solarchild Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Nice one on the new forum guys. Spent the last day reading all the threads that to be honest i wouldnt have found. Now i consider myself an intelligent sort of fella and i think a lot. I read a lot, but to be honest my reading choices are a little bit random. normally things that i come across in charity shops or get from friends and this forum has shown me how little i know. I can see that in uk420 there are a lot of extremely deep thinking, well read and eloquent peeps. So ladies and gents what are your recommended books, authors etc re the forum title? Suppose i'm being a little unspecific, sorry, but any books changed your life? cheers solar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gr8LondonSun Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 (edited) The Art of War - Sun Tsu The Art of Peace - Morihei Ueshiba both books are very good, i highly recommend them both Edited July 4, 2007 by Gr8LondonSun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_green_thumb1974 Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Third Eye by T. Lobsang Rampa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boojum Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. But like every non-English book translated into English, some translations are better than others. The Psychedelic Experience by Timothy Leary. A lot of it is utter crap, but it's an interesting and thought provoking book overall, more so if you are well acquainted with hallucinogens. Food Of The Gods, The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching, The Archaic Revival and True Hallucinations by Terence McKenna - again probably of more interest if you're acquainted with hallucinogens. There's a lot more I could name but I'm a wee bit too drunk to remember them at present. Oh yeah, one of my favourite books Pharmako/poeia by Dale Pendell, a beautiful & poetic (and mischeviously playful) look at herbcraft, philosophy & plant drugs. A very nice book if you're interested in ethnopharmacology, entheogens & the history of plant drugs, folklore and paganism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solarchild Posted July 4, 2007 Author Share Posted July 4, 2007 nice one fellas, keep em coming! btw anyone read heideggers "being and time"? picked it up this week and i'm bloody struggling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dr Benways Assistant Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Sophie's World by Jostein Gaardner is a good place to start for philosophy reading for the autodidact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBinman Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 1984 - George Orwell Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams Confessions of an English Opium Eater - Thomas De Quincey Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gr8LondonSun Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Couldnt get my head around Heidigger, or Sartre for that matter! Modern European Philosophy sucks. Incomprehendible for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boojum Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 (edited) I definitely wouldn't bother with Sartre, he's as tedious as he is full of merde. Edited to add Sartre is a bit like Albert Camus, utter arse but pretentious wankers pretend to like them in order to appear more intelligent than they really are (OK, I shouldn't generalise, so I'll add in my personal experience of people I've known at least). Edited July 4, 2007 by Boojum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squaggles Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 That sounds very interesting , as somebody who knows little about the subject matter is this a book I could read now and understand fully or is it a bit advanced ? Oh yeah, one of my favourite books Pharmako/poeia by Dale Pendell, a beautiful & poetic (and mischeviously playful) look at herbcraft, philosophy & plant drugs. A very nice book if you're interested in ethnopharmacology, entheogens & the history of plant drugs, folklore and paganism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dr Benways Assistant Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I definitely wouldn't bother with Sartre, he's as tedious as he is full of merde. Are you reffering to his novels or essays there Boojum? Cos if you're reffering to his novels you are completely and utterly wrong. Have a read at the Roads To Freedom Trilogy (starting with Age Of Reason), those are life changing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBinman Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 If you're going to make a start anywhere i reckon it's good to do things chronologically. Rock on with some presocratics and take it from there. Democtritus although a little late could prove to be a good starting point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boojum Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 (edited) That sounds very interesting , as somebody who knows little about the subject matter is this a book I could read now and understand fully or is it a bit advanced ? No, it's a very accessible book. But like I say it's very, I dunno, playful. It's a unique book (I think Pendell is a poet by trade, so to speak), there's passages about the chemical structure of plants alongside snippets of traditional usage, bits of prose (as if the plant is talking). He calls herbcraft 'the poison path', and kinda imbues each plant with it's own personality as a sort of 'spirit of the plant', but you never know when he's being serious & when he's being mischeivous. I think it's a lovely book because it's so different. It's not science, it's not art, it's not religion, it's all 3 just kinda thrown into a book willy nilly. He kinda discusses the chemistry of plants, their historical use, then talks about 'the ally' - the plant spirit, but all in a mischevious way. It's really difficult to describe. One of my favourite books, with some very useful information (one of the best recipes for absinthe I've ever found comes from it), but not in any way something you'd use either as a reference about plant drugs or their spiritual use. Just really hard to classify, but if you're interested in plant drugs a really nice book (the sub title is Plant Powers, Poisons and Herbcraft), more a poetic look at plant drugs than a scientific or historical one. Edited July 5, 2007 by Boojum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utokia Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 (edited) Tao of Physics - Frijof Capra (and The Turning Point) Illuminatus Trilogy - Robert Anton Wilson (and Schroedinger's Cat Trilogy plus a few of his other books are good for a mindfuck) Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter States of Consciousness - Charles T. Tart Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse Self Sufficiency - John Seymour Temporary Autonomous Zones - Hakim Bey William Gibson - Cyberpunk Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash & Diamond Age Anything by H.P. Lovecraft - fiction (i hope!) - altho he made a few racist comments his horror reads well. Fuck - I just went of on a mental trip through all the books I have read that have helped me think the way I think... there's loads more - I am gonna roll and ponder.. e2a: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M Persig A host of grow books and The Emperor Wears No Clothes Edited July 5, 2007 by utokia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boojum Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 (edited) Are you reffering to his novels or essays there Boojum?Cos if you're reffering to his novels you are completely and utterly wrong. Have a read at the Roads To Freedom Trilogy (starting with Age Of Reason), those are life changing. Oh, his essays, lectures etc. Never read any of his novels cos I was put off by his other stuff (my old man had a shelf full of his essays etc). Anything by H.P. Lovecraft - fiction (i hope!) - altho he made a few racist comments his horror reads well. If you like Lovecraft you should read H P Lovecraft : Against The World, Against Life by Michel Houellebecq, a long essay on Lovecraft (including his less palatable aspects like his overt racism). Pretty interesting. And now I think of it in terms of fiction with a philosophical tone I highly recommend Atomised by Houellebecq, one of the best books I've read in recent years that asks some pretty profound philosophical questions. Edited to add Lovecraft is probably the writer (despite his many unpleasant personality traits) that's had the most impact on me. Edited July 5, 2007 by Boojum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now