People To Investigate
Throughout my life I have read (and read and read).
Fuck Biorythms, I can tell more about my life by how many new ideas I'm excited about at any given time.
Books can give you a whole slice of someone's thought (epistemological qualifiers aside).
I find myself more and more greatful for the gifts of these people. They have (hopefully) improved my brain, and in so doing they have improved my life.
This list will expand continually, and gain biographical resolution. Please don't take it's paltry present state as any sign of disrespect.
George Dangerfield ----- I have only read one of his books so far, so I can't speak about his body of work, but "The Strange Death Of Liberal England 1910-1914" will disturb you mightily. It is thick going at first (hard to get excited about parliamentary shenanigans of a century ago) but be patient - he is establishing context. Pretty soon you will find yourself readng about bomb throwing and arsonist suffragettes, the labour and syndicalist movements, and most especially the way that the two came so close to connecting around a general strike which was planned for September 1914 (astute students will note the sinister timing of the start of World War one, just in time to pre-empt it). He also gets into the story of the Pankhursts, the society mother and daughters who were the crucial heart of the suffragette movement in England at the time (center of the industrial world). Sylvia Pankhurst, the 'black sheep' daughter, who insisted (against much family pressure) on working with poor prostitutes, day labourers and homeless, and was busted - not by the 'powers that be' but by her own family for her class-disloyalty, is a particularly fascinating thread throughout the book. Recommended for all those who suspect that leftism wasn't invented by hippies, or even by dustbowl folkies. These are some heavy duty hardcore people - we overlook them all too often.
Bertrand Russell ----- This fellow lived one of the most impressive lives of the twentieth century. Almost like the British Buckminster Fuller (though of an earlier generation) Russell made fundamental contributions to pure mathematics, logical theory and philosophy. He was also one of the world great spokesmen for peace. He not only protested the Vietnam war, but also the second, and even the first! (extremely ballsy back then). Everything he wrote is worth reading - he never insulted his readers by not trying to say something important, but I would like to call particular attention to "Principles of Social Reconstruction" (my copy was published by Unwin). Writing in 1915 - the middle of the first world war - and truly the end of the old world - (Christian 'faith' never recovered) Russell tackles the questions of human reason and impulses, the institution of war and how to approach the idea of helping the new world come into being more usefully for humanity. In passing he identifies exactly what is wrong with state socialism (from before the Russian revolution even happened) and has some beautiful ideas about the best approach to thinking about humans and our institutions. Hard stuff - but it feels great not to be patronized. Especially in these days of 100% propaganda.
Antoine de Sainte-Exupery ----- 'The little prince' is one of my favourite pieces of poetry (broadly defined), but his other work is no less surprising and human. I think the most powerful thing he ever wrote was "Flight to Arras". It was his last book, and it is set in the early part of 1940. With France collapsing all around him, a pilot must fly a reconnaissance mission which he knows is futile. Action story? Well, only a little, because while the book includes some of the most harrowing and taste-able passages I have ever read about flying, he uses the backdrop to do a very harsh assessment of humanity stripped to raw elements. (War casts bullshit into high relief). His ideas about responsibility are some of the fiercest I have ever some across - and some of the only ones (outside of Nuremberg) which are of appropriate strength for our coming ecological crisis. Action packed and full of mind-bending new philosophical ideas - who could ask for more? The fact that Exupery was himself shot down before he ever got to see France liberated (on a recon mission, in a P38) adds extra weight to his words.
If you would rather have some some strong current stuff - there are a few guys who can get you up to speed on how fast we are heading over the cliff.
Mike Ruppert ----- "Crossing the Rubicon"
This fellow takes an unusually strong position on a lot of issues. As an LAPD detective he got into trouble for trying to interfere with CIA drug running operations. He is one of the first people to call attention to the financial manipulations surrounding 9/11. He has a website copvcia.com which has a lot of interesting info, but the book makes the case in one unified piece. Basically we are about to be badly fucked - because of the way we are overextended with respect to oil and the environment and our desperate (long term large scale fraud) financial hollowness.
Greg Palast ----- 'The Best Democracy Money Can Buy', and 'Armed Madhouse'.
This guy will be seen as the William Shirer (Berlin Diary) of this war (when we finally get to look back on it). He documents every tendril of the takeover of the US government by corrupt and militaristic psychopaths (the Bush Team). He is an investigative journalist in the old sense - the guy we miss most in the sea of propaganda we are supposed to accept as 'the truth'. Be warned, he cuts through the lies so sharply you will be depressed - but informed - so informed.
