Your Books are Crap

[abcdavid01]

Seriously, I was gonna recommend one, but the topics here are awful. However, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I'll post some of my personal canon and would like if other could post theirs. I read mostly serious non fiction works on sociology, history, and philosophy. Thomas Jefferson said novels are a waste of time, but obviously he wasn't talking about Shakespeare or the Greek epics. So I also read high literature fiction. Dostoevsky perhaps. Here's some of my canon:

The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism by F.A. Hayek

Hayek is known for The Road to Serfdom, but this is a much better work. He argues against Socialism not as a value judgement, but as a system that is factually and logically incorrect. It is very short and very dense. Also includes discussions of linguistics, population growth, and religion.

Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt

The only work on economics that any non-economist will ever really need. Another short work and easy to understand. Should be mandatory reading for every high schooler.

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

My favorite novel. It takes place in Japan during the late sixties, but could just as easily have taken place in America. A very powerful story of love and death.

Winston has a quote in his signature from Harry Browne. I've been meaning to read that book for a while now.

On my reading list:

James Frazer - The Golden Bough

Jared Diamond - Guns, Germs, and Steel

Paul Feyerabend - Against Method


If you can post some real books here it would be much appreciated.

Edit: NorthAmericanGuy is an exception; those are good recommendations.

[odbo]

recommending "Jared Diamond - Guns, Germs, and Steel"

..there goes your credibility out the window. And you're calling our books "crap"!

Diamond was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to a Bessarabian Jewish family.

No rationale person enjoys reading ludicrous horse manure written by hate-filled Jews pretending to be White and intellectually honest. The PBS documentary (by the same name) was bad enough. I've seen a lot of bullshit in my day but Diamond's claims might just take the cake. I'm by no means exaggerating, if you believe him you will believe anything.

[abcdavid01]

Mein Kampf then?

[odbo]

Mein Kampf then?

Yes that's a decent read. But you're pretentiously implying that it's anti-Jew because it's written by 'that evil Nazi guy". If that's what you're looking for you can watch "Der Ewige Jude" (English title: "The Eternal Jew"), or look up books by Henry Ford, Arnold Leese, and other "Nazi sympathizers" of the 20th century. But if you're looking for good authors who didn't tread down that road, you're pretty much shit out of luck because virtually every great man in European history warned about or said something derogatory about Jewry.

[Jackal]

Hello David, your efforts to make this forum a bit more intelligent are appreciated. We are not all paranoid neanderthals here.

In other countries, they value education and literature, unlike in the US.

Jared Diamond - Guns, Germs, and Steel

I haven't read this, but I saw the video which I found quite interesting when I watched it a year or two ago.

I mainly read Buddhist books, but when it comes to literature, I like Dostoyevsky and Poe. I also liked the sci-fi novel Dune due to its blend of environmental, social, and relgious themes, and I enjoy Joseph Stiglitz's lectures about economics.

[Jackal]

(English title: "The Eternal Jew"), or look up books by Henry Ford, Arnold Leese, and other "Nazi sympathizers" of the 20th century. But if you're looking for good authors who didn't tread down that road, you're pretty much shit out of luck because virtually every great man in European history warned about or said something derogatory about Jewry.

Did they also warn against GPS? Einstein was ethnically Jewish and his theory of special relativity is essential for GPS to work correctly.

http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~po ... 5/gps.html

Angry guys who post on the internet didn't build the modern world; scientists of all ethnicities did! And a large number of these great scientists and mathematicians were Jewish.

[abcdavid01]

Can you recommend some good Buddhist books then? When I was a kid I went to a Chinese doctor, so one time this older guy was there in the waiting room and he tried to teach me about Buddhism. I've been studying Taosim occasionally over the last year too.

[zboy1]

Can you recommend some good Buddhist books then? When I was a kid I went to a Chinese doctor, so one time this older guy was there in the waiting room and he tried to teach me about Buddhism. I've been studying Taosim occasionally over the last year too.

I would recommend "The Untethered Soul," if you're looking for a good mix of Western religions and Buddhist philosophies and how to apply them to your everyday life.

The Untethered Soul: Twelve-Step Guide to Spiritual Awakening
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-s ... 29741.html

[Jackal]

Can you recommend some good Buddhist books then? When I was a kid I went to a Chinese doctor, so one time this older guy was there in the waiting room and he tried to teach me about Buddhism. I've been studying Taosim occasionally over the last year too.

"What the Buddha Taught" is a short, classic introduction to core Buddhist ideas.
http://www.dhammaweb.net/books/Dr_Walpo ... Taught.pdf

There is also this book by the Dalai Lama which gives an overview of all of Buddhism from the Tibetan perspective.
http://www.fodian.net/english/itp.pdf

If you have an interest in Tibetan Buddhism, just take a look at the articles at the Berzin Archives--there's TONS of great information there!
http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/index.html

The Access to Insight website also has a ton of info about the oldest teachings of the Buddha.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/

A small taste of authentic Chan (Zen)
http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/li ... t-is-chan/

Although there are core ideas in Buddhism which are universal, such as the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the 12 Links of Dependent Origination, etc., there are in reality many different types of Buddhism which have different interpretations. Once you read about some core Buddhist ideas, you might look at the wikipedia pages for Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana and see which subschools of these you find interesting. Good luck!

[Billy]

i am half through with that one:

"This gigantic torso of a novel is arguably the greatest novel of the century."

[abcdavid01]

That looks pretty good Billy. But the author doesn't seem too popular. I wonder if he's one of those lost genius types. The description puts him up there with Joyce.

[Billy]

abc,
it´s not popular because it´s a big ass book but it´s well read in the university. i think it´s little bit difficult to read when you are young because you have to be in a somekind of relaxed ironic mode to read the book. you need time for this book. i love this book though i am normally not reading books that much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Germa ... th_Century