what are you reading now?

[Mr. Tea]

Just finished re-reading Francis Wheen's How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered The World. Should be compulsory for anyone venturing into Dissensus politics threads.

One of my housemates has that, and I've enjoyed browsing through it. In the index 'postmodernism' is sandwiched between 'Pol Pot' and 'Potter, Harry', which seemed somehow oddly fitting.

 

[crackerjack]

One of my housemates has that, and I've enjoyed browsing through it. In the index 'postmodernism' is sandwiched between 'Pol Pot' and 'Potter, Harry', which seemed somehow oddly fitting.

Of all Dissensians, I'd expect you to like it most, especially the bit (chapter 4) on post-structaralism/deconstructivism/all that jazz.

I re-read it because names that meant nothing to me 4 years ago, like John Gray, are familiar now. But it's a great read anyhoo - you can't have too many reminders that leftwing politics should take secular humanism and democracy as their bread and butter.

He's apparently writing something on 70s paranoia next.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Of all Dissensians, I'd expect you to like it most, especially the bit (chapter 4) on post-structaralism/deconstructivism/all that jazz.

Heh, yeah - although I'm sure there's shitloads on both the likes of feng shui and also marketing/management jargon, which are, in their own ways, as annoying as feminist 'critiques' of special relativity and Lacan's psycho-mathematics.

 

[Tentative Andy]

I would have to say, even though there are many parts of post-structuralist theory that I disagree with, I often find that the 'gosh, this stuff is all a load of hokum' books that are published against it are just as heavily selective, poorly researched and lacking in convincing argument as what they are trying to critique. Case in point: Raymond Tallis.

 

[Slothrop]

I would have to say, even though there are many parts of post-structuralist theory that I disagree with, I often find that the 'gosh, this stuff is all a load of hokum' books that are published against it are just as heavily selective, poorly researched and lacking in convincing argument as what they are trying to critique.

Yeah, there does seem to be a tendancy to work by pulling out an unreadable phrase and saying "haha, you see, they use words in different ways from how they're used in normal conversation I CALL BUNKUM" as if you couldn't do the exact same thing as that with physics or mathematics or economics or whatever.

 

[Mr. Tea]

The Wheen book seems pretty well researched, to be fair, and there's only one chapter about post-structuralism per se. In any case, some of it seems so vague and wilfully obscure it's not even possible to disagree with in any meaningful way.

 

[Tentative Andy]

Tru dat.

 

[Slothrop]

The Wheen book seems pretty well researched, to be fair, and there's only one chapter about post-structuralism per se. In any case, some of it seems so vague and wilfully obscure it's not even possible to disagree with in any meaningful way.

I thought he was a lot better on things other than critical theory and continental philosophy, certainly.

Although I think on the whole I'd rather stick to specialists on each subject eg Ben Goldacre for starters...

 

[Tentative Andy]

In any case, some of it seems so vague and wilfully obscure it's not even possible to disagree with in any meaningful way.

I've really only very rarely encountered that sort of writing. Would struggle to think of major examples: Lacan's Ecrits maybe, but even then millions of people would disagree vehemently with me, and seem capable of getting things which are very meaningful and profound out of it, I'm just not always sure how they do it.
If anything, for me the problem with a lot of post-structuralist writings is that they are too meaning-laden, they seem to find heavy ethical/political significance in things where there just aren't any. Anyhoo, I've prob taken this off-topic.

 

[Slothrop]

I got The Rest is Noise,

We should make this a Dissensus Book Club book or something, seeing as so many people got it for christmas...

 

[Mr. Tea]

Although I think on the whole I'd rather stick to specialists on each subject eg Ben Goldacre for starters...

Good call. I know he got a lot of stick here recently for an admittedly rather sub-par article about conspiracy theories, but it'd have to be Charlie Brooker for advertising, barrel-scraping pop culture and shite TV generally, no?

 

[Agent]

Yeah, I've read the original which was why I was interested in Artaud's rewrite. Never knew about it. I'd be interested to hear what it's like - think I'll check it out myself if it's any good (what's the book actually called? Is it just The Monk by Artaud or what? Cheers).

i'll probably order it also. I just finished the original. It doesn't cost much at Amazon. I doubt many English readers are aware of it as this is the first translation and it was published in 2003:

As wide and eclectic as Surrealist artist Antonin Artaud's portfolio is, it contains only one work of fiction: a reworking of Matthew Lewis' story of sexual obsession: The Monk, of 1794. Unlike traditional translations, Artaud's version simply used the text as a starting point as he discarded entire chapters and stamped his own distinctive identity on the work. Now, Artaud's version is translated into English for the first time.

With cover quotes from Jean Cocteau and Andre Breton.

also worth checking out:

Kafka, Gothic and Fairytale
The Surrealist Parade
nd this: http://journals.mup.man.ac.uk/cgi-bin/MUP?COMval=article&key=GOTH/V5I1/050011.xml

 

[IdleRich]

Nice one.

 

[Corpsey]

J.G. Ballard - Miracles of Life (the autobiography).

It's great.

 

[Ness Rowlah]

• Orwell in Tribune: As I Please and Other Writings 1943-7
• The Gift: David Flusfeder
• The Bandini Quartet: John Fante
• The Shock of the New: Art and the Century of Change:Robert Hughes (not really started on this one yet, but the Beeb aired one of the episodes of the TV series with the same title on BBC4 last autumn and I was taken by it. So I now got both the complete TV series and the book).
• I need to pick up my mother tongue proper again, so I just went and picked up my dusty copy of "Salme ved reisens slutt" ("Psalm at Journey's End ") by Erik Fosnes Hansen

I normally have three or four books on the go, a pocket for the commute and the heavy hardbacks at home.

 

[craner]

I got Simon Jenkins' book on Wales for Christmas and, bizarrely, Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities.

 

[don_quixote]

do we have a david peace thread? just finished 1977. they (the red riding q) are so fucking fantastic.

 

[jenks]

if we don't - we really should have. Have you seen kpunk's recent piece on him. Fascinating to see how he will transfer to the telly.

 

[STN]

Black List, Section H, by Francis Stuart. Really enjoying this. I like books which are an intensive study of a strange, made-up person.

 

[crackerjack]

do we have a david peace thread? just finished 1977. they (the red riding q) are so fucking fantastic.

So apart from this and the Cloughie one, which I've read, what else is recommended?