Re: The Official Book Thread

[Warrior]

Also psychology is a fascinating subject. Wish i had better knowledge.

What you describe is true about how we see things based on our life experience. But empathy comes into bias. It's a form of intelligence not distributed equally.

[El Gunner]

yea the NDE definitely was profound. It was a few years ago now, so i can't really explain the profundity to the exact same level at which i felt it at that time. I just remember being very vibrant, as if my energy/sensory levels was on a whole other level of perceptiveness and feeling, very empathetic too. Like stuff would happen to people or they would describe things to me and i would deeply feel what they were feeling. I also saw colours very brightly for a while. All of this lasted for about 3 to 4 months after the NDE. I did some reading afterwards and everything i described is heavily reported by other people too who have experienced an NDE. I also read that there's a rich dose of DMT that releases in your body during an NDE, so that could explain all the heightened levels of perception. There's actually this NDE group/foundation online that you can share your experience with and they try to bring a more scientific research aspect to NDEs, it's interesting. After an NDE, a lot of these people get inspired to talk about and study metaphysics, astrology, and go on to practice "mediumship" or psychic channeling - all of which is a bit out there for most people, but there's definitely a small devoted following of interested people.

there's also other random out of the ordinary stuff i've experienced throughout my life, like for instance a tap went open full throttle in our bathroom in my teens without anyone being in the bathroom. My sister and cousin were present too during this incidence, all 3 of us were shocked by it as you could imagine
Also when i was way younger played this "black magic" game... it's called the matchstick (or yes, no, maybe) game. If you can search deep enough online you can find some threads about it, it's so simple but the results defy physics. It blew away my 9-year old mind at the time (just as it would blow away a 90-year old's mind tbh)
i'm sure there are more stuff, but these are the only few i can think of off the top of my head

re: Psychology, never too late to start to research it as a hobby. You're into reading and there's lots of psychology books out there. There's also YouTube. Just start with an introductory course/presentation first so that you can learn the history of psychology, and get the sense of how it branched out into different fields and areas - i think it helps to orient you that way.

[Harmonica]

Was looking to read everything official and semi-official about Middle-Earth, but then found that's like 10k pages lmao.

[McLewis]

Yeah I've read the Silmarillion, Book of Lost Tales and the appendices at the end of the ROTK. All of it is an absolute time sink to me. Enjoyed it.

[Warrior]

10k pages is nothing unless you are in a rush

Anyways i suggest to NOT start with the Silmarillion

Gotta admit something as big LOTR fan, whenever i see paragraphs in italic (aka song) i skip them. There is many of them, they don't add much and quite boring to read... well i am not very sensitive to poetry to begin with

[Blue]

Recently been going through Fyodor Dostoevsky rabbit hole; Crime and punishment, the idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov. Some of the best novels i have ever read.

Russian literature is underrated.

[Myesyats]

I haven't read as many books as some have, 50 per year sounds crazy to me, that's almost 1 per week and who's got time for that?

But russian literature is among the best for sure. You shouldnt stop there!

Tolstoy: 'Anna Karenina', 'War and Peace', 'Resurrection'
Pushkin: 'Eugene Onegin',
Bulgakov: 'The Master and Margarita', 'The Fatal Eggs'

and more... these are all great

[Warrior]

I have Master And Margarita on the shelf i'll read it soon probably. I'm mad that the only edition i could find is one with an explanation introduction written by someone else, i absolutely hate when they do that

Reading 50 books a year is a bit compulsive especially if those are big novels, the brain needs rest at some point

My average is around 15-20, sometimes i am stuck on a book for weeks then i can read 3 in one week. The Miserables took me about 2 months and while i recognize it is a masterpiece, i was not passionate about it. Karamazov was similar, very good but also a bit laborious to get into the process of reading it. Crime And Punishment i finished in 2-3 days, one of the most intense books i've read.

[BarrileteCosmico]

Read 30 pages a day (15-30 mins a day depending on your speed and the book's difficulty) and you'd be surprised at how many books you can read in a year. A couple dozen for sure.

[Warrior]

Finished the Godfather it might be the 4th-5th time i read it but it had been almost 10 years since the last time

Still my favorite book although i read plenty of classics since (Bulgakov, Dostoievsky, Hugo, Zola, Dick etc) nobody tops the padrino

I recommend to anyone even if you saw the trilogy before (unpopular opinion Godfather III is excellent, better than part II)

[El Gunner]

i highly doubt that, Part II is better than I

[Warrior]

1 > 3 > 2 imo

But fast like that i think all three are on my top 10

Part III is almost the perfect conclusion, i only dislike the incestuous love story between cousins wtf really. Vincent could easily have not been Sonny's son for example (since he does not exist in the book)

[Vibe]

2-1-3 imo

[Warrior]

Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett

I've only read about 200 pages so far but i can already tell this book is gonna be epic

[McLewis]

Yeah that's probably next on my reading list.

I just finished The Last Kingdom book series from Bernard Cornwell. They get pretty repetitive about halfway through, but the characters are so good it barely mattered to me. The TV show is probably my favorite Netflix series, but I really do prefer the books.

[Myesyats]

I couldnt get into the Last Kingdom for some reason I guess I preferred the story to be told from the perspective of the Vikings so I enjoyed the History Channel show way more

[McLewis]

I couldnt get into the Last Kingdom for some reason I guess I preferred the story to be told from the perspective of the Vikings so I enjoyed the History Channel show way more

Understandable given the whole series is told in first person. I'll be starting a listen on podcasts centering around the history of the British Isles as well as a history of Vikings as well. I'm sure these books and shows will get mentions.

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