Philosophy Discussion Forums

I just finished my annual (ish, sometimes I skip) reread of The Silmarillion and decided to jump into something horror. I’m a huge horror buff, but the genre is one of the worst to try to find anything decent in. I can spend a week poring over reviews and synopses before I find a horror story I actually want to read.

In any case, I settled on John Langan’s anthology, “Corpsemouth and other Autobiographies,” which is a Lovecraftian-style cosmic horror/weird fiction style collection.

I chose this one because I really enjoyed Langan’s “The Fisherman,” wherein three fishermen tell their tale at a bar in the Catskills mountains, discovering that a sinister force connects their stories.

More than just being excellent supernatural horror though, Langan masterfully handles themes like loss and friendship; and while I often roll my eyes in some horror books thinking “I don’t care, can we get more monsters in my monster story please” (ahem Stephen King), I really felt the grief and the journey of the protagonists of The Fisherman. I’d recommend that book to anyone, even people that usually don’t go for genre fiction.

In any case, what are you reading?

Astro Cat wrote: ↑June 27th, 2022, 12:20 am I just finished my annual (ish, sometimes I skip) reread of The Silmarillion and decided to jump into something horror. I’m a huge horror buff, but the genre is one of the worst to try to find anything decent in. I can spend a week poring over reviews and synopses before I find a horror story I actually want to read.

In any case, I settled on John Langan’s anthology, “Corpsemouth and other Autobiographies,” which is a Lovecraftian-style cosmic horror/weird fiction style collection.

I chose this one because I really enjoyed Langan’s “The Fisherman,” wherein three fishermen tell their tale at a bar in the Catskills mountains, discovering that a sinister force connects their stories.

More than just being excellent supernatural horror though, Langan masterfully handles themes like loss and friendship; and while I often roll my eyes in some horror books thinking “I don’t care, can we get more monsters in my monster story please” (ahem Stephen King), I really felt the grief and the journey of the protagonists of The Fisherman. I’d recommend that book to anyone, even people that usually don’t go for genre fiction.

In any case, what are you reading?

I am reading 'Gormenghast Trilogy' by Mervyn Peake. I also like fantasy, gothic as well as science fiction. I try to get a balance between philosophy and fiction in my reading and I often have bookmarks in many books which I am reading. I have read some Stephen King, including his book, 'On Writing.'However, it doesn't work to read too many fiction books at once because it can become confusing. I like to read widely on philosophy and ar the moment I am reading 'Fear and 'Trembling', by Kierkergaard.

This is different from what I read frequently because I am more inclined to read on the nature of consciousness. It seemed, from reading your introduction, that you have more of a science background. My own is more arts and social science based but since using philosophy sites I am reading more in the direction of science to widen my perspective.

JackDaydream wrote: ↑June 27th, 2022, 7:57 am I am reading 'Gormenghast Trilogy' by Mervyn Peake. I also like fantasy, gothic as well as science fiction. I try to get a balance between philosophy and fiction in my reading and I often have bookmarks in many books which I am reading. I have read some Stephen King, including his book, 'On Writing.'However, it doesn't work to read too many fiction books at once because it can become confusing. I like to read widely on philosophy and ar the moment I am reading 'Fear and 'Trembling', by Kierkergaard.

This is different from what I read frequently because I am more inclined to read on the nature of consciousness. It seemed, from reading your introduction, that you have more of a science background. My own is more arts and social science based but since using philosophy sites I am reading more in the direction of science to widen my perspective.

Oooh, you read multiple books at once too? I have gotten so much crap for doing that from pretty much everyone I know.

Astro Cat wrote: ↑June 29th, 2022, 4:37 am

JackDaydream wrote: ↑June 27th, 2022, 7:57 am I am reading 'Gormenghast Trilogy' by Mervyn Peake. I also like fantasy, gothic as well as science fiction. I try to get a balance between philosophy and fiction in my reading and I often have bookmarks in many books which I am reading. I have read some Stephen King, including his book, 'On Writing.'However, it doesn't work to read too many fiction books at once because it can become confusing. I like to read widely on philosophy and ar the moment I am reading 'Fear and 'Trembling', by Kierkergaard.

This is different from what I read frequently because I am more inclined to read on the nature of consciousness. It seemed, from reading your introduction, that you have more of a science background. My own is more arts and social science based but since using philosophy sites I am reading more in the direction of science to widen my perspective.

Oooh, you read multiple books at once too? I have gotten so much crap for doing that from pretty much everyone I know.

