The 'Currently Reading' Thread.

[DCW]

Reading a great book called 'No One Cares About Crazy People' by Ron Powers. It's about how mental illness is treated (or isn't) in the states and gives an outline of how medical treatment of mental illness evolved over the centuries. Fairly sad too, but very interesting all the same as I tend to come across seriously mentally ill people through work regularly.

 

Before that I read a surprisingly fantastic book called 'Unnatural Causes' by Richard Shepherd. Life story of a British forensic pathologist who performed thousands of autopsies during his career. Really thoughtful and well written and not at all as gruesome as I'd expected. 

[wordsfromlee]

I finished Dark Matter by Blake Crouch last week and thought it was a fun little read. It's kind of like the movie Primer but about parallel universes rather than time travel. It's supposed to be turned into a movie but I think it would work a lot better as a TV show like his Wayward Pines books were.

[Michael_3165]

I have recently read a few books - fiction and non-fiction. 

I promised my friend that I would read a few books on BAME following a rather lengthy debate between us. I decided to pick 5 books but the ones I have read so far are Me and White Supremacy (Saad) and Why I am No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Eddo-Lodge).

Saad's book comes off rather cultish and does not provide much context about the situations she describes. It is full of wide ranging generalisations which I found hard to look past. That said she did have some good points on "white silence", "white exceptionalism" etc. This book was based on a 28 day challenge for white people to reflect on their complicity in white supremacy (generally used in the book to say any white person and the positives they have received from a white-based society). 

I much preferred Eddo-Lodge's piece of work. She highlighted some of the historical contexts associated with white culture and black people. This was a lot more accessible for me and I found that it was a somewhat reasonable read. 

I am going to start on Black and British which looks better in terms of context and historical facts. I am intrigued about things we didn't get taught at school. 

 I also read His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet. This was a stunning piece of work, though the middle section was a tad slow in places. This covers a murder trial of a guy that killed three family members of a neighbouring house. He is being represented by a lawyer who is arguing diminished responsibility. It is made up of several records including a memoire, witness statements and finally the trial itself. Its a good read and was shortlisted for that years Booker. 

 

[Wideload90]

Just finished 'Human Kind' by Rutger Bergman. He proposes that 99% of humans are, at their very heart, kind and genuine, opposing the Hobbesian view that we are all selfish creatures needing to be controlled. Admittedly, I thought this would be very wishy-washy but there's plenty of research to back up the carefully selected anecdotes and stories from history.

I can't buy his argument in its entirety but this book piles on the food for thought for kindness as a general rule of thumb and strengthens the belief that negativity and bad news far outweighs the good. Written in a way which is both engaging and accessible.

Definitely worth a read. 

[hallicks]

2 hours ago, Michael_3165 said:

I much preferred Eddo-Lodge's piece of work. She highlighted some of the historical contexts associated with white culture and black people. This was a lot more accessible for me and I found that it was a somewhat reasonable read.

Recently read this as well. It should be made mandatory in schools, or something. Fuck the Tudors, teach the kids about the racism that oozes out of every institution in this country. Instead of teaching, "hey, the British Empire was a thing! And then it wasn't, the end", teach them about the cunt behaviour we enacted whilst occupying other countries, like increasing the amount of food that was exported from India during a famine so that millions of the local population died.

[SuperBacon]

Finished American Gods which was just superb. Looking forward to the TV series.

Now reading The Christmasaurus at night with the kids. Not as good as The Creakers which I actually read in an afternoon when my eldest left it here. I absolutely loved it.

Re-reading Bret Harts book and The Art Of Fielding, which I'm not enjoying as much on a re-read.

The latter that is, Bret's book is always phenomenal.

[Carbomb]

On 4/19/2020 at 10:48 AM, HarmonicGenerator said:

Edit: Just to add to the Shakespeare post earlier, the Globe are free streams on YouTube at the moment. They've got a Hamlet there at the moment but today's the last day. They're a good one to watch if you don't want your Shakespeare to be too heavy going - the way they do things there's almost always an injection of humour. The Othello they did a couple of years ago, which I would have expected to be a lot of doom and gloom and betrayals, was hilarious (mainly thanks to Mark Rylance who is without question the finest actor I've seen on stage).

I went to see that Othello, and good lord, it was brilliant. I've seen Rylance before in Jerusalem at the Apollo in the West End, and there were certain similarities between the character in that and his Iago - the congenial, likable, storytelling rogue - but it was fascinating to see how he tweaked it to make a villain to fit the Iago role. In fact, I have to say that, in a sense, with his interpretation and portrayal of Iago he practically jobbed out every other version there's ever been, because he was so believable as a two-faced cunt - his Iago was this funny, engaging guy that you'd love to have a drink with, and therefore you could understand how Othello could be deceived by him, but then it also raises the question of how that could have happened in other versions where the guy is clearly a dick.

[HarmonicGenerator]

8 hours ago, Carbomb said:

I went to see that Othello, and good lord, it was brilliant. I've seen Rylance before in Jerusalem at the Apollo in the West End, and there were certain similarities between the character in that and his Iago - the congenial, likable, storytelling rogue - but it was fascinating to see how he tweaked it to make a villain to fit the Iago role. In fact, I have to say that, in a sense, with his interpretation and portrayal of Iago he practically jobbed out every other version there's ever been, because he was so believable as a two-faced cunt - his Iago was this funny, engaging guy that you'd love to have a drink with, and therefore you could understand how Othello could be deceived by him, but then it also raises the question of how that could have happened in other versions where the guy is clearly a dick.

Yes, it was absolutely brilliant, he’s so charming and disarming and fun that you as the audience go along with him just like Othello does because you enjoy his company, until you go ‘hang on... no! He’s the villain!’ To be able to create that suspension of disbelief (for lack of a better term) for one of the best known bad guys of the last 500 years is absolutely remarkable.