Now, a few from the 'inspiration' shelf
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Idries Shaw ----- More precious than ever. If you think that Islam has no heart or wisdom, Idries Shah will change your mind. This fellow wrote some of the most refined and beautiful books I have ever read. "Caravan of Dreams" and "Wisdom of the Idiots" have travelled with me for decades, and saved me from despair (or taking myself too-seriously) innumerable times. "The Sufis" goes even further. It is not a normal book - blending history parable philosophy mysticism and conspiracy. He will add immeasurably to your picture of western history - especially cultural. He will also give you the deep confidence that there is a heart to Islam which has fundamental common purpose with us (if you were doubting it).
A brief note about perception. I have heard a lot of silly talk of late, which purports to refute the work of great original thinkers on the basis of a catalogue of small errors. This is stupid. Modern education is based upon dilute and incoherent collages of thought, but trivia is no substitute for understanding. The deep original thinkers are always more stimulating to the reader than their interpreters. They also invariably have a poetry that no followers ever capture as well (imitation isn't the same thing as inspiration).
Think: Freud, Macluhan, Russell, Jung, Chomsky, Alinsky, Leary, Crowley and Reich. For different reasons (mostly 'cause they are such gifted writers), people like Churchill, Lawrence and Kipling also explain themselves far better than any interpreter ever does.
The next two fellows write in an anthropological way, but I consider the result to be poetry about humanity - spiritually restorative.
Bruce Chatwin ----- Wrote several beautiful books about interesting places around the world, which end up feeling like poetry. I really enjoyed "What am I doing here?" and "in Patagonia" was a treat, but his masterpiece is "The Songlines". In it he manages to posit an original cause for human strife - and the evolutionary value of some of our more questionable aptitudes (violence and social organization). As well as looking very broadly at the way nomads and settlers differ throughout the ages, and the way aborigines organize their view of the world. The book also includes the second most beautiful paragraph I have ever read (the most beautiful is the last paragraph of "The Witness" by Borges).
Laurens Van der Post ----- was an actual anthropologist, but from a more romantic than post modernist school. His work is filled with lust for empathy and delight in human difference. He wrote several books about his own experiences - his POW book "The Night of the New Moon" is quite strong - especially because of the hopeful things it says about the potential for humans to effectively organize under stress. But his gem is "The Mantis Carol". The story is so interesting and unusual that it could as well be a W Somerset Maugham novel, but instead it is a wonderful exploration of cultures and individuals in juxtaposition.
Emily Carr ----- Who knew that my all time favourite Canadian painter would also turn out to be one of my favourite Canadian authors? Emily Carr talks about her early days (writing in later life, with it's rich perspective) with an extraordinary honesty and in impish sense of humour. Anyone who is trying to explain what a real artist is all about should check out "Growing Pains". She doesn't make a big deal about her own art (which is stellar) - but the eyes with which she studies art are pure and lovely. Her smiling, take-no-shit attitude also reminds me of my wife ;o)
Mark Helprin ----- Should have won all of the literary prizes in the world for "A Soldier of the Great War". You do not need to be interested in the war to sink deeply into this book. While he does slice through the history of the time, he does so in a way which you have never heard before. This book is as original as Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow" (also Great), but is vastly under-recognized. For a simple clue as to how unusual an approach he takes - the protagonist begins his quest, intending to become a professor of aesthetics. "Memoirs in an antproof case" is less important as a novel, but also rich and beautifully woven. This fellow is one of the greatest writers alive.
R. Buckminster Fuller ----- One of the great comprehensive geniuses of the twenty first century. Super intelligent, iconoclastic, honest, and yet still rational and optimistic. Wonderful!
His books range from very readable ("Critical Path", "Utopia or Oblivion") to the more advanced (Synergetics) which stretch the head nicely. The Buckminster fuller institute has several works of his on line. His central idea was that Malthus was wrong, and if we only used what we already know about design science, everyone on earth could live rich lives. We simply need to choose to succeed.
