Topic: Books You're Currently Reading?

Hi all. A book I read recently that blew me away was Svetlana Alexievich's Secondhand Time. Wow. She's incredible at capturing and weaving together all these interview testimonies from ordinary people inside Russia, mind boggling stories from people's lived experience across the 20th C. Really gets into the soul of the Russian experience. Highly recommend!

I finished The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, in between readings of the mammoth Mark Twain by Ron Chernow, which I'm about 7/10 of the way through. The former book was a satisfying albeit light, in terms of length, read. The subject matter, i.e. Baldwin's thoughts on racial issues in America, at the time of writing, opinions on Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, and it's inception/particular modus operandi, were fascinating and very insightful, I felt. Really enjoyed it.

@DefShepherd I wasn't aware it ever got an English translation? it was popular for quite some time but I didn't know it made it to the Western market. It's nice to hear a positive reaction, I never finished it. I think I was just to close to the source material, an important book definitely, if you can handle the content.

I finished Batman and Ethics by Mark D. White, much shorter than I expected but it did do a good job of weaving the politics and philosophy of the character and the world into one cohesive (small) package. Next up is Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight by Travis Langley, I've read it before but this is a revised 2nd edition. I'm also currently reading Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo’s Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008 and casually skimming through The Oxford Handbook of Film Music Studies by David Neumeyer. I've read most of his work on scoring, sound, and the importance of acoustics.

These look interesting, thanks for mentioning: Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight by Travis Langley and Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo’s Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008

@DefShepherd Batman and Psychology is an interesting one. A lot of pop-culture/franchises have books about the psychology of various characters and worlds, it's a kind of niche genre. I enjoy psychology so when I can combine the too it removes a lot of barriers, there's a pre-existing understanding of the character. I can then apply genuine psychology to the examples given and learn at an accelerated rate. I've probably read thirty books on Batman without actually reading about Batman, mainly because of that psychology, ethics and philosophy. I can't with other characters because someone like Spiderman means very little to me (sorry Spider fans) the same for Superman, he's technically not even from this world. I did start reading about the psychology of DareDevil, that's been an interesting spin on a superhero. The music one is simple enough, I like to read about the history of the music I listen to.

The book you mentioned was well received (mostly) in my home country. I don't think Westerners understand that some of us do want that return to the old system, hence our current detachment from the rest of the world. I don't agree with conflict being the catalyst for anything productive, suffering can't be. It's wrong full stop. There are other ways to change things from Above, and not all of those changes are positive (obviously) I know all about that too, change touches everyone regardless of age or class.

The people who did agree with that author saw Communism like I do, a sense of community, order and structure. I.E. it's our country, we are free to live as we see fit and no outside entity will tell us otherwise, ever. However that would also make me a hypocrite because I'm also a super-capitalist and I'm not blind to injustice and suffering. Which is happening right now as I write this. We're transitioning once again to a State controlled system or commerce, of course there is private industry too, we exist in a kind of balance and mixed paradigm that most people outside of Russia will never understand. Everything I've seen, and lived, points to a clear return of the old system, some want it, those who didn't already left. That's reality, blunt as it is. Russia is not what people think it is, there's strength in unity and right now people are united. I think we're united over something terrible, and that the something terrible is now the catalyst that was needed to reestablish order and structure. 'us against them' is a very dangerous way to live. I don't need to explain where that mindset came from. Right now it's rampant. Unity quickly becomes community, much like Communism.

I think she understood the past when she wrote that book, and some of the present, but she never predicted the future, hence she's now in exile and her books were removed and censored in various places. Which is why I never finished her book, it was removed because it would go against my morals and ideals. I disagree because like I said she did interview people who understood and wanted a return to Communism. They mourned the loss of the system, that same System raised me, so I can see the contradictions and understand how it's now a template for the New Russia. People don't realize that, they see one side of the situation. They aren't seeing the changes on the ground, in society, in the minds of the people, they think we are fighting the system, not at all. Many want order, and now especially there's a strong sense of us against them. Communism was seen as a utopia, one stolen from the people, the author understood that. Most wouldn't. The catalyst however like I mentioned is suffering, we're stealing a system too, we're stealing life, daily.

I do live among 'them' too, hence I'm here right now reading other peoples (Western folks) opinions, learning about their way of life etc. I think it's important that a person be given the opportunity see both sides of an argument and to make up their mind for themselves. which might be why you read that book, to see the side of something you previously had no access to.