So did I.eumaas wrote: ↑02 Nov 2017, 12:31pmI meant Le CarreSilent Majority wrote: ↑02 Nov 2017, 12:16pmHe was kind of shitty to the young female communist.eumaas wrote: ↑02 Nov 2017, 12:08pmHe's great. Best of the lot. Also, his politics aren't as awful as one might expect.Silent Majority wrote: ↑02 Nov 2017, 10:16am29) The Spy Who Came In From the Cold - John Le Carre. Audiobook. Cold war spies, a very British setting, East Germany in the sixties, twists and bluffs. A very un-James Bond look at British Intelligence. Flawed, but a fun thriller which luxuriated in the technical details of administration and bureaucracy amongst character studies of damaged men.
Whatcha reading?
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Re: Whatcha reading?
Re: Whatcha reading?
Speaking of Le Carre, did anyone watch The Night Manager? I'm curious about general opinions but also divergence from the book (which I haven't read).Silent Majority wrote: ↑02 Nov 2017, 12:37pmSo did I.eumaas wrote: ↑02 Nov 2017, 12:31pmI meant Le CarreSilent Majority wrote: ↑02 Nov 2017, 12:16pmHe was kind of shitty to the young female communist.eumaas wrote: ↑02 Nov 2017, 12:08pmHe's great. Best of the lot. Also, his politics aren't as awful as one might expect.Silent Majority wrote: ↑02 Nov 2017, 10:16am29) The Spy Who Came In From the Cold - John Le Carre. Audiobook. Cold war spies, a very British setting, East Germany in the sixties, twists and bluffs. A very un-James Bond look at British Intelligence. Flawed, but a fun thriller which luxuriated in the technical details of administration and bureaucracy amongst character studies of damaged men.
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Re: Whatcha reading?
I didn't watch it, but the Boss liked it a fair bit.
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Re: Whatcha reading?
Tub reading:
In many respects, reading this is redundant as it's more on the same things he's been banging on about for a few decades now—recovering the humanist qualities of the Enlightenment that have been corrupted by corporate interests of abstraction, alienation, and hostility to the common good. The writing here is a lot more choppy, probably better appreciated by philosophers than the average dope (including me). Knowing Saul's other writing is making this one easier to comprehend.
Research reading (starting this afternoon):
Chugging into stuff on brainwashing in the 1950s and 1960s as part of an essay on mind control, payola, rock n roll, and fear of mass culture. I had the idea a few years ago and used it as a lecture but I want to research and write a proper piece on it as part of a series of essays on hostility to rock music.
In many respects, reading this is redundant as it's more on the same things he's been banging on about for a few decades now—recovering the humanist qualities of the Enlightenment that have been corrupted by corporate interests of abstraction, alienation, and hostility to the common good. The writing here is a lot more choppy, probably better appreciated by philosophers than the average dope (including me). Knowing Saul's other writing is making this one easier to comprehend.
Research reading (starting this afternoon):
Chugging into stuff on brainwashing in the 1950s and 1960s as part of an essay on mind control, payola, rock n roll, and fear of mass culture. I had the idea a few years ago and used it as a lecture but I want to research and write a proper piece on it as part of a series of essays on hostility to rock music.
"Grab some wood, bub.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
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Low Down Low
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Re: Whatcha reading?
I'm reading through Le Carre at the moment but in chronological order so nowhere near The Night Manager yet. Enjoyed the series, though, great cast and Tom Hollander does a particularly great role as the villainous sidekick.Kory wrote: ↑03 Nov 2017, 7:57pmSpeaking of Le Carre, did anyone watch The Night Manager? I'm curious about general opinions but also divergence from the book (which I haven't read).
Re: Whatcha reading?
Agreed. I liked how he always seemed to be there, lurking and watching.Low Down Low wrote: ↑06 Nov 2017, 2:20pmI'm reading through Le Carre at the moment but in chronological order so nowhere near The Night Manager yet. Enjoyed the series, though, great cast and Tom Hollander does a particularly great role as the villainous sidekick.
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Re: Whatcha reading?
30) Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Audiobook. My first read of this, so I'm contractually obligated to make the entirety of my notes on this book amount to "so it goes."
Re: Whatcha reading?
Ten Days That Shook the World. Trying to read the whole thing in one day.
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— Morton Feldman
I've studied the phenomenon of neo-provincialism in self-isolating online communities but this place takes the fucking cake.
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Re: Whatcha reading?
Buckley vs. Schlesinger:
From Aldous' bio of Schlesinger.in February 1963, Buckley advertised his new book with a quotation from Schlesinger: “He has a facility for rhetoric which I envy, as well as wit which I seek clumsily and vainly to emulate.” Rather than playing along with the joke, or at least rising above it, Schlesinger wrote immediately to demand that the publisher furnish him with “the source of this statement or else discontinue its use.” On and on the correspondence went, with a delighted Buckley never failing to up the stakes. “Would you be so kind as to ask Mr. Schlesinger to okay the translation of his quotation into French,” Buckley asked in April, including the text. Then he put out a press release saying Schlesinger was suing him and trying to censor the book. Furious, Schlesinger wrote a public letter to Publishers Weekly protesting that “both claims are false.” Inevitably Buckley responded, happy to keep the row going. He would stop using the quotation, he wrote, if Schlesinger sent him a letter “requesting me to do him the personal favor of removing it.” Otherwise, “so long as he tries to get me to drop it under the pressures of Messrs. Greenbaum, Wolff and Ernst [attorneys], I’ll go to the electric chair first, and instruct my heirs to put on my tombstone, Wm. F. ‘Envy His Rhetoric’ Buckley Jr.
