What books, authors have been important to you?

Discussion in 'The big picture' started by christopher, Nov 27, 2005.

  1. frosty

    frosty Junior Member

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    Hi christopher

    I am ok with older books as long as they dont reek of perfume :lol: :lol:

    cant read the newpaper but then its full of propaganda anyway :roll:

    actually reading is something I really miss :cry: I was a real bookworm when I was young ....... some MCSers use those talking books but I dont really like them its just not the same

    soy ink is one solution but hardly anyone uses it because it costs more ....... of course when oil runs out they may have to :D :D

    frosty
     
  2. Anissa

    Anissa Junior Member

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    "Seeds of Decption" GM foods
    "Empty Harvest" links between immunity/diseases and bad agriculture
    "The oil age is over"
    "Not by fire, but by Ice", about Ice ages, how they come in cycles every 11,500yr (give or take a few)
     
  3. grease

    grease Junior Member

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    What books authers have been important to you

    Lord of the flies by William Golding and Animal Farm by George Orwell, good fiction but great insight into human behaviour.
    1984 by George Orwell. Fiction again but great insight into not only Stalinist Russia but those who want to rule.
    The bible. Poses the question can man rule man to mans benefit, without god.
    The 10,000 day war . The stupidity of war/man. This is the story of how the USofA took over France's war in Vietnam and comitted the exact same mistakes, they wouldn't do the same in Iraq though,would they?
    The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein. For pure escapism and a wonderfully thought out story.
    Yeates gardening guide. Has a very usefull planting calender, practical growing tips and a graet chapter on the wonders of glyphosate.
    I find growing plants relatively easy, Nature by its very design or designer will take care of itself, It's our interventions " the best laid plans of mice and men" that concern me.
     
  4. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    Anissa,

    "Seeds of Deseption" is VERY good. Its another one of those books that get you really pissed off, which we need occasionally (I think). Its also good to remember the facts in their for the next time someone tellls you we "need GMOs to feed the world!" which, as we all know, is utter horseshit....

    I haven't read the others. If you had to pick just one, which of all of those do you suggest?

    Grease,

    I liked Lord of the Flies when I was young, and we read those Orwell books too,which were very good.

    Lord of the Rings, who couldn't like that book (or books)? Awesome.

    I haven't read the 10,000 day War. I like history and have read alot about Vietnam because Vietnam was pivotal in the American psyche, and as far as hitory goes, its pretty accesible.

    The loss of that war against a pooorer enemy with less people and less resources was a blow to America that it has not recovered from. It is this fear of "not supporting our troops" mentality, along with fear and reactionary desire to "get them" in the wake of 9/11 that enabled this war crimiinal, "Dubya" to hoodwink the American public, or a percentage of them, and Congress into going to war to remove Saddam.

    I get realy unhappy thinking about what the US has done. Sadddam wasn't a good guy, but there are lots of not-good-guys out there, and Saddam was a garden variety dictator, basically emasculated militarily because of the sanctions and the UN no fly zones, and never constituted a threat to ANYONE, other than, admittedly, his own people.

    Now the country stands a very good chance of becoming a Shiite theocracy along the lines or Iran, and that would be more of a threat than Saddam. And more lives are being lost every day because of this stupid, illegal, unjustified war.

    If you are interested in history of the Vietnam conflict, "After Tet" is very well written and shows the effects of the escalation of hostilities by the NVA and VC starting during the Tet offensive.

    Fiction, but written by a veteran, and is very very descriptive, with very detailed and factual accounts of small arms tactics, the topography and plant communities of the rainforest, and what being young, American, and sent to Vietnam was like is "The Thirteenth Valley" by John Del Vechio. Surprisingly a very beautiful book, with lots of discourse over the root causes of war.

