What Are You Reading Currently? [OFFICIAL THREAD]

[Purged]

1) sherlock holmes and the chilford ripper.

2) lots of random stoic related stuff

[Marbles]

Started on

 

 

 

From the back leaf.

 

Genesis, the first volume in Eduardo Galeano’s Memory of Fire trilogy, is both a meditation on the clashes between the Old World and the New and, in the author’s words, an attempt to “rescue the kidnapped memory of all America.” It is a fierce, impassioned, and kaleidoscopic historical experience that takes us from the creation myths of the Makiritare Indians of the Yucatan to Columbus’s first, joyous moments in the New World to the English capture of New York.

 

[Skanderbeg]

Wilferd Madelung - Succession to Muhammad

Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill

[notme]

What a Plant Knows, by Daniel Chamovitz

 

 

 

It supports my confirmation bias with scientific research.  

Edited November 9, 2015 by notme
Sorry, image was enormous.

[Marbles]

@sis notme, what is confirmation bias?

[notme]

@sis notme, what is confirmation bias?

 

When you already believe something, you find facts which confirm it and have a tendency to discredit facts which deny it.

[mina]

Wilferd Madelung - Succession to Muhammad

Good choice.

[_Fatima]

Currently reading, 'Redemptive Suffering In Islam - A Study of the Devotional Aspects of Ashura in Twelver Shi'ism' by Dr. Mahmoud Ayoub.

[reisiger]

Currently re-reading The Lantern of the Path (Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq AS)

[notme]

Currently re-reading The Lantern of the Path (Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq AS)

That's a good one.

[reisiger]

That's a good one.

It sure is.  It's going to require several reads because there is so much to it.  Although I really need to learn Arabic.  I'm sure English translations aren't doing it justice.

[notme]

It sure is. It's going to require several reads because there is so much to it. Although I really need to learn Arabic. I'm sure English translations aren't doing it justice.

I have only read translation.

[reisiger]

I have only read translation.

I suspect you are smarter than I am. :)

 

I'm just being silly today.  Up next in shaa Allah will be Al Murajat.  I've only made it about 50 or so pages in, but I think we who live in the internet age could learn quite a lot from the akhlaq and the mutual respect these two scholars showed one another.

[Blissful]

Shameful to admit, but I haven't picked up a book for yonks. Unless it was university related. And now that I'm done, I have a complete mind block and have lost my pace in reading.

Any recommendations for something witty, dark & sarcastic? Something to catalyze this void lol!

[Martyrdom]

 

Any recommendations for something witty, dark & sarcastic? Something to catalyze this void lol!

Shiachat. 

[Marbles]

Shameful to admit, but I haven't picked up a book for yonks. Unless it was university related. And now that I'm done, I have a complete mind block and have lost my pace in reading.

Any recommendations for something witty, dark & sarcastic? Something to catalyze this void lol!

 

ummm let's see...

 

The Screwtape Letters of C.S. Lewis https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/480236.The_Screwtape_Letters

 

Or maybe Voltaire's Candide for a short run? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/385059.Candide

 

Fahrenheit 451 of Ray Bradbury https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4381.Fahrenheit_451

 

How about Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/117665.The_Buddha_Of_Suburbia

 

Or Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes. Hitler comes back and he's in shock at the change. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17289087-look-who-s-back

 

Want to go long haul and classic in one go? How about The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy?https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/352547.The_Life_and_Opinions_of_Tristram_Shandy_Gentleman

 

All of the are witty, sarcastic, and some of them dark...

[Marbles]

Reading few of the Little Black Classics I acquired some time ago, one each from pre-modern Japan, medieval India, and ancient Rome.

Edited December 1, 2015 by Marbles
Fixed images

[CaptainGalaxy]

 

My review:
A month ago I was looking for a  decent biograpgy of the prophet (AS)  from an academic point of view, that kind of was symphatetic towards Shi'ism. The result wasn't so great , its hard to find something like that without any gurantees but I stumbled upon memories of Muhammed by Omid Safi . I personally never heard of the guy, after some research I found out he saw himself as a Shia and a sufi.  It got me interested into his book . So I ordered and started reading. 

