BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

[Ross Dolan]

Probably other threads devoted to this, but...uhhh...here is another.

This is occasioned by a conversation I was having with Bigdog in another thread. Don't want to derail that one, so here is his post...and my reply.

What did you get out of The Alienist and Brother Rat?

I'm always interested in others' views on Orwell's 1984, Animal Farm, and Brave New World

The Alienist is an exercise in excellent writing and storytelling. I doubt any moral lessons are derived, but for some who spends lots of time in New York City, it was instructive on the city’s history. Cops, women, rich people, and the slums all get their fair share of attention.

Highly recommend the book and its sequel, The Angel of Darkness.

Not sure how I wrote Brother Rat. I meant King Rat. King Rat is a story that I say has relevancy today insofar as I think there might be a corresponding reaction from many Republican lawmakers when Trump exits the scene, to the reaction of the officers who had deferred to the King in the prison camp. (Long story, ya gotta read it.)

SciFi: Stranger In a Strange Land; The Dune series; Ringworld; Rendevous With Rama. Dozens upon dozens of others.

1984 (Interesting fact: It actual name is, Nineteen Eighty-four) knocked me out as a kid. It was, and is, a huge light in the literary sky. Animal Farm did not move me quite as much, but I have talked to people who consider it the superior novel.

I just read Brave New World again this year. Left me kinda cold. My earlier reading of it was positive, but something has turned off in me on the novel.

 

[Bigdog]

Probably other threads devoted to this, but...uhhh...here is another.

I saw the movie King Rat. The corporal was the hustler, the entrepreneur that could get things for people. Did the officers kiss his ass so that they could get first pick of the limited supply of goods before the (lower class) enlisted?

 

[Bigdog]

Probably other threads devoted to this, but...uhhh...here is another.

1984 ... I'm not going to write it out, lol.

Read the book, saw both versions of the movie; the 2nd is the best! The penultimate story of the dangers of Socialism. ... better than Animal Farm. Tho "All people are equal, but some people are more equal than others" is such a famous line. And yes, I know I misquoted it, lol

 

[Ross Dolan]

I saw the movie King Rat. The corporal was the hustler, the entrepreneur that could get things for people. Did the officers kiss his ass so that they could get first pick of the limited supply of goods before the (lower class) enlisted?

It is a complicated story that ends with the rats consuming themselves.

Clavell based the lead character on himself. He had been a Japanese prisoner of war.

 

[Ross Dolan]

1984 ... I'm not going to write it out, lol.

Read the book, saw both versions of the movie; the 2nd is the best! The penultimate story of the dangers of Socialism. ... better than Animal Farm. Tho "All people are equal, but some people are more equal than others" is such a famous line. And yes, I know I misquoted it, lol

1984 (nobody writes it out) GREAT book and great movie. When you can get a character to become a household word...you've done great.

Just went back to check on something about King Rat...and one of the comments made was, "...Robin Grey, a British officer and Provost Marshal of the camp, who has developed a Javert-like obsession with King..."

Big Brother...Javert!


Classic shit.

 

[Bigdog]

It is a complicated story that ends with the rats consuming themselves.

Clavell based the lead character on himself. He had been a Japanese prisoner of war.

Wow, I did not know that about Clavell.

It's been a long time since I've seen the movie. But what I recall is that the prison camp represented a socialist utopia where everyone was equally poor, but certain people (the officer ruling class) were more equal. And the Socialists eventually cut their own balls off by attacking the capitalism that uplifted their plight.

 

[Bigdog]

1984 (nobody writes it out) GREAT book and great movie. When you can get a character to become a household word...you've done great.

Just went back to check on something about King Rat...and one of the comments made was, "...Robin Grey, a British officer and Provost Marshal of the camp, who has developed a Javert-like obsession with King..."

Big Brother...Javert!


Classic shit.

Aaaah, the Socialist authoritarian who only finds true joy in slavish control of people.

 

[Bigdog]

Probably other threads devoted to this, but...uhhh...here is another.

It's been several years since I read Brave New World. I recall the ending being anti-climatic. Nothing changed. It was still a Socialist "Ant colony" like world in the end.

Perpetually trapped by Socialism like the N. Korean people.

 

[Phantasmal]

Probably other threads devoted to this, but...uhhh...here is another.

This is occasioned by a conversation I was having with Bigdog in another thread. Don't want to derail that one, so here is his post...and my reply.




The Alienist is an exercise in excellent writing and storytelling. I doubt any moral lessons are derived, but for some who spends lots of time in New York City, it was instructive on the city’s history. Cops, women, rich people, and the slums all get their fair share of attention.

Highly recommend the book and its sequel, The Angel of Darkness.

Not sure how I wrote Brother Rat. I meant King Rat. King Rat is a story that I say has relevancy today insofar as I think there might be a corresponding reaction from many Republican lawmakers when Trump exits the scene, to the reaction of the officers who had deferred to the King in the prison camp. (Long story, ya gotta read it.)

SciFi: Stranger In a Strange Land; The Dune series; Ringworld; Rendevous With Rama. Dozens upon dozens of others.

1984 (Interesting fact: It actual name is, Nineteen Eighty-four) knocked me out as a kid. It was, and is, a huge light in the literary sky. Animal Farm did not move me quite as much, but I have talked to people who consider it the superior novel.

I just read Brave New World again this year. Left me kinda cold. My earlier reading of it was positive, but something has turned off in me on the novel.

