Books to read before Fall (distraction from the waiting) Forum

[0 and 16]

don't fucking read ayn rand. just don't. please.

read good novels (i'm enjoying don delillo right now), history (robert caro's biographies are fantastic), and philosophy (maybe some sartre or rousseau).

just not ayn rand.

you act like you know alot. But youre probably full of shit.

Nope. Not reading Ayn Rand is definitely TCR.

If you want to read philosophy you could do much, much better. The books are poorly written and Objectivism might be interesting if you're a 17 year old white guy from the suburbs.

O yeah, like Sartre and Roussau. Who gives a shit about those guys? Why not read a book written for people that are well-endowed? like Bukowski or Burroughs.

[bilbobaggins]

don't fucking read ayn rand. just don't. please.

read good novels (i'm enjoying don delillo right now), history (robert caro's biographies are fantastic), and philosophy (maybe some sartre or rousseau).

just not ayn rand.

you act like you know alot. But youre probably full of shit.

Nope. Not reading Ayn Rand is definitely TCR.

If you want to read philosophy you could do much, much better. The books are poorly written and Objectivism might be interesting if you're a 17 year old white guy from the suburbs.

O yeah, like Sartre and Roussau. Who gives a shit about those guys? Why not read a book written for people that are well-endowed? like Bukowski or Burroughs.

The fact that you mention Sartre and Rousseau as if they're alternatives to Rand really shows where you're coming from in this convo.

[Baylan]

Meh, I've read (at least pieces of) Rand, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Smith, Marx, Kant and more. All the big ones.

They're first and foremost all filled with a load of crap. Second, just because I enjoyed one particular philosopher doesn't mean crap. Almost no one falls neatly into any philosopher's circle. You read them to expand horizons and thought. Just because you don't enjoy their philosophy doesn't mean its wrong. None of them are wrong. They are attempts at explaining human action, and explaining how they think that humans should act.

So get over the bullshit "don't read this," because you disagreed with it. Say "don't read this because," and add something afterwards, otherwise this whole topic is a complete waste of time.

[bloodonthetracks]

don't fucking read ayn rand. just don't. please.

read good novels (i'm enjoying don delillo right now), history (robert caro's biographies are fantastic), and philosophy (maybe some sartre or rousseau).

just not ayn rand.

Nope. Not reading Ayn Rand is definitely TCR.

If you want to read philosophy you could do much, much better. The books are poorly written and Objectivism might be interesting if you're a 17 year old white guy from the suburbs.

O yeah, like Sartre and Roussau. Who gives a shit about those guys? Why not read a book written for people that are well-endowed? like Bukowski or Burroughs.

The fact that you mention Sartre and Rousseau as if they're alternatives to Rand really shows where you're coming from in this convo.

I'm not mentioning them as a direct alternative to Rand (just as I'm not mentioning Don Delillo as a direct alternative to Rand). I'm saying two things here: 1) these are some suggestions of authors whom I find interesting and recommend to others, and 2) Ayn Rand fucking sucks. If you love her stuff, then it's unlikely that I'm going to convince you to hate her on a law school message board. If you haven't read her stuff--and keep hearing about how great it is--I'm here to tell you that her "philosophy" is repulsive on many levels, and that, to boot, she is a shitty, shitty writer. This isn't saying that one must agree with the philosophy of the philosopher one is reading (I'm not an existentialist because I read Sartre; I'm not a proto-communist because I read Rousseau), but let's at the very least read good writers.

[kalvano]

I keep a copy of Atlas Shrugged in every room of the house, in case of emergency.

[vanwinkle]

Read Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs and cherish how normal your life has been so far in comparison.

[kalvano]

Read Travels by Michael Crichton and be amazed at all the stuff he did.

[Dick Whitman]

Let me throw some love toward my Christmas reading -- Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence.

[vanwinkle]

Read Travels by Michael Crichton and be amazed at all the stuff he did.

Or read State of Fear and witness how much his mind went before he died.

