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What's good to read?


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#1 SpleenBeGone

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Posted 22 December 2014 - 01:01 PM

So, I was recently gifted a pretty nifty Kindle and I have no idea what to put on it. With the exception of the xkcd book, I haven't read anything since 8th grade.

 

Suggestions?


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#2 Mister Sympa

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Posted 22 December 2014 - 04:47 PM

One of my favorite books of all time is a sci-fi ditty called "Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille."

 

If it happens to be available, I LOVE that book.


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#3 DeadChannel

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Posted 22 December 2014 - 06:21 PM

Woah, pretty broad.

1984
Animal Farm
Homage To Catalonia
Neuromancer
Snow Crash
Ready Player One
You (austin grossman)
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series
Gravity's Rainbow
Inherent Vice
The Crying of Lot 49
Infinite Jest
Flatland
Great Expectations
2001 and sequels
Enders Game
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Fahrenheit 451
The Journey To The Centre of the Earth
20,000 leagues under the sea
Mona Lisa Overdrive
The Road

Long list of some of my favs, all maybe worth checking out
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#4 SpleenBeGone

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Posted 23 December 2014 - 01:56 PM

Will look into these.

Completely forgot about the Hitchhikers guide and the Verne books. 


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#5 Mister Sympa

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Posted 23 December 2014 - 02:14 PM

Will look into these.

Completely forgot about the Hitchhikers guide 

 

 

You're dead to me, man.


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#6 Big_Willie_Styles

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Posted 23 December 2014 - 09:43 PM

Brave New World, the better version of 1984.  Also, it's badass enough to not be free yet.


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#7 Launch

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Posted 23 December 2014 - 10:10 PM

I'm guessing they probably made you read it a dozen times like my schools did, but Flowers for Algernon is excellent just in case they didn't. 


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#8 Big_Willie_Styles

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Posted 23 December 2014 - 10:12 PM

I'm guessing they probably made you read it a dozen times like my schools did, but Flowers for Algernon is excellent just in case they didn't. 

No, I chose to read it for school.  I had a choice of many dystopian novels. I picked Brave New World because I hadn't heard of it.


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#9 DeadChannel

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Posted 23 December 2014 - 11:48 PM

Fuck, my school makes me read fucking divergent and shit.
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#10 Big_Willie_Styles

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Posted 24 December 2014 - 12:31 AM

Fuck, my school makes me read fucking divergent and shit.

God, that sucks massive balls.


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#11 Mister Sympa

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Posted 24 December 2014 - 08:10 AM

Brave New World, the better version of 1984.  Also, it's badass enough to not be free yet.

Best review ever.


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#12 Calvary

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Posted 24 December 2014 - 01:10 PM

Brave New World, the better version of 1984.

 

Haha.

 

 

 

Ha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I, Claudius. War and Peace, just to say you've read it. To Kill a Mockingbird, if you haven't already (it's basically your civic duty as an American).


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#13 Mister Sympa

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Posted 24 December 2014 - 01:15 PM

To Kill a Mockingbird, if you haven't already (it's basically your civic duty as an American).

human.

 

FIFY


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#14 DeadChannel

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Posted 24 December 2014 - 03:52 PM

Brave New World, the better version of 1984.  Also, it's badass enough to not be free yet.


Woah, man, that's a bit drastic doncha think?
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#15 Big_Willie_Styles

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Posted 25 December 2014 - 05:18 AM

Haha.

 

 

 

Ha.

You do realize why Brave New World is better?  Because of its cautionary tale potential.

 

What's the best way to maintain a fascist dystopian regime?  Banning all sex and telling ev'r'body they're being watched 24/7?  Fuck no.  It's making everyone think they're in a utopian paradise.  By encouraging all sex at all ages and making sex completely consequence free.  And removing, by banning, all things that have ever caused instability.  In short, The Lego Movie is the closest adaptation of Brave New World I've ever seen.  The utopian dystopia.  Because EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!

 

And, the bad guys win in Brave New World.  Because the regime is set up to deal with such disturbances in the Force.


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#16 Calvary

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Posted 25 December 2014 - 05:43 PM

1984 is a cautionary tale on state power and mass surveillance. It very plainly paints a picture of what happens when you give a government too much power, when you allow your civil freedoms to be eroded and when people stop caring for their fellow man. The meanings are hardly subtle or nuanced. The UK has one of the highest rates of CCTV surveillance in the world. The government tells us this regularly, makes no efforts to hide and we allow it to continue on the assumption that it protects us and reduces crime. This assumption is based on statistics released by the government.


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#17 Big_Willie_Styles

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Posted 25 December 2014 - 06:52 PM

1984 is a cautionary tale on state power and mass surveillance. It very plainly paints a picture of what happens when you give a government too much power, when you allow your civil freedoms to be eroded and when people stop caring for their fellow man. The meanings are hardly subtle or nuanced. The UK has one of the highest rates of CCTV surveillance in the world. The government tells us this regularly, makes no efforts to hide and we allow it to continue on the assumption that it protects us and reduces crime. This assumption is based on statistics released by the government.

And Brave New World paints a world that's possible.

 

It was written in the '30s and even then it foresaw the coarsening of the culture.  Remember, drugs to forget all bad feelings and porn films that allow you to feel it.

 

You ever think banning sex could ever happen, seriously?


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#18 DeadChannel

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Posted 25 December 2014 - 08:09 PM

I'd say they're both pretty fucking predictive. Brave New World is predictive of western society, but fascism/totalitarianism/authoritarianism/whatever is pretty common in the world today. Look at North Korea as an obvious example.

Also, governments spy on us all the time even in western society.

If you look at the bigger, global picture, there is quite a bit of salt to both stories.
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#19 Big_Willie_Styles

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Posted 25 December 2014 - 08:18 PM

I'd say they're both pretty fucking predictive. Brave New World is predictive of western society, but fascism/totalitarianism/authoritarianism/whatever is pretty common in the world today. Look at North Korea as an obvious example.

Also, governments spy on us all the time even in western society.

If you look at the bigger, global picture, there is quite a bit of salt to both stories.

It's where they take place that is important.  1984 isn't happening in some known communist country.  Brave New World is happening in Europe where America is the "savage land."


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#20 Calvary

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Posted 25 December 2014 - 08:25 PM

I...dude...go back and re read my post. 1984 is happening.

 

I'm not gonna get into a dick swinging contest over a couple of fucking books. They both have extremely valid points. I'm just saying you can't dismiss one...


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