    Has anyone read "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson? This is the book that started the environmental movement (or so the book cover says :lol: ). It is a stunning indictement of agrochemical use and was the first to address issus of persistent toxicity, long term pollution, damage to adjacent biotic communitiesw and corporate greed as a otivating factor in the transition from traditional farming to the energy intensive petroleum dependent stupid ag we have now..... (stop me before I get up on my pebble :lol: ). I wish everyone would read it.

    I mentioned that book in an earlier thread, and it is relevant now because all of the smear tactics that Monsanto uses against people who try to addres the unintended consequences of their products, including Round Up were started back then.

    Rachel Carson was the victim of a well financed smear campaign, ad they tried to stop the book from being published, etc, etc,etc. This is in part why I sometimes wonder out loud if the people who promote Round Up, or attempt to diminish or dismiss the toxic affetcs (only one negative cost, of many) of chemicals like, well Round Up keeps coming up, are plants from the chemical companies.

    I am not saying this is the case, nor am I pointing any fingers, but I know that these companies do that. They pay people to blog and post and write into the paper extolling the virtues and safety of whatever product they are selling. Advertisements are subject to truth in advertising laws, letters, posts and blogs are not!

    If enough people say something is true, like for example that Round Up is safe, that noone commits suicide with Round Up, etc, some people will believe it. This is how cults operate, and its the same with advertising and paid disinformation.

    :oops: I appear to have gotten off topic, but, what the heck, I opened the thread :lol: .

    C
     
  5. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    widgeenut, I got into Gerry Durrell a few years ago! he is awesome! that is a genre I plan to write one of these days! stories about encounters with animals, both domestic and wild... He has a whole series of stuff like the one you mentioned, all thoroughly enjoyable.
    Nice to know we are in such well read company eh?
     
  6. sab

    sab Junior Member

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    Richard,

    I'm a Durrell addict. I have read most of his books and can never resist one when I see it. I've had several copies of 'My Family...' I introduced it to my mum last time I was in Aus. She normally got out of bed early (being in her early 80s) but she couldn't put it down. One morning I poked my head in her room to see her sitting in bed giggling.

    You ought to try and get hold of "The Picnic and Other Pandemonium" or "Fillets of Plaice". I can imagine Larry's ire - he wrote a book called "Spirit of Place."

    The Gympie library has a good collection.

    Lord of the Flies... 1984 I read those a few times. A bit depressing. How about John Wyndham's? - Day of the Triffids, The Chrysalids. Then there's the James Herriot series - loved those but he drops hints about the origin of Mad Cow Disease.
     
  7. Franceyne

    Franceyne Junior Member

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    Hey there Christopher,

    The Duncton Woods books are about moles - generations of moles and their struggles and quest for fulfilment and peace for future generations.

    For me the stories were very grounding.

    Cheers,
    Fran.
     
  8. Peter Clements

    Peter Clements Junior Member

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    More books

    Here's a few more "bibles" to place next to your bed:
    Alan Weisman Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World https://www.chelseagreen.com/1998/items/gaviotas
    Jim Rogers Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers https://www.jimrogers.net
    Paul Theroux The Mosquito Coast
    The Good Life BBC 70's comedy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Life
    Voltaire (1759) Candide https://eserver.org/fiction/candide.txt
    William Cobbett (1822) Cottage Economy
    Philip G. Hubert (1890) Liberty and a Living: the record of an attempt to secure bread and butter, sunshine and content by gardening, fishing and hunting
    Dr Pat Howden Free At Last https://www.hypertrike.org/howden/livefree.html
     
  9. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    Peter,

    "Gaviotas" was wonderfully inspiring, and gave me a massive complex that I just wasn't doing enough... a very good motivator. They have done amazing things, and in Colombia, the most severely messed up country in the Americas.

    I also read "Mosquito Coast" and loved that, too.... (incidentally, we are hoping to build an ISAAC machine https://www.energy-concepts.com/isaac.html to make ice.... And, Belize is on the Mosquito Coast, and they filmed the movie of the same name here....)

    The older books I am not familiar with. Are they still in print?

