What are you currently reading?

[Spineur]

This will make Florestan very happy:

As I will spend 3 weeks in Myanmar over christmas, I need to brush up on my Buddhism.



By the way, this is the best book that was ever written on the ideas behind religions, and yes, Mircea Eliade is a Romanian.

[SimonNZ]

Mircea Eliade is someone I've been meaning to read for a long time, particularly his The Sacred And The Profane. Perhaps I should take this as a reminder and a nudge. Is it one of his you'd also recommend?

[Ken B]

By the way, this is the best book that was ever written on the ideas behind religions, and yes, Mircea Eliade is a Romanian.

How many victims did he have?

[Spineur]

Mircea Eliade is someone I've been meaning to read for a long time, particularly his The Sacred And The Profane. Perhaps I should take this as a reminder and a nudge. Is it one of his you'd also recommend?

If I recall correctly, this is a shorter more acessible book, less centered on the history of religion.  I would recommend sticking to the big book on the history of religions.  It is segmented in 3-4 pages sections each of which can be read in a short time.  Usually, one is not interested to read everything.  The  beginning of the first volume deals with the prehistoric stuff and human sacrifice.  It is useful only when you read about the Inca and Aztec.  Not for far-east or western religions.

[NikF]

Strait is the Gate by Andre Gide.

[asin]0141185244[/asin]

[Ghost Sonata]

Strait is the Gate by Andre Gide.

[asin]0141185244[/asin]

+1

[Ghost Sonata]

I am a big fan of the crotchety Julian Barnes.  Just began his short novel about Shosty:

[Sergeant Rock]

Poems by Bukowski: What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through the Fire, 409 pages.




Sarge

[Brian]

Just finished a history of the crusades...



...now:



Antal Szerb - Journey by Moonlight

[Florestan]

Just finished a history of the crusades...

How, and why, is this more authoritative than Steven Runciman's? 

[Brian]

How, and why, is this more authoritative than Steven Runciman's? 

There is a difference in opinion; Runciman, I feel, portrayed the crusaders as greedy, horrible cynics, and Asbridge captures both this quality and the genuine piety & religious fervor felt by many of them. He makes an earnest effort to re-evaluate every figure, comparing his assessments with those of Runciman & other western figures, along with a consideration of the Muslim historians from c. 1200 to the present day. Another difference of opinion - Asbridge believes, against the propaganda of al-Qaeda and American right-wing Christians, that the crusades have almost no relevance to 21st century geopolitics, and that the Crusades did not create a "culture clash" of centuries-long religious hatred, for the simple reason that the Muslim world thought of the wars as a sideshow to the real wars - their internal power struggles between Ayyubids, Fatimids, Mamluks, and Mongols - and quickly forgot about what they called the "Frankish wars."

[Ken B]

There is a difference in opinion; Runciman, I feel, portrayed the crusaders as greedy, horrible cynics, and Asbridge captures both this quality and the genuine piety & religious fervor felt by many of them. He makes an earnest effort to re-evaluate every figure, comparing his assessments with those of Runciman & other western figures, along with a consideration of the Muslim historians from c. 1200 to the present day. Another difference of opinion - Asbridge believes, against the propaganda of al-Qaeda and American right-wing Christians, that the crusades have almost no relevance to 21st century geopolitics, and that the Crusades did not create a "culture clash" of centuries-long religious hatred, for the simple reason that the Muslim world thought of the wars as a sideshow to the real wars - their internal power struggles between Ayyubids, Fatimids, Mamluks, and Mongols - and quickly forgot about what they called the "Frankish wars."

Thanks! a useful answer, sounds interesting.

[Florestan]

Thanks! a useful answer, sounds interesting.

Yes, + 1, thank you very much!

[Ken B]

There is a difference in opinion; Runciman, I feel, portrayed the crusaders as greedy, horrible cynics, and Asbridge captures both this quality and the genuine piety & religious fervor felt by many of them. He makes an earnest effort to re-evaluate every figure, comparing his assessments with those of Runciman & other western figures, along with a consideration of the Muslim historians from c. 1200 to the present day. Another difference of opinion - Asbridge believes, against the propaganda of al-Qaeda and American right-wing Christians, that the crusades have almost no relevance to 21st century geopolitics, and that the Crusades did not create a "culture clash" of centuries-long religious hatred, for the simple reason that the Muslim world thought of the wars as a sideshow to the real wars - their internal power struggles between Ayyubids, Fatimids, Mamluks, and Mongols - and quickly forgot about what they called the "Frankish wars."

I have not read anything about the Crusades in a long time but I recall liking
[asin]B008SBXGCW[/asin] which bolsters the "it was a side show" theory and
[asin]1559704144[/asin] which is an attempt to get at the motivations of the crusaders, from contemporary sources.
Rodney Stark has a good, if very biased, book as well.

[Parsifal]

Colson Whitehead's Underground Railroad.



A very find book, perhaps not measuring quite up to the hyper.

It is a historical novel focusing on the escape of a slave named Cora from slavery in Georgia. However, it combines historical detail with fantasy, reimagining the underground railroad as a real railroad running in tunnels underground. Cora also seems to travel in time as well as space, since after various transits on the railroad she arrives at some places that did not really exist at the time, such as a town in South Carolina with a large skyscraper which is centered around eugenics project that reminds me of various movements that existed in the early 20th century.

In any case, I'm glad I read it.

[Kontrapunctus]

[NikF]

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe.



I've enjoyed the film many times. And while I don't completely identify with the protagonist, I do kind of understand where he's coming from.

[MN Dave]

.[asin]1607066327[/asin]
crime comic
[asin]0356506932[/asin]
fantasy novel

[NikF]

The Invention Of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares.

I had started reading this and then was sidetracked and never got back to it. But nowadays I have more time.



Also, years ago I dated a girl with long hair who left for London and returned weeks later with a Louise Brooks bob. That's neither here nor there, but she was cool as hell. 

[Karl Henning]

The 10 highest-earning YouTube stars made $70.5 million in 2016