Batfan175 wrote:

Ruth wrote:

Batfan175 wrote:1984 by George Orwell. Still relevant and scarily accurate looking at modern capitalist society.

One of my favourite books of all time, actually. Though I'd argue Brave New World is a slightly more accurate depiction of modern society.

Well, I think if one substitutes Big Brother for a corporation nothing would change in terms of oppression. ideology is irrelevant, since the Party actually manufactures books that voice opposing points of view as well so in the end one does not really know what they truly believe in except the subjugation of all life. Hannah Arendt wrote about totalitarian regimes that they merely use ideology as a justification for oppression but that the ony real constant idea is of total and absolute control so they are rather flexible. I have yet to read Brave New World though.

You should. Without reading it, there's really no way of being able to compare the two. You can draw parallels to nowadays world from both, but Brave New World just goes more in depth about dumbing down society with not direct oppression, but total transfixion with hedonism and entertainment. But I myself read it like 5 years ago, so I don't remember a lot lol.

Brief Interviews With Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace

only posting this cause there was an excerpt that really stood out for me. It's basically an (IMO compelling) argument for the benefits of having experienced trauma.

i'm very very interested in others thoughts on it

Read here http://bengarrido.com/2013/11/17/excerp ... r-wallace/
or listen here

mchekhov 2: Chek Harder wrote:Brief Interviews With Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace

only posting this cause there was an excerpt that really stood out for me. It's basically an (IMO compelling) argument for the benefits of having experienced trauma.

i'm very very interested in others thoughts on it

Read here http://bengarrido.com/2013/11/17/excerp ... r-wallace/
or listen here

I've had an unread copy of Infinite Jest sitting in my room for years now since its length is too much of deterrent but I've enjoyed all of his interviews, especially his This is Water speech. I think his description of the meaning of life is better than most attempts at contemplating the issue because its very digestible. The whole concept of being aware of what you "worship" is a great thing to outline at a commencement speech. It reminds me of the last scene in Memento when Teddy says "so you lie to yourself to be happy, we all do it". We all have this vague idea of what motivates us to go on that we don't really think about and unfortunately DFW thought about that too much. Heres the speech if anyone is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.



this book had me hype. Gotta set up that trap house empire.



But seriously this is an epic read and a massive page turner.

Currently reading -

Currently reading.

If you're into really smart ass characters, you'll love Demille's John Corey books.

Had to re-read. Man, this dude is such a badass

Great read

The Best Interface Is No Interface: The simple path to brilliant technology by Golden Krishna

Really interesting look at our addiction to screen in our everyday life. In this book Golden explores solutions in technology that naturally work in our life without us having to interact with UI.