Your current reading list

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Re: Your current reading list

Postby flipflop » Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:31 pm

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6 out of 5

Cheers
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby Mikethehack » Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:39 pm

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Re: Your current reading list

Postby friendlyskies » Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:59 pm

Just finished "Don Pepe, A Political Biography of José Figueres of Costa Rica."

http://www.amazon.com/Don-Pepe-politica ... 082630480X

First off, there are no good books about Don Pepe, which is a fucking tragedy because the guy belongs on more T-shirts than Che Guevara. In a nutshell, the guy was a prodigy who was accepted to MIT, dropped out because it was boring, taught himself electrical engineering and everything else at the Boston University library, then moved back to Costa Rica where he started an engineering firm and a commune called "The Fight Without End."

The guy hated communism and was less than impressed with capitalism, and in the 1940s the two groups made an unholy pact, basically to turn Costa Rica into a "dictatorship," (but the mellowest dictatorship ever) rationalizing it as an echo of the Soviet-US pact during WWII. After some fixed elections, Don Pepe threw a revolution against the communist-capitalist govt, re-wrote the constitution (ending apartheid, making it legal for Jews to own land, disbanding the military, and expanding public education and health care as part of social democracy). Then he handed power over to the drip who should have won the elections, ran against him, won fair and square, and began the first of three terms that basically transformed Costa Rica into Central America's wealthiest, most peaceful, most prosperous country.

Anyway, like I said, there are no good books about him, at least not in English, and this one is supposed to be the best. It's academic, dry, boring, leaves out most of his childhood and formative years (which would have been nice to know, since one wonders how people can be so fucking gifted and charismatic yet still not thirst for power for its own sake - he could have been dictator no problem but didn't want it, like Washington). Oh well. But, worth reading if you want to know about a hero who has been forgotten while bloodier-minded tyrants get all kinds of ink. Bummer. I should write a book about him.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby michelle in alaska » Sat Feb 04, 2012 11:13 am

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http://search.barnesandnoble.com/War-and-Redemption/Larry-Dewey/e/9780754641650?r=1&cm_mmc=GooglePLA-_-PrintBuyTextbook-_-Q000000633-_-9780754641650&cm_mmca2=pla

War and Redemption by Larry Dewey.
written by a psychiatrist in the field for over twenty years....

I quote a section of the book from the chapter: 'The Burden of "Breaking the Geneva Convention of the Soul':

Soldiers took this doctor into four areas of pain and horror that were worse to them than killing enemy soldiers:
1. Seeing and committing acts resulting in civilian casualties. This occurs very commonly in any major conflict.
2. "Friendly fire" incidents. Killing one's own men. This also happens over and over and touches most combatants.
3. Killing while filled with hate, rage or something like elation. This is also common.
4. "Battlefield justice": Vigilante actions in the context of war. This includes both acting as vigilante and permitting or condoning the actions of others who do so.
He draws from Audie Murphy to Gen.Schwarzkopf to Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker.

I'm told it's a good book.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby tlcfj40 » Mon Feb 06, 2012 3:54 am

I just started "Collusion" by Stuart Neville and revisiting some Ian Rankin with the "The Hanging Garden" as well.

I was given "Chechen Jihad" by Yoseff Bodansky as a gift.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby svizzerams » Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:24 pm

Currently

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and

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And up next:

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Re: Your current reading list

Postby nowonmai » Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:27 pm

Well I can see why Stephanie didn't want to write about Africa under that non de plume.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby dawud » Thu Feb 23, 2012 5:47 am

vagabond wrote:Wow, BFC full of old school sf nerdz. ;-)

Anyone read the new Neal Stephenson, "Reamde", yet?

http://www.themillions.com/2011/09/play-it-again-neal-stephensons-reamde.htm

http://www.omnivoracious.com/2011/09/exclusive-excerpt-neal-stephensons-reamde.html


Read and finished `Reamde`- the latter should be noticed, as it is again a tome to knock heads with at over 1,000 pages.

