I'd say mine would be Walden, anything Michael Crichton has written, and Malcolm X's autobiography.
It could about anything, just not economics. What do you guys read?
Freedom has always been the only route to progress.
Lots of philosophy, political or otherwise. i.e. Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Machiavelli, Hegel, Kant, Schopenhauer, Spooner, Tucker, Stirner, Kuehnelt-Leddihn, etc. Some of these are more enjoyable than others (Hegel is a chore, to say the least).
I haven't been reading much fiction lately. But I loved reading Camus, Dostoevksy, Nabokov, Kafka, Tolstoy, Joyce, Conrad, and the like.
My personal Anarcho-Capitalist flag. The symbol in the center stands for "harmony" and "protection"-- I'm hoping to illustrate the bond between order/justice and anarchy.
King Rat by James Clavell
Anything about Roman history, especially from the ancient historians: Polybius, Livy, Plutarch, Suetonius, Tacitus, et. al. My favorite modern Roman historian is Adrian Goldsworthy. My favorite historical fiction that takes place in the Roman world is Simon Scarrow's Eagle series, Steven Saylor's Gordianus the Finder series, Robbert Harris' Imperium, and Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series.
Anything with "Jeeves" in the title by Wodehouse.
Anything by Ken Follet, Larry McMurtry.
A psychology book I've read eleven times and have started on the twelfth, Compassion and Self Hate by T.I. Rubin.
In the old days I loved anything by Freud [and to a lesser extent Jung] and Eric Berne. I'm not sure how much of Freud and Jung is true and to what extent. But I think Interpretation of Dreams is a classic, and reliable. Berne seems to know what he is talking about as well.
I read Malcolm X years ago. What I took away from it was that he was a seeker of truth, mixed up in the head, never had a good math teacher, and wrote extremely well.
As a boy I liked the Freddy the Pig series, by Walter R. Brooks.
History of Western Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell. Now there was a guy who knew what's what.
Yeah, and I like poetry ocassionaly. Just saw some great lines by Lowell:
Truth forever on the scaffold,
Wrong forever on the throne.
Sums up exactly how I feel since studying AE.
Since the internet reached my home years ago, I confess that it's become harder to read anything. Don't know if this is post hoc fallacy at work.
My humble blog
It's easy to refute an argument if you first misrepresent it. William Keizer
The Accountant's Story, written by Pablo Escobar's brother Roberto Escobar, or Hell's Angel, written by Sonny Barger. Both of these books will change your entire view of them if you've heard anything about their lives.
Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel.
The Martian Chronicles, written by Ray Bradbury.
The Road, written by Cormac McCarthy. If you haven't read any McCarthy, I'd also urge you to watch his interview with Oprah if you have time. He's a very interesting author
Haunted, written by Chuck Palahniuk. I don't really like much of Palahniuk's work - too researched and too much commentary. But this one's good.
American Psycho, written by Bret Easton Ellis. The movie is incredible too.
If there's a certain genre you're looking into, let me know and I'll give you those specified recommendations.
If you couldn't guess, I enjoy G.K. Chesterton :P.
I don't read too much fiction, nowadays, though. Lots of economics, philosophy, and political philosophy.
^The Road is the next movie on my Netflix queue, I didn't know there was a book. I'll have to read that after watching it.
I'm a big fan of the Halo novels, what with their solid depiction how totalitarian secretive governments and theocratic governments would work in the future.
Computational Biology: The only reason I'm hopeful that my consciousness will survive to see Poly-centric justice enforcement.
Empire: Orson Scott Card's book on a fictional second American Civil War.
The Road is the next movie on my Netflix queue
I don't know if I want to watch the film adaptation of The Road. I definitely, definitely recommend reading the book though. McCarthy's style of writing is so different from other authors. He doesn't really use commas or quotation marks, and everything just feels so raw and clear. The movie and book No Country for Old Men by McCarthy are also wonderful.
I don't know if I want to watch the film adaptation of The Road.
My girlfriend and friend both read The Road, and said they loved it and cried at the end. My girlfriend and I went to see it in theaters (didn't reach this area for a while), and she was really skeptical about how accurate they would make it (or they'd throw in something not in the book like that global warming had to do with why the world came to an end). She said the movie was pretty exact except not showing the kid's dreams and they might have changed the order of a few events. I can honestly say I was on the edge of my seat and on the verge of crying at the end. Was a fantastic movie.