This guy is a genius, he somehow pulled it of presenting a at first face an objective description of the prophet (AS) without explcitly saying its a shia point of view. But is obviously a very Shiite despcription of the Prophet, but you wouldn't directly know it  because he is super subtle about it.

Anyhow  he begins this book with an argument why any  human being who considers himself cultuvated should invest some time into studying about the Prophet (AS), even if you are a non-muslim and dont have any interest in converting or whatever. According to him we live in a globalized world where ideas and conditions from all over the world have a direct effect on our existnce , part of that globalized world are muslims and Islam. Anyone should be aware of that and inform himself about it .  He then quotes some 'enlightement ' Thinkers and how they were often intersted into Islam as a more ''rational'' religion in comparison to christianity and so fort .

After that followed a standar review of the life of the prophet. After describing the standard events he gives them an interpretation what they could mean, he often did that from a mystical and metapysical perspective. At the same time he insisted that what the Prophet did was also a  revolution in the sociological sense.  He often then reffered what the general habits and unwritten rules of society were and how the teachings of the  Prophet  can only be seen as an revolution. He combined the seclar and the sacred very well in his interpretations in my opinion. He also sprankled muslim miniatures and pictures of old caligrapical works of Dua and so fort ,which were interseting to see.  He was also very familiar with all kinds of intersting anecdotes about Muslims and their view of the prophet.

Now here comes the intersting part in my opinion, he totally marginalizes by giving the minimal attention to Abu Bakr ,Omar and Osman. The narrative goes directly to Ali and what happend to him, followed by in the end a description of what the meaning was of the death of Hossein, without falling into sectarian polemic. I found it truely briliant. 

He then concludes with an interesting argument, he says that muslim these days of then downplay the spiritual and devotional aspects of the prophet(AS) and emphasize his secular  achievements more . The Prophet (AS) is not presented as a prophet but more as a remarkable human being in the same line as for example other famous politicans and reformers. He  clearly putted that also in  the postcolonial context that Muslims live in. According to him Muslims are having an inferiority complex  and really want to make the prophet look relevant for the non-muslim by presenting him as I wrote just now as a secular politican/military commander/ ethical example at the cost of the spiritual and miracilious aspects of the prophet.

 

He then gives an example of how it is in bookstores if you look at the Spirituality/religion shelf, you will see many books about spiritual advice from the Buddha,Jesus, Confucius and Taoism, but there are non of those of the Prophet(AS).  That should change in his view.

All in all its a decent book and very accesable for someone who doesnt know much about Islam. The fact that it was obviously aimed at an american reader was kind of annoying and he sometimes came of as very neutral which I could imagine for some of us can be seen as a bit annoying also.    3/5

Edited November 24, 2015 by CaptainGalaxy

[CaptainGalaxy]

 

My review:

A critical introduction to Khomeini

Edited by Arshin Adib Mogahadam.

Wether you like it or not, but  Ayotollah Khomeini is one of the most important Shia’s of the twentieth century, and one can almost argue that it would only be silly not to inform yourself about him if you call yourself a Shia.  However this seems harder than it looks.  Information about Imam Khomeini is very polemic and under constant debate. Finding good neutral information about him is a hard task. I personally have read a few of his works like 40 hadith and his poems but it doesn’t provide me with any insights to Imam Khomeini himself as an actor inside a historical narrative. I’ve also watched that famous 10  episode documentary about him you can find on youtube , despite its rather high quality it still kind of felt as a hagiography. The only other decent biography I have read before was the one by Baqer Moin. Quite a solid book.

A critical introduction to Khomeini however is in my opinion revolutionary when it comes to information about Imam Khomeini. Gone are the angry Iranian royalist refugees and and gone are the ideologes of the revolution who only write in a triumpful tone.  A long time has passed since the death of the Imam , academics and schoalrs finally obtained room to write in a more nuanced way about Imam Khomeini.  This book contains 13 chapters written by 13 different authors about all kind of angles you can approach Imam Khomeini. The fact that there are 13 different authors undoes the danger of falling into a certain bias, a problem lots of other  information about Imam Khomeini has.

