/lounge/ Book Club

Social media, Netflix, TV, movies... that's for human garbage.

Read books to improve your life. Not garbage grocery store romance novels or best-selling pleb shit, but important books. No scifi or fantasy escapist trash either. Read books that make you think.

What kind of books have you read lately? What kinds of books do you like?

Here are some books I like:
1984
Brave New World
Fahrenheit 451
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Society of the Spectacle
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media
Can Life Prevail?
Propaganda
Walden
Th Ego and Its Own
Authority and the Individual
The Machine Stops
Technological Slavery
Crime and Punishment
The Collapse of Western Civilization

Books I plan on reading:
Animal Farm
The Will to Power
The Degenerate Society: Postmodernism And How You Can Oppose It
The Panopticon Writings
Beyond Good and Evil
The Decline of the West
Why Nations Fail
Revolt Against the Modern World
Democracy: The God That Failed
Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist

I read a lot of programming books too, though you'll notice that I didn't list any here. Even though it's the industry I'm in, I can't help but feel like tech is soulless bugman shit that is accelerating the rise of degeneracy in the west.

Ideologically-driven books are the most captivating. They're the kinds of books that make you want to read them cover to cover.

But enough about my taste in books. So what do you like? And what would you recommend reading?

OP here, forgot another one I want to read eventually:
The Sublime Object of Ideology, or pretty much anything else by Slavoj Zizek

>Read books to improve your life.
Masturbation.

Letting someone else think for you doesn't make you clever.

>>3
Looks like you fell for the ``collectivism is bad, be a special snowflake who is far-removed from other thinkers and even your own community and people'' shit that globalist shills are pushing to separate people from their roots and culture so as to turn you into a mindless consumer drone who has no connection to your own people.

Are you a teenager? I have a hard time believing this thread was written by anyone old enough to drink.

>>4
Log off dude, you're clearly overstimulated

>>5
What books do you like? Stop trying to derail the thread. Either contribute something or go away.

anti-book shills pls go

>>7
You need to de-radicalize yourself before you do something stupid. Stop listening to podcasts, go outside, and just log off. Ignore this advice at your own peril.

>>9
I'm not radical, dude. Why do you think I am?

And I'm not going to "do anything stupid," whatever that means.

Books

Books are just an earlier media. They aren't some pristine example of human culture - they exist to make money for publishers or promote an ideology/religion that benefits the publisher/author.
If you want to extract useful information from a book, you'll see that most books can be condensed into 2-4 paragraphs about the lessons they carry as a summary and that actual manuals/how-to guides/technical on the topic at hand are far more useful and precise. There is alot of superfluous background/drama/relationshit that could be cut out without harming the value of the book.
Just like programming books can be 600 page behemoths that barely teach OOP or 20 page quick guides that give you the core concepts fast and develop them into working code.

>>12
If you actually read >>1, you'd see that I said a lot of books suck. I never said all books are better. I know some people who read awful books, so I wouldn't consider them smart, even though they think the mere act of reading makes them more intelligent. But many of the books I read fit certain themes. Disillusionment with modernity.

Why do you dismiss something just because it's ideologically-driven? Are you implying that apathy and accepting the status quo is somehow better?

>>13
A N G S T

>>14

Wow, I can't believe someone feels strongly about anything! They should be dead inside and not care about anything... just like me.

>>15

I'm surrounded by idiots who don't think deep philosophical things like me

Swirly yourself you pretentious little pseud

Disillusionment with modernity.

I agree, we live in flawed world. We can read books about escapist fantasies and how bad the world will become in the future, but it won't fix anything.

Suppose you can apply some of the books to your life, but other people would still be a source of external pressure(unless you're trying to be a NEET hermit) that would not understand your philosophy and will force you to adapt to them.

You'll need your own arguments to convince others beside relying on a book. Being book-smart dogmatic believer won't win you friends or change society.

You're overestimating the impact of books as people don't rely on this medium in modern time: today the format which spreads ideology better isn't a book.
The society you live in doesn't revolve about books anymore.

To spread ideas people need a modern "decentralized narrative": memes, short articles, infographics, forum posts, websites. The age of books as dominant cultural relics is over: the digital infosphere has outcompeted the medium itself with shorter, more efficient distribution aligned with the reader needs.

