^^^^^I've read this (not the Journey of Socrates) several times, and it's definitely one of my favorites, However I haven't gotten to any of Millman's follow up books. I know he's written several.

I feel like he fell off in the deep end of the self-help genre, which isn't always bad, but I couldn't get into them. Also, I got a little turned off with The Way of the Peaceful Warrior movie.

i forgot to mention Catcher in the Rye

probably my favorite novel:
http://www.chrismasto.com/delicious/images/248

close second
http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/gr...overs/34-1.jpg

and the less serious version
http://esvaziando.files.wordpress.co...luminatus1.jpg

eeek! do you make time to read? i feel like just getting through infinite jest, either/or, being and nothingness and das kapital would take me a few years.

some of my favorite philosophy works: finite and infinite games, simulacra and simulation, athens and jerusalem, society of the spectacle, myth of sisyphus, negative dialectics, phenomenology of spirit, beyond good and evil, tractatus logico-philosophicus, (spinoza's) ethics, anything meister eckhart, differance, pleasure of the text and death of the author

I was actually looking into getting dhalgren, how is it?

in my eyes it is pure awesomeness. it's circular meta-fiction, incredibly well written, great characters, a deconstruction of the sci-fi epic, very relevant and interesting for its politics and social relations... read it, definitely.

I love R.A. Wilson's non-fiction, but I simply couldn't get into The Illuminatus Trilogy.

I am also looking into getting more into phenomenology of spirit.
Any recommendations?

http://scrapbook.citizen-citizen.com...ytotheendo.jpg

One of my favourite authors and books...it's angsty..not existential angst or anything like that...just a prick writing about his experiences...it's funny as all hell though.


http://leslieann.files.wordpress.com.../karamazov.jpg

The main storyline in most dostoevsky books usually take place over the course of the week or so...he captures human psychology really well, even secondary characters are fully fleshed out. You could replace this with the devils or crime and punishment. I just know I likes this one.


...also most raymond chandler and william styrons "confessions of nat turner".

Black, gay and writes sci-fi. I'm downloading this shizznit...:|

recommendations in terms of novels, you mean?

Really? I mean I enjoyed the book immensely despite a few deviations from the main plot that dragged a little. But I couldn't really relate to the characters, they all seemed highly exaggerated and most of them a little bit crazy.

Dharma Bums
Electric Kool Aid Acid Test
On the Road (esp. The Original Scroll version -- worth re-reading that version if you haven't)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Grapes of Wrath
Of Mice and Men
The Glass Bead Game

Sorry I left out a chunk of paragraph. I black out sometimes.

I started reading the Hegel text, and to be totally honest formalized philosophy doesn't work so well with me, yet the subject matter resonates with me. I figured you might know of some more contemporary works of the same subject matter that are perhaps gentler on the brain cells.

.......I'm pretty f'd in the head so I could totally relate.

hmm... only Hegel really does Hegel. I mean, there's tons of books written about "the absolute," but nobody quite approaches it like Hegel does. Schopenhauer is similar and a lot easier to read, but it's not the same. only Hegel will show you step by step how reality unfolds through self-contradiction, only Hegel will introduce terms that at the beginning of the text don't mean anything and by the end mean everything. he sets up a system which is completely circular and self-referential, and it's not the sort of thing people feel compelled to re-do or expand upon (or understand, for the most part). they kind of step back and either say "christ..." or "obscurantist rubbish!" so... maybe a book on Hegel? still not the same though. there are some absolute idealists who are probably easier to read (that or they just use hegel's terms assuming you already know what they mean) who i haven't read, but i can point you to them. fh bradley, alexandre kojeve, josiah royce...

slavoj zizek is a lot of fun to read but he expects a lot of background knowledge and can be pretty tricky to figure out.

Of course, James Baldwin, my favorite author, is both black and gay, but no sci-fi i'm afraid.

delany is also a post-modernist :p:

(that is, the ultimate outsider)

****ing love that book. You sir are of refined taste.

Some of my favorite non-fiction:

CA's mention of The Illuminatus Trilogy reminded me of this little number by R.A. Wilson:
http://www.insolitamaquina.com/marco...p_image001.jpg

I am a huge Joseph Campbell worshipper. My favorite of his is actually this transcript of a 6 episode PBS interview with him and Bill Moyers:

http://a4.vox.com/6a00c2252183e4604a...a6e4860f-500pi

This seemed to be one of those books that followed me wherever I went last year. Kind of one of those serendipitous things. I finally broke down and read, but wasn't holding my breath despite the amazing Alex Grey cover art. It was absolutely fascinating:
http://aerialcircus.files.wordpress....molecule_0.jpg

I read a lot on shamanism, both ancient and modern. This one is definitely my favorite:

http://www.bearheart.info/thewindismymother.jpg

you must've read huxley, right? spirit molecule also seems to follow me around, a lot of my friends have it but i've only flipped through it. still, i can probably get a more direct source of information on that...