Robert Anton Wilson ----- Writer of many wonderful books, mostly fiction. Wilson mixes an enourmous number of ideas and characters from history. I have branched outwards fruitfully in many directions from references in his work. Best of all, despite it's esoteric scholarship, the stuff is very readable and outright fun. All of his work is great, but the easiest 'foot in the door' is "The Cosmic Trigger" a small and very wonderful book. The Illuminatus trilogy, and the Schroedingers cat trilogy are also much reccomended - (A fictional president leading a "revolution of lowered expectations"? - perposterous!)
Korzybski ----- I have not read enough of the original stuff yet to describe his ideas in detail. But many of my favourite thinkers quote him. I can say he was an extraordinary fellow, with an unusual breadth of experience, who dedicated himself to trying to understand how our errors in constructing thoughts, lead to war. He looks very carefully at the linguistic structures with which we construct our picture of reality, and the conclusions are not flattering. If you are interested in how to overcome your own culture's habits of self deception - dig here.
John Brunner ----- My idea of a good bookstore, is one which has more books by John Brunner than Terry Brooks. Sadly by that definition, there are no good bookstores left in the city. Brunner has written many books, they are all very smart, well thought out sci-fi. But he also wrote a few which should be kept in print for ever (I think they are all out of print at present. Look for "Stand on Zanzibar", "The Sheep Look Up", "Shockwave Rider" and the almost unknown "The Jagged Orbit". He manages to face all our (humanity's) biggest stupidites, square-on without making the apocalyptic brink just a sideshow. 'Disasterville USA' (from "Shockwave Rider") stands as my all time favourite literary utopia.
Doris Lessing ----- I think Lessing is the smartest author since Orwell. Her book, "Prisons we choose to live inside" is one of those rare books which even people who have forgotten the habit of reading cannot put down. Her insights are extraordinary, both in her realistic fiction ("The good Terrorist") and her science fiction (the Shikasta series). Even though she wrote many series, the books within them can all be read without reference to each other. I especially reccomend "The four gated city" (realistic, post-war London novel), and "The Sentimental Agents of the Volyen empire" Which strips all of conflict and exploitation down to the clearest (and in a strange way funniest) allegorical system I have seen.
Timothy Leary ----- Damn. If he had never pulled his big "guru" publicity stunts, you would never have heard of him, but since he looked silly at the time, you have heard of him, but probably do not take him seriously. He was smarter and more important than you think. Because of his natural humour, skepticism, and anti authoritarian (read "freedom") inclinations there are quite a few important "alternate models' available, rich with compassion humanity and fairness, should we ever wake up and scrap our current system of "Stone knives and bearskins" Psycho-Pharmacology (the two seem inseperable now). Read "Flashbacks" his version of the sixties - very different from any of the standard versions - fascinating. He wrote many other great books - I particularly liked "Changing my mind among others". Which is a compendium of his work trying to figure out how to do helpful psychological work, without establishing the terrifying power relationship between doctor and patient (victim).
John Lilly ----- An independant thinker on the edge of our reality models for decades. He did much early work on dolphin communication, and on trying to understand human brainwaves. He also did some very serious research into states of consciousness. Both the movies "Day of the dolphin" and "Altered States" are based on gross distortions of his work, but his work. His most important book is "Programming and meta-programming in the human biocomputer". But I would also strongly reccomend "The scientist" his autobiography. It is unique.
Andre Malraux ----- That there are leftists who don't read Malraux astounds me. No wait, I know, it's because "Novels are a bourgeois form" or some crap like that. Well, Malraux is not for doctrinaire leftists anyhow, he wrote some of his most powerful stuff on the difference between State Socialism, and cooperativism (sorry, couldn't coin a better one on the spot). Unlike most commentators about social transformation, this guy had his nose in it. He was involved with the Chinese revolution ("Man's Fate"), the Spanish Civil War ("Man's hope") the second world war (tough one to dodge) and later met Mao, and Ho Chi Minh ("Anti-Memoirs"). All of these are terriffic reads - and will add tons of colour to your picture of twentieth century history. You do not have to be a leftie to enjoy them - just to recognize that back then (especially in the great depression) Socialist ideals represented hope, not opression. Any fan of Hemmingway or Orwell will have a new favourite.
Ernest K Gann ----- Aviation is a particular passion of mine (yes, I am just a pathetic fan, but should my 'ship come in' I will be gliding around the next day.) Ernest K Gann wrote the best book, about the period of flying I find the most fascinating (early airlines, late twenties and thirties). The book is "Fate is the hunter". If you want a book to get your head in the right space to flight sim a vintage plane (DC3 anyone?) you must find this book - Lovely!
