Anyone reading a book?

I'm reading Cormac McCarthy's "The Crossing", slowly! This (and also the first book in the Border Trilogy, "All the Pretty Horses") isn't bad for those learning Spanish. For authenticity, it contains a lot of untranslated Spanish, much of which you'll guess due to context, but for us learners, pretty good to go to the bother of translating it properly!
 
Still going through boxes of stuff...
Some books from good ol days.. pre kids and life stuff ...
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I'm still reading Social Psychology... 12 chapters later it seems to make a good case for understanding what causes prejudice, why people stereotype, and that violence in media is strongly related to violent behavior; strong like the relationship between wearing a condom and not getting HIV/AIDS... :)

It's a good read, but the initial chapters were presumptuous. They sort of assume that you're well-educated and so the reading is difficult to take in/doesn't feel universally applicable because it may not be understood on every level. It's kind of a hard read. But I feel good for reading it.

It talks a little bit about a concept in psychology called schemas that deal with how your mind assigns information into categories; sometimes erroneously. For example, we may have a disposition, societal, cultural, or otherwise, to infer information about skin color. This is typically a very inaccurate way to make an accurate assumption, yet we do it frequently. In the news, the death of an African-American, George Floyd, has taken over media like wildfire. Our police sometimes assume that violence is associated with African-Americans. It needs to be fixed, and the book actually has suggestions; though not specific to law enforcement, definitely applicable... :cool:
 
Mrs got a goodie bag in the post ? naughties and a book by Mathew McConaughey
Screenshot_20201026_211207.jpg anyone read it..
 
I've learnt a lot from past mistakes. I still sold about 150. Can't complain. Some enjoy them. Others don't. That's life.

I'm proud of this new one. More focused and better edited. Dryer humour. Raw & honest. Best thing I've ever done. Strictly a labour of love though.

And there the spam endeth.
 
I am now reading Alasdair Gray's Lanark. He died last year, around Xmas time. I believe it's a bit of a cult book.

Maybe I'll get through it in less than 2 years. :lol:
 
I'd highly recommend all of John Niven books. Such good reads.

the first time I read 'kill your friends' I bust my gut laughing (esp when he's describing Glastonbury and no-hoper bands) - so dark. maybe a bit too dark towards the end though!
 
the first time I read 'kill your friends' I bust my gut laughing (esp when he's describing Glastonbury and no-hoper bands) - so dark. maybe a bit too dark towards the end though!
Kill Em All is really good if you've not already got involved. Quite topical with a lot of Trump stuff.
 

if

A. this doesn't contravene official forum spam policy
B. anyone's arsed

the new ebook is now out for purchase for the price of a pint (circa 1998). Stories, laments, sarcasm, self-loathing, language misunderstandings and other stuff from recent years in Catalonia. some is serious, other parts less so... very different to anything I've done before and my girlfriend has added an epilogue too. won't be for everyone but it does offer a useful alternative insight into Barcelona life.

 
Just finished Howard S. Becker's "Outsiders" subtitled "Studies in the Sociology of Deviance" (1963), classic sociological book which bundles a couple of Becker's earlier essays on deviance.

Although some of the texts originally date from the 1950s it hasn't lost much of its relevance and it's a great read overall.

The book excells in readability. Simple and efficient sentences, Becker never attempts to get smart on you, it's all about demystifying social seclusion. He makes it all look like childsplay.
One of those books which aims to close the gap between academic study and everyday life.

He focuses on two studies/examples, namely marihuana usage and dance musicians (1950s Chicago band members, don't expect jetset superdeejays), interviews are fun to read.

Would recommend it to anyone who's even remotely interested in labelling theories, marihuana use, history of dance music and/or sociology in general.

