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Best Litterature of the Industrialised Society

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Best Litterature of the Industrialised Society

Unread postby Ailrickson » Wed 12 Jan 2005, 09:47:37

Since the industrial revolution, say starting 1850, which piece of literature do you believe is the best? A society is judge a great deal on the amount and quality of the arts it produced, and since most here feel we have attained the peak and it downhill from now, I thought this would make an interesting question.

Things like Shakespeare, Cyrano de Bergerac, the Bible and ect... don’t count, they where pre-industrial.

So which do you think? My pick my surprise a few of you, but it is genuine.


Best piece of Literature written during the industrial age (oil-age? :) )
According to Ailrickson;


St-Ex's 'Le Petit Prince', (Antoine de Saint-Exuperi, 'The Little Prince').

Why?

Because I believe it is truly the most timeless book written during this time period. It applies to everyone, even children, and holds some of the truest secrets to happiness.

I doubt that 1000 years from now people will know very much about George Orwell's 1984, but even 1000 years from now, people will be reading 'The Little Prince'. This book has been translated into countless languages and stands as one of the most published books of the 20th century.

Well, that's my opinion. How about you?
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Unread postby marek » Wed 12 Jan 2005, 10:30:16

And it's relevant to Peak Oil, too :roll:

Image

"Our drawing of the peak and decline of oil production was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor (we who use oil) digesting the great oil fields (the elephants). ASPO has tried to explain the inside of the boa, so that the grown-ups (politicians) could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained", Kjell Aleklett.
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Unread postby cador » Wed 12 Jan 2005, 12:17:00

"Camp of the Saints" by Jean Raspail

To find out more about this book, go to the following website:

http://www.africa2000.com/XNDX/xraspail.htm

A review of the book which I posted on amazon.com

The Fall of Western Man

A haunting masterpiece that will bring a chill down your spine, literally. Set in France, Raspail asks us to consider the fact that for how long will the White West be allowed to continue to live with its privileges while the Third World remains underprivileged.

While the West has been allowed to not care about the plight of the Third World in the past, it has undergone a great cultural war in the 1960's, especially in France. Of course other countries have gone through this schism such as the United States with its peace movement, civil rights marches and war on poverty. So therefore, the Third World asks that the West live up to its new-found social conscience and they start immigrating by the tens of thousands by boat from of the Ganges to the South shores of France. The whole world is watching. Should France accept these "million Christs" as the Brazilian Pope describes them, they will lose their own French identity and way of life. Should France turn these poor wretches away, it will destroy the refugees and their nation would become an international pariah like South Africa (pre-1994). A lose-lose situation.

The writing is nothing short of brilliant, consider this passage from pages 227-228: "Now, it's a known fact that racism comes in two forms: that practiced by whites--heinous and inexcusable, whatever its motives--and that practiced by blacks--quite justified, whatever its excesses, since it's merely the expression of a righteous revenge, and it's up to the whites to be patient and understanding." Many say that "Camp of the Saints" is a prophecy of the future for the West, I say that we are living right in the middle of its fightening vision from 1973: affirmative action, anti-hate speech/crime laws, and media frenzy over white-on-black crimes (James Byrd) while there is complete silence about black-on-white ones (Dec. 15 2000 Wichita KS USA murders).

This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. The final act is high drama and adventure as the most unlikely protagonists form an alliance in their heroic struggle to preserve a Western way of life against incredible odds. It is a work of art which speaks to us as a metaphor of the Fall of Constantinople re-occurring all over again--not on the battlefields but in our very souls.

(end of review)

Going by memory, another favorite passage from the book is "In the name of the Lord, eat shit!" This was said by a far-right terrorist/freedom fighter who lay dying in response to the communist Priest who said to him: "In the name of the Lord, I forgive you for your racism". This is hilarious, especially if you're French, and I wish I could find a French version of this book. However, the translator did maintain a lot of the character of the French language.
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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Unread postby PenultimateManStanding » Sun 16 Jan 2005, 04:19:47

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pychon has to up there. The angst and paranoia of modern life. An astonishing book.
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Unread postby PenultimateManStanding » Sun 16 Jan 2005, 04:43:48

And for an effervescent, amusing interpretation of utter cultural confusion Tarantula by Bob Dylan is very good. (Cador, I heard about your suggestion many years ago but never read it. Thanks for the tip, I will check it out)
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Unread postby Ludi » Sun 16 Jan 2005, 12:12:13

My personal favorites, open to multiple interpretations, about a society in a perpetual state of stagnation:

"Titus Groan" and "Gormenghast" by Mervyn Peake
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Unread postby PenultimateManStanding » Mon 17 Jan 2005, 15:15:47

The collected works of Sigmund Freud
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Unread postby uNkNowN ElEmEnt » Mon 17 Jan 2005, 16:16:24

The Immortal Dragon by michael peterson


Almost everything by Michael Crichton, linda McQuaig. the Far Side Collection and Necronomicon (and no its not real), I could go on but I don't want to scare anyone :lol:
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Unread postby PenultimateManStanding » Mon 17 Jan 2005, 22:11:46

Here's a bit from Bob Dylan's book Tarantula:

A Confederae Poke into King Arthur's Oakie

excerpt:

translate this fact for me, dr.
blorgus: the fact is this: we
must be willing to die for
freedom (end of fact) now what
i wanna know about the fact is this: could
hitler have said it? de gaulle? pinocchio?
lincoln? agnes moorehead? goldwater? bluebeard?
the pirate? robert e. lee? eisenhower?
groucho smith? teddy kennedy? general franco?
custer? is it possible that jose melis
could have said it? perhaps donald o'connor?
i happen to be a library janitor, so could
you please clarify things a little for
me, thank you . . . by the way, if you do not
have a reply to me by this coming tuesday,
i will take it for granted that all these
forementioned people are all really the
same person . . . see you later, have to take
down a picture of lady godiva as the
mental students are touring here in an
hour . . .

considerately yours,
Popeye Squirm
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Unread postby Laurasia » Tue 18 Jan 2005, 22:31:12

My choice: the Harry Potter books. If I'm feeling down I can immerse myself in that world, and it helps. I've read all five about 3 times apiece now. They are great for Peak, and they will be great for the troubled times to come. And they are timeless, because the "energy" used is MAGIC (which as far as I know, will NOT peak!)

Regards,

L.
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