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Unofficial What are you Reading Thread?

Started by Thurnez Isa, December 03, 2006, 04:11:35 PM

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Cainad (dec.)

The Geographical Dimensions of Terrorism

I have no idea why I picked this out, and it's not exactly riveting, but I'm slowly plowing through it anyway.

Cain

I'm pretty sure it picks up as you go along, IIRC.  Izzat an e-book?

VIDEODROME

The experiments will continue...    film at 11.

Cainad (dec.)

Quote from: Cain on December 15, 2008, 06:50:52 PM
I'm pretty sure it picks up as you go along, IIRC.  Izzat an e-book?

Sadly, not. Paper library copy.

BADGE OF HONOR

City of Glass by Paul Auster.

I'm a little...suspicious of it so far.  It's a bit excessively artsy and profane.
The Jerk On Bike rolled his eyes and tossed the waffle back over his shoulder--before it struck the ground, a stout, disconcertingly monkey-like dog sprang into the air and snatched it, and began to masticate it--literally--for the sound it made was like a homonculus squatting on the floor muttering "masticate masticate masticate".

Cain

Quote from: Cainad on December 15, 2008, 07:33:40 PM
Quote from: Cain on December 15, 2008, 06:50:52 PM
I'm pretty sure it picks up as you go along, IIRC.  Izzat an e-book?

Sadly, not. Paper library copy.

Ah well.

Eve

An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison.

Only about 20 pages in, but seems to be an interesting account of a psychiatrist's history with bipolar patients while 'battling' the disorder herself.
Emotionally crippled narcissist.

Cain

On Killing by David Grossman.

Some of you might have heard of this, as it was a rather controversial book.  Grossman's thesis is that it used to be very hard to actually get soldiers to kill in combat, for a number of psychological and evolutionary reasons.  He goes through shooting rates and death tallies in certain conflicts to drive home the point that in reality, very few soldiers were capable, in combat, of just upping and shooting the enemy.  He then goes on a much longer tangent as to the group psychology which may help overcome such inhibitions, and I think the upcoming part of the book is that on Pavlovian conditioning and overcoming the desire not to kill the enemy.  Because, as he points out himself, while the shooting percentages were shockingly low in WWII (~40%), by the time of the Korean war that was up to 55% and by Vietnam it was over 75%.

Grossman also has a thing about media and video violence essentially breaking down the inhibitions to killing.  Its not exactly the zomg vidya gaems make people violent!!12! routine, its (blessedly) somewhat more complex and subtle than that.  He thinks the media can transmit what it essentially a violence immunency disease which makes people "vulnerable to violence-enabling factors, such as poverty, discrimination, drug addiction (which can provide powerful motives for crime in order to fulfill real or perceived needs), or guns and gangs (which can provide the means and "support structure" to commit violent acts)."

But I haven't got to that part so far.

Sister_Gothique

Quote from: Eve on December 16, 2008, 01:29:25 AM
An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison.

Only about 20 pages in, but seems to be an interesting account of a psychiatrist's history with bipolar patients while 'battling' the disorder herself.
Sounds different...I may have to look into that one.
I'm the new "God's Will"...Soon it'll be, "Oh, I can't be held accountable for THAT, Sister Gothique made me do it!"

Brotep

Rereading the beginning of Journey to the West, a long Chinese folktale comprised of smaller folktales that was gathered together centuries ago.

Manta Obscura

Quote from: Anton LaGay on December 17, 2008, 01:35:26 AM
Rereading the beginning of Journey to the West, a long Chinese folktale comprised of smaller folktales that was gathered together centuries ago.

Ah, I love that story. Never been able to find a great English translation, though.
Everything I wish for myself, I wish for you also.

Brotep

Not speaking Chinese, I cannot attest to the quality of my copy's translation.

However, I can tell you I get a good sense of what's going on, and that the translator is one W.J.F. Jenner.

I can also tell you that Journey to the West inspired the original Dragonball cartoon.   :lulz:

Manta Obscura

Quote from: Anton LaGay on December 17, 2008, 04:22:17 PM
Not speaking Chinese, I cannot attest to the quality of my copy's translation.

However, I can tell you I get a good sense of what's going on, and that the translator is one W.J.F. Jenner.

I can also tell you that Journey to the West inspired the original Dragonball cartoon.   :lulz:

Ah, thanks, I'll have to check out that translator. I had to read some sections of it a long while back in Spanish, loved it, and then made the mistake of picking it up in English by some translator who had the intellectual equivalent of Tourette's, peppering the manuscript with context-less phrases.

The monk dude from J2tW also appears in some television show called "Read or Die," btw.

Everything I wish for myself, I wish for you also.

Brotep

Quote from: Manta Obscura on December 17, 2008, 05:01:13 PM
Ah, thanks, I'll have to check out that translator. I had to read some sections of it a long while back in Spanish, loved it, and then made the mistake of picking it up in English by some translator who had the intellectual equivalent of Tourette's, peppering the manuscript with context-less phrases.
Haha, how'd you end up reading it in Spanish?

QuoteThe monk dude from J2tW also appears in some television show called "Read or Die," btw.
Never seen it, but that's a great name for a TV show.


Oh, I'm also reading (read: started half a year ago and haven't lately picked up) Haruki Murakami's Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

Sister_Gothique

Finished Shadows Linger (surprisingly..it got a lot better... )

and onto The White Rose, continuing the Black Company series by Glen Cool....I probably won't be getting very far into this any time soon, seeing as I'm moving and I've got shit to do....bah.
I'm the new "God's Will"...Soon it'll be, "Oh, I can't be held accountable for THAT, Sister Gothique made me do it!"