    My mum worked in a bookstore until we left home, so we always had lots of books, tho here we are far from anything remotely qualified to be called a book store (thank goodness for Amazon.com!)

    C
     
  10. earthbound

    earthbound Junior Member

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    I guess the first books that had me inspired towards a down to earth lifestyle, were Asterix and Obelix.. I have memories of reading through staring at the pictures thinking, 'why isn't life like that', the simple village life....

    Jackie French has been very motivational for me, through her, I first discovered that there really wasn't such hard set rules for gardening. Her down to earth, simple way of writing is a joy to read, and gave me the motivation to try writing myself.

    Natural gardening in Australia by Jeffrey Hodges, a great source of information and a book I am halfway through reading a third time..

    Masanobu Fukuoka, brilliant, I think all of my friends are sick to death of hearing me quote the man..

    Pretty much any book with the word permaculture in the title has spent some quality time beside my bed, I won't list them as there are tooo many and most have been mentioned already here..

    Then there's dozens of reference books, but one that stands out amongst the others is Louis Glowinskis' Complete book of fruit growing in Australia, an essential book....

    Joel
     
  11. Jez

    Jez Junior Member

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    Everything Josephine Flood has written - if you haven't read her work (she's an Australian archeologist) you'll be amazed at the insight she gives to pre-colonial, Aboriginal Australia. Lots of fantastic info on Aboriginal farming and hunter gathering techniques among all the rest which is presented. She totally blows you away...

    Robert Pirsig - "Zen" and "Lila"...both amazing books but the former is far more accessible.

    The Australian Self-Sufficiency Handbook.

    Stranger In a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein

    Suttree - Cormac McCarthy

    Land Of The Spotted Eagle - Luther Standing Bear

    Larousse Gastronomique


    Geez...this is worse than music... :lol:
     
  12. bjgnome

    bjgnome Junior Member

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    Re: what books, authors have been important to you

    Heuristics, gold topped $500 US per oz today, but don't let that scare ya. Buy on the pullbacks. I bought a wee bit at $430, and a larger quantity of silver, which has gone from $7 to $8.30 since I bought. Adjusted for inflation, gold should be somewhere in the thousands, not hundreds, the economic devastation is just beginning. The world's reserve currency is about to collapse, folks. US Federal Reserve officially stated that they are no longer tracking the creation of M3 money, which is to say, they've totally lost control of how much money gets created.

    If my precious metal investments continue as they have and the real estate market tanks, as it looks like it's going to, I'll have a downpayment on a piece of REAL LAND soon.

    Favorite titles:

    "My Name is Chellis and I'm in Recovery From Western Civilization" by Chellis Glendinning. This book is a gem in the field of eco-psychology. Explores how being torn from the primal matrix of hunter-gatherer society living close to the earth has shattered our psyches, leading to techno-addiction, etc. etc.

    "The Undefended Self" and "Fear No Evil", both by Thesenga. these books about the Pathwork of Self-Transformation, a model which has taught me more about how we humans tick than anything else.

    Jonathan
     
  13. Anissa

    Anissa Junior Member

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    Christopher: Definately "Empty Harvest" by Dr Bernard Jensen and Mark Anderson

    Description on the back of book

    The magnificent ecosystem that nature took millions of years to create is, within the course of one generation, being destroyed by man's hand. Mother earth is talking to us through her droughts, famines, fires and diseases, but few of us are listening. While on occasion we hear public outcry about the ozone depletion, the growing pollution problem, the indiscriminate use of pesticides, the systematic destruction of our forests, and the ravages of today's "killer" diseases, few have taken the time to carefully study the problem as a whole.
    Empty Harvest puts together a sober picture of how interconnected man is to the earth, and how this connection is being destroyed- link by link. While looking at the better-known manmade disasters such as the "greenhouse effect" the indiscriminate use of toxic pesticides, and the wholesale dectruction of the world's forests, it clearly focuses on the existing dangers inherent in our agricultural system. It provides startling new information about problems that have been hidden from the general public - the demineralization of our soil, the declinging nutritional values of our food supply, the resulting weakening of our bodies immune systems, and much more. Empty harvest is a groundbreaking book that examines just what the total problem represents.
    But beyond simply citing impending crises, Empty Harvest offers a wide range of practical solutions that are still available to man - long term solutions that can mends natures' broken links if applied in time.
     
