Fiction or Non-Fiction, academic or casual, theory or non-theory, feel free to mention books of any genre and on any topic.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. It’s a really good fiction work, set in a collapsing US due to end-stage neoliberalism and climate change. The main character, Lauren, flees Los Angeles in 2024 during the collapse of the United States. Along the way, she creates a new religious understanding centered around change (which sometimes feels shockingly like dialectical materialism), and builds a community of people to withstand the chaos together.
It was written in 1993, but the book feels shockingly real. In the book in 2024, President Donner wins the 2024 presidential election with the slogan “Make America Great Again” on a platform of defunding science and further repealing labor protections. Insane how accurate Butler predicted Trump.
loved that book so much, although the actual organizational part i felt was a little too liberal/individualistic. the similarities between the ideology of the characters and diamat were also something i noticed and enjoyed in my read through
Going to start reading “Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism” as it’s been sitting in limbo unread since I got it a week ago.
“What is to be Done?”: a good book (but not for beginners, I would say).
Started The Supernova Era by Cixin Liu (3 Body Problem) this week. Loving the concept, although quite a lot of disbelief had to be consciously suspended at the start.
Still reading Capital volume 1. Just finished chapter 4 and it felt like a complete breeze compared to the last two chapters (especially 3). But it’s been an enlightening experience. Reading David Harvey’s guide is helping as well - As well as Radhika Desai’s new capital lectures she’s uploading.
Also getting through Fanon’s The Wretched of The Earth. It’s been okay, some of the conclusions he reaches I think are circumstantial but it’s important to be able to understand the lived experiences of decolonization.
Immanuel Wallerstein’s introduction to worlds-systems analysis just came in the mail as well. Didn’t realize it was so tiny, I think I can bang it out in a week or 2 so I’ll try to get through that since it’s a topic I’m really interested in. I plan on reading all 4 volumes some time in the near future.
This is what happens when you’re a part-time underemployed STEM graduate waiting to start a teaching residency.
Still capital vol 2. Also started “Hard to be a god” to have some fiction on the side
Started Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series. Heard good things from a friend, and I was looking for a fantasy story that was fresh and hadn’t been co-opted by Hollywood yet.
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I just started The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. It’s the second part of a really intruguing political drama set in a fantasy world.