This book describes Imam Khomeini as the scholar, revolutionary,politican, mystic, theorist and women rights activist. Each chapter is an extensive description based on primary sources about the prescribed subject of the chapter.

Chapter 4 about the history of the  constitution was one of my favourite of all the 13 and was a real eye opener to me. It showed that Imam Khomeini was quite pragmatic and was  even prepared to accept the first draft of the constitution which did not contain any reference to the Gaurdian Jurist. It t were his politicans however that pushed for an consultive assembly of  spechialists  that would decide about the constitution . It complicated the progress of implementing a constition for more than a year. After lots of struggle and voting and revising , which were unnecessary according to the Imam, who was a pragmatist, the constitution was accepted. The iMam wanted to implement the constitution as fast as possible to preserve stability as fast as possible because the state of the revolution still had no certainity to it yet. Point is, it were politicians in the assemblies who in the end decided the inclusion of the Gaurdian jurist as a necessary aspect of the constitution.  This is in stark contrast with the image that is constructed of Khomeini as a rigid religious zealot who did not want to compromise. Second reason this was interesting to me is that I got a feeling lots of people despise the idea of a cleric having so much power and blame Khomeini for it. But it turns out it wasn’t him who pushed for it in the beginning.

Another interesting chapter was 8 which tried to find out wether Imam Khomeini completed the 4 journeys of Mullah Sadra, or that he just praised it as theoretical concept. The chapter then tried to find a connection between the Imam as a mystic and his politics and revolution. It’s a very interesting approach which I really liked. Another great one was chapter 12 when it tried to explain that Imam Khomeini was the first one to present the muslim as a political subject on its own, instead of a secondary identifier. This was going against  all the general trends of modernity that was practiced back then. Being Muslim was seen as something you do at home and if you had any political grievances you had to present it  as a secular citizen under the guise of either left wing or right wing politics.   I found the whole concept of the muslim as a political subject , super interesting.

This book had  many more great chapters. All in all I wanted to basicly say is that  this book in an scholary treasure and a great door towards a more indepth research about Imam Khomein. Even if you do not want to do more indepth research about Khomeini, on its own this book  is super informative about all kind subjects, even theology.

I suck at reviewing so forgive me if it’s a bit messy but I give this book a 5 out of 5 and I recommend it to everyone.

[Marbles]

Intermittently reading...

Sufi Lyrics by Bulleh Shah.

I have read Bulleh in the original since my teens. My recent research led me to selected English translations of his work but most of those have been subpar, devoid of the Bullehian spirit. This new translation issed by Murty Classical Library of India looks promising since it's done by a first grade scholar of classical Punjabi (and other subcontinental languages) Dr Christopher Shackle. I'll be able to give a proper appraisal after I have finished it.

@Gaius I. Caesar this is for you. I'm sure you're gonna enjoy going through the book.

[Gaius I. Caesar]

6 minutes ago, Marbles said:

Intermittently reading...

Sufi Lyrics by Bulleh Shah.

I have read Bulleh in the original since my teens. My recent research led me to selected English translations of his work but most of those have been subpar, devoid of the Bullehian spirit. This new translation issed by Murty Classical Library of India looks promising since it's done by a first grade scholar of classical Punjabi (and other subcontinental languages) Dr Christopher Shackle. I'll be able to give a proper appraisal after I have finished it.

@Gaius I. Caesar this is for you. I'm sure you're gonna enjoy going through the book.

Oooh, very interesting. I'm sure I will enjoy going through this, shukran Marbles!

[_Fatima]

The Secret Rose Garden - by Mahmud Ibn 'Abd Al-Kar Shabistari

[Chaotic Muslem]

 

 

I picked this up yesterday, started reading the first pages and it sounds cool. Do you reckn i'll finish it?

[Noor al Batul]

I've been a bit lazy with my readings (and there's a never-ending pile to read in front of me, lol) but trying to change that. Winter... it is just this time of the year, inviting you to sit down in front of a fire, tucked in a warm blanket, a cup of hot chocolate close by and a book in your lap. Anyway, what I am reading:

"Pakistan: A hard country" by Anatol Lieven. Much better than I expected it to be, if I am honest.

