What are you reading?

[Sir Didier Drogba]

I would very much like to hear newbies advise as to how to pick up women

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Just finished "All the King's Men" by Robert Warren Penn. Thought it was good.

Going back to an old favorite now, "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov. Really really liked it the first time. Very existential if I remember correctly.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

As someone who is interested in politics, the south and American literature, I think All The King's Men could appeal to me - do you recommend it?

I've never really gone back and reread classic novels, even those which I really really liked, there are just so many new books out there that I want to read that I can't quite bring myself to retrace my steps. Is this something you do often? It's getting to the point now where there are some books I read years ago and I know I really enjoyed them, but I can't really remember them very well, a few characters and a few scenes and themes, but very little of the plot. I sometimes wonder if I should go back and read these again, but I'm worried that it would just be a succession of 'oh yeah, that happened now' at each chapter and it may turn into a drag.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

Anyway, I am currently reading Wolf Solent by John Cowper Powys. It's set in Dorset and Cowper Powys is seen by many as an heir to Hardy, of whom I'm not particularly fond, but Powys' work seems much darker and more metaphysical. I am enjoying this so far, first English novel I have read for a while, elements of it reflect the kind of thing I would like to write (really nasty tales of the countryside).

 

[Mandieta6]

I like to reread some novels sometimes. You tend to discover new things rather than fixate on 'oh that's right, that happened'.

I've basically spent the last few months reading nothing but articles and books on the Great Gatsby or 'absurdist' fiction. So if anyone wants to debate Gatsby I'm down.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

As someone who is interested in politics, the south and American literature, I think All The King's Men could appeal to me - do you recommend it?

I've never really gone back and reread classic novels, even those which I really really liked, there are just so many new books out there that I want to read that I can't quite bring myself to retrace my steps. Is this something you do often? It's getting to the point now where there are some books I read years ago and I know I really enjoyed them, but I can't really remember them very well, a few characters and a few scenes and themes, but very little of the plot. I sometimes wonder if I should go back and read these again, but I'm worried that it would just be a succession of 'oh yeah, that happened now' at each chapter and it may turn into a drag.

It's pretty good, but it's not really that political. Really, while it is about a Southern Governor and the politics of his rise, it's more about the author's story. Penn won the Pulitzer for it though, so it's worth reading I think.

I don't reread books very often, I don't know why I decided to pick it up again, but I really did enjoy it the first time.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

I imagine it's quite a quick read. I'll pick it up if I see it.

EDIT: How do you get your books to Afghanistan? Did you bring a bunch with you, or do you order them in, or is there a base library or something?

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I have a kindle and internet access, but I couldn't find Master and Margarita on Kindle, so I ordered it through Amazon.

It's not really a quick read, it's relatively long. It isn't a Dickens book, but it's not quick. this was probably the slowest I've read a book since I've been down here, just because the first half isn't very interesting. I read the second half in a couple days, but the first half was maybe 2-3 weeks just because I didn't really care a lot.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

You're not really selling it. Maybe I'll give it a miss.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I thought it was good, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as a book that everyone should read.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Started The Education of Cyrus by Xenophon

 

[Back Door Skip]

The underline made me think I had spyware, you bastard.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

Started The Education of Cyrus by Xenophon

You should quote it frequently in the barracks when discussing military strategy

 

[ShiftyPowers]

If he's as good of a leader as I've been lead to believe, I'll probably control my 4-8 soldiers just like a mini-Cyrus.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

Impress your superiors by having a bookshelf of Xenophon, Thucydides, Machiavelli, Sun Tzu and von Clausewitz and quoting them constantly.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

The Prince was one of the best books I've ever read.

 

[Xifio]

The Prince blew my mind as a teenager ... but it focuses on dealing with policy, not military strategy, like Sun Tzu's Art of War or Clausewitz's On War ... Arthashastra would probably be a better Eastern compliment to The Prince ...

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

I liked The Prince too, of course it is more diplomacy/power theory, but Machiavelli did write about military strategy also, for example in his own 'Art of War'.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Not really interested in archaic military strategy in all honesty. The political part is still applicable because people haven't really changed.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

I suspect that's why the prince remains popular and macchiavelli's art of war has faded away.

They do often have other things to offer though, for example von clausewitz's treatise 'on war' is now retrospectively considered a seminal work of international relations theory