Good Books
Eichmann in Jerusalem - A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt
An examination of the trial of a war criminal, renditioned to Israel and tried outside of the Nuremberg system. Unflinching and direct. A wonderful thesis on the nature of evil by the description of the detached and efficient administrative efforts of Adolph Eichmann during the Holocaust.
Problems of Society by Rudolph Steiner
A collection of essays and speeches Steiner made about society and the metaphysical in his later years. Still relevant.
Cylinders, you should check out "The House on Garibaldi Street", the story of Mossads tracking and kidnap of Eichmann in Argentina prior to the trial, if that subject is of interest to you. A good read.
Capote!
"He had a self pitying/fame hungry side", you say (about Capote...hah!), FR76, yes? Absolutely! A self-promoter par excellence.
'In Cold Blood' is all style, not much substance, for mine. Artistic substance. Things that expand and stick beyond what's at hand.
Funny, talking about fame, self-promotion, and especially ego, HST and Mailer have a helluva lot in common. The use of ego as a tool for one.
For comedic effect. For interrogation...of themselves, and the times. Holy fools, both.
Mailer unreadable? Read this, FR76? From 1960:
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a3858/superman-supermarket/
Always something strange and memorable is afoot. Huge gambles...with his own self and 'image'.
(ps: In Cold Blood doesn't stack up to The Executioner's Song - the most 'Mailer-less' work - in that particular like-for-like genre. Though it's a longer and more difficult read for sure. IMHO*)
*In My Hoary Opinion
Ever heard of this working-class renaissance man?
https://www.scottishreviewofbooks.org/2017/06/the-srb-interview-john-byrne/
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/john-byrne
Currently making my way through Team of Rivals - The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. At 750 pages it’s not light reading but a fascinating analysis of the 16th President. Lincoln’s management of his cabinet, primarily made up of those he defeated for the nomination and the conduct of the Civil War is so interesting.
Salutations to BB in his absence.
Good thread.
Here's a youtube audio version of the greatest book i ever read for my own personal growth. 'As a Man Thinketh', written by philosopher James Allen, who has a whole heap of stuff in his free library online. Written around about the 1900's. Came across it about 10 years ago in an oppy in Byron.
And fwiw, i'm way off it's teachings at the moment, but am gonna give it another crack soon.
This book changed my life so hopefully for at least one person, it has the same effect.
If you want to read the Grandfather of black humour, one of the major influences of the Beat writers, and someone who Bukowski called the greatest writer of the last 2000 years do yrself a favour and dive into Journey to the End of the Night by L-F Celine.
Let me know what u think.
harrycoopr wrote:If you want to read the Grandfather of black humour, one of the major influences of the Beat writers, and someone who Bukowski called the greatest writer of the last 2000 years do yrself a favour and dive into Journey to the End of the Night by L-F Celine.
Let me know what u think.
Second this recommendation. Read it in my early 20s when I was devouring anything 'beat' related and found it to be a true work of art. Hell of a writer.
Edit: For more dark humour try Burroughs Dark Night Trilogy, 'The Place Of Dead Roads' being my pick of the 3.
And on the topic of Burroughs (with Capote mentioned up thread), an interesting read on a 'curse'...
https://realitystudio.org/biography/in-cold-blood-william-burroughs-curs...
Bump