"Hayatul Qulub - Vol.1: Stories of the Prophets" - Allamah Majlisi [r]

And (hopefully) going to start: "Elantris" by Brandon Sanderson

[Marbles]

Reading this on and off. A very fine collection of essays for anyone with an interest in the philosophy of art and language.

Martin Heidegger - Poetry, Language, Thought (1971)

From the backflap

Quote

Poetry, Language, Thought collects Martin Heidegger's pivotal writings on art, its role in human life and culture, and its relationship to thinking and truth. Essential reading for students and anyone interested in the great philosophers, this book opens up appreciation of Heidegger beyond the study of philosophy to the reaches of poetry and our fundamental relationship to the world. Featuring "The Origin of the Work of Art," a milestone in Heidegger's canon, this enduring volume provides potent, accessible entry to one of the most brilliant thinkers of modern times.

 

[CaptainGalaxy]

 

Out of place: A memoir By Edward Waadi Said.

Short review:
I am a big fan of the masterpiece, Edward Said wrote back in 1975 called: Orientalism.  This book had and still has an inmense influence in academics. And I personally use it often as a frame work to view and think about things.  Orientalism is basicly a concept that lets you analyze  the power balance between groups. A power balance is somerhing that reflects itself in language,art and discourse.  Orientalsim can help you analyzing power through its reflection in culture. Anyhow he wrote about it extensively in his book in 1975 taking the Islamic/arab world in relation to the western world as an example. Read more about it here : Orientalism

Edward Said died in 2003 , but before he died he wrote a memoir about his life and how was formed to who he was. Now here is the reason why I was interested in reading his autobiography. He was as an Palestian very much  anti-west  most of his life yet he lived and produced most of his work while living and  'profiting' of western institutions. Its almost silly. Its something I think about often too. I am very critical of the west yet I live and profit of living in the west . I have acces to things most of my people back in the mother country have no acces to.  I feel silly and hypocrite sometimes. So I thought maybe I can find the answer by reading Said's memoir since he is a highly regarded intelectual so I assumed HE atleast must have resolved that tension.

....He did not, atleast not in his memoirs. It was about his antics when he was a kid and his relation to his parents and other family members. IT has lots way too intimate details about himself. Now and then he makes references to political events, which were really interesting but they were too short to be enjoyed thoroughly. It was a pleasant read but not something that I could consider interesting or revealing . Other reason it might be interesting to read is to get an insight into the world of the 40-50-60s of an upper class Christian Arab and its world.  It gives you this first person historical point of view of life in those times that you cant get from standard history books. But it lacked any intelectual insights which I found a real pity. But then again it are HIS memoirs its kind of weird to give demands to memoirrs.

anyhow 2.5 out of 5

I guess If you want to enjoy Edward Said his intelectual contribution its a smarter Idea to just read his academic books like : Orientalism, Culture and imperialism, covering Islam and sofort.

[Klanky]

A Distant Mirror : The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara W. Tuchman. 

 

A very interesting book about a turbulent period in Europe. I am making very slow progress through it though.

Edited December 19, 2015 by Klanky
spelling mistake

[Purged]

The Unconquered: In Search Of The Amazon's Last Contacted Tribes.

 

[CaptainGalaxy]

Hezbollah: A short review by Augustus Richard Norton.

Short review:

Okay besides the fact that the authors name is pretty cool, this book is fantastic. Mister Norton is a very honest academic and in this very short book gives us an objective perspective on the history of Hezbollah. The writer is very informed about shia rituals and culture and knows all its subetelity espechially in relation to the rise of Hezbollah.  He even knows the subtle differences and influences different marjaia have amongst Shia, which is something very hard to understand for an outsider.From a political perspective he presents all the context that is neccesary to understand the rise of Hezbollah, including for once a clear explanation of the Lebanese civil war and its ties to Syria and Israel.   Espechially the parts about Syria read like a revelation in understanding the modern day civil war in Syria. If you know were sunnis in relation to HEzbollah come from you can see the links with the syrian war. Maybe im a n00b but Inever looked at the conflict in Syria from a lebanese perspective but its highly relevant. Anyhow if you want to know everything about Hezbollah, Lebanon, Syria, Shii'tes in a short time  read this book. Try to ge your hands on the 2014 version , which has a long epilouge that describes a detailed interpretation about what Hezbollah means ''today'.

