Author Topic: Fave Books / Currently Reading  (Read 947467 times)

wood and iron

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1560 on: April 03, 2011, 07:49:30 PM »
Reading Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, which is based on accounts of people who have fled.  Like most people, I've been well aware of the country's extreme totalitarianism and famine, but this really adds another dimension to the history.  Fascinating and frightening.

Does the book touch on the state of mind of the populace? Such as, do they buy the crap their regime spits out? I know that the regime has a really powerful propaganda arm but I've heard a few anecdotes that some of the people in NK believe it. Any truth to that or are they muttering under their breath?

Chris L

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1561 on: April 03, 2011, 08:17:50 PM »
Reading Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, which is based on accounts of people who have fled.  Like most people, I've been well aware of the country's extreme totalitarianism and famine, but this really adds another dimension to the history.  Fascinating and frightening.

Does the book touch on the state of mind of the populace? Such as, do they buy the crap their regime spits out? I know that the regime has a really powerful propaganda arm but I've heard a few anecdotes that some of the people in NK believe it. Any truth to that or are they muttering under their breath?

It goes beyond propaganda; it's complete indoctrination from birth, in as closed a society as can exist in the late 20th/early 21st century.  The entire society was constructed around the image of Kim Il-Sung as the equivalent of a living God (making Kim Il-Jong more or less Jesus).   Some of the interview participants discuss sincerely believing this until the famine of the 90s, having literally no other frame of reference, but even those who questioned certain things knew better than to say anything about it, as even an offhand remark could lead to arrest and a lifetime of hard labor. If you've seen the movie Dogtooth, I've been reminded of it several times while reading this.

Steve of Bloomington

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1562 on: April 03, 2011, 10:18:25 PM »
There was a pretty good article in the most recent Atlantic about some groups who are trying to get some information into North Korea via radio and other means.

I have a friend who's been to North Korea a couple of times. He's taken some interesting photos that have been picked up by the BBC and other news organizations.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaruka/collections/72157608626515722/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaruka/sets/72157608054087019/

effecT

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1563 on: April 04, 2011, 09:16:27 AM »
My sister has started to psychoanalyze me with this:
Code: [Select]
http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Lacan/dp/0393329550
So i have started to read that too...
Bums me out man.

B_Buster

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1564 on: April 04, 2011, 10:18:52 AM »
I'm reading the short story collection, The Best of Saki (aka H. H. Munro). Very funny stuff. My bet is if you're a FOT, you will love this.
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Shaggy 2 Grote

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1565 on: April 05, 2011, 11:07:38 AM »
My sister has started to psychoanalyze me with this:
Code: [Select]
http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Lacan/dp/0393329550
So i have started to read that too...
Bums me out man.

I seriously have a hard time believing that Lacanian analysis is an actual thing (even though I know it is). Trying to analyze someone using Žižek seems even more insane (no offense to your sister). I love Žižek but I think his work makes a lot more sense as criticism/philosophy. But then again I've never been able to stick with a therapist for more than a few months, so Žižekian analysis might be exactly what I need.

Currently reading Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana. Plenty enjoyable at 30 pages in. I'm ashamed that it's taken me his long to get into Greene.
Oh, good heavens. I didn’t realize. I send my condolences out to the rest of the O’Connor family.

effecT

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1566 on: April 05, 2011, 11:42:27 AM »
My sister has started to psychoanalyze me with this:
Code: [Select]
http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Lacan/dp/0393329550
So i have started to read that too...
Bums me out man.

I seriously have a hard time believing that Lacanian analysis is an actual thing (even though I know it is). Trying to analyze someone using Žižek seems even more insane (no offense to your sister). I love Žižek but I think his work makes a lot more sense as criticism/philosophy. But then again I've never been able to stick with a therapist for more than a few months, so Žižekian analysis might be exactly what I need.


I have a diametrically opposed notion of Žižek. I absolutely hate all of his so called philosophy and, I am not trying to be arrogant here, think he should adopt a little bit of methodology and tone down the rhetorical tricks and hokum. On the other hand i find his analysis of popular culture and movies at least entertaining and it makes for good reading and watching in case of his movies. I have only been recently introduced to him and if you have the right reading recommendation maybe my perception would shift. Or maybe my rejection is just rooted in my older sister trying to get a handle on me, because I am currently succeeding and she is not.

effecT

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1567 on: April 05, 2011, 12:07:43 PM »
...also I am listening to the unabridged version of "The War for Late Night" as discussed by Mort Maron. It is truly a fascinating book.

B_Buster

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1568 on: April 05, 2011, 12:36:22 PM »
Currently reading Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana. Plenty enjoyable at 30 pages in. I'm ashamed that it's taken me his long to get into Greene.

I haven't read Our Man in Havana, Jason, but my favorites are Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, and The Power and the Glory.
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JonFromMaplewood

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1569 on: April 05, 2011, 12:50:33 PM »
Currently reading Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana. Plenty enjoyable at 30 pages in. I'm ashamed that it's taken me his long to get into Greene.

