Hello, I just read Sushils posts for the third time, and there are some gems in there. I don't agree with all of Sushils conclusions or the basis for some of those conclusions, but I liked the exercise reading it gave because it made me think about some of "what is the essence of being human". Anyway, I thought about all of the books I have read that contributed to where I am in terms of understanding my relationship with the planet, or just enjoyed 'cuz they was fun, and how grateful I am that people took the time to write them. So I am asking whoever is interested in exchanging titles of their impolrtant books, and, if you have time, why they were important, and maybe we could talk about them. Thank you, Christopher "Collapse" and "Gun germs and Steel" by Jarred Daimond, both good "big question" books, and well worth reading "Natural Capitalism" by Amory and Hunter Lovins, another big question book "Farmers of Forty Centuries" F.H King, (published in 1911, a very good look at preindustrial agriculture in Asia that supported high population densities for thousands of years before agro chemicals, largely being lost and replaced now with petroleum dependenat agriculture) "Cornucopia" and "El Arbol", good economic botanical books (books are geared towards farmers, and mostly list species of economic or dietary interest. El Arbol is in the Spanish) Bills Big Book (of course :lol: ) "True History of Chocolate" Michael and Sophie D Coe (excellent book on cacao history, with info on mesoamerican agricultural practices. "Fall of the Ancient Maya", Stewart Webster (good overview of the collapse which examines the various theories, but makes a compelling argument of unsustainable high population densities and systemic colapses of the environment and increased conflict based on dwindling acces to resource base) "the Noblest Triumph", (a long and well thought out thesis that ties strong property rights, or lack of such rights, to development, or to lack of development, with many, many examples) "Globalization and its Discontents", Joseph Steiglitz and "Lexus and the Olive Tree", Friedman (two looks at the impatcs globalization is having, with Friedman being proglobalization and making a fairly convincing look at the benefits, and Stieg;itz looking at the negative effects and true costs of globalization) and for some fluff: "Flashman" (any of the flashman novels are wonderful reads. very well researched fiction on a character from "Tom Browns School Days" who grows up to be an incorrigble rogue, coward and scoundrel, gallavanting around from one historical hot spot to the other, ver, very funny, and very well researched.... perhaps a bit of a "guy book" , so sez my significant other....) "Toxin", by Robin Cook, MD, (fictional account of what could cause an ecoli out break, well researched and a damnng indictment of themeat industry. Fiction, but you won't look at a burger sourced from off your farms again the same way... :lol: ) non agriculture, but English Language: "the Professor and the Madman", Simon Winchester. (story of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, well researched and informative) I have some other but would like to hear from you!
Oh Tully... Tim Flannery "the Future Eaters", "Throwimway Leg", "the Eternal Frontier". Similar vein to Jared Diamond, though he perhaps looks at the problems from an ecological perspective a little more closely? Perhaps? He's murmuring about moving into politics, and sure as hell would vote for him. I think he is getting articles published in the New York Review of Books... Bill Mollison/David Holmgren - I bet you know the books I'm talking about... Salman Rushdie is perhaps my fave fiction writer. He has a beautiful way with words, is a masterful storyteller and of course is very uncompromising! Peter Carey's "Bliss" is another novel I love, and seems sort of relevant in some ways to those of us who trying to find a better way of living... Honey Barbara is one of my favourite fictional women. Encyclopedia Botanica - I don't have with me anymore, but it is a really useful book for identifiying plants in Australia... I just picked up "Soft Energy Paths - Toward a Durable Peace" by Amory B. Lovins. He wrote that back in 1977... Hoping that I won't find too many depressing predictions have come true when I get around to reading that...
My Family and Other Animals Birds, Beasts and Relatives - anything by Gerald Durrell. The Adventures of TinTin The first 'farming book' I read was "Self Sufficiency" by John and Sally Seymour How to Do-it-yourself books How to Teach Your Baby to Read - Glenn Doman (A+++) History books my Bible
Richard, Amory Lovins is brilliant, so let me know how much has come true. Peter Carey wrote "Illywhackers" didn't he? I read that years ago, and loved every bit of it. I shared it with so many people it got dog eared (which it was aa bit when I got it...) and then Hurricane iris ripped through, and it was one of about 10 books that got destroyed (the rest turned out okay). Will look into Tim Flannery... I have never read Salman Rushdie, though I would like to.