Barbara Tuchman ----- History is tough, but Tuchman not only finds out stuff that makes more sense than the 'official' or 'easy' versions of history, she makes it very enjoyable to read. With a couple of notable exceptions, she choses topics about which we know too little. Her books help provide many of the missing contextual links in our understanding of historical processes. Try "The Proud Tower" (about the changing of the last millenium (1900)) or "The road between the wars" (WW1 and WW2) unusually nuanced picture of the twenties and thirties. Or "Stilwell and the American experience in China" - how much do you know about the Chinese side of the second world war? - Right! well, this book will help correct that.
Norbert Weiner ----- I can't tell if Weiner was a nice guy, or an evil madman. He invented the discipline known as Cybernetics. You may think that is geek-talk nonsense, but it affects you nonetheless. his book(s) "The Human Use of Human Beings" is the modern equivalent of "the Prince" (Machiavelli). It is a study of how to use math to manipulate populations of humans. There are two versions of the book, one with Calculus and one without (I think the one without is subtitled "Cybernetics and society"). The reason I can't help thinking he was a nicer fellow than those (all modern technocratic politicians) who use his work, is that he clearly predicts the exact social dislocations we are experiencing (Workers increasingly surplus to the needs of production) and suggests we must address the social transformations in a sensible, humane way. (Writing in 1951)
John Sayles ----- My favourite non-hollywood American director. He writes, directs and even edits his own films, which one might think would make his stuff repetitive, but he avoids this trap by taking on new places and ideas in every film. Many people know "Brother from another planet" (an early cult hit) but fewer know about "Matewan" (beautiful and powerful union story set in a Pennsylvania coal mine), "Men with Guns" (about central American conflict - written in Spanish) and "City of hope" (very insightful ensemble drama about urban politics). The thing that most sets Sayles apart is that his films have all of the best (most intelligent) roles for women and blacks in modern cinema. David Strathairn, ("Good Night and Good Luck") has long been a part of his regular company of actors, and has had many good roles in Sayles films. Watch them all - really.
Mike Leigh ----- Does not fuck around. No one makes more painful movies about the way that human relationships can rend peoples hearts and lives. The emotional intensity of his films is almost violent. But if you are tired of being patronized and want some strong catharsis, Leigh cannot be beat. Even his mildest film "Topsy Turvy" - about Gilbert and Sullivan, has an undertone of desperate neurosis. "Naked" is the best thing ever done about the emotional pain of sexual violence. It hurts to watch, but it reminds you how lightly such heavy matters are usually treated. I would say that he treats emotions the way Peckinpah treated violence, but most people have misunderstood Peckinpah, so let's just say - watch it if you have the courage. "Naked" is particularly hard, but demolishes misty-eyed politics with uncommon ruthlessness (long overdue). "High hopes" will give you the sense that your crazy family might just not be the craziest one out there. It also features characters never seen on film before (people like people you know).
Bertolucci ----- Would not have had to make anything but "Last Emperor" to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. But here is one that no one seems to know. "Besieged" is as beautiful as anything he has ever made (pretty fucking beautiful) but it is an unusually intimate film. There is only one line of dialogue in the first fifteen minutes (but what a line!) and the use of lovely original human-produced (non-electronic) music is transcendent. Creative genius, the meaning of desire and sacrifice, exotic love, and a small town in Italy shot with a master's lens - wonderful stuff. Also it stars David Thewliss - one of my all-time favourite actors (also in Naked by Leigh).
Werner Herzog ----- Since Miles Davis is dead, I will now nominate Werner Herzog for the "Coolest motherfucker alive" award. His films have none of the Hollywood pretence that most famous directors crave - they look at times almost unrefined, but they hit twice as hard because of their sincerity. He is smart, funny, curious, eccentric, and ultimately brilliant - again and again. I can't think what not to recommend by him, but if you want to whet your appetite for his body of work, check out "Incident at Loch Ness".
"Kaspar Hauser", "Invincible", and "Fitzcarraldo" are all great too. "Lessons of Darkness" about the first gulf war, is the only film in which I have ever seen the scale of devastation of a war effectively depicted. Long long long unedited and slow aerial passes over some of the important battlefields will make it impossible for you to ever confine your vision of war to the blurry photos on the front page, or the ten second pan on the evening news.
