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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Kevin, if you liked that, try "The Rise of the West", by W.H. McNeill. Guns, Germs and Steel in some ways derived from it.
The History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides, is pretty good.
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jeff_m
Social climber
700' up
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Give us some parameters and then we'll talk...
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The Lisa
Trad climber
Da Bronx, NY
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I rarely read fiction but Richard Dawkins' 'The God Delusion' was wonderful to read, lots of 'aha!' moments there. I am an apathetic atheist but reading the writing of a 'fundamentalist atheist' was an eyeopener.
I am also working on Ayn Rand's 'The Virtue of Selfishness.' This is not subway reading material though, needs a lot of attention.
My other one is Stephen King's 'It' which is deeper than a typical horror story. I do prefer fiction after all ;)
I love seeing what others are posting here, must look into these titles.
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D'Wolf
climber
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Tradgedy and Hope: a History of the World in Our Time by Carroll Quigley, one of Bill Clinton's professed "mentors" (he actually mentioned him by name in his acceptance speech in '92)
Should be required reading for all. Maybe then we'd quit fighting over left-wing/right-wing garbage and realize what's really going on.
Unfortunately, its' 1300 pages of historical analysis would probably bounce right off the brain-pan of most.
"The National parties and their presidential candidates, with the
Eastern Establishment assiduously fostering the process behind the
scenes, moved closer together and nearly met in the center with almost
identical candidates and platforms although the process was concealed,
as much as possible, by the revival of obsolescent or meaningless war
cries and slogans."
"The two parties should be almost identical so that the American
people can "throw the rascals out" at any election without leading to
any profound or extensive shifts in policy."
"Either party in office becomes in time corrupt, tired,
unenterprising and vigorless. Then it should be possible to replace it
every four years by the other party which will be none of these things
but will still pursue, with new vigor, approximately the same basic
policies."
Cheers and happy reading,
Thom
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Give us some parameters and then we'll talk...
Haha! Exactly.
I have some parameters that I'll share later...I gotta think. But really good stuff is both stuff that makes you think, and sh#t that absorbs you because you don't have to think, you relate.
And this is where the human condition of 'being human and independantly different' comes in. There are few common denominators in literature. Some of the 'common' ones suck for me, but whatever...
EDIT:
My other one is Stephen King's 'It' which is deeper than a typical horror story. I do prefer fiction after all ;)
Read his short stories too! SOme of his best are written under his other name of Richard Bachman.
Stephan King is weird, but a f*#king good writer of weird stuff. I always liked his sh#t.
I could prolly send you some books but I'd want them back, so I dunno. Some of his early stuff is out of print I think.
Get this one. It's good!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bachman_Books
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Monkey Wrench Gang...
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Yeah, it's a math book.
Still haven't finished it.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Y'all are a bunch of lightweights.
You want the wisdom of the universe? It's there. In print. Probably not one in a million of you could even begin to understand, but if you think you're up for it, find a copy of...
"Vicious Lies an' Heinous Slander, From a Supremely Demented Little Corner of the Coast Range" by Mrs. T. Knight
Everything you need to know is there. If only you could understand it.
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Ditto on Godel, Escher, Bach.
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edejom
Boulder climber
Butte, America
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Read, no--use, perhaps:
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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The Quest for Consciousness by Christof Koch
Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
Still reading...
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krahmes
Social climber
Stumptown
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For Language: The Tunnel, William H. Gass
For Fiction: Harlot’s Ghost, Norman Mailer
For Ideas: The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, Stephen Jay Gould.
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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I've read them all and I would have to agree with the Cragman.
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DanaB
climber
Philadelphia
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Fear and Trembling
No Exit
The Myth of Sisyphus
Survival in Auschwitz
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bwancy1
Trad climber
Here
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First two that come to mind:
1-All Quiet on the Western Front
2-Grapes of Wrath. My jaw hung slack and agape at the end!
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Brandon-
climber
Done With Tobacco
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I'll second Guns Germs and Steel and One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Che Guevara, A Revolutionary Life isn't terribly intellectually heavy, but it weighs a ton!
Cadillac Desert is a good one, not too heavy, but gets you thinking for sure.
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David Knopp
Trad climber
CA
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Man Corn-about the possibilty that chacoan culture was plagued and ultimately destroyed by cannibalism
Torture and Democracy by darius rejali-critical examination of torture committed by democracies, and how it affects them.
Life and Fate-Vitaliy Grossman-best novel about the war in Stalingrad, from a jewish journalists perspective.
the bible? come on!
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Brandon-
climber
Done With Tobacco
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So, what's the most intellectually heavy book that you've understood?
Everyone Poops, by Tarō Gomi.
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