[Dick Whitman]

You should also read Ron Chernow's bio of Alexander Hamilton just in case you're getting cocky about what you've accomplished thusfar in life.

[kalvano]

Read Travels by Michael Crichton and be amazed at all the stuff he did.

Or read State of Fear and witness how much his mind went before he died.

I haven't read it, is it that bad? I hope not, he was always one of my favorite authors.

Did you know he graduated Harvard Medical School?

[wiseman]

I enjoyed some of the classics. Just not C&P, nor Jane Eyre, or Pride & Prejudice.

Beowulf was good, Fountainhead was good. I liked the portions of The Canterbury Tales we read. But there was something about the women and the Russians that I never liked.

...but you liked the fountainhead, written by a Russian woman.

i love jane austen... her books are like soap operas, only they make you feel smart instead of dumb

+1

[vanwinkle]

I haven't read it, is it that bad? I hope not, he was always one of my favorite authors.

Basically batshit insane environmentalist stereotypes try to use their scientific knowledge to create a massive ecological disaster in order to convince people global warming is real and get the world to take it seriously. I couldn't read the whole thing, it was really bad and came across as a really political "global warming isn't real, why can't you scientists see that" screed. It got criticized after it came out, in part because he had to distort some scientists' research in order to justify his claims that global warming isn't real/is hotly disputed in the scientific community.

Did you know he graduated Harvard Medical School?

Yeah, and the man's knowledge of biology and genetics are remarkable. It's one of the reasons why people love so much of his sci-fi; it's geared around advances in technology that are actually feasible, such as the anti-epilepsy chip in "The Terminal Man" and the potential for cloning using recovered DNA in "Jurassic Park". (He was also the creator of "ER" and I assume the reason it ended up being at least somewhat more realistic than usual for a TV show.)

The problem is that he often has some anti-technology bent in his works, as if suggesting that there's something wrong with the progress we're making and we're ultimately dooming ourselves if we continue to take it. It's easy to get the impression from his books again and again that he thinks the world would be better off if we stopped trying to progress and invent new things to solve problems. It's our fault for trying to clone dinosaurs in Jurassic Park; it's our fault for trying to observe the past in Timeline; it's our fault for trying to cure epilepsy in The Terminal Man; it's our fault for trying to capture and study alien life in The Andromeda Strain; etc.

There's always that deep "if we just left things alone none of this would have happened" undertone. In State of Fear it finally goes a full step further and shows scientists creating the problem intentionally. His distrust for the medical/scientific community as a whole is just staggering.

[sckon]

White Noise by Don DeLillo

[Mitch McDeere]

List of books I've acquired so far:

-Getting to Maybe
-Guerrilla Tactics for getting the Law Job of your Dreams
-One L
-Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning
-Acing Your First Year of Law School: The Ten Steps to Success You Won't Learn in Class (this one wasn't recommended, but was only $0.94 on Amazon)

Any advice on which ones to read first?

[traehekat]

Reading What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell right now. Very interesting, as usual.

[leftofthedial]

2666 by Robert Bolaño...I can't stop thinking about it. Absolutely amazing. As an English major long out of school, it reminded me why I studied literature in the first place. It is loooong, like 900 pages, and it's dense, but the effort totally pays off. I've reread lots of sections...just a great and strange novel.

[thorntll]

2666 by Robert Bolaño...I can't stop thinking about it. Absolutely amazing. As an English major long out of school, it reminded me why I studied literature in the first place. It is loooong, like 900 pages, and it's dense, but the effort totally pays off. I've reread lots of sections...just a great and strange novel.

I looooove Robert Bolaño. I haven't read 2666, but The Savage Detectives is one of my favorite books, and Nazi Literature in the Americas wasn't half bad either.

Edit: By Night in Chile is literally on my bedside table, but I haven't started it yet. Will report back.

[madmartigan]

I have to plug 'Girl with the dragon tattoo' and 'Girl who played with fire'. I just finished them and they were stellar. Hopefully if they make some more money off book sales they can spend a little more on translators for the subtitles of the movies.

