46zilzal
04-24-2008, 03:34 PM
Talking with a few old friends from school and was pondering some of the books that made a difference in one's outlook. We hashed out a few and made a list.
1984/Brave New World - one cannot really talk about one without the other. Found it interesting that Huxley wrote Brave New World Revisited in the early 50's since his futuristic society was already taking shape. He was well aware of the comparison to Orwell and stated that when, not if, totalitarian society came to pass, it would be more likely to come through the mindless pleasures of a soma like medium than the harshness of a 1984.
The Population Bomb Dr. Paul Erlich- sound logic too bad it has not awoken many to the inevitabilities proposed and being proven. Parallels the old Jewish proverb: "Don't shit where you eat."
Atlas Shrugged - While the proposed lifestyle is impossible, there were some very interesting points of view offered. Outlines much of the polarized society we now live with. Having read We the Living makes one understand where her radical points of view come from.
Chaos by Gleick and Complexity by Waldrop - BOTH suggestions of Dr. Howard Sartin they are fascinating works which continue to have real life comparisons.
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell - Information here has really made handicapping more a pleasure than a chore.
The Robber Barons by Mathew Josephson- white collar crooks abound and are on the rise again (ENRON, World Com, Halliburton). Where is the trust fighting Teddy when we need him?
The Tao of Physics - F. Capra, The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff, Tao Te Ching Lao Tze. A fascinating way of thought which has stood the test of time.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. How, at one time, the food supply was in question then exposed, and how it is now being poisoned again. Obesity reigns unchecked with all it's subsequent medical pathology.
I would like to write that Origin of Species is here too, but the book is poorly written and frankly boring. It is better to just read the summary of his findings rather than wade through it.
1984/Brave New World - one cannot really talk about one without the other. Found it interesting that Huxley wrote Brave New World Revisited in the early 50's since his futuristic society was already taking shape. He was well aware of the comparison to Orwell and stated that when, not if, totalitarian society came to pass, it would be more likely to come through the mindless pleasures of a soma like medium than the harshness of a 1984.
The Population Bomb Dr. Paul Erlich- sound logic too bad it has not awoken many to the inevitabilities proposed and being proven. Parallels the old Jewish proverb: "Don't shit where you eat."
Atlas Shrugged - While the proposed lifestyle is impossible, there were some very interesting points of view offered. Outlines much of the polarized society we now live with. Having read We the Living makes one understand where her radical points of view come from.
Chaos by Gleick and Complexity by Waldrop - BOTH suggestions of Dr. Howard Sartin they are fascinating works which continue to have real life comparisons.
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell - Information here has really made handicapping more a pleasure than a chore.
The Robber Barons by Mathew Josephson- white collar crooks abound and are on the rise again (ENRON, World Com, Halliburton). Where is the trust fighting Teddy when we need him?
The Tao of Physics - F. Capra, The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff, Tao Te Ching Lao Tze. A fascinating way of thought which has stood the test of time.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. How, at one time, the food supply was in question then exposed, and how it is now being poisoned again. Obesity reigns unchecked with all it's subsequent medical pathology.
I would like to write that Origin of Species is here too, but the book is poorly written and frankly boring. It is better to just read the summary of his findings rather than wade through it.