10 Books Everyone Should Read

OccultHawk · 05-21-2017, 03:26 PM

I think you're low balling the importance of reading primary sources.

It's not just about collecting the facts. It's a matter of getting a feel for the real thing. With Hitler, Darwin, Marx, Freud - reading their actual words takes you more into their minds. In my case, I read that stuff and only marginally understood most of it- but I think it was worthwhile to wade through those waters while I still had the energy. Maybe I was kidding myself but I felt like I was building a foundation.

Pet_Sounds · 05-21-2017, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

You really don't. There's enough information about Christianity around from movies, other books, novels, and of course the Church themselves that I imagine the percentage of people who have actually read the Bible - as in, read it all the way through, not just a few passages - other than the clergy obviously - would be exceptionally small. And yet we all know about Christianity and the Crusades and Jesus and Pilate and the Crucifixion and all that stuff.

I agree that you don't need to read every single book—skip most of the Old Testament if you want—and perhaps my post should have reflected that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Absolutely not essential reading. Do you need to read Mein Kampf to learn about Hitler? Or The Origin of Species to know about Darwin? This stuff is readily available from other sources, multiple sources. By all means, read the Bible if you want, or feel you need to, but don't quote it as a book everyone should or needs to read, cos that just is not true.

As I said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pet_Sounds

Whether you read the Bible itself or some scholar's interpretation doesn't really matter, but I included the original source.

However, I believe it's always better to go straight to the source if you want to understand something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

I think you're low balling the importance of reading primary sources.

It's not just about collecting the facts. It's a matter of getting a feel for the real thing. With Hitler, Darwin, Marx, Freud - reading their actual words takes you more into their minds. In my case, I read that stuff and only marginally understood most of it- but I think it was worthwhile to wade through those waters while I still had the energy. Maybe I was kidding myself but I felt like I was building a foundation.

This is sort of what I'm trying to say.

Think of it this way: If Donald Trump passes a new executive order, what's the best way to understand it? To read the text of the executive order—or at least an objective analysis. It's the same with the Bible. I know you're no fan of religion—and believe me, neither am I—but that book has shaped the world we live in today. Just look at the conflicts that have arisen over its interpretation in your own country. Name a book that has had a greater influence on the history of the world.

Chula Vista · 05-21-2017, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pet_Sounds

Name a book that has had a greater influence on the history of the world.

Fox in Socks.

(I've bet dozens of people through the years to try and read the entire book out loud without tripping and no-one has ever taken my cash - that's pretty damn significant)

Pet_Sounds · 05-21-2017, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chula Vista

Fox in Socks.

Mr. Knox. Now come now. Come now.
You don't have to be so dumb now...

Trollheart · 05-21-2017, 05:45 PM

I don't see how reading a religious propaganda "novel" with witches and goblins and fairies helps you understand history. Most of it could never have happened in reality - people rising from the dead? Seas parting? Give me a break.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pet_Sounds

. Name a book that has had a greater influence on the history of the world.

Any Harry Potter book, Lord of the Rings, the Dictionary, or, to be serious, A Christmas Carol, or any Dickens work. The Prince. Nineteen-Eighty Four. I could go on.

I will.

Sherlock Holmes series changed how we think about police/detective work. HP Lovecraft and Poe brought horror into the mainstream. Tons of others. All the Bible is is a big fat book that tells you what to do, and as I say, I can guarantee you the smallest percentage of Christians have ever even opened the damn thing.

**Frownland** · 05-21-2017, 05:46 PM

It seems like you're worried that you'll get swept up into propaganda just by reading it. Just read it with a critical eye.

Trollheart · 05-21-2017, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland

It seems like you're worried that you'll get swept up into propaganda just by reading it. Just read it with a critical eye.

Nah, their propaganda don't work on me. I actually tried to read it once, long ago. Bored the arse off me. You'd think a collaboration between four of Jesus's top men, they could have at least made it a cracking read, wouldn't you?

Chula Vista · 05-21-2017, 06:10 PM

It's definately worth a read. The 40 guys who wrote it over the course of a 1,500 year span did a nice job of keeping a fictional tale going.

P.S. To add perspective, 1,500 years ago from today was year 517.

Stephen · 05-21-2017, 05:59 PM

Not sure it belongs on a must read list as it's been a few years and my memory is kind of fuzzy but I enjoyed The World According to Garp.

OccultHawk · 05-21-2017, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

Not sure it belongs on a must read list as it's been a few years and my memory is kind of fuzzy but I enjoyed The World According to Garp.

Great book.

05-21-2017, 05:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	It seems like you're worried that you'll get swept up into propaganda just by reading it. Just read it with a critical eye. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

05-21-2017, 06:10 PM	#8 (permalink)
Chula Vista Toasted Poster Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: SoCal by way of Boston Posts: 11,332	It's definately worth a read. The 40 guys who wrote it over the course of a 1,500 year span did a nice job of keeping a fictional tale going. P.S. To add perspective, 1,500 years ago from today was year 517. __________________ “The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

05-21-2017, 03:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,006	I think you're low balling the importance of reading primary sources. It's not just about collecting the facts. It's a matter of getting a feel for the real thing. With Hitler, Darwin, Marx, Freud - reading their actual words takes you more into their minds. In my case, I read that stuff and only marginally understood most of it- but I think it was worthwhile to wade through those waters while I still had the energy. Maybe I was kidding myself but I felt like I was building a foundation.

05-21-2017, 05:59 PM	#9 (permalink)
Stephen I sleep in your hat Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Melbourne, Vic. Aus. Posts: 1,851	Not sure it belongs on a must read list as it's been a few years and my memory is kind of fuzzy but I enjoyed The World According to Garp.