PPR Book Recommendations

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I know, I was just giving you a hard time. I was really not that bummed.

Claire, if you deceived me the first time, why should I believe you this second time? I am not sure I should take the word of a deceiver, after all.

Although he books I entered may seem mere entertainment each attacks reality from a different angle and presents a challenge to accepted norms. Even books like Thurber's stories and essays and Dr Seuss may seem just fun but the reason they are effective is because they have an underlying jab at conventionality that deftly strikes home.

Does anyone want to start a book club here? I'd like to read something I haven't read before. The Rebel by Camus sounds like something I'd like to start with. If anyone wants to do this and discuss it in a PPR debate fashion, raise your hand and select a book.

Sure. I vote for Martin Eden since I can get it for free and I've been meaning to read London for a while.

I tried to dig up all the links to everything that was available freely online. Here's everything I could find. The last isn't one of the books listed, but rather a humorous comparison with one of the authors listed.

We by Zamyatin

Moby Dick

Gulliver's Travels

Frankenstein

Martin Eden

Kafka's The Trial

Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

Human Action by Ludwig von Mises

The Ego and It's Own by Max Stirner

Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing by Sören Kierkegaard

Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

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Salma Hayek versus Friedrich Hayek

My personal favorite Dr Seuss story is the Butter Battle Book.

I'll repost this list with 5 more books added to it. (Good idea and effort for the links, btw!)

We by Zamyatin

Moby Dick

Gulliver's Travels

Frankenstein

Martin Eden

Kafka's The Trial

Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

Human Action by Ludwig von Mises

The Ego and It's Own by Max Stirner

Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing by Sören Kierkegaard

Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

1984 by George Orwell

The New Being by Paul Tillich

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Pragmatism: A New Name For Some Old Ways of Thinking

Brave New World

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Salma Hayek versus Friedrich Hayek

I really liked a book called The Ethical Assassin by David Liss, aside from being incredibly entertaining it presented a viewpoint I'm generally opposed to in a sympathetic and reasonable light. I'd never heard of the author, but I got it for a quarter at a library sale and the title intrigued me so I figured what the heck. It's fiction, but it contains a lot of material about ethics and philosophy, I'd highly recommend it.

I'd also like to recommend that more people actually read Atlas Shrugged, I know it's a slog and seems to inspire either great reverence or revulsion depending upon the political persuasion of the reader, but that it's an influential work is hard to dispute, and it's really annoying hearing it condemned or embraced by people who have never read it. Approach it with low expectations, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

So many books, so little time.

Orwell, I think you will like Martin Eden. The political arguments in the book are entertaining.
It's a must read for anyone who wants to be a writer because it's so motivational.
My other favorite book by London is White Fang. I found it easy to relate to the wolf.
But, that's probably not the best choice for a PPR book.

1984 by George Orwell. I know it's already been said, but hey. It's definitely one of my favourite books of all time, even though the ending pissed me off a bit (can't say why without giving away the ending to those who haven't read the book).

Now something that's not already been said: Freedom In Exile by the Dalai Lama.

This is how I feel about The Speed of Dark.

The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else

by Hernando De Soto

This is an excellent book about why our western society is shaped as it is. Despite the title, it does not suggest forcing capitalism on the third world, but rather patience and understanding.

As mister De Soto is not American, you will gain an educated outsiders recounting of the history of property law, especially in North America. It is not biased.

The book was recommended to me by my old boss.. a gay liberal. I favour capitalism overall, enjoyed the book greatly, so in light of this, you can expect to enjoy the book regardless of your politics.

Read it. The author is a wise man.

Just started reading 1984, really interesting in my opinion..

I'm going to, *with some reservation*, recommend the book Godel, Escher, and Bach, by Douglas Hofstadter. Anyone with a low tolerance for whimsy, silliness, and general opacity will probably want to avoid this book (the last time I mentioned this book to someone who was a regular on this forum he described it as "extremely annoying"). It deals with the three title figures (especially Godel's Incompleteness Theorems), of course, but covers a very broad array of subjects: formal systems and logic, programming, Zen, semiotics and language, and, especially but rather circuitously, AI and cognitive science. Can be in turns amusing and enlightening.

I second Godel, Escher, and Bach. It is one of the best books I've ever read. (Not light reading, though.)

Hackers and Painters, by Paul Graham is a collection of essays. He has most of them online in his articles page, along with many other essays. My favorite from the book is Taste for Makers, but Why Nerds are Unpopular and What You Can't Say are also good.

The Introvert Advantage, by Marti Olsen Laney is an upbeat look at being introverted. AS and introversion aren't the same thing, but many of the coping ideas apply regardless.

How to Solve It, by G. Polya is a book about how to solve mathematical problems. It isn't just applicable to math, though, the methods are general and work on any problem.