  14. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    Dr Joel,

    I am not tired of hearing you quote Masanoba Fukuoka... I read "One straw revolution", ooooh, must be 15-16 years ago.... lots of information. The book got eaten by termites. I went to pick it up, and it was hollow... :cry:

    I liked his perspectve, rather anarchic for someone from such a relatively rigid society... I also loved that he ran some crazy temporarily high, long term unsustainable quantity of ducks (I think) through his land once a year, to manure and clean tha land...

    That book is also OUT OF PRINT! which is a crime!

    Quote, Dr Joel, quote, please...

    And Asterix and Obelix? Ha, ha, me too, yeah, and they got to go around clouting Romans, as I remember, and had magic elixirs, and what fun that was, right?

    Jonathan, wish I had bought gold... but planting teak is like gold.... someday...

    I like the name for the eco 12 step sounding book :lol:

    I have another book, "Tropical Agroforestry", Huxley, pub by Blackwell Science. This is a costly book, USD100 or so, but G&B bought it while I was in their employ. It covers so much info, some of it technical and dry, but most of it inspiring....

    They also published "Cocoa" by Wood and Lass, and I have a signed copy! We had the famous Tony Lass visit our farm, but he wasn't too impressed, I think.... too many other species besides cacao, and he was Cadburies lead agronomist at the time....

    C
     
  15. earthbound

    earthbound Junior Member

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    Good news... Masanobu's books are back in print.... :D They are all available from eden seeds so I imagine that they would be available elsewhere as well, though prices vary increadibly..

    These people sell the one straw revolution only, but they sell it cheap, you can buy it now, new for $12.99 AU + $6 postage or up to $11 postage for the rest of the world.
     
  16. grease

    grease Junior Member

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    Thanks Chris I'll look out for 'After Tet'. I must admit that I'm not right into the Vietnam war but read the book back in my Uni days as a way of avoiding study (very effective because the book is quite substantial) But it just opened my eyes to the folly, hypocracy and shere stupidity of war and the nations who inflict it. You'd think we'd learn but "some animals are more equal than others".
     
  17. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    Anissa,

    I must have still been working on my post when you posted. Sorry to have missed it! "Empty Harvest" sounds great! I would love to read it, and it just went on my list (which was the motivation behind this thread).

    Thank you!

    C
     
  18. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    Can someone please explain to me, what use bying gold at$500 an ounce if the financial system is gunna collapse, sounds llike an expensive mud off the boot scraper to me. or am i missing something.

    Tezza
     
  19. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    Has anybody read any Vandana Sheva? She writes really, really, really well, with lots of information about neocolonialism through hybrids, biotech and, um, hate to mention it, chemicals, including herbicides like Round Up.

    Thw two books she wrote that we have, "Monocultures of the Mind" and "Stolen Harvest" are both fantastic books, and she really makes the issues of food security in the developing world clear by passionatly defendint traditional Indian crops and practices...

    I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in tropical agriculrure and food politics in the developing world.

    C
     
  20. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    Yeah, she rocks! vANdana shiva I'm talking about. She makes my spine tingle.
    Tezza, my neighbour reckons that we humans are being farmed by aliens who use the gold we dig up to coat their spaceships to reflect the interstellar radiation. It is quite a compellling theory and often culminates in my neighbour talking about goats being free spirits who love having sex and really just want to be free, and have sex, and be free... Usually this is because we get to talking about gold and aliens when we are standing in fron to my goat paddock, and because Maui is that kind of place...
     

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