Off-topic The Bay’s favourite books fred

[Tyler Durden007]

I haven't read much of him beyond Stark and High Society but did enjoy those. I'll take the above as recommendations.

Stark was good, High Society better.

Other good Elton titles - This Other Eden; Dead Famous (pisser rip on Big Brother); Blind Faith

 

[Chronz]

Written by human peasants with little knowledge of the world 100 years after Jesus copped it.

But less about the history of your family lineage, what about the bible itself?

 

[Aristotle Pickett]

But less about the history of your family lineage, what about the bible itself?

Thanks bible rimmer.

 

[thejester]

Check out Orlando Figes, he's done a lot of work on Russian history (popularly accessible yet still quite weighty).

Also a bit of shitposter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_Figes#Amazon_reviews_controversy

 

[Norwegian Blue]

Putting that on the list for sure

I gave Orlando Figes' "The Story of Russia" to my mum for chrissy a year or two back. It's a general history from the old Kiev-Rus days up to the recent Ukraine invasion. Well worth it for a general overview of the place.

 

[Norwegian Blue]

Are there any footballer's biographies or autobiographies that are actually worth reading? Over the years I've been given the occasional gift of a Carlton player's bio and they have one universal thing in common: they're all boring as batshit. Footy players don't actually DO anything except train and play, so reading about them is less than enthralling.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Honourable mention to "History's Greatest Mistakes... and the people who made them"

Hey! I have that on the shelf at home. Opened once and never really read. Will have to pull it out

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Sure there were horrors - especially under particularly authoritarian regimes, but people forget the capitalist system kills hundreds of thousands every year - lack of housing, lack of affordable healthcare.

Pretty sure they count war dead in the "deaths due to communism" tallies too - that's 20 million there and then.

What I found interesting, and it could be rose coloured glasses, but people who lived under both systems think the old system was better.

At the very least they had guaranteed holidays, housing etc and better, safer working conditions.

When capitalists took over corporate interests in the former Republics, all of that took a nosedive for a vast majority of people.

Anyway, back on topic - French existentialist works are great.

The House of Leaves is mindbending if you're keen for existential horror coupled with a piss take on academia.

Blindman's Bluff is an excellent read on the Cold War submarine arms race and the history of submarine espionage.

I like Cormac McCarthy's works - Blood Meridian is a standout. No Country For Old Men is better than the film (and the film is incredible). The Road.

Steinbeck's East of Eden is timeless and The Grapes of Wrath is crucial more than ever.

Daniel Quinn's Ishmael series takes an interesting perspective on culture and what it is to be human - some flaws, but interesting all the same.

Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is transformative - though the advice is simple, the application is, as always, the hardest part.

Haruki Murakami's books are as much about his record collection as anything else. Abstract psychedelica set in Japan. Kafka on the Shore is at the deeper end. Norwegian Wood a more traditional introduction. The Second Bakery Attack is a short story you can find online that's an interesting taster.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata is a great read.

The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro. Never Let Mě Go.

Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson

Tokyo Vice - Jake Adelstein. American moves to Japan, gets a job as a newspaper reporter in a Japanese language newspaper, covers organized crime - true story. They made a TV series of it recently.

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah - Richard Bach - a book that revisits the nature of reality and self.

Things the Grandchildren Should Know - Mark Oliver Everett aka E from the band EELS.

He had such a weird and ****ed up life and this is his autobiography of sorts. His father was a renowned physicist who was responsible for the "many worlds interpretation" in quantum physics.

Insanely talented.

I have Norwegian Wood somewhere and tried to start it a few times but had some difficulties as it's in Japanese

 

[jannissary]

Sure there were horrors - especially under particularly authoritarian regimes, but people forget the capitalist system kills hundreds of thousands every year - lack of housing, lack of affordable healthcare.

Pretty sure they count war dead in the "deaths due to communism" tallies too - that's 20 million there and then.