As far as other books goes, I have an interest in ancient religion and philosophy. Early Graeco-Roman, Egyptian, and Norse religion and philosophy, runes, spirituality, traditionalism, and to a more in depth extent left-hand path religion and spirituality (modern day examples being the Temple of Set and LaVey's Church of Satan). I have some books by Stephen Flowers (also writes under Edred Thorrson) who writes on these topics. Currently reading Lords of The Left-Hand Path. I don't read any New-Age or Wiccan nonsense, though.
That's good to know you two liked the movie. Maybe I will check it out. I don't know many people who have seen the movie, and none who have read the book, but I'm glad it's accurate.
I fail to understand how people could cry at The Road. I almost fell asleep half way through It's so dreary, dull, and depressing. Granted, Vigo gave a stellar performance (as he always does), but I couldn't stand the stupid kid.
I thought The Book of Eli was marginally better. Denzel Washington is my kind of post-apocalyptic badass.
p.s. Why are the bad guys in post apocalyptic films always rednecks? Why is it that filmmakers seem to universally agree that rednecks will become crazy cannibals or looters once the shit hits the fan.
I'm not a "redneck" by any means. I just find this curious.
Why are the bad guys in post apocalyptic films always rednecks?
Cause they are the ones getting screwed now.
It's so dreary, dull, and depressing.
That's what the apocalypse would be like. Beside The Road's depiction of the apocalypse, Mad Max had a pretty badass view, but highly unlikely.
I know I'm late to the party on this one, but you just can't go wrong with Robert A Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I read the thing in a few days, even in the midst of a tough school schedule, because it was just so good. Pity about the ending, though.
I also highly HIGHLY recommend the book that quite literally started it all for me (it got me into neuropsychology and got me into reading non-fiction, which eventually led me to Ron Paul, who led me to Austrian economics): The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge. It's a book about neuroplasticity (i.e. what the title says) and is a very interesting read.
Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel is a classic, by far. An in-depth look at exactly why it was Europe that conquered the world and why the New World was so far behind technologically. One of the best parts is that he out-and-out calls the state "the monopoly on the use of violence."
Amity Shlaes' The Forgotten Man is a great history of the New Deal and the Great Depression that really sheds light on just how much of a tyrant and hypocrite FDR was. I actually had to put this book down many times during reading it, storm off for a few minutes while shouting virulent hatred for Roosevelt, then come back after I had settled down.
I highly reccommend Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. It's a genuinely funny satire on just about everything. Also The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson and books like it--they present actual history in the guise of a story, making for a very interesting read. Finally, The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, which is exactly what it sounds like and absolutely fascinating.
I go to the movies to escape reality. As someone who does not use drugs or alcohol, movies are one of the few ways I have of satisfying the basic human need to alter one's consciousness. Movies like Star Wars (original trilogy), The Matrix (first one), Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, and Avatar take me out of the real world and transport me to somewhere new and amazing. Because they are so different and uplifting, they stay with me, they inspire me.
I think my lack of emotional reaction to The Road was an unconscious self-protection mechanism. Getting too emotionally involved in such a film would only have made me want to put a gun in my mouth.
The Dune series is pretty awesome, just avoid the stuff by the author's son and Kevin J. Anderson.
Confederacy of Dunces is also well worth a read.
"Man thinks not only for the sake of thinking, but also in order to act."-Ludwig von Mises
just avoid the stuff by the author's son and Kevin J. Anderson.
TOO LATE. I quite enjoyed his Jedi Academy series...as a middle school aged kid.
I like reading anything by Zacharia Sitchin, pretty interesting books.
Asimov's Foundation series was excellent. His other books like the black widow short stories were fun too.
I also recently read "The American book of the dead." which is available free online I believe. This one was rather strange, and somewhat fun. Kept me hooked for the 2 days it took to read (I didn't sleep much lol).
Are you a Coast To Coast AM listener?
Tolstoy's War and Peace.
But yeah, Sitchin is also fine.