I haven't read Our Man in Havana, Jason, but my favorites are Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, and The Power and the Glory.

The End of the Affair is excellent as well.
"I'm riding the silence like John Cage up in this piece." -Tom Scharpling

JonFromMaplewood

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1570 on: April 05, 2011, 06:40:06 PM »
My sister has started to psychoanalyze me with this:
Code: [Select]
http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Lacan/dp/0393329550
So i have started to read that too...
Bums me out man.

Lacan is in my personal Hate Pit.  He and Derrida are forced to read each other's writings.
"I'm riding the silence like John Cage up in this piece." -Tom Scharpling

effecT

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1571 on: April 06, 2011, 05:45:44 AM »
My sister has started to psychoanalyze me with this:
Code: [Select]
http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Lacan/dp/0393329550
So i have started to read that too...
Bums me out man.

Lacan is in my personal Hate Pit.  He and Derrida are forced to read each other's writings.


Shaggy 2 Grote

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1572 on: April 06, 2011, 10:06:08 AM »
My sister has started to psychoanalyze me with this:
Code: [Select]
http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Lacan/dp/0393329550
So i have started to read that too...
Bums me out man.

I seriously have a hard time believing that Lacanian analysis is an actual thing (even though I know it is). Trying to analyze someone using Žižek seems even more insane (no offense to your sister). I love Žižek but I think his work makes a lot more sense as criticism/philosophy. But then again I've never been able to stick with a therapist for more than a few months, so Žižekian analysis might be exactly what I need.


I have a diametrically opposed notion of Žižek. I absolutely hate all of his so called philosophy and, I am not trying to be arrogant here, think he should adopt a little bit of methodology and tone down the rhetorical tricks and hokum. On the other hand i find his analysis of popular culture and movies at least entertaining and it makes for good reading and watching in case of his movies. I have only been recently introduced to him and if you have the right reading recommendation maybe my perception would shift. Or maybe my rejection is just rooted in my older sister trying to get a handle on me, because I am currently succeeding and she is not.


His one-off books on pop culture are far more fun to read, but they're also what give him a bad rap as a charlatan or whatever. His three or four major works -- starting with The Sublime Object of Ideology and ending with The Parallax View (I forget the others but he mentions them in the movie) offer a more coherent worldview.

But if you're into Classical or Enlightenment thought, you will probably never like his work. I have the advantage of being very much a dilettante, and a reluctant academic at best. To the extent that I use philosophy at all, it's for my writing, so I mostly just follow whatever I find interesting.
Oh, good heavens. I didn’t realize. I send my condolences out to the rest of the O’Connor family.

effecT

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1573 on: April 06, 2011, 10:42:02 AM »
My sister has started to psychoanalyze me with this:
Code: [Select]
http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Lacan/dp/0393329550
So i have started to read that too...
Bums me out man.

I seriously have a hard time believing that Lacanian analysis is an actual thing (even though I know it is). Trying to analyze someone using Žižek seems even more insane (no offense to your sister). I love Žižek but I think his work makes a lot more sense as criticism/philosophy. But then again I've never been able to stick with a therapist for more than a few months, so Žižekian analysis might be exactly what I need.


I have a diametrically opposed notion of Žižek. I absolutely hate all of his so called philosophy and, I am not trying to be arrogant here, think he should adopt a little bit of methodology and tone down the rhetorical tricks and hokum. On the other hand i find his analysis of popular culture and movies at least entertaining and it makes for good reading and watching in case of his movies. I have only been recently introduced to him and if you have the right reading recommendation maybe my perception would shift. Or maybe my rejection is just rooted in my older sister trying to get a handle on me, because I am currently succeeding and she is not.


His one-off books on pop culture are far more fun to read, but they're also what give him a bad rap as a charlatan or whatever. His three or four major works -- starting with The Sublime Object of Ideology and ending with The Parallax View (I forget the others but he mentions them in the movie) offer a more coherent worldview.

But if you're into Classical or Enlightenment thought, you will probably never like his work. I have the advantage of being very much a dilettante, and a reluctant academic at best. To the extent that I use philosophy at all, it's for my writing, so I mostly just follow whatever I find interesting.

Maybe I'll give one of his bigger books a go. This one right now isn't working out so good. He talks about toilet-layouts as representing national ideologies (german conservatism, french revolution, english pragmatism). He should come on podcastin and co-host the jiggling the handle-segment.

But seriously: I think i will never get into him for exactly the reason you pointed out. It will be just me going back to agonizing over the critique of pure reason(5th attempt now).

If I may be so horrible and intrude: What kind of writing are you doing?

cavorting with nudists

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1574 on: April 06, 2011, 10:50:19 AM »
Is Žižek's stuff on David Lynch worth reading?  To the degree that I'm interested at all, that has seemed like it would be a good way in.
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