What I found interesting, and it could be rose coloured glasses, but people who lived under both systems think the old system was better.

At the very least they had guaranteed holidays, housing etc and better, safer working conditions.

When capitalists took over corporate interests in the former Republics, all of that took a nosedive for a vast majority of people.

Anyway, back on topic - French existentialist works are great.

The House of Leaves is mindbending if you're keen for existential horror coupled with a piss take on academia.

Blindman's Bluff is an excellent read on the Cold War submarine arms race and the history of submarine espionage.

I like Cormac McCarthy's works - Blood Meridian is a standout. No Country For Old Men is better than the film (and the film is incredible). The Road.

Steinbeck's East of Eden is timeless and The Grapes of Wrath is crucial more than ever.

Daniel Quinn's Ishmael series takes an interesting perspective on culture and what it is to be human - some flaws, but interesting all the same.

Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is transformative - though the advice is simple, the application is, as always, the hardest part.

Haruki Murakami's books are as much about his record collection as anything else. Abstract psychedelica set in Japan. Kafka on the Shore is at the deeper end. Norwegian Wood a more traditional introduction. The Second Bakery Attack is a short story you can find online that's an interesting taster.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata is a great read.

The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro. Never Let Mě Go.

Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson

Tokyo Vice - Jake Adelstein. American moves to Japan, gets a job as a newspaper reporter in a Japanese language newspaper, covers organized crime - true story. They made a TV series of it recently.

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah - Richard Bach - a book that revisits the nature of reality and self.

Things the Grandchildren Should Know - Mark Oliver Everett aka E from the band EELS.

He had such a weird and ****ed up life and this is his autobiography of sorts. His father was a renowned physicist who was responsible for the "many worlds interpretation" in quantum physics.

Insanely talented.

thanks for sharing, this is an outstanding list.

i love blood meridian, and by extension all of mccarthy’s writing. it’s so compellingly bleak, the road is especially bleak. while others find his style of writing, difficult, with its lack of grammar, i think it uplifts the bleakness and cruelty of the settings of his writing.

i’ve finally picked up house of leaves as my local book store finally got it back in stock, very excited to read it when i’m able to.

 

[James Colorado]

Do you sit on the Chesterfield, pipe in one hand, book in the other?

I occasionally set the pipe down to pick up the port. One must be careful with these things, a port stain is a damned nuisance to get out of a velvet lounge jacket.

 

[frggr]

i’ve finally picked up house of leaves as my local book store finally got it back in stock, very excited to read it when i’m able to.

Something Richmond supporters can never do

 

[frggr]

Hey! I have that on the shelf at home. Opened once and never really read. Will have to pull it out

Triggered Tugboat thought you were talking about his parents family photo album

 

[Triggering Tiger]

Triggered Tugboat thought you were talking about his parents family photo album

Thanks flog, I'm sure my deceased father would be happy that you're at least thinking about him.

 

[jannissary]

Something Richmond supporters can never do

got a few books to read before it, sadly.

planning on reading heart of darkness, in cold blood and american psycho first

 

[Triggering Tiger]

Something Richmond supporters can never do

You really do love Richmond a lot don't you?

 

[Chronz]

You really do love Richmond a lot don't you?

Both supporter bases feed off each other. It's fun to watch the shitfights though.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Triggered Tugboat thought you were talking about his parents family photo album

I will not be pulling anything out that that that has tug in the name

 

[Triggering Tiger]

Both supporter bases feed off each other. It's fun to watch the shitfights though.

Yet your bullflog mates were just complaining about shitfighting in another thread. You're damned if you do and damn if you don't at the bay.

 

[GudOnya]

Red Dwarf Omnibus by "Grant Naylor", or Rob Grant and Doug Naylor depending on who you ask.

Kind of two books but still counts as one.

 

[vjknight]

On SM-A156E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Chronz]

Thinking further, also check out Simon Sebag Montefiore. There's a chance the book you read may have been by either of them.