I’d have loved to have seen Jerusalem. I am jealous, sir.

Edited August 3, 2020 by HarmonicGenerator

[BomberPat]

14 hours ago, Michael_3165 said:

I have recently read a few books - fiction and non-fiction. 

I promised my friend that I would read a few books on BAME following a rather lengthy debate between us. I decided to pick 5 books but the ones I have read so far are Me and White Supremacy (Saad) and Why I am No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Eddo-Lodge).

Saad's book comes off rather cultish and does not provide much context about the situations she describes. It is full of wide ranging generalisations which I found hard to look past. That said she did have some good points on "white silence", "white exceptionalism" etc. This book was based on a 28 day challenge for white people to reflect on their complicity in white supremacy (generally used in the book to say any white person and the positives they have received from a white-based society). 

I much preferred Eddo-Lodge's piece of work. She highlighted some of the historical contexts associated with white culture and black people. This was a lot more accessible for me and I found that it was a somewhat reasonable read. 

I am going to start on Black and British which looks better in terms of context and historical facts. I am intrigued about things we didn't get taught at school. 

I'd recommend Akala's "Natives" for a good look at the black British experience - it's a good mix of personal history and data, so kind of best of both worlds; you get the anecdote, but then you get the stats to back it up. 

I've yet to read Ibram X. Kendi's "How To Be Anti-Racist", which is another one that's been on every BLM-influenced reading list lately, but I read his "Stamped From The Beginning", which is a history of racist ideology and racist politics in America. It's exhaustive, in every sense of the word - a massive book, and the sheer amount of referenced material he's able to provide is genuinely tiring to get through at times, though I mean that as a positive. There's so much in there about the political impetus for racism, the construction of racial identities and who it serves, and the difference between being "not racist" and "anti-racist"; particularly around slavery in America, he writes about how being opposed to slavery wasn't always inherently an anti-racist position. Fascinating stuff that should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the subject.

 

At the moment I'm reading Peter Ackroyd's Dan Leno & The Limehouse Golem. I've been reading a lot of wrestling stuff lately in research for my own writing, and had been reading a lot of non-fiction before that, so thought I'd break it up with a book I've been meaning to read for years. I love Ackroyd's writing, but other than Hawksmoor had generally shied away from his fiction, without any real justification, as I loved Hawksmoor, and the love the film adaptation of Limehouse Golem. Early days, but I'm enjoying it.

[Michael_3165]

17 hours ago, hallicks said:

Recently read this as well. It should be made mandatory in schools, or something. Fuck the Tudors, teach the kids about the racism that oozes out of every institution in this country. Instead of teaching, "hey, the British Empire was a thing! And then it wasn't, the end", teach them about the cunt behaviour we enacted whilst occupying other countries, like increasing the amount of food that was exported from India during a famine so that millions of the local population died.

She doesn't bring enough evidence for me to go that far. The general tone of the message is a little off putting for your average white person and I would suspect this would fall flat in schools in the UK. She has some really good points but the generalisations really set it back. 

Of course that is part of the problem and I dont deny that. 

I heard Akala's books better from aan historical and evidential perspective. Its definitely an interesting subject.

Edited August 3, 2020 by Michael_3165

[DavidB6937]

I really want to get back into reading but damn I'm finding it hard to concentrate in recent months. Probably doesn't help that most of my reading time used to be my commute, rather than being stuck at home with the kids all the time. But even when I'm trying in a rare quiet moment, I'm struggling.

[Chris B]

15 minutes ago, Michael_3165 said:

The general tone of the message is a little off putting for your average white person

Considering it's been a huge seller, critically acclaimed and 81% 5 stars on Amazon, it appears that the average white person seems quite receptive.

[Keith Houchen]

1 minute ago, Chris B said:

Considering it's been a huge seller, critically acclaimed and 81% 5 stars on Amazon, it appears that the average white person seems quite receptive.

I think by “Average white person” he means “Ones who don’t acknowledge or believe white privilege exist”. And judging by his posts in the Black Lives Matter thread, he means himself. 

[Michael_3165]

1 hour ago, Keith Houchen said:

I think by “Average white person” he means “Ones who don’t acknowledge or believe white privilege exist”. And judging by his posts in the Black Lives Matter thread, he means himself. 

Making assumptions is intellectually lazy in all areas of life. We are all guilty of it I guess. Of course I'm privileged, I dont have to worry about being stopped and searched daily, I've been stopped in my car twice ever, I don't get abused for the way I look/sound, I don't have to worry about many things black people think about daily. At no point have I ever suggested otherwise. Unless you can point to a clear statement that I don't believe in it (you can't, I haven't). 

I have questioned certain things and believe that this is the only way to make sense of the world and people in it. I don't believe in interpreting non observable events (internal experiences are observable if people tell us what the think, feel or intend). That is my behaviouralist background. We can have a rough guess about things but shouldn't state facts when they are guesses. 

It is interesting how people shut down dialogue when it goes against their agenda or belief system. I'm disappointed that people cant speak freely and have an open convo based on good faith. I often find myself being drawn into these petty disputes which iss disappointing. 

I don't expect nuance from some people though. have a superb day. 

Edited August 3, 2020 by Michael_3165

[Chris B]

On 8/3/2020 at 5:42 PM, Michael_3165 said:

We can have a rough guess about things but shouldn't state facts when they are guesses. 

 

On 8/3/2020 at 4:17 PM, Michael_3165 said:

The general tone of the message is a little off putting for your average white person

 

It may feel like you're being drawn into petty disputes, but you kind of create it yourself by complaining about other people making generalisations while also making your own generalisations. Rather than doubling down, if you acknowledge that, you'll probably find yourself in fewer petty disputes.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Chris B