Lots for the gun nuts, and I was a little surprised at how little sci-fi elements were there (meaning fantastic or translated futuristic elements), as the book was very naturalistic, albeit with classic Stephenson `infodumps` - toned down, all the same. Russian mafiosos, Seattle-based hackers and MMPORG designers with Chinese gameplayers - this kept very much to a naturalistic tone, more like the thriller novels Stephenson wrote with his uncle in the 90s under the penname `Stephen Bury` -- those being INTERFACE and COBWEB. Lots of action, spies, and terrorists getting killed.

Oh, and lots of guns, which should appeal to the BFC crowd.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby ktrout » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:03 am

I just purchased a copy of the Pirate's Coast. Looking forward to it.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby vagabond » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:33 pm

This has been a fascinating read so far:

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Midnight in Sicily, On Art, Food, History, Travel and La Cosa Nostra by Peter Robb

A vivid report from Italy's glorious, corrupt and troubled south, this book combines interviews, journalism and essays on Sicilian history and culture. Robb focuses, in part, on the career of Giulio Andreotti, the seven-time prime minister of Italy recently accused of Mafia associations.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby ktrout » Thu Mar 01, 2012 3:42 am

I read through part of Pirate's Coast. It really makes the Commodore Bainbridge look like an incompetent tool.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby ktrout » Sat Mar 10, 2012 7:49 am

I just picked up A history of Pi by Petr Beckman. It's disturbing that the human race came so close so many times to getting traction as a technological culture. The Greeks in particular had it going on and so did the Chinese and Hindus. The Maya did as well. Yet our ancestors were so brutal and independent thought was so strongly selected against that time and again we got tossed back into darkness, sometimes for thousands of years. Human civilization itself had to evolve far enough for the Da Vincis, Newtons, and Einsteins to be allowed to survive.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby marie-angelique » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:30 am

friendlyskies wrote:Just finished "Don Pepe, A Political Biography of José Figueres of Costa Rica."

http://www.amazon.com/Don-Pepe-politica ... 082630480X

First off, there are no good books about Don Pepe, which is a fucking tragedy because the guy belongs on more T-shirts than Che Guevara. In a nutshell, the guy was a prodigy who was accepted to MIT, dropped out because it was boring, taught himself electrical engineering and everything else at the Boston University library, then moved back to Costa Rica where he started an engineering firm and a commune called "The Fight Without End."

The guy hated communism and was less than impressed with capitalism, and in the 1940s the two groups made an unholy pact, basically to turn Costa Rica into a "dictatorship," (but the mellowest dictatorship ever) rationalizing it as an echo of the Soviet-US pact during WWII. After some fixed elections, Don Pepe threw a revolution against the communist-capitalist govt, re-wrote the constitution (ending apartheid, making it legal for Jews to own land, disbanding the military, and expanding public education and health care as part of social democracy). Then he handed power over to the drip who should have won the elections, ran against him, won fair and square, and began the first of three terms that basically transformed Costa Rica into Central America's wealthiest, most peaceful, most prosperous country.

Anyway, like I said, there are no good books about him, at least not in English, and this one is supposed to be the best. It's academic, dry, boring, leaves out most of his childhood and formative years (which would have been nice to know, since one wonders how people can be so fucking gifted and charismatic yet still not thirst for power for its own sake - he could have been dictator no problem but didn't want it, like Washington). Oh well. But, worth reading if you want to know about a hero who has been forgotten while bloodier-minded tyrants get all kinds of ink. Bummer. I should write a book about him.


you should. i'll buy it :)
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby Ultra Swain » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:14 am

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Had high hopes for this one, but 15 pages in and I am already annoyed

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The only book worth a damn about the border.
Geez,am I NOT ALLOWED TO BE INTENSE FOR JUST 10 FUCKING SECONDS??!!!!!!!
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby gnaruki » Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:29 am

This one might be up your alley, Swain. About the American-Vietnamese kids left near your home.

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