I had a quick look and the one I read wasn't penned by either one of the authors you mentioned. Doesn't matter, you've introduced me to some more interesting reading material.

 

[Seadog]

thanks for sharing, this is an outstanding list.

i love blood meridian, and by extension all of mccarthy’s writing. it’s so compellingly bleak, the road is especially bleak. while others find his style of writing, difficult, with its lack of grammar, i think it uplifts the bleakness and cruelty of the settings of his writing.

i’ve finally picked up house of leaves as my local book store finally got it back in stock, very excited to read it when i’m able to.

I keep reading McCarthy to see if I can "get it", I don't dislike his books i just don't see the genius others see. Blood Meridian I enjoyed. Sutree as well, The road was ok and the first book in the western trilogy I liked but can't see me ever re reading any of them.
The books that made an impression on me when I was younger were: One flew over the cuckoos nest,
Slaughterhouse 5, Catch 22, The Dice man, The Ginger man, Crime and Punishment, Portnoys complaint, Cannery Row, Tortilla Flat, yeah most of Steinbeck, For whom the bell tolls, the Old man and the Sea, On the Road.
You can tell I'm an old fart, these days I mostly read history, Tom Holland, Sebag Montieforre are good. The Wolf Hall Trilogy by Hilary Mantel is really good albeit historical fiction.

 

[frggr]

I keep reading McCarthy to see if I can "get it", I don't dislike his books i just don't see the genius others see. Blood Meridian I enjoyed. Sutree as well, The road was ok and the first book in the western trilogy I liked but can't see me ever re reading any of them.
The books that made an impression on me when I was younger were: One flew over the cuckoos nest,
Slaughterhouse 5, Catch 22, The Dice man, The Ginger man, Crime and Punishment, Portnoys complaint, Cannery Row, Tortilla Flat, yeah most of Steinbeck, For whom the bell tolls, the Old man and the Sea, On the Road.
You can tell I'm an old fart, these days I mostly read history, Tom Holland, Sebag Montieforre are good. The Wolf Hall Trilogy by Hilary Mantel is really good albeit historical fiction.

I think there's something in the pacing and the tone of McCarthy that resonates with a lot of people. It's almost biblical while also being incredibly stripped back - it's as desolate as the places it describes.

The supernatural aspects work for some, too.

 

[jannissary]

I keep reading McCarthy to see if I can "get it", I don't dislike his books i just don't see the genius others see. Blood Meridian I enjoyed. Sutree as well, The road was ok and the first book in the western trilogy I liked but can't see me ever re reading any of them.
The books that made an impression on me when I was younger were: One flew over the cuckoos nest,
Slaughterhouse 5, Catch 22, The Dice man, The Ginger man, Crime and Punishment, Portnoys complaint, Cannery Row, Tortilla Flat, yeah most of Steinbeck, For whom the bell tolls, the Old man and the Sea, On the Road.
You can tell I'm an old fart, these days I mostly read history, Tom Holland, Sebag Montieforre are good. The Wolf Hall Trilogy by Hilary Mantel is really good albeit historical fiction.

i suppose it comes down to personal taste in fictional texts. to me, he depicts a realistic, bleak and nearly uninhabitable americana in his books, especially the road. while i don't think this is a perspective that is true for america as it presently stands, it does "subtly" explore those historical notions of brutality that have existed in the country (within blood meridian), and especially depicts the depravity of humanity extremely well. anthon chigurh is a fantastic villain (in no country for old men) because he is wrote/depicted as an emotionless, calculating and "unstoppable evil".

i reread slaughterhouse 5 over xmas, at the request of my auntie who wanted to pick my brain. i think it's a fantastic tale about the untold horrors of war that can have a significant effect on the people fighting in the conflict. while it is comedic in nature, it's an interesting exploration of how PTSD can affect different people differently.