The book that changed my view of the world, and my favourite book of all time, is Ulysses by James Joyce. Molly's soliloquy in the last chapter, which is one 50 - 60 page sentence with no punctuation, made me weep for its beauty. I couldn't speak for an hour after I read it the first time. Other favourite are: Living on the Earth - I bought this in the 1970s and it sealed my organic and non-conformist path. The Velveteen Rabbit - made me a gentle child and a rebelous and wild teenager. The Women's Room by Marilyn French made me distrust men for a few years. :lol: Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil made me think I could fly. (Metaphysically) The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch made me think about parallel universes and our multiverse. The Shipping News by Annie proulx made me smile. I could go on forever. Richard, Bliss is a favourite of mine too. I have a degree in literature and it was one of the books I read for that.
Forest, we have the velveteen Rabbit, too, very nice book, affirming. I have/had the Shipping News, but have spaced it. I started it once, got maybe 30 pages in, and loved it and then lost it. I picked up Roy Jenkins Biography of Churchill and forgot the Shipping News, now where is that book? You jogged my memory.... I also have Ulysses, somewhere... but never had time to sit down and read it... Widgeenut, I grew up with Tin Tin, and Asterix and Obelix, too. What is Birds, Beasts and Relatives about? C
what books, authors have been important to you This year I started to become aware that our 'wonderful' economic system might have flaws and cracks and began to wonder: If I was in 1926/7/8/ and knew 1929 was about to strike, what would/could I do? So I read “The Crash of 29” by John Galbraith. It's a little paperback, and I prepared myself to labour thru a lot of economic theory and tedious analysis. Never judge a book by its cover. What a little GEM this is. Well researched, factual, analytical and HILARIOUS. The irony and subtle sarcasm as he documents the foibles (and corruption) of the CEOs of the leading stockbroking houses, and the gullible, greedy public. I learned a few lessons about what I “should” do if I think we are about to have re-run of history. But I have already missed one boat of opportunity. When I read this, gold was under $400 an ounce. Its now nudging $500 (a rise in less than 9 months). A lot of people who are a lot smarter than me financially must also be aware of the lessons of history. I also read an on-line publication by Nouriel Roubini and Brad Stetser predicting the crash of the Bretton Woods agreement, which is basically the financial system set up by Britain and the US to manage oil/gold and other commodity values/trades. Scary stuff. It was written in Feb 05 and made a lot of predictions for the rest of 05 and into 06 and has proved to be terrifyingly accurate (to my thinking). Interwoven with this reading I also absorbed “Blowback” by Chalmers Johnson. Published April 2001. He had no way of knowing Sept 11 was 5 months away and the “world” was going to experience such a paradigm wobble. He was writing that US military and trade policy in East Asia and SE Asia since the occupation of Japan following WW2 was going to “blowback” in the face of the US. His preamble says how, when the book was first released, it was dismissed as “fairytale nonsense” and pretty much ignored. Post 9/11 it had about 20 immediate reprints as suddenly everyone (in the US) wanted to know “why do 'they' hate us so much?”. I also read John Pilger's “New Rulers of the World” and got a huge shock about Australia's complicity (and US involvement) in Indonesia, explaining how/why that incredibly wealthy country, brimming with natural resources is so impoverished. Puts some of the 'Bali bombings' into some sort of perspective. (for me). This weekend (it rained and rained and rained and – rained) I read “Fast Food Nation”, and yes, to the guy who recommended it to me, I can never eat Maccas again. Felt nauseous all weekend. The corruption that allows incredibly contaminated meat and other products to be served...... and the brutal Hobbsian existence of meat processing workers and fast food restaurant workers. It also helped me understand why J Howard and Co want to meddle with our Industrial Relations laws. Aussies have, at the moment, some protection against these abuses. It seems likely to me that these global companies are behind the push to change our IR, cause they cant do here what they they do OS. As it was still raining, I re-watched “The Corporation” on DVD, (while I cleaned the back of the kitchen cupboards: Fast Food Nation's talk of ecoli and faecal contamination and other unhygienic practices pricked my conscience). I have “Gold Wars” by Lipps on order, and will now read “Collapse” by Diamond based on the recommendations of those here. Also want Flannery's “The Weather Makers” for Christmas. Also a lot of reading and re-reading of Mollison this year. Saw “Darwin's Nightmare” at the cinema and that shocked me and I stayed disturbed for months. Certainly not musak for the eyes, this. Catch it if you can. About Tanzania and the corruption that has this nation destitute. Nasty, nasty stuff, but I think we in the “west” should be made to see what consequences our lifestyles have on “poorer” countries.
