited by Bruce Lawrence.

This is a collection of public statements, written, taped and telivised, that goes back to the mid-1990s, when Osama warned the USA to stop meddling in the Middle East, to get out of Arabia, and to stop supporting the Zionists in Palestine.

He justifies his violence by saying it is retaliation for decades of violence against the umma by the US, Britain and Israel. His arguments sound quite rational, and he cites sources (in spoken word and in writing) as well as any academic. He dismisses accusations that he is a terrorist by calling his accusers, who have for example killed a million Iraqi children (before Dubya was even elected), hypocrites.
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"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi

"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl

TS. · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:48 am Post subject:

They are certainly hypocrites, and terrorists in their own right, but it doesn't make bin Laden any less a terrorist himself.
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson

bshmr · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:22 pm Post subject:

TS. · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:02 pm Post subject:

Did you not see the part where I said that Bush, Harper, Blair and Co are also terrorists?
_________________
"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:11 pm Post subject:

Diane Demorney · Bazinga! Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 4746 Location: Calgary

re: The Shock Doctrine... Tehanu gave that to me for Christmas, and I haven't tackled it yet... maybe when it's not so dreary outside and I'm not feeling so down. However, I finished 2 of Anne Cameron's books recently and LOVED them. I'm going to go on a hunt for some more of her writing...
_________________
Scissors cuts paper. Paper covers rock. Rock crushes lizard. Lizard poisons Spock. Spock smashes scissors. Scissors decapitates lizard. Lizard eats paper. Paper disproves Spock. Spock vaporizes rock. And as it always has, rock crushes scissors.

Cartman · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:40 pm Post subject:

I am reading yet another book on research methods! Yay for me (not).

Diane Demorney · Bazinga! Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 4746 Location: Calgary

@ Cartman...
_________________
Scissors cuts paper. Paper covers rock. Rock crushes lizard. Lizard poisons Spock. Spock smashes scissors. Scissors decapitates lizard. Lizard eats paper. Paper disproves Spock. Spock vaporizes rock. And as it always has, rock crushes scissors.