The Alienist was also made into a series. I think they did a great job. I’m currently re-reading “Caesar” by Colleen McCollough. I’ve also made over 10 dozen cookies, made fudge and Rugalach. I love baking for the holidays.

 

[Bigdog]

It is a complicated story that ends with the rats consuming themselves.

Clavell based the lead character on himself. He had been a Japanese prisoner of war.

Which brings to mind the great Kurt Vonnegut.

I especially like his essay, Harrison Bergeron, where he skewers the ridiculousness of Socialism and social justice warriors.

 

[Ross Dolan]

Which brings to mind the great Kurt Vonnegut.

I especially like his essay, Harrison Bergeron, where he skewers the ridiculousness of Socialism and social justice warriors.

At some point, we have to discuss your fear of socialism, Dog.

I am a capitalist...but I see lots of improvements to capitalism (especially American capitalism) that can be gotten from socialism.

Socialism, to its credit, sees lots of improvements that socialism can obtain from capitalism...and seems more than willing to use those improvements.

My personal feelings are that the best place to meet between the two (seemingly disparate) economic philosophies, is closer to the socialistic extreme than to the capitalistic extreme.

In any case, I just noticed a poster's signature line in another forum where I post. You might enjoy it...and it is apropos of this thread:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

John Rogers

 

[cawacko]

If we're talking political books I thought this was a hell of a read:

Try Common Sense: Replacing the Failed Ideologies of Right and Left

https://www.amazon.com/Try-Common-Sense-Replacing-Ideologies/dp/1324001763



On one hand I found it really depressing how truly broken our system of governance is. But the author does offer hope in how things can be changed. In a hyper partisan environment like JPP this type of book may not have a lot of appeal but I'd recommend it.

 

[Cypress]

1984 (nobody writes it out) GREAT book and great movie. When you can get a character to become a household word...you've done great.

Just went back to check on something about King Rat...and one of the comments made was, "...Robin Grey, a British officer and Provost Marshal of the camp, who has developed a Javert-like obsession with King..."

Big Brother...Javert!


Classic shit.

Orwell based his book on the 1924 dystopian novel "We" written by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin, about a future totalitarian mass-surveillance state. It was not allowed to be published in the Soviet Union until 1988 under Gorbachev

 

[Ross Dolan]

Orwell based his book on the 1924 dystopian novel "We" written by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin, about a future totalitarian mass-surveillance state. It was not allowed to be published in the Soviet Union until 1988 under Gorbachev

Didn't realize that.

Definitely a "kick your ass" kinda book.

 

[Cypress]

Aaaah, the Socialist authoritarian who only finds true joy in slavish control of people.

You have been brain washed by Boss Limbaugh.

Soviet totalitarian communism has nothing to do with, and is the antithesis of traditional European liberalism and democratic socialism.

Lenin detested liberalism, democracy, and democratic socialism.

The Bolsheviks came to power by engaging in a violent coup against a liberal-socialist coalition government which held power when the Tsar abdicated.

Russian liberals and democratic socialists were murdered, shot, imprisoned, and persecuted by Soviet communists.

Liberals and democratic socialists were among the first to take up arms against the Bolsheviks, all while the conservative landed gentry and and aristocracy were fleeing the country in a panic.

Idiot's Guide to the Russian Revolution
https://www.justplainpolitics.com/s...volutions-amp-Civil-War&p=3292779#post3292779

 

[Cypress]

Didn't realize that.

Definitely a "kick your ass" kinda book.

A powerful read and a profound statement about free will and human weakness.

A lot of people assume Orwell just came up with 1984 in light of what became widely known about Stalin and the gulag in the post war era. But Orwell himself acknowleged that he was in fact inspired by Zamyatin's 1924 dystopian novel about a future totalitarian mass-surveillance state.

 

[Bigdog]

Orwell based his book on the 1924 dystopian novel "We" written by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin, about a future totalitarian mass-surveillance state. It was not allowed to be published in the Soviet Union until 1988 under Gorbachev

Thanks, I forgot about that. I never read "We" so it didn't stick with me. I thought he drew much from his experience during the Spanish civil war.

 

[Bigdog]

You have been brain washed by Boss Limbaugh.

Soviet totalitarian communism has nothing to do with, and is the antithesis of traditional European liberalism and democratic socialism.

No, communism is the dissolution of gov't. Socialism is the stage before it.

Socialism is just the liberal hipster word for what used to be called monarchy.

 

[Bigdog]

If we're talking political books I thought this was a hell of a read:

Try Common Sense: Replacing the Failed Ideologies of Right and Left

https://www.amazon.com/Try-Common-Sense-Replacing-Ideologies/dp/1324001763



On one hand I found it really depressing how truly broken our system of governance is. But the author does offer hope in how things can be changed. In a hyper partisan environment like JPP this type of book may not have a lot of appeal but I'd recommend it.

Well, I viewed a 10 minute interview of the author talking about his book.

So I get the gist that he leans more libertarian. And his novelty is to be able to more easily fire and sue gov't employees, while at the same time allowing them more freedom from "rules".

 

[cawacko]

Well, I viewed a 10 minute interview of the author talking about his book.

So I get the gist that he leans more libertarian. And his novelty is to be able to more easily fire and sue gov't employees, while at the same time allowing them more freedom from "rules".

Reading the book I didn't get the impression he was Libertarian necessarily. To me he was more saying because there are so many rules people are afraid to make decisions and that we should lay out the guidelines and empower people (politicians, bureaucrats) to be able to make decisions. So it's not coming from a Libertarian "eliminate all rules" perspective.

I'll check out the video this evening. Thanks for posting.