http://4-ch.net/games/kareha.pl/1206548566/
This is a nice thread. Let's have a book edition.
I just read my first book by Haruki Murakami, "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle". Murakami gets a lot of praise in these parts, and after reading this book, I can confirm that it isn't unfounded. The book to me felt a bit weaker towards the end, but I really liked hearing the stories of Nomonhan, Siberia, and such.
All this thread does is remind me that I don't finish anything. I get a few good days, sometimes weeks of reading and then depression comes around and I don't feel like doing anything. I can force myself to read for about 20 minutes during those times and then my brain's noise/self-hate blocks out any further information so I can't even parse the words in a single sentence.
>>110
shortly after writing this, I got distracted and never finished the sequel. well, I'm here now to announce that I did it! This month I finished the sequels: The Ocean of Years, and The Shores of Tomorrow by Roger MacBride Allen.
The Chronicles of Solace series was pretty good! It's a very tense yet slow experience and the author loves to summarise and revisit previous events, which can make it a bit boring to binge through and potentially frustrating for some - skimming is definitely recommended during the recaps at the start of each sequel, and for the first half of book 2, which really drags itself out. (I originally stopped reading due to boredom getting through book 2 but returned because the plot hook was interesting!) However, I found it lead to a very detailed cast and world, with the story culminating in a satisfying conclusion thanks to multiple converging plot threads tying together neatly. The only irk is some extreme handwaving of sci-fi mechanics at the closure of the book - despite a lot of thought put in to much simpler ones earlier.
Overall I think the concepts put forward by the series are a fascinating read, recommended if you want a slow burn classic sci-fi with a focus on time and space navigation and terraforming.
Art of Unix Programming by Eric S Raymond
Its full of pro-open source propaganda
ed mastery by Lucas
very good, learn good stuff
Steelworkers in America: The Nonunion Era by David Brody
Probably my first serious history book(though the posters here would not be impressed) and I wasn't disappointed. Brody has a focus on the community of an immigrant neighborhood and how steel men slowly dug their paws into it in order to disrupt any future strikes. It exposes their interest in "culture" as an attempt to portray the union men as ungrateful. So many truths in one read. Will dig deeper into the topic.
They Closed Their Schools: Prince Edward County, Virginia, 1951-1964 by Bob Smith.
It's a very personal read due to the amount of interview sourcing Smith relies upon, and his use of differing stories to show how suffocating Southern civility was in determining the truth of any event is...okay? I noticed it but didn't think much about it.
I struggle to say anything substantial about it that wouldn't just be a summary of the events like my last post, but I do like the air of futility given at the end. The "Uncle Tom" of this story not viewing the children as ungrateful or too brash but rather doomed to fail, simply because the organization of white money in the county was too great, too swift, binding together at a level of organization the blacks could only dream of. That's almost definitely a major misreading, but it was my first impression of it.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
HOLY CRAP! This book is amazing, and a true work of art that can only come from a divine power. The book provides great in-depth detail of a hungry caterpillar and his struggle to quench his hunger in this new world, but eventually succumbing to lust for food and making an example of what can come from gluttony, a tummy ache. I recommend this book for all of those wanting to educate themselves and become self-conscious of this caterpillar's story.
The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati
I admittedly only picked this one up because it was apparently the inspiration for Sora no Woto. Some of the metaphorical passages were laid on a little bit too thick for my tastes, but overall I really enjoyed this one. It managed to keep a very personal, human feeling to it throughout despite its fairly impersonal subject matter, and it definitely distinguished itself well against other military/war novels.
Red Thread: On Mazes and Labyrinths by Charlotte Higgins
A very odd book. The writing deliberately evokes a labyrinth, with lots of odd digressions and tangents that sometimes loop back to being relevant and sometimes don't. It also shifts back and forth between fiction, nonfiction, and personal anecdotes. I rather enjoyed it but I suspect a lot of people wouldn't.
The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide
A very touching portrayal of love and grief. It is short and doesn't overstay its welcome. If you aren't a cat-lover, this book is emphatically not for you, though.
Carlos Castaneda and his team. Everything else you may safely burn.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
A couple of my friends had wanted to read this at the same time as a sort of pseudo-book club, so I decided to join them. It was interesting to see a few little references to the events of The Silmarillion, like the mention of the sundering of the elves. Anyway, it's a fun book, but you probably already knew that considering what a well known classic it is.
>>145
omg, shills will be shills. Tolkien books are for total retards, they teach degeneracy, make normies.
>>147
just any. it's okay for you to read bullshit for retards, it makes you funny.
>>132
I always felt that was a bit of the reveal—that AM complains so much about not having the personhood or agency that he clearly does have, in excess even.
Blues People by Amiri Baraka
Some of the black nationalist rhetoric in this hasn't aged well, along with some of Baraka's other weird claims about the blues, but an otherwise nice introduction to great artists and some interesting reflections on them. Pretty nice to listen along as Baraka introduces them.
Argonauts of the Western Pacific by Branislaw Malinowski
A Polish academic isekai's on a remote area of Melanesia for 2 years and proceeds to describe the local population in autistic detail. A classic work of vintage British social anthropology and therefore a must read. For better or worse, Branislaw made some massive contributions to ethnography and his description of the Kula trading system is very interesting, even if it isn't quite the devasting blow to modern economics the way the author thinks it is. The book would have been better if it had been more focused on the Kula system specifically instead of veering off into a dozen detours, like detailing the folklore, the clans, the artisanal industries etc. but that's the autism of British anthropology. This book is best paired with Malinowski's personal diaries which make for hilarious reading and feel like something you'd find on /r9k/, an urban white dude ranting about how frustrating and alone he is while wanting to hate fuck the local women. Highly recommend it but seriously, unless you're hyperfixated on Melanesia like most anthropologists have been, you should probably just read the intro and the chapters on the Kula system and leave the rest for another time.