Reccomended Reading

General Chatter
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Greetings again, everyone! I know I’ve been silent over the past few weeks, but it’s due to the unfortunate coincidence of a large number of factors - one of which is the apocalyptic self-destruction of my PC by the dreaded and unholy Blue Screen of Death (I’m currently on a library computer… :anjou_sad:

In the meantime, however, I’ve been spending the last week in Scotland attenting an Army Officer Familiarisation Course, and during my free time at H.M.'s Army Base, Barry Buddon, I read an absolutely fascinating and marvellous book - In Defence of Aristocracy, by Peregrine Worsthsorne, published by Harper-Collins.

There have been a fair number of political debates on this forum, and regardless of your political disposition, be it Raving Communist or Hang-'em Flog-'em Ultra-Tory, I would heartily reccomend it to anyone with an interest in politics or history.

In essence, the book charts the evolution and devolution of the ‘aristocratic’ social stratum (not just in the titled nobility sense, but in the meritocratic ‘patricians’ as well) and amounts to a thorough endorsement of the virtues of the class system. Now, you don’t have to agree with Worthsorne’s assertions - indeed, I myself object to several of his statements, such as his support for eliminating the hereditary peers from the House of Lords and his accusation that capitalism has destroyed civility and noblesse oblige - but this is nonetheless a superlative and excellent volume. It’s refreshingly unconventional, lucidly argued, rigorously researched, and thoroughly enjoyable, and provides a fascinating alternative viewpoint of the past three hundred years in Britain, America and France.

I found it in Borders for fifteen pounds, and it was worth every penny. :anjou_happy:

…by the way, the new emoticons are marvellous. :anjou_wow:

EDIT: …but, erm, why aren’t they displaying?

EDIT II: They are now! :anjou_happy:

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check your post (hit edit) and make sure “Disable Smilies in this post” isn’t ticked. Also check the settings in your profile.

I book that I have the sudden urge to read is Animal Farm, great book =)

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Animal Farm was alright, I suppose. If you haven’t read it already, I suggest reading Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code”. Unfortunately it describes Rosalyn Chapel as being some amazing place which it isn’t really (it looks old and under repair at the moment…) but it’s still a good read.

Maybe pick up a short story compilation from the Black Library’s selection. “Dark Imperium” (edited by M. Gascoigne) is good. That’s more sci-fi though.

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I promised to myself I woulnd’t read Da Vinci’s code, simply because everyone else is.

At R.Frazer : I really dunno how people like to read books about someone’s view concerning something in particular.

To me if a book isn’t a story of someone with characters and plot-twists I will probably not read it.Except some history books.

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History is someone’s view on a particular subject, a complete truth doesnt exist and we can oonly create our own “truths”.

Just to be post modern about it :stuck_out_tongue:

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[quote=“GehnTheBerserker”]I promised to myself I woulnd’t read Da Vinci’s code, simply because everyone else is.

To me if a book isn’t a story of someone with characters and plot-twists I will probably not read it.Except some history books.[/quote]

Your logic makes no sense whatsoever. And the Di Vinci code meets both your requirements. But whatever.

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What logic?I wansn’t trying to be logical in any of my two comments.

It’s just me : I don’t feel tempted by something just because everyone talks about it (unless my pre-formed idea about that thing is already a good one).

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TSOG: The Thing That Ate the Constitution by Robert Anton Wilson
It’s an awesome look at our society. FYI, TSOG stands for TSarist Operational Government.

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house of leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

it’s not political, it’s not historical… it’s just :anjou_wow: