I will give it a read, I'm picking it up from the library today. But I'll have to say, any of these books that solely focuses on "They", "evil plan", "us-vs-them" without recognizing & acknowleging the sociological and psychological emergent phenomena of human relationships, social organization, and market forces that naturally lead to inequality and satisfaction of some wants/needs and subsequent dissatisfaction of others....is at best lacking, at worst just fearmongering and fostering/cemeting discontent & conflict. Here's hoping it's not a conspiracy theory book....
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You might find this book interesting, then:
Status Anxiety - Alain de Botton
Status Anxiety This is a book about an almost universal anxiety that rarely gets mentioned directly: an anxiety about what others think of us; about whether we’re judged a success or a failure, a winner or a loser. This is a book about status anxiety. We care about our status for a simple...
And a little further afield...
It is a deeply depressing, profoundly unsettling, horribly well researched, and ultimately, rather thought-provoking, book.
Not a "they", "them", "us-v-them" tome, unless off shore tax havens, weakly (or non) regulated financial sectors, and the lamentable existence of greedy (and ethics-free) professional bodies can be classed as 'conspiracies'.
well, I only have so much time to read, in the middle of massive writing project now, let me put them in queue...You might find this book interesting, then:
Status Anxiety - Alain de Botton
Status Anxiety This is a book about an almost universal anxiety that rarely gets mentioned directly: an anxiety about what others think of us; about whether we’re judged a success or a failure, a winner or a loser. This is a book about status anxiety. We care about our status for a simple...www.alaindebotton.com
And a little further afield...
Just finished Linesman by S.K. Sunstall. Interesting premise, but I found the narrative and structure to be a bit amateur. It was their first book, so there's that. Just started Stars Uncharted also by Sunstall, but I'll toss that aside for the reservation that just came in: The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown.
scepticalscribe, you asked what I thought of Old Man's War. I'll tell you that Scalzi is quickly becoming one of my favorites. He has this mastery of character that makes them feel...normal. Even in the most extraordinary plot lines, the people are relatable, vulnerable. Yah, I have a few more of his books on my list.
scepticalscribe, you asked what I thought of Old Man's War. I'll tell you that Scalzi is quickly becoming one of my favorites. He has this mastery of character that makes them feel...normal. Even in the most extraordinary plot lines, the people are relatable, vulnerable. Yah, I have a few more of his books on my list.
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Boom and Bust : A Global History of Financial Bubbles - William Quinn.
This book was waiting for me in the library on Friday (I have had it reserved for a few weeks) and I am looking forward to immersing myself in it.
This book was waiting for me in the library on Friday (I have had it reserved for a few weeks) and I am looking forward to immersing myself in it.
Let me know what you think of the book; as it happens, I am also a fan of his writing.
I needed something fun and interested this weekend in between paper writing, so I got this from the library. I don't like everything Neal Stephenson has written, but I remember having fun with this:
Recently finished
Completed a Oliver Bullough doubleheader by reading Moneyland (read Butler to the World previously). The two are very complementary and, very sadly, serve both as a look at what has gone on in the past and what is currently happening in the UK and US. On a lighter note, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's occupation before his current job, actor and comedian, led him to make a comedy-satire series, Servant of the People, that shows a lot of what Bullough describes.
Disgrace (Bourke)
A searing book that I can't describe here because it hits every aspect of PRSI. I will say, though, that anybody who isn't accustomed to reading writing for primarily academic audiences and/or believes using academic work as an excuse for political violence is acceptable shouldn't read Disgrace.
Losing My Religion (Lobdell)
No, it's not about the band REM. But, again, it is about PRSI issues.
In progress
Re-reading the second volume of Richard J. Evans' 2003-2008 trilogy of books about mid 20th Century Germany. The first two volumes have recently become extremely relevant to the present day. If we are lucky, the third will not.
Up Next
Empire of ******: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult
Completed a Oliver Bullough doubleheader by reading Moneyland (read Butler to the World previously). The two are very complementary and, very sadly, serve both as a look at what has gone on in the past and what is currently happening in the UK and US. On a lighter note, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's occupation before his current job, actor and comedian, led him to make a comedy-satire series, Servant of the People, that shows a lot of what Bullough describes.
Disgrace (Bourke)
A searing book that I can't describe here because it hits every aspect of PRSI. I will say, though, that anybody who isn't accustomed to reading writing for primarily academic audiences and/or believes using academic work as an excuse for political violence is acceptable shouldn't read Disgrace.
Losing My Religion (Lobdell)
No, it's not about the band REM. But, again, it is about PRSI issues.
In progress
Re-reading the second volume of Richard J. Evans' 2003-2008 trilogy of books about mid 20th Century Germany. The first two volumes have recently become extremely relevant to the present day. If we are lucky, the third will not.
Up Next
Empire of ******: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult
Well, I have written here recommending the writing (and works) of both Oliver Bullough and Joanna Bourke, and am delighted to see you also cite them both; both write exceedingly interesting, deeply disturbing and exceptionally thought-provoking works that will readily repay a careful read.
While I have read some of the works of Richard J Evans, I haven't actually read the trilogy you are currently reading and clearly immersed in; do you really recommend it? If so, I may well see whether I can place an order for it at my local library.
I picked up the Bullough and Burke books after seeing you post about them here.
The Evans books are lengthy and well-researched. I like them because they benefit from being more distanced from the events and having more historical resources and scholarship available than earlier books, such as Willam L. Shirer's; are not trashy or sensationalistic, as so many books about the period are; and are not self-serving propaganda (see: Albert Speer).
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Ha, totally agree with that... Went through a period of reading a few memoirs like that and was a bit shocked by the, um ... how shall we phrase this, lack of perspective I guess - Galland's was a corker...(but YMMV with that one.)
Ah, excellent.
Delighted to have been of assistance, and equally delighted that you found them as thought-provoking (if not downright disturbing) as I did.
You have persuaded me of their merits.
The Evans books are lengthy and well-researched. I like them because they benefit from being more distanced from the events and having more historical resources and scholarship available than earlier books, such as Willam L. Shirer's; are not trashy or sensationalistic, as so many books about the period are; and are not self-serving propaganda (see: Albert Speer).
Will reserve them at my library (though, I cannot expect anything to happen before Christmas, actually, anytime before the New year, as we have already embarked into the immediate pre-Christmas period).