Download link: https://monoskop.org/File:Becker_Howard_Outsiders_Studies_In_The_Sociogy_Of_Deviance_1963.pdf
(This doesn't contain chapter 10 "Labelling Theory Reconsidered" which was added in 1973 edition)
 
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Not yet. I signed up for Russian 001 at a college in Los Angeles for the Spring semester there. I tried taking the class before, but my work schedule made it impossible to attend (via Zoom online).

The book though is "Beginner's Russian with Interactive Online Workbook".

For those of you that don't know, I'm in an online relationship and my significant other is from a former Soviet country that gained independence from Russia in the early 1990s. They are now a Democracy, and it's very beautiful.

The Russian isn't so hard once you manage the alphabet I suspect. It's Cyrillic. The other challenge will be that there are I think 6 cases in Russian.

The Russian language has six cases to show what function a noun has in a sentence: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional. The endings of Russian words change depending on the case they are in. It is best to learn the words and the way they sound in different cases by heart.

The 6 Cases in Russian Grammar

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I recently finished Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises - which is based on Hemingway's own group of friends and their trips to Spain.

The book is set in the 1925 and depics a bunch of Americans and Brits in their late 20s/early 30s who are traveling around France and Spain, getting drunk, dancing, fornicating and watching macho things like bullfighting. The amount of alcohol these guys drink is criminal. It almost sounds like the 1920's version of a modern day trip to Ibiza. But what is different?

Unlike in Ibiza, where you're likely to bump into at least some pleasant and basically nice people, there isn't a single likeable character in the book. The men are to varying degrees whining cucks and sore losers, and the (only) female main character, Brett, is shamelessly promiscuous and relies on other people's money (usually however she is bedding at the time). What a bunch of people to go partying with.

The only character with something resembling success, both professionally and as a man, is the 19 year old Spanish bullfighter. But even he is so insecure and immature that he wanted to marry the 34 year old, twice divorced and sexually liberated Brett, who will never be faithful to him. But he's still in a totally different league to the rest of the men - who are 5-15 years older than him, haven't achieved much in life that wasn't bought by their parent's money or connections, and are almost drooling at the 19 year old bullfighter's achievements and good looks. What a bunch of losers.

No, I was not impressed. I need some likeable characters to root for.

However, this is the first time I have read a realistic description of getting drunk and trying to sleep whilst drunk. This books describes everything exactly as it is. That hasn't changed in 100 years.
 
I recently finished Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises - which is based on Hemingway's own group of friends and their trips to Spain.

The book is set in the 1925 and depics a bunch of Americans and Brits in their late 20s/early 30s who are traveling around France and Spain, getting drunk, dancing, fornicating and watching macho things like bullfighting. The amount of alcohol these guys drink is criminal. It almost sounds like the 1920's version of a modern day trip to Ibiza. But what is different?

Unlike in Ibiza, where you're likely to bump into at least some pleasant and basically nice people, there isn't a single likeable character in the book. The men are to varying degrees whining cucks and sore losers, and the (only) female main character, Brett, is shamelessly promiscuous and relies on other people's money (usually however she is bedding at the time). What a bunch of people to go partying with.

The only character with something resembling success, both professionally and as a man, is the 19 year old Spanish bullfighter. But even he is so insecure and immature that he wanted to marry the 34 year old, twice divorced and sexually liberated Brett, who will never be faithful to him. But he's still in a totally different league to the rest of the men - who are 5-15 years older than him, haven't achieved much in life that wasn't bought by their parent's money or connections, and are almost drooling at the 19 year old bullfighter's achievements and good looks. What a bunch of losers.

No, I was not impressed. I need some likeable characters to root for.

However, this is the first time I have read a realistic description of getting drunk and trying to sleep whilst drunk. This books describes everything exactly as it is. That hasn't changed in 100 years.
for a book written almost 100 years ago it's still an incredible work. Hemingway actually wrote that book based on people within his own group of friends and his trip to Pamplona in 1925. For the time it was a spectacular look into toxic masculinity, death, etc., especially in the aftermath of the 1st world war.

It's not a novel where you get to root for the good guy :D
 
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