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Grimalkin
Joined: 22 May 2005
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 Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:39 am Post subject: What books have taught you the most.... |
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...about the world and how it works?
I can list three.
The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins.
The Blank Slate - Stephen Pinker.
Guns, Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond. |
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swetepete
Joined: 01 Nov 2006
Location: a limp little burg
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:44 am Post subject: |
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"Slaughterhouse Five" by Vonnegut,
"the Animal Family" by Randall Jarrell,
"The Dictatorship of Reason" by John Ralston Saul,
"The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington" by Xaviera Holandera (in which I learned the word 'curple'),
and
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:51 am Post subject: |
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The Holy Bible. Tells me everything I need to know about life. A to Z.
Or,
The God Delusion
The Elusive Quest for Growth
In Defense of Global Capitalism.
hm:
The Libertarian Idea
The Machinery of Freedom
Out of It: A Cultural History of Intoxication |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:52 am Post subject: |
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The Selfish Giant.........Oscar Wilde........Taught me the way of love and tolerance.
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| "Nay!" answered the child; "but these are the wounds of Love." |
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kimchi story
Joined: 23 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:25 am Post subject: |
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| Serendipities: Language and Lunacy - Umberto Eco. I've never seen it cited in his jacket covers and it's amazing. 150 pages that will blow your mind. Perhaps we should make a trade, Grimalkin - that Pinker is one you put on my list. |
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oneofthesarahs
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Location: Sacheon City
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:52 am Post subject: |
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| Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce and Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. |
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Yo!Chingo
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: Seoul Korea
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:57 am Post subject: |
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| Anal Pleasure and Health: A guide for Men and Women |
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Tokki1
Joined: 14 May 2007
Location: The gap between the Korean superiority and inferiority complex
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:05 am Post subject: |
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Green Eggs and Ham--Dr. Seuss
Palace of the Peacock--Wilson Harris
Ways of Seeing--John Berger |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:42 am Post subject: |
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| BJWD wrote: |
| The Holy Bible. Tells me everything I need to know about life. A to Z. |
BJWD wins the obligatory Judeo-Christian plug.
What I learned from that book:
"Man was put into the garden to work it and keep it in good condition." (Genesis 2:15)
Be a farmer and an environmentalist. |
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Omkara
Joined: 18 Feb 2006
Location: USA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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Thoreau's "Walden" and Emerson's Essays.
Exuperey's "Wind, Sand and Stars" is a great read, too. |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:50 pm Post subject: |
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2 books I've worn out & replaced a few times:
The I Ching or Book of Changes, Wilhelm/Baynes edition, prepared me in deep & unexpected ways for my life in Korea.
The Essential Rumi, Coleman Barks translation -- wisdom with humor. |
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faster
Joined: 03 Sep 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:45 pm Post subject: Re: What books have taught you the most.... |
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| Grimalkin wrote: |
...about the world and how it works?
I can list three.
The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins.
The Blank Slate - Stephen Pinker.
Guns, Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond. |
Pretty good set; I taught two of those and a different Pinker (The Language Instinct) this year.
I learned the most from A Thousand Plateaus by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. |
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Grimalkin
Joined: 22 May 2005
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:00 am Post subject: |
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| kimchi story wrote: |
| Serendipities: Language and Lunacy - Umberto Eco. I've never seen it cited in his jacket covers and it's amazing. 150 pages that will blow your mind. Perhaps we should make a trade, Grimalkin - that Pinker is one you put on my list. |
I don't want to trade as I will probably read that book over again but if you want to borrow it pm your address and I'll post it to you.
I read Eco's 'Name of the Rose' and then tried 'Foucault's Pendulum'. I had to abandon the latter as it was way over my head so I'm not sure how I'd do with 'Serendipities: Language and Lunacy'. Is it very heavy going?
I had a similar experience with Joyce. I read 'Portrait of the Artist' which I really enjoyed and the tried 'Ulysses' which I had to abandon. I think I need to have a more realistic view of my intellectual limitations and try to avoid over-stretching myself. It does my ego no good.  |
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Grimalkin
Joined: 22 May 2005
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:08 am Post subject: Re: What books have taught you the most.... |
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| faster wrote: |
| Grimalkin wrote: |
...about the world and how it works?
I can list three.
The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins.
The Blank Slate - Stephen Pinker.
Guns, Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond. |
Pretty good set; I taught two of those and a different Pinker (The Language Instinct) this year.
I learned the most from A Thousand Plateaus by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. |
I've also read 'The Language Instinct' (loved it) and 'How the Mind Works'.
I'll check out 'A Thousand Plateaus'. |
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butlerian
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:13 am Post subject: |
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| Dune (despite being science-fiction, it can teach us a lot about humans and our current situation. It is prophetic in many ways). |
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