What do you want to read?

pctacitus · Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 6:31 pm Post subject: What do you want to read?

I was inspired by the what are you reading thread to ask if anyone had something akin to an amazon wishlist of books they want, if so please provide us with a link.

So what do you want to read? What book do you just not have enough time for? What do you need to get a copy of? What is that you have always want ed to read but never seem to get to for whatever reason? What do you want to read that has not been released yet?

In good faith, I am providing a link to my own wishlist. It provides a list of books I want to or am considering procuring. And yes, gifts are accepted from those generous enough to pay for them.

www.amazon.com/gp/registr...3&x=10&y=4

…[T]o ignore the classics is ultimately to weaken the very foundations of our society. - James Atlas, Book Wars: What it Takes to be Educated in America

Edited by: pctacitus at: 4/14/05 7:34 pm

MadArchitect · Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:13 pm Post subject: Re: What do you want to read?

So what do you want to read?

Just taking a sampling from my "unread" stack...
• "The Civil Wars", Appian (just bought today)
• "Resurrection", Leo Tolstoy
• "America at 1750: A Social Portrait", Richard Hofstadter
• "Being and Time", Martin Heidegger
• "The White Goddess", Robert Graves
• "A Scot's Quair", Lewis Grassic Gibbon
• "Feudal Society", Marcel Bloch
• "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", Thomas S. Khun
• "The Assassins", Bernard Lewis
... and so on, and so forth, ad infinitum.

What book do you just not have enough time for?

• the Gormenghast novels, by Mervynn Peake
• the unabridged edition of "The Golden Bough", by James Frazer
• some of the Hindu epics, like the Mahabaratta (not to mention that finding unabridged versions in good translation is hard -- I might have to brush up on my Sanskrit)
• "In Search of Lost Time", Marcel Proust
• "The Faerie Queen", Edward Spencer

What do you need to get a copy of?

• "Theoretical Biology" by Joseph von Uexkull -- doesn't appear to have ever been translated into English
• a descent history of medieval Russia

What is that you have always wanted to read but never seem to get to for whatever reason?

I'llinterpret this as, what are books that you keep picking up, but never finish...
• "One Hundred Years of Solitude", Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• "The Koran"
• "A History of Sexuality", Michel Foucault
• "The Iliad", Homer

What do you want to read that has not been released yet?

Um... pretty much nothing. I don't follow current literature very closely.

tarav · Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:02 pm Post subject: Re: What do you want to read?

For the last few years I have been meaning to read more about egyptology. I read a series of fiction books where the main character is an egyptologist and the author has a Ph.D. in egyptology. Reading the fictional accounts makes me want to learn more about the process, the artifacts, and Egypt. I just never seem to get around to it. I also don't get around to reading about archaeology enough. I know that if I want to stay current, I should be reading publications on a regular basis. I just don't do so as much as I want to.
Mad- I read One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez a long time ago. I also read, In the Time of Cholera(I think he wrote that one too). I remember enjoying both books immensely.

pctacitus · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 5:10 am Post subject: Re: What do you want to read?

I know that I have wanted to read Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire for some time, but I find that it is quite large and I never seem to have time to sit and read it.

…[T]o ignore the classics is ultimately to weaken the very foundations of our society. - James Atlas, Book Wars: What it Takes to be Educated in America

Mr. Pessimistic · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 7:06 am Post subject: Re: What do you want to read?

Nick's Wish List

Of course I do NOT expect gifts from anyone willing to pay for them!!!

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

Edited by: misterpessimistic at: 4/16/05 7:17 pm

pctacitus · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 10:39 am Post subject: Re: What do you want to read?

Nick, were you logged in to amazon when you linked your wishlist (I wasn't when I linked mine)? I think it just gives the url for the wishlist of whoever is logged in. I clicked on your link and saw my wishlist. I logged out and I got a page that asked me to log in to create my own wishlist. And Nick, I don't expect gifts either, but I accept them.

…[T]o ignore the classics is ultimately to weaken the very foundations of our society. - James Atlas, Book Wars: What it Takes to be Educated in America

MadArchitect · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 12:25 pm Post subject: Re: What do you want to read?

tarav: For the last few years I have been meaning to read more about egyptology.

I'd suggest the works of E.A. Budge. He doesn't talk much about the process, but he's one of the classical sources on the conclusions drawn by Egyptology, particularly concerning the culture, language, religion and mythology.

Mad- I read One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez a long time ago. I also read, In the Time of Cholera(I think he wrote that one too). I remember enjoying both books immensely.

Yeah, I like Garcia Marquez's style immensely, and I've read a number of his short stories and novellas, but I've picked up "One Hundred Years" on three seperate occasions, and have yet to pass the mid-way point. I think "East of Eden" sort of burned me out on the family saga genre, even when imbedded in magical realism.

pctacitus: I think it just gives the url for the wishlist of whoever is logged in. I clicked on your link and saw my wishlist.

I don't have a wishlist, but I did notice that there weren't any books on the list that popped up...

pctacitus · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 3:12 pm Post subject: Linking amazon wishlist's

The proper method to effectively link an amazon wishlist is to log out before copying the link to your publicly viewable (this requires account settings) wishlist and the viewer to be logged out of their account when they view the link.

…[T]o ignore the classics is ultimately to weaken the very foundations of our society. - James Atlas, Book Wars: What it Takes to be Educated in America

Mr. Pessimistic · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 7:18 pm Post subject: Re: Linking amazon wishlist's

PC:

Thanks for the catch! I fixed the link in my original post.

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

MadArchitect · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 10:49 pm Post subject: Re: Linking amazon wishlist's

A History of Sparta, 950-192 B.C. by William George

Ha! I just read this one. It's thorough, given its brevity, but it's also kind of dry stylistically. You're obviously interested in Sparta, so I suggest you pick up a copy of "The Peloponnesian War" and read along with us in the Classics discussion.

Also read "The Moral Animal" a long time ago. The theory is interesting, but seriously unsubstantiated, and I don't think it entirely addresses the evidence of the role played by morality in civilization.

Mr. Pessimistic · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 11:12 pm Post subject: Re: Linking amazon wishlist's

I was going to join the classic discussion...but I tend to over-extend myself in trying to participate...I have not even read Collapse in a few days. I am doing MAJOR garden and landscaping work lately!

I took an interest in Sparta after while reading the Harris book, "Civilization and It's Enemies". That is about the only useful thing I got from it!

pctacitus recommended the Sparta books on my list.

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper


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