Feeling Philosophical

[Ladygagasbabe]

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[litmlove]

Hey fellow readers, I'm looking for some good books. Books that really make you think about life. Or any book that's just amazingly good. Any suggestions?

What do you feel like?

Are you feeling Anxious? Then you should read Alan W. Watts The Wisdom of Insecurity. The writing is simple and elegant and the message is 'Just go with the flow of life'. Watt's audiobooks are good too.

Are you feeling oppressed? Then you should read Michael Focault's Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison. It is about realizing the systems, structures and rules in place that keep people under control.

Do you feel like an exotic holiday? Then you should read Alain de Botton's The Art of Travel. It is opening your mind to the possibilities when you travel and even when you are at home. He has a very 'dense' writing style but I enjoyed it. Worthwhile book that helps you discover the simple pleasures of a Caravan holiday in your own backyard. `Travelling is something you do in your head'.

If you tell me what you feel I can tell you what you might like.

 

[Ladygagasbabe]

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[Ladygagasbabe]

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[StrangeLife]

I didn't expect to like this book, but it turned out to be one of the most interesting and hauntingly engaging reads I'd had for some time...


http://s17.postimg.org/a5ohtrre7/Let_the_Right_One_in_cover.jpg


It adresses several major issues regarding morality and tolerance in an allegorical fashion, and in the process it steps on so many of our taboos that even Literotica likely wouldn't have accepted it. It's not "in-ya-face" life philosophy but definitely a book that makes you think (and feel like never visiting Sweden, despite the many hot blonde chicks who live there ).

 

[Ladygagasbabe]

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[sheablue]

Wow this book looks intense. I will totally check it out

It is. It's an amazing book.

I would also recommend The Passage by Justin Cronin.

 

[Ladygagasbabe]

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[NaokoSmith]

Hi Ladygagasbabe, welcome to the board. Do not go dancing in the woodland clearings when the trolls are trolling! and do not post stories in Loving Wives, LOL.

Personally I like the classics, cuz I am a classical sort, but I know a lot of people on here are keen on Neil Gaiman.

 

[sheablue]

Hi Ladygagasbabe, welcome to the board. Do not go dancing in the woodland clearings when the trolls are trolling! and do not post stories in Loving Wives, LOL.

Personally I like the classics, cuz I am a classical sort, but I know a lot of people on here are keen on Neil Gaiman.

Yes! Anything by Neil Gaiman!

But especially:

American Gods
Neverwhere
The Graveyard Book
The Ocean at the End of the Lane

And any of his books of short stories.

 

[Ladygagasbabe]

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[Handley_Page]

Hey fellow readers, I'm looking for some good books. Books that really make you think about life. Or any book that's just amazingly good. Any suggestions?

I would suggest almost anything by Terry Pratchett.
Start with "Men at Arms", perhaps.

 

[MrFoxwood]

I would suggest almost anything by Terry Pratchett.
Start with "Men at Arms", perhaps.

I second this although I'd recommend Jingo or Night Watch, both of which deal with politics. I have to say that Night Watch contains one of my favourite literary moments: the accusation that a group of people must be rebels because they're singing rebel songs, until it is pointed out that actually what they're singing is the national anthem, which is even more suspicious.

Also The Unbearable Lightness Of Being by Milan Kundera

 

[litmlove]

I'm really just in the mood to think about life, and myself.

Ah, so perhaps you want to read some stories:


+ The Stranger/The Outsider (depending on the translation) by Albert Camus. It is a chilling book about a man who lives an unashamedly objectivist life. Given the story I think The Outside is the more appropriate title although not used as often as The Stranger. Not a very long book and you will be hooked. I am not spoiling the plot for you.

+ Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom: A mentor has some profound lessons about materialism.

+ I can't recommend too many other books because they are either too dense or too simple. The Black Swan is an interesting book, but the whole premise of the book is in the title of the book (keep in mind for unexpected events in life). And I hate it when I get bored of a book or when I am not interested enough to care.


