Who's Reading What?

[sbk]

I read all my books, now I have to go pay extortionate prices at the 2nd hand book store in town just to find something to read, and usually its something awful

I did just finish reading a really interesting book called Almost French, about an Australian girl who lives in France trying to figure the French out (kinda like living here, trying to figure out the Thais. In the end, she realizes, she won't and just learns to accept the differences). And Antipode, about a biologist doing a field study in Madagascar, about the climate, the nature, the people and the culture. Very interesting esp since Madagascar is so unique in its flora and fauna.

Hope I find something before I hit the airport , I hate paying the outrageous prices for the books there

[plachon]

the planned collapse of the world economy to bring a new order from chaos, the intentional dumbing-down of American education, and many other issues that are bothering you in your gut, but that you can't put your finger on.

Hope of the Wicked is about the greatest deception in modern history.  Read Hope of the Wicked and you will know for sure it is not only possible, it is already being done.

Trip, I was well into the blurb up to the point where it said the bit about the "intentional dumbing -down of American education" and then it lost me entirely. How can something as base and crass as this oxymoronic statement be "dumbed down" any further Georgie-Porgie (Yale Grad) Bush is living proof of this contradiction in terms. As Bronski Beat once sang :" The only way is up............." when it cums to skooling in Amerika.

Now, wot woz the Fred about? Ah, I remember - good boox. Just finished an exellent travelogue by a New York Times journo called "The River's Tale" by Edward Gargan. (Ok, I concede, there are a few Statesiders who managed to get their 3 R's together, before Tutsi gets on my case for slight exaggerration!). This book covers a year in the life of the author traveling down the Mekong from near its source in Tibet to the Vietnamese Delta. Insightful stuff.

Now dipping into a book I've had on my shelves for the best part of a year, but haven't got round to reading cover to cover, called "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond. It maps and explains the progress and fate of societies since prehistoric times in a totally coherent fashion. He argues that the reason that Europeans managed to conquer most of the planet, as opposed to some other regional group of people (like Papua New Guineans, for example), has everything to do with geography, environment and ecology, and nothing to do with some inherent biological or racial superiority, as many members of this forum would like to believe. Read it and judge for yourselves. alternatively, a good synopsis can be found at http://dannyreviews.com/h/Guns_Germs_Steel.html

Good thread which perenially comes around. Keep 'em coming bookworms.................

[NedKelly]

The Life of Pi - about a young Indian boy who spends 7 months at sea in a life boat with a bengal tiger !!

S-21 - about Tuol Sleng interrogation centre Phnom Phen - interesting read about what went on and who actually went through the place.

Dirt Music - a great book for Aussies to read. Set in WA or SA from memory and a very good book. Real story telling at it's best.

Chalida - a book aboput a young Thai girl growing up in the family of the ex prime minister of Thailand who was scapegoated/held responsible for the slayings of students at Sanam Luang 30 years ago. Interesting to read about the Thai view of life and culture.

[Spee]

Whats everyone reading right now or read recently?

Not really into non-fiction ...

Some of my past reads:

- Compromised: Clinton, Bush and the CIA, by Terry Reed and John Cummings (I could never view Clinton and his cronies, nor the Iran-Contra debacle in the same light after this read.)

- The Cardinals of Capitol Hill, by Richard Munson (I could never view congressional appropriations in the same light after this read.)

- Deep Black, by William Burrows (I could never think about airborne/spaceborne espionage/surveilance in the same light after this read.)

- Parliament of Whores: A Lone Satirist Attempts to Explain the Entire US Government (I could never look at a politician without a wry smile after this read.)

- Social Insecurity, by Dorcas Hardy (Knew I could never count on my social security pension after this read.)

- Confessions of an Ex-Secret Service Agent: The Marty Venker Story, by Marty Venker and George Rush (I never looked at the relevant presidencies in the same light after this read.)

- Living Philosophies, Clifton Fadiman ed. (the books is over 60 years old, but the advice of 35 of the pre-eminent thinkers and writers of that generation, I remember Einstein saying something like, "The more I learn, the less I know." How better a way is there to remain humble when looking at things unknown?)

