Whatcha reading? What's your reading habits?

PANick11 · Joined: 25 Jul 2002 Posts: 402

HA HA HA!!!

Jools is an egghead!!

I actually do like history and archeology...anthropology..

though Mythology is far more compelling , and by it's very nature leaves me room to draw my own conclusions.

I have all of David Sedaris' stuff on tape, and I listen to him when I'm working somtimes..

He's fun enough to read....but hearing him read his own stuff is a Scream!!

Really, he's more of a performance artist than a writer, in a way.

Chris, don't feel bad....I dont recognize anything your reading either..

PANick

PLX180 · Joined: 02 Aug 2002 Posts: 320

An egghead huh? Hmmmmmm

Well I used to read some weird stuff, like all Carlos Castanedas gumf, and other "alternative spiritual" material. I read some thrillers too, like Alistair MacLean, Andy McNab etc.

But factual writing is where it's at. So there!

PANick11 · Joined: 25 Jul 2002 Posts: 402

Facts are nothing but points of view

facts dont do what I want them to

facts just twist the truth around

facts are moving, they're inside out

facts are getting the best of them

so I'm still waiting....still waiting

David Byrne

HA HA!!

I actually agree with you in a way...

here's what happens to me though...I read "facts" about, say, socio cultural anthropology..

and I find that of all the available "facts" the writer has, of course, selected the facts that best suit their thesis and discarded any facts that weaken their position..

this is how one gains a reputation in a field...by sifting "facts"...it's about persuing an isolated segment of a particular field and discovering a few obscure "facts"

no matter how unimportant those facts may be

BUT...in mythology we get not just an account of an historical event...but we get an account of how this event makes the people to whom it is most relevent Feel, and how it pertains to their daily life and world view..

in a sence..Poetry is a more honest and Factual way of describing the world becase it addresses our lives at every level....and gives an enduring perspective..

for instance

there is a spanish fort in central america that was destroyed when an earthquake caused an enormous flood..it is mentioned in Historical Documents of the Spanish that three tribal chiefs were imprisoned there and perished in the flood..

this is "factual" history

now...In Tzu Tu Hil we find this story

There were four legged monsters with skin made of Chatch that had come to steal the village heart..

(spanish Con Quistadors on horseback with armor)

these monsters would suck the souls of village men and send them back into the village world where they would in turn steal the souls of others..

(Spanish ConQuistadors bribing tradesmen either by threat of violence or promises of position)

one little brave hearted villager sets out to beat the monster, he discovers through divination that the monsters heart is a flame that burns in a fortress many miles away..

(the spanish fort, and the ConQuistadors superior officer)

the boy and his brothers, all village leaders and shaman of some standing, decide to turn themselves in to the Chatch Monster in hopes that he will unwittingly take them to the fortress with the flaming monster heart..

(the spanish were, like any colonial power, accustomed to imprisoning tribal leaders and traditionalists in hopes of converting them and re-installing them...or simply killing or imprisoning them..)

The boys are taken to the fort and shackled in the prison..

They begin to dance and jangle their shackles and sing a song to an ancient diety who has, on occasion, protected the village..All of the people in the fortress are fascinated and allow the boys to dance, hypnotised by their song ..The dance goes on and on and the boys "see" a great serpent encircling the fortress...they tell the old diety of their troubles and ask for his help...all in song and sacred dance..

Then...

the diety agrees to quench the flame of the monster heart..

he begins to thrash his enormous body and the ground begins to shake. A huge old volcano whos crater is filled with a deep lake Cracks Open the the flood pours down on the fort, wiping it out..killing nearly everyone there..

This is Historic FACT...in that the fort was destroyed by a flood while three tribal leaders were imprisoned there..

However, it's far more profoundly, part of an epic tale of the Tzu Tu Hil and their struggle to keep their village heart alive against the Monster heart of colonialism...

This is a VERY short versio of the Tzu Tu Hil tale...the full version takes hours to tell and is full of insightis into how colonialism usurps and destroys the village heart, and how, through various means, the monster heart can be defeated, or tricked, and how the village integrity can be supported through ceremony and story telling....

even in deafeat, the stories give people a deeper understanding of how events and nature and the unseen are connected...

soo.....to my way of thinking...history, of simple "facts" without mythology and storytelling to give them a cultural context, tells less than half the tale....far less.....