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Re: Whatcha reading?
To be honest, instead of being amused, all I can think is “God, what a childish prick Buckley was.”Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑08 Nov 2017, 7:49amBuckley vs. Schlesinger:From Aldous' bio of Schlesinger.in February 1963, Buckley advertised his new book with a quotation from Schlesinger: “He has a facility for rhetoric which I envy, as well as wit which I seek clumsily and vainly to emulate.” Rather than playing along with the joke, or at least rising above it, Schlesinger wrote immediately to demand that the publisher furnish him with “the source of this statement or else discontinue its use.” On and on the correspondence went, with a delighted Buckley never failing to up the stakes. “Would you be so kind as to ask Mr. Schlesinger to okay the translation of his quotation into French,” Buckley asked in April, including the text. Then he put out a press release saying Schlesinger was suing him and trying to censor the book. Furious, Schlesinger wrote a public letter to Publishers Weekly protesting that “both claims are false.” Inevitably Buckley responded, happy to keep the row going. He would stop using the quotation, he wrote, if Schlesinger sent him a letter “requesting me to do him the personal favor of removing it.” Otherwise, “so long as he tries to get me to drop it under the pressures of Messrs. Greenbaum, Wolff and Ernst [attorneys], I’ll go to the electric chair first, and instruct my heirs to put on my tombstone, Wm. F. ‘Envy His Rhetoric’ Buckley Jr.
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Re: Whatcha reading?
Given what a smug guy Schlesinger was, tho, I enjoyed it. It'd have been better if Schlesinger had done something to deflate Buckley, too, but half a loaf, etc.Wolter wrote: ↑08 Nov 2017, 10:13amTo be honest, instead of being amused, all I can think is “God, what a childish prick Buckley was.”Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑08 Nov 2017, 7:49amBuckley vs. Schlesinger:From Aldous' bio of Schlesinger.in February 1963, Buckley advertised his new book with a quotation from Schlesinger: “He has a facility for rhetoric which I envy, as well as wit which I seek clumsily and vainly to emulate.” Rather than playing along with the joke, or at least rising above it, Schlesinger wrote immediately to demand that the publisher furnish him with “the source of this statement or else discontinue its use.” On and on the correspondence went, with a delighted Buckley never failing to up the stakes. “Would you be so kind as to ask Mr. Schlesinger to okay the translation of his quotation into French,” Buckley asked in April, including the text. Then he put out a press release saying Schlesinger was suing him and trying to censor the book. Furious, Schlesinger wrote a public letter to Publishers Weekly protesting that “both claims are false.” Inevitably Buckley responded, happy to keep the row going. He would stop using the quotation, he wrote, if Schlesinger sent him a letter “requesting me to do him the personal favor of removing it.” Otherwise, “so long as he tries to get me to drop it under the pressures of Messrs. Greenbaum, Wolff and Ernst [attorneys], I’ll go to the electric chair first, and instruct my heirs to put on my tombstone, Wm. F. ‘Envy His Rhetoric’ Buckley Jr.
"Grab some wood, bub.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
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Silent Majority
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Re: Whatcha reading?
I'm seeking to climb the ladder at the bookies as quickly as possible for more cash and security. Using a more moral version of the techniques that spurred the title character through the Years of Lyndon Johnson is seeing my reputation rise in the company.
I'll be killing Vietnamese children before you know it.
I'll be killing Vietnamese children before you know it.
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Re: Whatcha reading?
That’s the title to volume one of my extensive biography of Mark Wahlberg.Silent Majority wrote: ↑08 Nov 2017, 11:30amI'll be killing Vietnamese children before you know it.
”INDER LOCK THE THE KISS THREAD IVE REALISED IM A PRZE IDOOT” - Thomas Jefferson
"But the gorilla thinks otherwise!"
"But the gorilla thinks otherwise!"
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Silent Majority
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Re: Whatcha reading?
I'd wager £1 that "John Landis" was backspaced from Wolter's keyboard as he composed this post.Wolter wrote: ↑08 Nov 2017, 11:32amThat’s the title to volume one of my extensive biography of Mark Wahlberg.Silent Majority wrote: ↑08 Nov 2017, 11:30amI'll be killing Vietnamese children before you know it.
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Re: Whatcha reading?
There really is an embarrassment of riches in that department.Silent Majority wrote: ↑08 Nov 2017, 11:41amI'd wager £1 that "John Landis" was backspaced from Wolter's keyboard as he composed this post.Wolter wrote: ↑08 Nov 2017, 11:32amThat’s the title to volume one of my extensive biography of Mark Wahlberg.Silent Majority wrote: ↑08 Nov 2017, 11:30amI'll be killing Vietnamese children before you know it.
”INDER LOCK THE THE KISS THREAD IVE REALISED IM A PRZE IDOOT” - Thomas Jefferson
"But the gorilla thinks otherwise!"
"But the gorilla thinks otherwise!"