- The Theory of Gambling & Statisical Logic, by Richard Epstein (real egg-head sh*t, but what a masterpiece)

These days, my reading tends to focus on hobbies, current interests and work.

Hobbies:

- Not intended as a blatant plug, but many of the books on poker from www.twoplustwo.com

Current Interests:

Lonely Planet Guide to Thailand

Bangkok Handbook

Let's Go Travel Guide: Thailand

Thai-English/English-Thai Dictionary & Phrasebook

Conversational Thai in 7 Days

Teach Yourself Thai

Job-related:

- mostly techie mumbo jumbo stuff, networks, switches, routers, design and the like, some on the www and some in books (but geez how I hate spending $50-$100 books that I know are 6-12 months old at publication, and will probably be outdated 6-12 months after publication)

[shopgurl]

Last read was Angels & Demons by Dan Brown which I found very entralling and such an astounding writer that is able to combine fiction with actual historical facts to create a rivetting read.

Currently reading Timeline by Michael Crichton, by the same author, I also recommend Prey.

Ned - Tried to read Life of Pi but just didn't have the patience I guess, it's still waiting depressingly for me to get back to it!

Tripxcore - Sounds like a must read, Hope of the Wicked, one question-it says most accounts are of global reference but is there certain countries (i.e. only US?) that it centrally focused upon?

For those that aren't keen on buying, has anyone checked out the Neilson Hays library over at Suriwongse?

[Spee]

Whats everyone reading right now or read recently?

Not really into non-fiction ...

whoops ... I meant not really into fiction ... novels and the like.

[Spee]

Tripxcore wrote ....

"Book Description

....Politics has become but a tool for chaos"

Off topic but ......

IMHO, politics has always been "a tool for chaos."

This is not to say that all forms of chaos are necessarily a bad thing.

Wish I could recall the title of the book .....

Many years ago I wrote a university paper on spying, espionage, counterintelligence, propaganda, misinformation, disinformation, etc., and found a wonderful reference book written by a former top intelligence officer and professor.

Though I can't recall the book's title, I never forgot this quote from the book, one of his main points in a chapter about how to use various kinds of information to control groups of people, was:

"A confused society is a controllable society."

The quote seems just as true for western societies and it does for middle eastern societies, albeit for very different reasons, political and economic ends, etc.

[tutsiwarrior]

plachon...I quite enjoy travel narratives and many of our favorite writers dabble therein from time to time (VS Naipaul, Graham Greene and others). However I was most pleased when Paul Theroux admitted to having sex with a 15 year old african girl...perverted carnality and little black titties...sublime...

[bartender100]

Nobody's mentioned Harry Potter.

[TRIPxCORE]

Tripxcore - Sounds like a must read, Hope of the Wicked, one question-it says most accounts are of global reference but is there certain countries (i.e. only US?) that it centrally focused upon?

The book so far has mostly been dealing with the US but the problem the book speaks of is a global problem and it does reference other countries.

[Stocky]

I'd second 'Cryptonomicon' by Neal Stephenson an excellent read.

I've just finished '1421 The Year China Discovered the World' by Gavin Menzies which was very thought provoking, and have recently started on 'Baudolino' by Umberto Eco, so far so good.

I agree with the previous comments on James Ellroy, I've enjoyed all his books but particularly 'American Tabloid' and 'The Cold Six Thousand'.

[mbkudu]

Tripxcore - Sounds like a must read, Hope of the Wicked, one question-it says most accounts are of global reference but is there certain countries (i.e. only US?) that it centrally focused upon? 

The book so far has mostly been dealing with the US but the problem the book speaks of is a global problem and it does reference other countries.

Another good book on this topic is, '...And the Truth Shall Set you Free," by

David Ike. Some of his theories of alien colonisation of earth are pretty freakin

out there but the rest of the book he has sources to back all his claims. His writings of the Rothchilds, Rockafellers, Bilderbergs, and the complicity of America,

the Jews and Nazi Germany in WWII is fascinating. Little tid bits like a portrait of Adolf Hitler in Henry Fords office and Allied bombers strategically 'missing' American manufacturing plants in Germany during WII make for interesting reading.

