Your favourite authors, and why?

[Ansiktsburk]

Besides philosophy I read (or rather listen to) thrillers, like David Baldacchi and romance, like Lisa Jewell, Kate Morton or Liz Fenwick. And an occasional Dostojevskij. The guy drown you in words but there are certainly some gems there.

[promethean75]

Sometimes, a situation is so FUBAR that it can't be fully conveyed without great breadth and depth in writing. D put the legwork in and did what he had to do to give us some of the best nihilism and existential drama/tragedy ever created by putting pen to paper.

[reasonvemotion]

Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, by Henry Miller.

Henry and June by Anais Nin

Les Enfants du Paradis, by Marcel Carne

The Idiot, by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

[attofishpi]

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[Maia]

I've just finished reading a novel called The Stonehenge Legacy by Sam Christer, which I thought was quite interesting, though a little far fetched. It concerns an ancient cult, a bit like the Freemasons only much more extreme, whose job it was to protect the stones and carry out human sacrifices there every year. They had a massive underground headquarters, thousands of years old, with all sorts of tunnels and secret mechanisms, and that's the part that stretched credibility to breaking point, though it was a fun read, I suppose. The protagonist was an archaeologist, who infiltrated the cult to save the life of their latest sacrificial victim, the daughter of a high ranking American politician. I won't give away the ending by saying whether he succeeds or not, though you can probably guess.

[Gary Childress]

I don't read as much as I used to. I mostly just skim forums these days.

I used to gobble up Noam Chomsky's political writings. I don't know that I would call him my "favorite" author, his writings mostly made me feel like shit because my country has terrible foreign policy. But I had the idea that reading about my own country's crimes would edify me in some way or make me a better informed citizen. So I read him anyway.

I'm not entirely sure if that was a good idea or not. I kind of feel like he was more critical of the US and UK than he was of countries like Russia and China. Now Russia and China seem to have emerged as enormously powerful and I have to wonder if people in those countries concern themselves with the crimes of their own countries or not. Maybe all that Chomsky accomplished was to reduce my esteem for my own country so that more draconian countries could come to the fore?

[Maia]

I don't read as much as I used to. I mostly just skim forums these days.

I used to gobble up Noam Chomsky's political writings. I don't know that I would call him my "favorite" author, his writings mostly made me feel like shit because my country has terrible foreign policy. But I had the idea that reading about my own country's crimes would edify me in some way or make me a better informed citizen. So I read him anyway.

I'm not entirely sure if that was a good idea or not. I kind of feel like he was more critical of the US and UK than he was of countries like Russia and China. Now Russia and China seem to have emerged as enormously powerful and I have to wonder if people in those countries concern themselves with the crimes of their own countries or not. Maybe all that Chomsky accomplished was to reduce my esteem for my own country so that more draconian countries could come to the fore?

The only thing I know about Noam Chomsky is that they named that chimp after him, Nim Chimpsky, who they taught sign language to.

[accelafine]

And Nim Chimpsky was a lot more likeable and intelligent.

[Maia]

And Nim Chimpsky was a lot more likeable and intelligent.

It's quite a sad story, what happened to him. Abandoned and forgotten.

[accelafine]

And Nim Chimpsky was a lot more likeable and intelligent.

It's quite a sad story, what happened to him. Abandoned and forgotten.

Yes. I was just reading about him. Animal researchers are the sadistic psychopaths of the science world. These beautiful, sensitive beings just get used and discarded when they are no longer useful.

[Maia]

And Nim Chimpsky was a lot more likeable and intelligent.

It's quite a sad story, what happened to him. Abandoned and forgotten.

Yes. I was just reading about him. Animal researchers are the sadistic psychopaths of the science world. These beautiful, sensitive beings just get used and discarded when they are no longer useful.

It is, indeed, quite heart breaking, what some people are capable of.

[Gary Childress]

Considering what deforestation, pollution, factory farming and commercial fishing do to our fellow living beings, it's not just a few chimpanzees that we've been cruel to.

[accelafine]

Considering what deforestation, pollution, factory farming and commercial fishing do to our fellow living beings, it's not just a few chimpanzees that we've been cruel to.

The philosophy known as whataboutism. Always welcome in any discussion

[Gary Childress]

Considering what deforestation, pollution, factory farming and commercial fishing do to our fellow living beings, it's not just a few chimpanzees that we've been cruel to.

The philosophy known as whataboutism. Always welcome in any discussion

Not really "whataboutism" more like "inadditiontoism".

[accelafine]

'just a few chimpanzees' sounds a lot like 'whataboutism' to me. It's all connected anyway. You can't care about one without the other.