I'm reading Outcast Dead at the moment.

I'm taking a break from George RR Martin A Song of Fire and Ice. I've read Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. I like them but the fantasy parts are a bit clunky - Tyrion Lannister is one of the best characters in any series. be interesting how they do some of the scenes in the Series 2 of the TV show.

 

I'm reading Game Of Thrones at the moment. Not normally my kind of thing at all........don't like fantasy stuff, but my brother and my sister-in-law, and other people who aren't usually into this kind of thing, recommended it, and they've all said how good it is. My head is going to explode, trying to remember who is who.......

 

Alan Sugar autobiog is very good, Steve Jobs biog is similar (but much thicker!) and I also found the Richard Branson autobiog excellent and interesting reading.

Chris Evans, similar, but understand if you don't like him (When you read his books you have to respect the guy and credit him for working v hard - and playing v hard - to get where he is now).

I tried Stephen Fry's "Moab is my Washpot" and really really tried to get into it and enjoy it, but gave up after reading about a third of it - very hard going.

Anything by Bill Bryson - but especially A Short History... Every high-school kid should read it, as it explains a great deal. I wish it was out when I did my O & A levels!

Obviously any of the Harry Potters, if you havent read them - all very good, and far from being "just for kids".

 

Ok, a short history of everything because it's been recommended so many times will be one I buy.

Liars Poker maybe.

Trout, Spiral Dynamics seems to be a theory. What's the name of the actual book you are recommending?


Thanks again

 

Short History.....good choice, not too heavy, engaging and may inspire deeper interest in some of the subjects it explores. I've not read Liar's Poker, but GK tends to have good taste in books and I think it would suit your character. Spiral Dynamics I have read (Trout and I share an interest in Integral Theory), but from your posts my instinct is that it would perhaps be too academic - there's not much of a story. Nonetheless, here's the book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1557869405

(GK - There's another one for your list, along with some Ken Wilber )

 

Christ, another? I've still got Orientalism sitting there making me feel guilty. Actually, I almost started it last week, but decided to take a break and try some fiction on my Kindle. All the old classics are free, so right now it's "The Picture of Dorian Gray".

 

It gets worse in Clash of Kings. Quite often I find myself refering to the annex to work out who is on which side. Also, some things seem to move at a glacial pace and other things happen so quickly and abrupt you can risk getting lost in exactly what just happened.

 

Conversation with the missus just before Christmas: "any books you want for Christmas, James?", "I'm good, all the classics are free on iBooks". Genuine. It's great, endless material! Dorian Gray's thought provoking; I found it quite haunting and it's stayed with me, kind of reminded of the mythos of the 27 club and the crossroads and what happens in life when one doesn't progress beyond the aesthetic. No spoilers there, I hope; I'll be interested in your take. I've yet to read Earnest which is sat in my phone's bookshelf, have you?

 

It's great. I wasn't sure about these book readers, but now I've got one I can see they might be the way forward!

No spoilers; I'm two thirds of the way through. The book has definitely struck a chord with me. Funnily enough, Lord Henry's lifestyle has a strange attraction. In this age, where most people have given up religion and a higher cause, what more is there for many people to do than indulge in experiences? And there's something a bit more noble about those experiences than the kind of 'indulgence' most people in our country enjoy on a weekly basis. It's strange; I can see myself in this book. I certainly won't forget it.

I haven't read that yet, no. To be honest I'm new to all this stuff - it was only 3 or so years ago that I really read my first proper book (that wasn't ex-sas or school stuff - i.e. forced and not really taken in). My mum has read just about all of them, though. She's got plenty of stuff to choose from on her bookcase. Unfortunately, though, she threw the vast majority of her collection out about ten years ago (they were in cardboard boxes in the attic). At the time she'd never have imagined I'd want to read any of them in a million years.

 

What do you mean by that then??

 

That if you were to complete a Belbin team role or psychometric test or MBTI or BestFit, I think it unlikely that you'd score highly around having a preference for theory. I might be wrong, but I doubt it. Don't be so sensitive. X

 

I didn't give a shît about anything other than pretending to be a rockstar until my mid-twenties! My late father was an autodidact.