[shopgurl]

I've just finished '1421 The Year China Discovered the World' by Gavin Menzies which was very thought provoking,

Bought this one last week but haven't gotten around it, glad that someone found it fascinating, hoping to give a review about it soon!

[plachon]

plachon...I quite enjoy travel narratives and many of our favorite writers dabble therein from time to time (VS Naipaul, Graham Greene and others). However I was most pleased when Paul Theroux admitted to having sex with a 15 year old african girl...perverted carnality and little black titties...sublime...

Tutsi- Wasn't that in "My Secret History"? Takes me back a few years to carefree years following in Theroux's footsteps, though never got a girl to arch her back over, lift her skirt and pee into the sunrise on the lawn after a night of passion. You ever read Gabriel Garcia Marquez? The "General in his Labyrinthe", think it was called, set in Venezuela/Bolivia a couple of hundred years ago when power was as fluid as mercury. If so, there's a great description of the General shaving his young mistress of all body hair. Suspect you'd like it, you old goat, if 15 yr olds are your thing!

[tutsiwarrior]

plachon...'The General in his Labyrinth' is a minor Garcia Marquez effort when compared to '100 years of solitude' and 'Love in the time of cholera'. That he presently lives comfortably in Mexico City and is a friend of Fidel tells me all I need to know other than his ouvre...a living treasure of latin american literature.

When I worked in the NW woods many eons ago a colleague described shaving his wife's pussy in a fit of drunkeness. Some years later I picked up a woman in a bar in Jakarta and did the same. She was a witch from a town on the the Java sea and never looked the same from one time to another when one tried to concentrate. She quite enjoyed the shaving ritual.

Never did have it off with 15 year old stuff but I did with a 16 year old when I was 20. She was a virgin...what a mess. We hooked up some years later and did OK for 8 1/2 years. Then she went to law school, hooked up with some PC dykes and the whole show went to shit. She was one of the loves of my life and I have become violently anti-PC ever since.

Dunno...what are 15 year old african girls' tiddies like?

[pitrevie]

A book I am currently reading and which is one of the best I have read for some time is Irshad Manji’s ‘The Trouble with Islam’. Her website gives you a good idea of what it contains.

http://www.muslim-refusenik.com/

[Jeepz]

Sorry, most of what I read is fiction, primarily mysteries with a historical bent. Been on that jag for about two years now and it is still running strong.

Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr. Good stuff, a bit too much schtick going on in the first one (still an okay read), but he gets a handle on it in the second novel and the third is just nigh on perfect. Oh, right, Berlin Noir is a single book made up of three independant novels. First one set in Berlin prior to WWII as the Nazi's are gearing up. Second novel is during the war. Third novel is after the war, with the allies squabbling and Berlin in ruins.

And in the vein of wise cracking detectives, The Silver Pigs, first in a series set in Rome circa first century anno domini is a pretty good tale. Author is Lindsey Davis and a whole series of novels are out featuring Marcus Didius Falco. Be warned that there is a love story that runs through the series. If you can't stand the taint of mush in you mystery, it may be a problem, but it isn't over done and adds a pleasant touch to the whole thing, imho.

Non fiction, hmmm, not much. I just read Alexander Ross version of the first white settlement in Oregon. Not something most people will find compelling. But I am amazed that someone hasn't written a novel or made a movie about the ship Tonquin. It carried the fur traders to Oregon for John Jacob Astor. The captain was a bit of a nut case, though a very competent sailor. Ended up taking off to do some trading with tribes to the north. Was over run by natives and all hands killed. But before the last one died, he made it to the ship's magazine (black powder storage) and set it off, blowing the whole ship up and killing the natives that were ransacking the ship. Estimated 175 dead. Gotta be a movie script in there someplace. This is about 1810 or 1811 I believe.