PANick

bbchris

PLX - I went thru a stage of reading all of Carlos Castaneda's books - haahaha A name I finally recognise!!!

PLX180 · Joined: 02 Aug 2002 Posts: 320

possibly, but I still prefer the hard facts

The more facts there are, the less chance of the writer manipulating events to their own vision. I like to form my own vision of what really happened.

I don't see a lot of substance in mythology. I mean, it is all a myth!

But interesting reading sometimes I guess.

Anyway, I find the best way around writers bias it to read a few different books on the same subject, and then form an opinion. There are always so many different views, and so many different causes for events. It all depends on how far back historically you go. It's amazing that people will hold nationalistic grudges for centuries, long after the people concerned died of old age. But there ya go. That's human nature.

ramble ramble...

Shauna Skye · Joined: 05 Aug 2002 Posts: 80

Chris, I'm a bookworm. I like a lot of genres, but here are some I read regularly:

Horror

Historical and Gothic Romance

science fiction

fantasy

True Crime

Certain kinds of Religious Books

Educational

Unless the genre is "true crime" or "educational" the more fantastical the better. Reading is an escape for me, so I enjoy settings before I was born or places exotic that I've never visited.

Who?

PLX180 · Joined: 02 Aug 2002 Posts: 320

Quote:
PLX - I went thru a stage of reading all of Carlos Castaneda's books - haahaha A name I finally recognise!!!

I now see Castaneda as a charlatan and a con-man. I was too naive in my younger days to see that, but it finally dawned on me. Once I realised he lied openly in later life, I realised he had been lying all along. Big disappointment!

Anyway, glad you recognised the name Chris

Edited by: PLX180 at: 4/19/03 2:48:48 pm

bbchris · Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2003 3:16 am Post subject: Re: Panick

Shauna! You sound like my brother - he likes to read true crime - he's read the lot of Ann somebody who writes a lot, he reads every book he can get on Jack the Ripper (!). Here's a pic of us together at a gig at the beginning of this month:

PLX! Yes I was very young when I read his book - I'm afraid I tried a couple of his suggestions - ahem - we'll leave it at that. Shouldn't mention that here

Yeah there's a lot of charlatans out there!

Seismic Anamoly · Joined: 22 Aug 2002 Posts: 3039

Anything by Stephen King....if I can find time.

My Favorite: Needful Things; hands down.

Edited by: Seismic Anamoly at: 4/20/03 6:06:58 am

bbchris · Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2003 4:32 am Post subject: Re: Reading...

Who wrote that? And why's it your favourite? :banana

Seismic Anamoly · Joined: 22 Aug 2002 Posts: 3039

King wrote it in 1991; hard to believe he wrote Carrie way back in 1974; damn, I'm getting old...anyway, it's my favorite because it portrays how corrupt we as humans are in that we will do just about anything to get what we want no matter who we are or how devout we think we are; temptation will win out in the end...the "Devil" will see to that, and that's what happens in the book...if you don't have time to read it, just go rent the TV movie...trust me, it is KILLER!!

Thanks for caring.

bbchris

I read Carrie and the one about the car - can't remember the name - plus I've seen Carrie - but not the one you like so much - I'll have to look out for it on video

Seismic Anamoly · Joined: 22 Aug 2002 Posts: 3039

I guarantee you'll like it; it's even humorous in a wierd kind of way, different from some of his straight-up horror type tales. Check it out for sure.

The car was "Christine"; now that was a strange one.

Happy Easter!

Shauna Skye · Joined: 05 Aug 2002 Posts: 80

My favorite movie from King was "Salem's Lot."

As far as his books I read "Pet Cemetary" when I was a teenager and it scared me.

King's non-horror is very good too, the the Green Mile. Also "The Talisman" was great, which he co-wrote.

Chris, your brother looks like a nice fellow. Good picture!

Who?

bbchris

Thanks Shauna! Yeah I read Pet Semetary - that WAS a weird one!