A monolithic relic that puts a single-perspective "central narrative" will be judged as biased and one-sided. The opponents and critics don't have a voice in the book: the book is reflection of author and publisher's filters. Interactive mediums(such as this thread) have infinitely more potential to refine and dissect an idea than a static book.

Why don't you bring forth an idea that interested you most in a recent reading and start a thread about it?

>>17

For someone who hates books you sure like writing them. Ever hear that brevity is the soul of wit?

>>18
Not the person you're replying to, but being brief isn't always better. Perl is an example of this. Expressiveness is better than terseness. But these days, with Twitter, people are used to having shorter media. I don't think long-form content is inherently bad though.

>>19

You weren't expressive.

>>17

Where are you getting this idea that I'm somehow trying to spread my beliefs to everyone, like a missionary or some shit? I have my own beliefs, and that doesn't mean I'm an ambassador for my ideology. I was only defending it because someone in this thread (you?) implied that it's bad to have strong feelings.

And yes, I know what the internet is. Your description of it sounds better-suited for some board meeting where people explain emojis and tweets to some boomer executives who are out of touch.

But this entire thread has been derailed. It's supposed to be about books in general, not my personal ideology.

What was the last book you read? What was it about? Did you like it? Why or why not?

Here are some books I like:

Why are they so dark/negative?

>>22,14

>>22
Because I'm upset with the ways things are, and where society is heading.

Those aren't the ONLY books I read, but they're the ones that I think are the most important. I didn't list the last JavaScript framework book I read. I also didn't list the more lighthearted books. I think it's important to be aware of the ills of society instead of burying your head in the sand and pretending that everything's okay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qlXur-FTIo

It's important to be upset and think really deeply. If everybody could just read Nietzsche imagine what the human race could accomplish.

>>25
Are you being sarcastic?

>>18
I don't "hate" books as a medium. I just explain why books are outdated, their main flaw and how relying on a "central narrative" without criticism is building dogmatic thinking - book-smart ideologues without independent thought.

You can use books as source, but forget once that its a one-sided narrative and you'll find critique unacceptable.
Without diversity of views and opinions, doctrines forced by the book break the neutral environment into "supporters" and "enemies". A book is inherently divisive.

A book can gloss over and omit critical facts, it can lie and manipulate. It can be misrepresent and mislead. Believing a book and absorbing it without thought just because it aligns with your worldview will pull you away from critical examination and analysis. Books are adept at crystallizing your beliefs and becoming reactively dismissive towards any criticism, treating a book as ultimate authority. The society we live in was molded by such people and more books won't fix it.












.

>>27

"central narrative" without criticism

My dude, the books I listed are all about criticism.

without independent thought.

There you go with that unrestrained individuality bullshit again. Guess what? No man is an island. It's in the best interests of globalists to separate people from their communities (people buy things when they're depressed), but in reality, community and family are the most important things in life. This "I'm a free thinker and I can't possibly try to fit in with a group" mentality is a plague on the west. But what's funny is that reactionaries who read stuff like in >>1 (I'm the OP) are thinking more independently in certain ways than people who just accept the mainstream leftist narrative.

one-sided narrative

It's like you didn't even read >>1 at all. One of the books is Marxist, whereas the rest are not.

Your post reads like some reductionist postmodernist bullshit where they try to say that everything is a social construct and therefore debunkable or wrong.

A book can gloss over
Believing a book
a book

A book, a book, a book. I read lots of books from many different viewpoints. Why are you lumping them all together? I think you're just a contrarian who likes to argue. Maybe you're trying to justify why you don't read. Idiocracy shit.

>My dude, the books I listed are all about criticism.
>Why are you lumping them all together?

You're reading the books of same genre and can't see them as parts of ideological narrative that aligns with your worldview and reinforces opinions you agree with?
For challenge, try reading a book that is against your narrative. That praises modernity, science and progress, read that scifi utopia you dismissed out of hand.

Now imagine a man that only reads these opposite books and imagine what arguments you have that would convince him: that would be the other side of the coin that mirrors your narrative.

>>29

You're reading the books of same genre

I didn't list all the tech books I read.

parts of ideological narrative that aligns with your worldview

I listed a book written by fucking Chomsky. He definitely doesn't align with my worldview. It's like you don't even know anything about the books I listed and you're literally judging books by their titles, not even looking them up online to see what they're about. Chomsky's views definitely don't align with my own. I try to see other people's perspectives though, but only a little. If you surround yourself with bad company, you will inevitably be influenced by them.