I am sure that many may criticise the way in which I read many books at once. Final atrocious at multitasking generally but reading many books seems to work for me, although it may be those who read each separately and individually benefit more. My own defence, or excluse, is that it may be better to read as many viewpoints and ideas, to try to construct the most comprehensive reading life possible, but with some awareness that life cannot be contained in books fully. Living experience is important, but, sometimes, authors of books may seem like best friends and mentors.

Astro Cat wrote: ↑June 27th, 2022, 12:20 am I just finished my annual (ish, sometimes I skip) reread of The Silmarillion...

I only got half way through the Silmarillion. To me, it read like a dry history book. I've read LOTR every 2 years or so, since I first discovered it in the early 70s. And I've read The Hobbit a couple of times, enough to be annoyed that the money-grabbing movie-makers expanded it to 3 full-length films, presumably to maximise their profits.

Astro Cat wrote: ↑June 27th, 2022, 12:20 am In any case, what are you reading?

At the moment, Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence and Salvatore's [TSR/AD&D] novels about Drizzt Do'Urden. And various hi-fi magazines. And anything else that takes my fancy. God, I love being retired!

As I write this, I have half a dozen webpages sitting, waiting to enlighten me on the intricacies of acoustic transmission-line speaker design.

Just started The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu

Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche.
Reading it in a second language; quite challenging to comprehend.

I am stepping outside of my typical genres and am reading a comedy/farce (on a recommendation) Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen.

After viewing inspirational video's of philosopher and philosophy book shop owner Ryan Holiday, I am now reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

If anyone is interested, Ryan Holiday's book shop is selling a special edition of the book.

I decided to also start with a philosophy book of the founder of onlinephilosophyclub.com: In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (Scott).


Almost 500 reviews on Amazon.com.

"This is a work of “New Age” philosophy. Hughes starts with words suggesting a Buddhist koan. ... The book is an amalgam of ancient stoicism and New Age religion.

This book is a fantastic philosophical journey through many trials and tribulations we all struggle with.

I have read many books on philosophy and religion, from the history of Greek philosophy to treaties on Zen Buddhism. Often, the discussions get lost in esoteric details. That is not the case with this book. Thanks to its beautiful, unassuming prose, complex concepts are broken down into their simplest building blocks and the message shines through. This is a book to cherish, to read more than once, and most importantly, to share with others."

Information: https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/amazo ... 1948472058
Discussion forum: https://onlinephilosophyclub.com/forums ... m.php?f=56 (book of the month November 2022)

value wrote: ↑March 16th, 2023, 4:25 am I decided to also start with a philosophy book of the founder of onlinephilosophyclub.com: In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (Scott).


in-it-together.jpg


Almost 500 reviews on Amazon.com.

"This is a work of “New Age” philosophy. Hughes starts with words suggesting a Buddhist koan. ... The book is an amalgam of ancient stoicism and New Age religion.

This book is a fantastic philosophical journey through many trials and tribulations we all struggle with.

I have read many books on philosophy and religion, from the history of Greek philosophy to treaties on Zen Buddhism. Often, the discussions get lost in esoteric details. That is not the case with this book. Thanks to its beautiful, unassuming prose, complex concepts are broken down into their simplest building blocks and the message shines through. This is a book to cherish, to read more than once, and most importantly, to share with others."

Information: https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/amazo ... 1948472058
Discussion forum: https://onlinephilosophyclub.com/forums ... m.php?f=56 (book of the month November 2022)

Thank you so much, value!!!

I deeply look forward to discussing the book and the ideas in it with you.


Thank you,
Scott

Astro Cat wrote: ↑June 27th, 2022, 12:20 am In any case, what are you reading?

Just finished reading 'A Dream For Peace' by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah. Talk about feeling inadequate after reading about his remarkable life, personal and indirect impact, and the people he met along the way. It's a 600-page life journey that left me shocked. I don't typically read memoirs, but this one kept catching my eye, so I went for it. Surprisingly, I recommend it. You actually come across peacemakers in politics, which is SHOCKING!

I have read only one autobiography, "Harpo speaks" by Harpo Marx. An astonishingly good read. The rest of my reading has always been techy software and philosophy stuff, with my fictional needs satisfied by 'fantasy', that I prefer to call speculative or imaginative fiction.

I'm glued to long-form podcasts right now, main benefit that I can also do it while I work, so there's a displacement issue. However - I've been buying Kindle books as I don't want to overload the bookshelf. I have a Laszlo Krasznahorkai (Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming), I need to get back to Franz Kafka's 'The Castle' and finish that, and I picked up Naked Lunch by William Burroughs because I've heard a lot about his writing and wanted to find a place to get started.

I read Kafka's "The Trial" a long time ago. It took me a very long time to read, only to find that at the end of the book, nothing had changed and nothing had happened. If I were you, I would limit my Kafka reading to "Metamorphosis".