Jeepz

[Boon Mee]

I'm reading my AUA books and they aren't real thrilling...

[bigwetpatch]

Sorry, most of what I read is fiction, primarily mysteries with a historical bent. Been on that jag for about two years now and it is still running strong.

well then you absolutely must read the flashman series...they are not very PC, but great historical fiction. Another cracker is Black Ajax, about the 19th Century 1st black heavy weight Tom Molineaux - just excellent.

[Georgie-Porgie]

Right now I'm reading The Six Day War. I kept looking at it, and thinking about that 650 baht price tag, but I really enjoy discussing Israel and being the only one in the room who knows what I'm talking about, so I sprung for it, and am quite happy that I did. Informative and interesting.

Someone at the beginning of the thread was talking about Jews going to their deaths "like lemmings". Read the Six Day War, no more my friend!

I just finished Fast Food Nation which is kind of a history and critique of the fast food industry. Real PC and highly over-rated.

Yeah, I know that burgers are fattening and that they hire young kids to save money on salaries. Old news.

About Elmore Leonard and James Elroy. Buy an Elmore Leonard title and you almost have a sure thing. Elroy is 50/50.

However, if you want to read something unbelievable, try Elroy's autobiography, My Dark Places. He is one sick mother F. , and I can't believe the things that he admits in print. It's not exactly literature though.

[tutsiwarrior]

hello georgie and welcome back...I am curious regarding James Ellroy's My Dark Places when viewed with his maniac writing barrage and his mother's murder. Were you able to find it locally or had to order from the web? Too little of the good stuff available locally...

[Boon Mee]

Sorry, most of what I read is fiction, primarily mysteries with a historical bent. Been on that jag for about two years now and it is still running strong.

well then you absolutely must read the flashman series...they are not very PC, but great historical fiction. Another cracker is Black Ajax, about the 19th Century 1st black heavy weight Tom Molineaux - just excellent.

I've got the entire Flashman series. Some in hardback. Got hooked on him a while back & who gives a rat's ass if the're not PC! That was a guy who lived life to the fullest!

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Just been reading The Telegraph supplement; interesting article on the lonliest place on earth.

Chernobyl.

[bigwetpatch]

QUOTE (bigwetpatch @ Thu 2004-05-13, 08:09:48)

QUOTE 

Sorry, most of what I read is fiction, primarily mysteries with a historical bent. Been on that jag for about two years now and it is still running strong.

well then you absolutely must read the flashman series...they are not very PC, but great historical fiction. Another cracker is Black Ajax, about the 19th Century 1st black heavy weight Tom Molineaux - just excellent.

I've got the entire Flashman series. Some in hardback. Got hooked on him a while back & who gives a rat's ass if the're not PC! That was a guy who lived life to the fullest! 

Boon mee,

excellent!! i'm a bit of an addict myself. I have them all too, alas not hardback....wish i did. I have read most of them at least twice; Flashman and the great game several times. I have a thing about Lakshmibai...my mins eye has a wonderful image of her with the koh-i-noor in her navel....As you see i am a bit of a flashman geek!!! oh dear.

You are right too, the fact that they are not PC at all is what makes them so great.

[Georgie-Porgie]

Thanks tutsi,

I just went to look and see if I still have it. It wasn't on the shelf, but could be around somewhere. I bought it in Asia books, but Kinokuniya in the Emporium would probably have it, if Asia Books is out.

If I locate it, I'll keep it somewhere for next time you hit Chiang Mai.

It's all his twisted fantasies about sex with his mother, dead or alive, plus tons of stuff about his drug use and criminal behavior as a teenager.

He was strung out on using Vicks inhalers as a very cheap speed high. You broke them open and cut up the horrible smelling cotton inside, and swallowed it. You would speed for 12 hours, but it was a raunchy high, and you kept burping up the inhaler smell.

I have never met anyone else who had heard of doing that before.

He would take them and then go rob a house.

Anyway, because you are interested in him, I think that you would like it, but it shocks you that he would admit what a sick puppy he is, more than anything else.