Well I have been reading the Robert Jorden series "The Wheel of Time" now for 4 years.. I'm on book 10, with one more to go... The problem is that he hasn't finished the story yet... As the 11th book just got released I'm hoping that by the time I finish the 11th, the 12th will be out
Best Books Here's my list of books that form a conceptual framework of how the modern world operates; they are not necessarily permacultural, but ultimately lead to permaculture as a way forwards. These are books I have returned to time and again, and always seem to have something to say about the conditions of the day (i.e. they are timeless)- Christopher Alexander A Pattern Language John & Sally Seymour Self Sufficiency John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath William Greider One World, Ready or Not (globalisation) Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad, Poor Dad (econcomic self-sufficiency) John Ralston Saul Voltaire' Bastards (reason/technocratic society) Pierre Bourdieu Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (social capital/art & class) Anything by Noam Chomsky!
Heuristics, I would suggest if you liked "the Corporation" you should go find or borrow "Life and Debt" which approaches the cost of globalization and trade liberalization to Jamaica. You'll be really pissed off when it ends... Am going to order "Darwins Nightmare" on your say so.... next time I order from Amazon (after I install this next solar system will celebrate by spendun $100 on books and movies...) Also interested in "The Crash of '29". And Peter, We have Pattern Language", which is indispensible, and we used it when we built our house, but got it after the design was mostly done, though before the building of the 2nd and 3rd floors started.... We have dozens of patterns we see in out house that Christopher Alexander identified and included as many as we felt worked for us.... And I love Steinbeck, one of my favorite writers. I'm not familiar with the rest, but will get at least one of those other books. If you were going to suggest one, which would you suggest? And I love Noam Chomsky! Thanks, C
Christopher, Birds, Beasts and Relatives is the sequel to My Family and Other Animals which was the only novel we got in school that I've read umpteen times. The third one is Garden of the Gods all by G. Durrell.
what books, authors Can I tell everyone how much I LOVE this board????? I have been TRYING to have these sort of conversations with people for decades. To mostly no avail. There were times at uni and in some other circumstances where I moved in circles with people who were interested in ideas and debate and lively discussions – and even healthy disagreements. But my (intellectual?) life has been sterile for the past few years. Most people in my acquaintance at the moment just want to worship at the shine of the Dancin' Santa. I loves yous all!!!!
More Books Christopher, If you find A Pattern Language to be helpful, I would also recommend its prequel, A Timeless Way of Building, which is more loose, but expands upon his relaxed/anarchic/Zen/60s philosophy of life (and building!). I studied in Alexander's architecture studio at UC Berkeley in 1992 and have been influenced by his egalitarian philosophy of making the design process visible to "outsiders" ever since. He has a website also at https://www.patternlanguage.com Since you're doing such great practical work there in Belize this book should give you inspiration to push your projects even further! Cheers
I love the naturalist books and two of my favs; The Desert Smells Like Rain: A Naturalist in Papago Indian Country Gary Paul Nabhan- The Log from the Sea of Cortez John Steinbeck
I read mainly on the net now days because ( at the risk of being flamed for saying so ) I can no longer read print media without getting sick because the off gassing from the ink I have a copy of Stupid White Men which I have had just on 2 years and is nearly safe to read :lol: :lol: I was extremely lucky to get a second hand copy of Pat Colebys Natural Goat care and also borrowed her Natural Land Care book .......... her books are invaluable for anyone trying to grow things or keep animals in Australia I too read anything of Naom Chomsky's plus John Pilger is brilliant The Corporation was a brillint doco ....... if we are talking docos I reccomend any of David Bradbury's especially his latest Blowin in the Wind frosty
Peter, Wow! You studied architecture at his studio at UC Berkely? Very, very cool! How lucky for you! I loved Pattern Language. Dawn bought "A Timeless Way of Building along with lots of other books, and I am embarassed to admit I haven't taken time to read it. You just pushed me to read it, next. Am off to that web page next! Heuristics, I totally agree with your sentiments, and said about the same thing a few months back, and for ALL the same reasons. Even the couple of knuckleheads here, from time to time, are not that bad compared to any other forum I have seen. Honeydale Farm, that is one book by Steinbeck I have not read (who doesn't love Steinbeck?), so will seek that out, too. Frosty, sorry to hear even ink can cause you problems. Do older books affect you? Franceyne, whats that about? C
Books/vids that changed my life....... (1) Global Gardener ......Billy Boy (2) Natural Gardening and Farming In Australia(Jeffrey Hodges) (3) The Celestine Prophecy. ( James Redfeild) (4)Converstions With God...(Neil Donald Walshe).. and (5) Bills" Travels with Dreams"( Bill Mollison) These books are Truly Inspiring. I have read a few other books but non compares with aforementioned... Im sick of negativity,thats whats wrong in this olde planet....... I think that before we learn to call a spade a spade ..we gotta learn about our own Tool box first. Tezza