5 out of 5

I dont know about you guys but this topic totally motivates you to read.

 

[Marbles]

On 12/19/2015 at 10:03 PM, CaptainGalaxy said:

Read more about it here : Orientalism

Most certainly and most undoubtedly one of the best book written in the 20th century. A monument that had a profound influence on academia as well as popular culture. 

[CaptainGalaxy]

Nationalism in contemporary Japan

Short Review:

This book came out in 1995, but when I started it I couldve sworn it was from 2007, espechially after it talked about the 'Iraq War' and alike. But I Realized most of the data it used is from the early 90s and I found out that this book is not from 2007. So this book is not so contemporary anymore. And with Iraq war they ment the 1991 gulf war.

But I have a bad habit : I feel guilty if I stop reading a book I started with. Reading this book made me realize how troublesome that bad habit of mine actually is.

I picked up this book in the hope of learning something about nationalistic parties , groups and movements in Japan that somehow try to resist that status quo. I was wrong, this book is first of all written by an American..and it pro-Americanism is all over this book. I think this book is a reflection of the existiental dread America went through after the cold war ended. America realized it was out of enemies and felt insecure about everything including her allies she had during the coldwar. These same allies might want to embrace other alliances that America has no control of, including Japan. So this book kind of read as a desperate comfort making sure Japan atleast wont leave America.  I think AMerica needed that espechially after a time where Japan looked as if it was competing with America on an economic level.

Even still, one could argue this is a serious political piece. It is not, it is a orientalistic introduction to Japanese politics and culture. It read more like a sloppy manual for american university students who are studying abroad in Japan, than a serious political book. I have to give it credit for  the short history of modern Japan  that was included, that was well written and interesting. But his whole comtemporary description of japan  had such a negative vibe , it almost felt like an infantalization of Japan and the Japanese. In contray to the things written about the free and individualistic democratic  adult America.

It had some interesting points though it was not totally silly and stupid. He argued that Japanese do identify with Japanese culture and are nationalistic in that sense. They however do not identify with the state and thats why Japan is different. A japanese person does not identify himself as a Japanese because of his relation to the Japanese state but because of his cultural idenity.  Its an interesting point, making Japan almost like most 3rd world postcolonial countries, who also rarely idenitify themselves with the state and more rather with their religion or culture. This is even more interesting if you realize that the postwordlwar state of Japan is a product of the American occupation (1950s).

Anyhow, this book is old and very outdated, its pro-American, American centric and it is not what you expect of it.

2/5

 

Edited December 25, 2015 by CaptainGalaxy

[Marbles]

Two classics. 

Charles Dickens - Great Expectations

 

The Book of Disquiet - Fernando Pessoa

Translated from the Portuguese.

[apofomysback]

2 minutes ago, Marbles said:

Two classics. 

Charles Dickens - Great Expectations

 

The Book of Disquiet - Fernando Pessoa

Translated from the Portuguese.

That 'like' was for Charles Dickens - my father used to encourage me to read his work. Good choice.

[Marbles]

10 minutes ago, apofomysback said:

That 'like' was for Charles Dickens - my father used to encourage me to read his work. Good choice.

Yeah, you can never go wrong with Dickens. He is a great teacher of language and a supreme artist. 

But I'm finding it hard to tear away from Pessoa's book. He's such a brilliant writer.

Edited January 4, 2016 by Marbles
typo

[apofomysback]

3 minutes ago, Marbles said:

Yeah, you can never go wrong with Dickens. He is a great teacher of language and a supreme artist. 

But I'm funding it hard to tear away from Pessoa's book. He's such a brilliant writer.

I'd look it up if you highly recommend it