Week 6: All quiet on the western front

So, now that I've really started reading this book, I am in fact liking it. It's set during WW1, and it's interesting. A lot of it is introspection on the part of the main character about events that are going on. Like one of his group of good friends is dying, and another good friend, although he's mourning and doesn't want the friend to die or anything, still gets a bit focused on the dying friends VERY fine pair of boots (his suck). That would never be acceptable in the majority of society, but in war, it's just par for the course. "For the good of all of us (except the ones that are dead)," cakeisalie right?
He also criticizes how the army is in complete reliance of always having someone above who can boss you around and humiliate you if they so desire.

week 4: All quiet on the western front

Every once in a while, I'll go back and read an older book, not that I just happened to stumble accross at the library or that someone personally recommended to me, but one which I've heard mention of all over the place and seems to just one that people need to read at one point. A book not being read out of interest, but out of obligation (Albiet imagined). All Quiet on the Western Front is one of these books. If I had just picked it up in the library, I probably wouldn't have even finished reading the back cover. However, so far it IS looking like it'll be okay.

Week 3: Neuromancer

Neuromancer is a cyberpunk book. Scratch that, neuromancer is THE cyberpunk book. Not only was it the first one, but it's the one that most embodies what cyberpunk IS. It's the book that invented the term Cyberspace, and contained the concept of the internet (albeit under a different name) some decades before it's invention. In fact, there are theories that this book is the REASON the internet exists as it did, that it inspired the real thing. Cyberpunk books depict a world where highly developed cybernetics, AI, and other technological wonders are completely commonplace. It's rarely utopian (which is part of where the "punk" part of cyberpunk comes from) but is rarely quite DIStopian either, the preference usually being to depict a world where technology has solved some problems while opening up completely new ones. Cyberpunk is the inspiration for a wealth of new genre/settings (for they really are both), from the Genetic engineering of Biopunk to the supposedly low tech Clock and Steampunk. And this book is the book that started it all off.

Week 2: Steal this book

So, I read the "Fight" Section this weekend. It's pretty sweet, it's got information on everything from underground newspapers to what to do if the police get rowdy during a protest (there's a lot on protest, remember it was written during the vietnam war)..It's also got information on less... legal subjects, but I'm not going to talk about that. Although it's not like you can't find information on molotov cocktails in a couple dozen places on the internet. Anyway, it talks about stuff like what's the best head protection to wear at a protest (motorcycle helmets with the face sheild taken out so there's room for a gas mask) and it has a cool table on the different chemicals police use in riot control. It then goes on to how to get good legal aid if you DO get taken in by police during a protest and similar things. But enough about protests. My favorite part of this one was actually about organizing with other... sort of the same people who would be using the book. Dunno what to really call them. The book generally refers to Yippies, but you don't need to be part of the Youth International Party to benefit from the book. I also skimmed through the next section which is "Liberate!" and I have to say there's not much to review there... It's just got 4 sections each on a specific city (New York, Chicago, LA, San Francisco) and information which is most likely out of date about it, such as places where you can get free stuff or cheap entertainment or such. I suppose that "Steal this Wiki" probably has more up to date information, but if I remember correctly when I last looked at it there wasn't really anything useful about seattle, which is where I would want information from. So next week I'll probably be talking about Neuromancer.

Week 1: Steal This Book & Catcher in the Rye

Well, I started out reading Catcher in the Rye because I hadn't gotten a copy of Steal This Book yet, and I have to say: it was REALLY boring. I read about a fifth of it and couldn't work up ANY interest. Thankfully, on tuesday I got my hands on Steal This Book (no, I didn't steal it). That night I pretty much read the entire "Survive" section. The "Survive" section is pretty much all about free stuff. Free food, free housing, free clothing, free furniture. No, it's not all stealling, only about HALF of it is stealing. It also lists statistic like how 40% of merchandise gets stolen in most large stores, which means they must REALLY overprice stuff if they still make a profit. But there's a rather lengthy part of the Free Food chapter that's talking about eating unfinished meals in restaraunts. Thats not illegal, the restaraunt just doesn't want you to because then you won't buy anything. I think I'm probably going to go a bit slower as far as the "Fight" and "Liberate" sections go.

Past book: The Illuminatus! Trilogy

So, I just had this idea, I'm going to occasionally talk about books I've previously read. I'm starting off with The Illuminatus! Trilogy. It is the most brilliant example of carefully manufactured confusion I've ever seen or heard. After the first page, you are never more then say... 90% sure what's going on at a given moment? Usually you're as low as 30%. For instance, it claims that there were no less then 5 people trying to kill kenedy when he got assassinated. He was not in fact killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, now was he killed by the professional hitman that hasn't ever killed anyone but his target always dies for unrelated reasons, NOR was he killed by John Dillanger, who was there to assassinate the would-be assassins but realized there were too many of them and he should just kill kenedy himself to confuse them (he was the one on the grassy knoll) but he was in fact killed by a man who had invested heavily in the space program before it was canceled the first time and was angry at Kenedy for reinstating it.
The ENTIRE BOOK is like that.
It would probably be a good idea to read the Principia Discordia online beforehand, it'll make more sense.

And now, a quote:
The most thoroughly and relentlessly Damned, banned, excluded, condemned, forbidden, ostracized, ignored, suppressed, repressed, robbed, brutalized and defamed of all Damned things is the individual human being. The social engineers, statisticians, psychologists, sociologists, market researchers, landlords, bureaucrats, captains of industry, bankers, governors, commissars, kings and presidents are perpetually forcing this Damned Thing into carefully prepared blueprints and perpetually irritated that the Damned Thing will not fit into the slot assigned to it. The theologians call it a sinner and tries to reform it. The governor calls it a criminal and tries to punish it. The psychotherapist calls it neurotic and tries to cure it. Still, the Damned Thing will not fit into their slots.

A starting explanation

For anyone who has no idea what's going on here: This Blog is a school related blog where I'll be talking about books I read for school. I may continue to use it to talk about books and other media afterwards though, so stick around. I'll be getting used to HTML and formating and stuff as I progress, so while it's boring now, I'll be getting better.