[Matthies]

List of books I've acquired so far:

-Getting to Maybe
-Guerrilla Tactics for getting the Law Job of your Dreams
-One L
-Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning
-Acing Your First Year of Law School: The Ten Steps to Success You Won't Learn in Class (this one wasn't recommended, but was only $0.94 on Amazon)

Any advice on which ones to read first?

I forgot about the Aceing book, I read that one and thought it and 1000 days to the bar where the most helpful prep books outthere. Start with Aceing becuase its short, it won' all make sense right now, but its short and u can review the needed chapters later.


Also I listened to audio book of Stuff White People LIke on my drive to Phoenix for christmas, really funny stuff.

[Island Girl]

don't fucking read ayn rand. just don't. please.

read good novels (i'm enjoying don delillo right now), history (robert caro's biographies are fantastic), and philosophy (maybe some sartre or rousseau).

just not ayn rand.

Nope. Not reading Ayn Rand is definitely TCR.

If you want to read philosophy you could do much, much better. The books are poorly written and Objectivism might be interesting if you're a 17 year old white guy from the suburbs.

O yeah, like Sartre and Roussau. Who gives a shit about those guys? Why not read a book written for people that are well-endowed? like Bukowski or Burroughs.

The fact that you mention Sartre and Rousseau as if they're alternatives to Rand really shows where you're coming from in this convo.

I'm not mentioning them as a direct alternative to Rand (just as I'm not mentioning Don Delillo as a direct alternative to Rand). I'm saying two things here: 1) these are some suggestions of authors whom I find interesting and recommend to others, and 2) Ayn Rand fucking sucks. If you love her stuff, then it's unlikely that I'm going to convince you to hate her on a law school message board. If you haven't read her stuff--and keep hearing about how great it is--I'm here to tell you that her "philosophy" is repulsive on many levels, and that, to boot, she is a shitty, shitty writer. This isn't saying that one must agree with the philosophy of the philosopher one is reading (I'm not an existentialist because I read Sartre; I'm not a proto-communist because I read Rousseau), but let's at the very least read good writers.

I guess everyone's entitled to his/her own opinion. My mother named me after a character in one of Rand's books. I am proud to have such a name. I grew up reading Ayn Rand. I think what she's accomplished in the way of creating entirely new and radical ideas is admirable and brave (this I have found can be repulsive to some but it boggles my mind): that the individual is the key to moving society, that reason and the human mind should be the tools used in living one's life, and that individual accomplishment is something that should be celebrated and not censured. This is what I have taken from Rand. I admit, there are some aspects of Objectivism that I object to but there is certainly something to admire about celebrating you, me, us, our talents and achievements and how powerful a human mind can be in shaping our world, be it through technology, art, literature, research, science, etc. Even without taking all this into account, I do... truly... enjoy her stories. And I think those who are in pursuit of exposure to all sorts of thought and ideas, should give her a shot. I suggest starting with The Fountainhead. <3

[Island Girl]

Oh and I haven't read the entire thread yet so I don't know if this was even mentioned in the earlier posts... but I really enjoyed "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

[AliceB]

One L - This Scott Turow memoir is kind of whiny and exaggerated, and people often seem aghast at the way he treats his wife as the burden of law school starts overwhelming him.

+1

I thought the over all premise was good, but it was choppy and sometimes sloppy writing. Several lawyers and law students that I've asked about claim that he blows almost everything out of proportion, and as long as you manage your time well, law school is very manageable.

[kalvano]

Oh and I haven't read the entire thread yet so I don't know if this was even mentioned in the earlier posts... but I really enjoyed "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

It's a rare case when you can say the movie was better than the book.

[Island Girl]

Oh and I haven't read the entire thread yet so I don't know if this was even mentioned in the earlier posts... but I really enjoyed "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

It's a rare case when you can say the movie was better than the book.

The movie was goooood.