What was the last book you read?

[Charha]

I liked George Martin's style of writing, and for the most part I thought the GoT books were gripping. Then, after a while, I started paying attention to some details that bugged me. Mainly the unnecessary lengths Martin went to when describing food and "heavy teats surrounded by lazy curling locks of hair". I was surprised that there were many women with lazy curling locks of hair. That was probably a trend of some sort?

I also was a bit disappointed concerning the way the female characters (save for Arya - although she is practically asexual and not a woman due to being a child) were in the end quite two dimensional. For one, it seemed to me that Martin was unable to describe any sexual elements or feelings regarding these female characters unless they were young and beautiful. Brianna came close, but no cigar. The female archetypes were omnipresent. Women were built solely around the roles of mothers, crones and maidens, whereas the male characters were quite more complex. Could you imagine Tyrion being a woman? I could, but writing a character like that would probably be too much for the author.

One of the reason I'm rambling about this is that Martin has gotten a lot of credit for creating very good female characters. I personally wouldn't give him too much praise on that, even though I must applaud for the number of women present in his books and the active parts they play in the plot. Because that's certainly new and refreshing.[/garble]

[aldath c'om]

hunter s. thompsons rum diary. and before that i finally did read fear and loathing in las vegas also. but last time i did read anything(except forum) was like last winter.

[Mike]

Who We Are by Dr. William Pierce. It's a work on the identity and history of Europe and the european man, covering subjects such as evolution, pre-historic mankind, cultural and biological interdependency, various issues of race and so om. The most interesting aspect is that of the Indo-Europeans and their lingustic, religious, cultural and genetic heritage. The analysis of Norse religion and its corresponding historical events is a masterpiece.

[Ares]

"William Luther Pierce III (September 11, 1933 – July 23, 2002) was an American Neo-Nazi and White Nationalist activist." source

Mike, I've warned you about discussing your retarded beliefs or your bullshit litterature here. I have 0 tolerance for this. Grow up.

[Boern]

If you're really interested in the subject and not just for that racist bullshit, read Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel.

Sure, GGS is open for criticism and should be criticised (like all theories of this scale), but at least it's not stupid as fffuuuuuuuuuuuu...

[Mike]

If you're really interested in the subject and not just for that racist bullshit, read Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel.

Sure, GGS is open for criticism and should be criticised (like all theories of this scale), but at least it's not stupid as fffuuuuuuuuuuuu...

Like Ares said I'm forbidden to discuss these things, so I'll just thank you for the recommendation. From a quick peek, Diamond seems to place some emphasis on environmental determinism, and his thesis has some basis in evolutionary biology, which at least makes it interesting. Certainly beats the idea that it all happened because Europeans have the greatest capacity for evil.

[Glarundis]

i think all is fine right now, mike just posted about a book he was reading, not that he was doing propaganda or inciting ppl to think like him or whatever the staff feels he shouldn't and can't do

i can read the qu'ran or the baghavad guita or something and it doesn't mean i'm islamic or hindu, maybe just that i want to understand a bit more about their way of thinking

[Iktomi]

I also heartily recommend Guns, Germs and Steel.

[Ares]

Sounds interesting. Max Webers the protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism is a really interesting read as well. He argues that protestantism (specifically Calvinism) and the way they interpret christianity and the commandments created capitalism and the western mindset.

[Johnny Walac]

Too much boring stuff up in here.

Just started on Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. A good read.