You may find (sorry ) Kierkegaard's Either/Or interesting. It explores the progression of thinkers (nT types on MBTI) from aesthetic to ethical to religious (religious in the broadest sense, think Spinoza). I certainly wouldn't criticise hedonism, I think one gains a certain insight when one pushes the boundaries. Not that I would dream to count myself amongst them, but almost all of the great poets and artists have at some point sought to enhance or anaesthetise their existence via self-indulgence - its the theme of the 'tortured genius' in critique, or the perils and pleasures or the blessing and the curse of the third eye and so on. In fact I mentioned the 27 club above and I remember fantasising about a kind of Morrisonesque, supernova existence in my late teens - alas I didn't have enough to base a movie on. Or a classic album. And smack was never my thing so I decided to join the system.

There is a price, of course. When, hypothetically, the guilt catches up with you for ******** your mate's bird whilst off your face on pills and for missing the Christening of another friend's first child because you were so pissed you couldn't find the church or the debilitating realisation that your mother spent a decade worried sick and that you'd ripped-off half the World flogging rubbish to innocents to support your lifestyle, when one's conscience is eventually pricked, it does (or ought to) become time to pay up. Despair, then atonement. And then into ethical existence, hopefully. An alchemical process. The brilliance of Dorian Gray, for me, is how Wilde captures the torment of the transition and then suspends it indefinitely. Base metal doesn't actually turn to gold, it's only plated. Genius, care of a tortured soul.

 

Out of curiousity have you done all these tests/appraisals and if so what did they show?

Me sensitive?

 

Complete c*nt, so very accurate.

 

I'm a trained mentor and used the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.......... not 100% convinced

Shaun

 

I've decided it's best to just read it, and go with the flow, rather than keep flicking to the back all the time. Whether or not I'll read any others.......well, I'll have to see how it goes!


Oh, and why do they all have such stupid names? Some are so similar. Why can't they just be called Dave or summat?

 

Summat would be stupid, too.

 

Well I wouldn't want to argue with somebody who has such a 'preference for theory'

So if you say you are a c**t I believe you

 

Thanks for that. I'm sure we all found that fascinating

 

It was only a response to GK's post, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. Anyway, just for fun, why not complete an MBTI and see what comes up.

 

I sense a bit of autobiography about that last paragraph.

 

1. Mandela the Long walk to Freedom
2. Stalin the court of the red tsar
3. The shock Doctrine Naomi klein
4.Pol pot History of a nightmare
5. I assume most interested have read this but if not try The Rise and fall of the third Reich
5. CHE
6. Putins Russia
7. Freakonomics and super freakonomics.
8 Putins russia
9 Amarillo slim in a world full of fat people
10. Titanic Thompson the man who bet on everything

 

Thanks. I've read Freakomics but will look into the others

 

I'm not sure what the point would be tbh. Perhaps it would have been useful when I was eighteen years old.

At my age I know my strengths and weaknesses. I know how I function on my own and I know what role I need to take in a team. I think its called having insight.

I'm genuinely curious though, do you feel these tests are useful and if so how?

 

Fair points and perhaps why my intuition suggested that Spiral Dynamics may not have been your bag.

I think MBTI is an awesome tool. A sound knowledge of how to apply it can offer someone either a real advantage in a competitive environment or, if they were, say, an ENFJ, an opportunity to support others. Myers-Briggs can often help explain underlying relationship difficulties, under-performing teams and dysfunctional organisations or give an individual an insight in to his or her type that may seriously aid their development and day to day movements in those settings. Now, it's not the Ark or a cure-all wonder system, but I'd much rather be au fait with it than ignorant to its value. I suppose if one were that secure about one's own self-knowledge, MBTI would simply be confirmation and a bit of fun - there'd be nothing to lose. There would be a number of MBTI types that would dive right in, irrespective of their age.

 

+1 Highly recommended

 

Life and times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson is fantastic.

I just read Shaun Ryders Biog, very well written (yes, I was surprised, no crayon) and very illuminating.

Fiction, brain out holiday books, the Jack Reacher ones by Lee Child are nice and easy, they are all pretty much the same,

Wanders into town
Gets wind of some "bad ****" going down
Drinks a cup of coffee
Has a fight against 4 blokes, wins.
Somehow becomes employed by local Police or Army despite being retired
Buys a new shirt - puts old shirt in bin
Gets love interest
Drinks a cup of coffee
Solves bad **** involving massive explosion
Wanders out of town

Kind of a human version of that kids tv show in the 80s about the Dog called "The Littlest Hobo"

But, one of my favorites is called "A Confederacy of Dunces"