Muff's Modules & More

CJ Miller · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 6:38 pm Post subject:

Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia by Deleuze and Guattari

Slow going here! I find it more humourous and engaging than expected. The infuriating thing is that it suggests enough background reading to truly understand it that this could keep me busy for years. I am a bit familiar with Nietzsche, psychoanalysis, Marx. But much of what is being referenced here is criticism of works of 20th century philosophy and sociology which I have not been exposed to.

Just arrived today! Arduino Cookbook, 2nd edition, by Michael Margolis

suboptimal · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:59 pm Post subject:

I'm working my way through Jeremy Silman's The Amateur's Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions into Chess Mastery.

After a long string of sci-fi I'm in the mood to work on my chess game a bit. Such an interesting game.

Danotranto · Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:57 am Post subject:

capitalism and freedom by milton friedman

pretty interesting, never in a million years would I think I would enjoy reading something like this

Babaluma · Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 4:05 am Post subject:

brian barritt - the road of excess (a psychedelic autobiography)

Pfurmel · Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 4:46 am Post subject:

The Hunt for Zero Point,

Really enjoying this, nearly finished. So far all of the Anti-gravity stuff seems to be based on speculation but the information on the Skunk works and the secret development of stealth technology is really fascinating.
Also really interesting to read about Kimmler and his activities during the war.

frijitz · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:07 am Post subject:

"Fractals, Chaos, Power Laws" Manfred Schroeder

My approach to learning about chaos and fractals was through nonlinear dynamics and time series analysis. Schroeder uses an approach based on number theory and properties of interated processes. From 1991, but still full of good basics.

Ian

emdot_ambient · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 4:46 pm Post subject:

Took a break from SF for a bit with The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. What a hoot. Great read and very interesting from a cultural point of view...the different slang being used and its confrontation of taboo subjects (for 1939) was quite interesting (pornography, homosexuality, drug abuse, etc.).

As I said before, I'm a huge fan of the Bogart/Bacall movie and I'm really impressed with how closely they followed the book. Big divergence at the end of the movie from the book, and minor details were changed...the porno and homosexuality angles were played down in the movie. All in all they stuck dead on to the overarching plots, character motivations and such, but ramped up the romance angle and added a bigger climactic ending. If only Peter Jackson had been so reverent to the LOTR source material...but I digress. Great book, great movie.

After that, being in a bit of a mystery mood, I jumped a couple of decades and read The Bar on the Seine, a Maigret novel[la] by Georges Simenon. Dramatic difference in writing style between Simenon and Chandler, but I love Maigret. Can't go wrong with that!

Now I'm back to SF with Journey Beyond Tomorrow, a 1962 novel by Robert Sheckley. Sheckley is a sadly forgotten SF writer whose novels drip with smirky humor, at least one of his late 60s novels being essentially a complete forerunner to the likes of Douglas Adams. Most aren't laugh out loud funny (someone described his work as meaningful playfulness, which really rings true), but the humor's there. Inventive and entertaining.

Luka · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 5:01 pm Post subject:

vonnegut - hocus pocus

bartlebooth · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 5:19 pm Post subject:

just finished 'the castle' by kafka

Reality Checkpoint · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 8:06 am Post subject:

Cat-A-Tonic · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 8:21 am Post subject:

Recently finished listening to "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall.

Now I'm listening to "Rant" by Chuck Palahniuk.
It's nice that this one has different voice actors reading for each of the characters.

I'm hooked on audiobooks.

therk · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 4:00 pm Post subject:

Currently on book 8 out of 10 of Steven Erikson's Malazan saga - and finding it really blinkin tedious, but I've got this far so I *am* going to make it to the end!

renzo · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 4:03 pm Post subject:

Voyage au bout de la nuit - Louis-Ferdinand Céline

Moog$FooL$ · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:41 am Post subject:

American Pastoral - Philip Roth

Dr. Sketch-n-Etch · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:53 am Post subject:

I'm rereading "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" by Julian Jaynes. This book completely changed my worldview. Highly recommended.

SepticUnderground · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:02 am Post subject:

VortexRanger · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:50 am Post subject:

Graham Greene, The Quiet American
Tibor Fischer, The Thought Gang

pugix · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:45 pm Post subject:

pugix · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:51 pm Post subject:

I'm half way through the novel Snow by Orhan Pamuk. Excellent writing (and translation). Politically relevant, as well.

diophantine · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:37 pm Post subject:

I'm reading all of J.G. Ballard's short stories.

Actually in at least half of the cases I am re-reading them. (And a few I am re-re-reading.)