I've read The Perennial Philosophy and Brave New World. Neither of which really approach the subject matter, I liked Spirit Molecule, because it really split the divide between the conjecture of philosophy and fluffiness of a lot of the new-age lit that's out there, which are, unfortunately, the primary sources for a lot of my quantum psychology info. This, plus it was a surprisingly easy-going read.

the doors of perception :thumb:

Ya' know...even I would have thought I'd have read that by now. Huh....great suggestion.

I've been getting some mixed reports on Giovanni's room but if anyone can find me some e-books by him, I'd be much obliged...(:

Go Tell it on the Mountain deals with his sexuality less directly, but it is still a very present theme. I would recommend it over Giovanni's Room any day. But regardless of whichever book of his you choose it's the exquisite quality of his writing that captures and keeps you. Despite the fact that he is a literary legend, I believe he's extremely underrated as far as American authors go.

No, not a novel, but nonetheless this book is very well put together.

http://www.geocities.com/mikedelpric...igurations.jpg

:tramp: Of course you know you have my full attention now. I really have to get my hands on some of his work!

any recommendations, aside from this one?

Most people, including myself, get their first taste through Carlos Castenada's Don Juan series, which begins with The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yacqui Way of Knowledge. Disappointingly, it was confirmed by Castenada when he was literally on his death bed that the series of books which describe his own shamanic apprenticeship with Don Juan were, for the most part, fictitious. Despite this fact most of what is described in the series holds a lot of truth when compared to other indigenous and global shamanic practices, but considering that most accounts of shamanic practices extend far beyond the realm of what defies logic, physics, and that which is widely considered humanly possible I would suggest something that is a little more pragmatic and grounded in good psychology.

Serge Kahili King's The Urban Shaman would be a great book to start with. Serge is a practioner of a Hawaiian style of shamanism known as Huna. His books are really more instructive and explanatory from a psychological perspective (the man is not only a master shaman, but holds a PHD in psychology as well). The book does a lot to explain what shamanism is, and isn't, as well as instructs the reader how to conduct certain practices and why they work on a quantum psychological level. I also believe there's an extensive recommended reading list as part of the appendix.

I love you. I don't have this one but I've got a couple of other Alex Grey books which are mainly about his visual arts/ mainly images etc and stuff. I would love to get my hands on this one day. Alex Grey is just awesome.

Well mine is not really a book but more like a short story. But my favorite thing I have read nonetheless.

To Build a Fire - Jack London

It really made an impression on me

https://www.randomhouse.com/images/d...0&maxwidth=170

My other favorites include the Sword of Shannara books by Terry Brooks. I've read them all (they are huge books) and I'm not much of reader. The sad thing is, is that I read these so long ago I can't really even remember them. They are alot like The Lord of the Rings books, maybe even better. If you liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy then I guarentee you will like these.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._hardcover.jpg

Ah, I remember reading this once. It really left an impression on me also. Made me a bit sad. I love how at the very end it switches from the man's perspective to the dog's.

I'm sending you a freind request and thats all there is to it

I can't believe I've left out Tony. Easily the greatest living American author (well, I've said that about Tom Robbins, but apples and oranges, ya' know). I've read everything she's written and Jazz is by far my favorite. Although it seems to be the one book of her's that receives the least amount of attention. Interestingly enough the title isn't derived at all from the book's subject matter, but from her attempt to transpose Jazz's musical style and rhetoric into literary prose, and with that she is amazingly successful. This book reads like a dream. Very highly recommended!

http://www.cyberread.com/files/04/52...rge_45271.jpeg

I love The Inkheart Trilogy, by Cornelia Funke. I'm not usually into "fantasy" stuff, but I've reread all three multiple times and they still keep me on the edge of my seat while I'm reading :)
Also love The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (a real vampire story, with a great history of Eastern Europe as well yayyy!!)
And I also love anything by Jane Austen-she was wonderful!

i'm going to add Fear and Trembling by Kierkegaard to my list. finally, a philosopher who makes sense AND restores a glimmer of hope to existence

I just like to name drop him in conversations to make myself seem smarter than I actually am.

do you pronounce it in danish? :p:

I'm not a big reader, but one of my favorites (as well as one of my favorite movies):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...iningnovel.jpg

^btw King hated the way Kubrick made the movie ... seems Kubrick couldn't believe that any ghostly presence is a bad thing, as it's only the proof of a life after death ... lol

another book destroyed by a director [Tom Tykwer, this time ... tho i love his other movies]

The Perfume by Patrick Süskind

http://mattviews.files.wordpress.com...09/perfume.jpg