Books what you is reading: Page 27 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Books what you is reading

Mirth

Claudius wrote:
Mirth wrote:
Finished reading Bad Blood.

Genuinely reads like a thriller novel but also an insight to the workings of Silicon Valley that often doesn't get the same scrutiny as Wall Street.

It's a scary book.
But it's actually the same beast as Wall Street. The two are intertwined. When we talk about billionaires and inequality, the new Silicon Valley machine of the last 25 years is an integral part of this. In line with American culture, individuals are given inordinate value in business formation. Businesses are then given much more cash than at any time in history to accelerate their growth to maturity. And various VCs load in due to FOMO and wink-wink dealing to inflate valuations. So you have these overvalued business with highly concentrated ownership by a few founders and early investors - who bank billions.

Look at the US rich list. So much of that list is coming out Silicon Valley. I think she's fascinating because she stole so much money but also because she's a woman in a man's world.

FOMO indeed, was shocking that the likes of Wallgreens and Safeways basically signed multi million dollar contracts without even confirming that what they were buying worked. Must say, I was pleasantly surprised that Murdoch left the WSJ to do its investigation even though he controlled it via News Corp and the investigation cost him millions.

My main point vs Wall Street is that listed companies at least have to go through certain hoops to raise funding. Of course people still skirt around it but it's a lot harder than what Theranos did. They didn't even have a CFO!

Claudius

It’s an absolute zoo. And once SoftBank came in with their Saudi money, they really exposed the lack of controls in the environment.

Daz

So I got some vouchers for an online book store as a farewell gift from my job a couple months back. I still haven't used any of them. Who wants to recommend something good for me to order (either classics or more recent...I'm pretty open to suggestions)?

arsedocmd

Daz wrote:
So I got some vouchers for an online book store as a farewell gift from my job a couple months back. I still haven't used any of them. Who wants to recommend something good for me to order (either classics or more recent...I'm pretty open to suggestions)?

https://www.thedailybeast.com/qanon-book-is-now-among-the-top-75-titles-sold-on-amazon

Burnwinter

Daz wrote:
So I got some vouchers for an online book store as a farewell gift from my job a couple months back. I still haven't used any of them. Who wants to recommend something good for me to order (either classics or more recent...I'm pretty open to suggestions)?

I often recommend the 1945 novel THE BRIDGE ON THE DRINA to people Daz. Really spectacular work of literature.

Yaa Gyasi's HOMEGOING was a good recent read if you're looking for something more contemporary and poetic.

Daz

Cheers for those suggestions. I'll check them out. Keep 'em coming folks.

Klaus

I just finished this one the other day:

Really good and rather unique scifi. David Attenborough in space, kind of. There's a follow-up book named Children of Ruin that I just started and so far it's even better.

Asterix

ooh that looks good.

Have you read the Aussie classics Daz? Cloudstreet, Oscar and Lucinda, The Secret River, anything by Peter Temple? And the 3 by Jane Harper are excellent character and landscape driven detective stories.

Klaus

Got these three in the mail today:

Asterix

I've studied quite a bit of Australia's treatment of it's Aboriginal people, so the Lindqvist book should be a compelling, if harrowing read Klaus. I might read it one day when I feel less likely to be depressed by it.

It's a part of our history we still try to hide as a nation. This is a long read article detailing the treatment of an Indigenous Aussie Rules player several decades ago. Things haven't changed a lot sadly.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-23/persecution-of-robert-muir-story-football-doesnt-want-to-hear/12553554

MistaT

The TV thread reminded me -- how are the second and third book in The Three-Body Problem series?

I found the first one solid, but also (at times) a chore to read due to the non-linear plot, multitude of characters, and technical topics. Overall, I really enjoyed it, but need some assurance on the second and third before embarking on another dive.

Pepe LeFrits

MistaT The TV thread reminded me -- how are the second and third book in The Three-Body Problem series?

I found the first one solid, but also (at times) a chore to read due to the non-linear plot, multitude of characters, and technical topics. Overall, I really enjoyed it, but need some assurance on the second and third before embarking on another dive.

This has been sitting on my bookshelf for so long, I probably should read it if Klaus says it's worth it!

Read Megan Nolan's new novel in the last few days as a change from all the history non fiction I've been plowing through. Also as I'm pondering writing again and feel I should see how some contemporaries are doing it. Finished her book in a day; very readable, although it wasn't really my bag. I'm impressed by the way she writes the inner life of her characters though. Felt real.

Finished The Pursuit of Power by Richard Evans yesterday; masterful. Started afterwards on King & Woolman's book on Franz Ferdinand and Sophie Chotek. I read two earlier biographies on them recently (by Pauli and Brook-Shepherd) and so far I'm enjoying the changes in perspective offered. Such a dramatic period of history. Have another biography of them by a German author, but I'm long fingering that one as I don't understand German... 😆

Klaus

The first one is the weak one, but it sets the scene. Book 2 and 3 are masterpieces. The conclusion to The Dark Forest is incredible.

MistaT

Well then, off to the library....

mags

JOhn LeCarre died his week, age 89, cause pneumonia....
A favorite writer....
Books, films.....
Never forgotten.....

Asterix

Yes a fantastic writer. I've read all his novels but not his autobiographies yet.

I'm nearly finished an audiobook of The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Really enjoyable. The audio performance is fantastic - lots of different accents and tremendous drama. I always wonder if I'd enjoy reading a book as much as I enjoy listening to a great audio performance. I think a top notch reading gifts the experience an extra lift. This has only happened a handful of times - Anton Lesser performing The Old Curiosity Shop elevated one of Dickens less enjoyable works (for me anyway).

Bosscielny

Read Infinite Jest a few weeks ago, then watched The End of the Tour shortly afterwards. Followed IJ up with House of Leaves.

Loved them both.

Had seen IJ lumped in with Gravity’s Rainbow (which i have read) and Ulysses (which i haven’t) as being tough to parse and get a handle on. But i didn’t find that to be the case at all. One of my favourite pieces of fiction across any medium.

House of Leaves was like nothing i’d read before. Can see why it gets compared to Lynch’s stuff, even if that is a bit of a simple comparison to make.

jones

Finished Lawless World by Philippe Sands. Very insightful read about international law in general and about specific instances (setup of the ICC, Pinochet being arrested in England, Iraq War) from someone who was actually involved professionally in all of them at some point. Written however by someone who's not only an attorney but who reveres the law which makes it tiring to read - not everything has to be written as a subsumption ffs

Read William Blum's Killing Hope before that. Absolute must read for anyone even remotely interested in world politics since the turn of the century and how the US shaped them. It's available as a free pdf here

Ordered a bunch of other books, started with Cleptopia by Tom Burgis whose earlier book The Looting Machine was an incredibly interesting read. Not just a terrific journalist but a brilliant writer as well

Also got myself The Three-Body problem trilogy, hoping to get around to that one soon. Will be the first novel I've read in ages but from what I've heard it sounds promising

jones

Also I started reading Homo Deus by Yuval Harari and quit a couple dozen pages in. Does it get better or is it really just 500+ pages of this guy waffling about?

Mirth

jones wrote:
Also I started reading Homo Deus by Yuval Harari and quit a couple dozen pages in. Does it get better or is it really just 500+ pages of this guy waffling about?

Same, I put it down after reading 50 odd pages but had no interest in picking it up again. Sapiens was more engaging

I think he has another book out this year too.

Burnwinter

I stayed away from the first one because most of the people recommending it to me were full kool-aid startup liberals … just got that bad Vox explainer vibe. Is it worth checking out?

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