FWIW some other books I haven't read (yet?):

- I am also intrigued by Let The Right One In

- The Road to Serfdom by Hayek. Too dry for my taste. This book is among many other good 'foundation to basic economic theory' type books. A must if you are are interested in Economics, Finance & Right Wing politics.

- I was recommended The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness by Simon Wiesenthal. He is a Nazi concentration camp survivor. If anyone can teach you forgiveness it is that guy.

-Alan Watts is a true great modern-age philosopher. Other books of his to read are: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are (self descriptive, also about death) & Become What You Are (personal values, understanding your ego, religion)

- Again, not read, but appropriate for this board. The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships & Other Adventures by Dossie Easton.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Terry Pratchett is great! The stories featuring the witches are hilarious. Carpe Jugulum is a funny vampire pastiche, with a likeable young witch who wants to wear lace gloves and be like the other girls, but the horrid old hags know she is really a witch like them

Shea - if you haven't read Carpe Jugulum, give it a go. You will wet yourself laughing!

Men at Arms is one of my favourite Pratchett's. I love the piss-take of equalities policies. And Angua von Überwald is gorgeous!

 

[Bramblethorn]

Yes! Anything by Neil Gaiman!

But especially:

American Gods
Neverwhere
The Graveyard Book
The Ocean at the End of the Lane

And any of his books of short stories.

And the Sandman series. "Dream Hunters" is a favourite of mine.

For those of a SF bent, Robert Sheckley deserves to be better known. I loved "Mindswap" especially.

 

[litmlove]

And the Sandman series. "Dream Hunters" is a favourite of mine.

For those of a SF bent, Robert Sheckley deserves to be better known. I loved "Mindswap" especially.

I love Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novels, but I bounced off his American Gods novel hard (i only read the first chapter or so). Funny that, I don't know why. Maybe I wasn't in the mood or something. The Sandman starts really slow and is kinda a poor, but over the years/episodes, it gets better and better until near the end.

 

[allamagione]

In the spirit of both philosophy and this community...

Eroticism: Death and Sensuality by Georges Bataille. He has some interesting ideas on why humans create taboos to deal with the power that sex and death have over us — and why we nevertheless cannot escape the deep fascination we feel for both.

 

[NaokoSmith]

In the spirit of both philosophy and this community...

Eroticism: Death and Sensuality by Georges Bataille. He has some interesting ideas on why humans create taboos to deal with the power that sex and death have over us — and why we nevertheless cannot escape the deep fascination we feel for both.

That does sound like a good book.

I like Slavoj Žižek's writing - but it is kinda heavy.

If you are interested in literature, check Auerbach's Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature. It's a classic!

 

[VenusButterflies]

Hey fellow readers, I'm looking for some good books. Books that really make you think about life. Or any book that's just amazingly good. Any suggestions?

House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski. I can't recommend this book enough. Just read it.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera. "The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body.The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become."

The Thirtieth Year, Ingeborg Bachmann. It's a book of short stories. The story "The Thirtieth Year" is great. "Who am I then, in golden September, when I divest myself of everything which people have made of me? Who, when the clouds are flying?"

The Quest for Christa T., by Christa Wolf. "When, if not now?"

 

[Handley_Page]

I second this although I'd recommend Jingo or Night Watch, both of which deal with politics. I have to say that Night Watch contains one of my favourite literary moments: the accusation that a group of people must be rebels because they're singing rebel songs, until it is pointed out that actually what they're singing is the national anthem, which is even more suspicious.

"What do you call an unridden cavalry horse ?"
"Lunch"

Terry Pratchett is great! The stories featuring the witches are hilarious. Carpe Jugulum is a funny vampire pastiche, with a likeable young witch who wants to wear lace gloves and be like the other girls, but the horrid old hags know she is really a witch like them

Shea - if you haven't read Carpe Jugulum, give it a go. You will wet yourself laughing!

Men at Arms is one of my favourite Pratchett's. I love the piss-take of equalities policies. And Angua von Überwald is gorgeous!

It's best to read the "City Watch" in order:
"Guards, Guards", "Men at Arms", "Feet of Clay"

but M@A is a completely stand-alone story; it's murder mystery.