But thanks for completely derailing this thread. You still have yet to post what this thread is actually about: listing books you like and/or read recently.

It's funny that you're trying to imply that I'm in a bubble or something where I only expose myself to people with the same viewpoint, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I am surrounded by leftists.

I listed a book written by fucking Chomsky. He definitely doesn't align with my worldview.

Manufacturing Consent isn't about Chomsky's left-wing politics and its central theme is that Big Media is creating dystopian propaganda machines and TV zombies.

Its in perfect alignment with anti-modernity narrative(TV is bad), however you miss that same arguments apply to earlier media such as books, which you defer to as more neutral medium.
TV is just more efficient and cheaper than forcing you to read books.

>>32

TV is just more efficient and cheaper than forcing you to read books.

You're just blatantly trolling at this point.

People can independently publish books. Books can go against popular opinions. TV is centralized and only widely-accepted opinions get exposure. You said I shouldn't get all my opinions from "central narratives" in books, but you think TV isn't centralized? Yeah, stay woke watching CNN, buddy!

So anyway, trolls aside, what books have you read lately?

People can independently publish books.

The keyword is "can".
Books don't exist in some ideal world where their existence automatically gives them popularity. They are promoted by mass media, education, governments,etc. They're not some free-thinker media: they're controlled by publishing industry and sites like Amazon. They cost money to produce and distribute: they are part of centralized commercial enterprise called "The Book Industry" with its own cultural clout, comparable to the TV broadcasting companies.
There is censorship and control that shapes books exactly how the industry wants.

Books can go against popular opinions.

You're in for a surprise here.
Most books reinforce popular opinions& narratives. The few rare books going against the grain are promptly ridiculed and quickly go out of print.
Your """radically""" conservative narratives are not some unique 'rebellion against the modern world'. They existed since the industrial revolution and in some forms were available even in ancient greece(read on the Golden Age).
The anti-modernity narrative is as mainstream as it gets: most ideologies form to fix society into their version of golden age, critiquing current(modern) world and proposing a change - the image of good old days and harmony with nature are especially potent for uneducated and conservative. Are you just on the first stage of disillusionment with current affairs and seek something concrete to base your opinions on, desperately searching for some solution to fix the world once and for all, a perfect recipe that is hidden in some book?

Yeah, stay woke watching CNN, buddy!

I don't own or watch a TV, I sometimes view video on the internet, but i choose what i watch(from limited options dictated by cost of video hosting and policies of companies owning the video websites of course, you'd think its some decentralized free speech medium, eh?).

Fellow Reddit intellectuals, do you agree that reactionary media such as books should be banned and burned?
They only sow division and despair among our progressive society, they are often used by fascist nazis to subvert the mainstream media. I propose we report all books to licensed firemen to safely dispose of them.

>>35

especially potent for uneducated and conservative

lol

its some decentralized
its

And you're calling me uneducated. Okay, buddy.

>>37
I'm not calling you. I'm referring to the mindset of current 'anti-modernity movements' that are against modern education systems and the concept of post-industrial education as a whole. So the irony they're actually proud of being non-educated or home-educated, free of modernist ideology and "cultural marxism"/"progressivism"/etc.

>>38
My dude, I am in academia. As I said, I'm surrounded by leftists. And I'm still anti-progressivism. Just because I'm in college doesn't mean I have to succumb to brainwashing. I'm still learning a lot about engineering stuff though.

And I'm still anti-progressivism

You're against social changes that come with technological progress as i understand it and want to 'disconnect' from society?
The alternative of joining existing groups or forging your own ideology still seem quite intimidating, so you seek confirmation in books reinforcing your worldview to form 'more correct opinions'.

I'm in college doesn't mean I have to succumb to brainwashing

Well, you don't have to be brainwashed, but your mental models and methods are likely product of your education and often from specific teachers or books. I wouldn't say its impossible to forge your own mentality(many independent thinkers have "educated themselves" with some degree of success), but environment/nurture will exert greater influence than you imagine: you don't have a reference baseline without the influence of education and effects of rote memorization.