[Boon Mee]

QUOTE (bigwetpatch @ Thu 2004-05-13, 08:09:48)

QUOTE 

Sorry, most of what I read is fiction, primarily mysteries with a historical bent. Been on that jag for about two years now and it is still running strong.

well then you absolutely must read the flashman series...they are not very PC, but great historical fiction. Another cracker is Black Ajax, about the 19th Century 1st black heavy weight Tom Molineaux - just excellent.

I've got the entire Flashman series. Some in hardback. Got hooked on him a while back & who gives a rat's ass if the're not PC! That was a guy who lived life to the fullest! 

Boon mee,

excellent!! i'm a bit of an addict myself. I have them all too, alas not hardback....wish i did. I have read most of them at least twice; Flashman and the great game several times. I have a thing about Lakshmibai...my mins eye has a wonderful image of her with the koh-i-noor in her navel....As you see i am a bit of a flashman geek!!! oh dear.

You are right too, the fact that they are not PC at all is what makes them so great.

BWP

Flashman and the Great Game is one of my absolute favorites as well. When I was working in India, toyed with the idea of getting up to Lucknow as an historical journey of sorts but didn't. India is way too dirty now that the Colonial Forces have been turffed out. Ain't that statement non-PC!

One of my other favorites is the one that takes place during the Crimea War. Can't recall the title right now but all of the books are great historical stuff!

[plachon]

plachon...'The General in his Labyrinth' is a minor Garcia Marquez effort when compared to '100 years of solitude' and 'Love in the time of cholera'. That he presently lives comfortably in Mexico City and is a friend of Fidel tells me all I need to know other than his ouvre...a living treasure of latin american literature.

When I worked in the NW woods many eons ago a colleague described shaving his wife's pussy in a fit of drunkeness. Some years later I picked up a woman in a bar in Jakarta and did the same. She was a witch from a town on the the Java sea and never looked the same from one time to another when one tried to concentrate. She quite enjoyed the shaving ritual.

Never did have it off with 15 year old stuff but I did with a 16 year old when I was 20. She was a virgin...what a mess. We hooked up some years later and did OK for 8 1/2 years. Then she went to law school, hooked up with some PC dykes and the whole show went to shit. She was one of the loves of my life and I have become violently anti-PC ever since.

Dunno...what are 15 year old african girls' tiddies like?

Like unripe peaches at 15, ripening mangoes at 16, and luvverly firm melons by 17, in which state they'll stay in until such time as sprog No. 2 or 3 is born, by which time they take on ever more close resemblance to a pair of papayas. All speculation of course, based on reading too many National Geographic articles on Botswana and Malawi malagaws. Sorry to disappoint Tutsi, but my volunteering teeth were broken on the petite Thai variety and like you, kept strictly above the sweet 16 mark. Was only following Theroux in the metaphorical sense of his sexploits, not literally to Africa and beyond. Last year, enjoyed his paddling across the Pacific Islands in the Happy Isles of Oceania.

Will have to look out some more Marquez titles in the future.

This witch you met on Java - what do you mean she "never looked the same from one time to the next when one tried to concentrate"? Concentrate on what? Shaving her minge or on getting your end away? Please elaborate on what kind of magic she practiced, apart from pulling you under her spell?

[Boon Mee]

[mbkudu]

'Ho Chi Minh, A Life,' by William J. Dukier. H.C.M. was an extroirdinary patriot who did everything except bend over backwards to avoid war with the United States.

It is a unique person who dedicates his entire life from beginning to end to protect and serve his country. Even his given name, Nguyen Ai Quoc, means 'Nguyen the

Patriot.'

The book has a lot of information that is unknown to most, like the speculation that he actually spent time in Harlem, New York. It a harrowing story of complete dedication.

[igotworms]

Kingdom of Fear by Hunter Thomspon....a semi-autobiography detailing certain twisted events in his life.

The Electric Acid Kool Aid Test by Tom Wolfe...an interesting look at Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters who wreaked havoc in the States during the hippy days.

Edited October 5, 2004 by igotworms