Nice list
I reread but I still don’t understand. It’s not really about a “horoscope that can be applied retroactively to any scenario”.
Example. Nobody is talking about that big war that happened between US/CN, because it never happened. Because CN prepared decades before the US knew what was even happening, slow Taoist “non-action”, prearrangement, no sudden moves, bait the opponent into using their own strength against them, but never take credit, act modest, inspire more overconfidence in the enemy.
Now the US has no moves out. Trump is like, “oh crap, we need to do something!”. Hehe, what is there that can be done now? That’s real AoW stuff right there.
Yes it is. Maxims described in the book often apply to both sides (some to one and some to the other). People that have a hard on for this book tend to take a revisionist history look at things and just assign positives to the winning side, ignoring the false positives and call it a win.
Yawn more China praise. Must be why they have 1/3 our per capita income and resorted to eating each other in the famine while the rest of the world was listening to Hendrix. So wise and so great.
I re-read Catcher in the Rye every 5 years. I first read it when I was 14 and I like the way my interpretation of several moments in that book has evolved.
Still don’t think you get his argument… can’t believe I’m agreeing with PA.
“War makes strange bedfellows of us all” - Not Tzu
A Song of Ice and Fire
LotR and the Silmarillion (and Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle Earth if you’re really hardcore)
American Psycho
All of Joe Abercrombie’s books about Logan Nine-Fingers (The First Law Trilogy should be read first)
Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion
Ready Player One (if you want to test your 80’s references)
Ender’s Game and the sequels
A Brief History of Time (though it’s dated, it’s still lays a good foundation)
Thats a lot of fiction, STL. What’s your reasoning that those should be read multiple times?
In the cases of ASOIAF, Tolkien, and Abercrombie, their universes are so expansive you can’t possibly catch everything your first read through…or your fifth for that matter. So if you want to fully enjoy what the authors have created, those books demand more than one read.
The others also offer the reader something new each time you read through them, but to a lesser extent. Plus they’re just really good.
Basically the same reason I rewatch old Simpsons episodes. They’re still good and to this day I still find jokes I missed the first dozen times I watched them.
I read Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead and I just wasn’t that blown away. It was good, but it seemed overly simplistic in style. Maybe I just am not a huge fan of that writing style.
On SciFi, I recently read Seveneves (first two thirds is hard SciFi, last third is more fantasy style) and the Ancillary Justice series. Both of those were great.
I also read The Sparrow recently, if you like the whole priests in space thing.
Ok, let me rephrase. Find me something from Sun Tzu that isn’t an obvious strategy 101 observation.
Catch 22
1984
Outliers
Odyssey of Homer
The Iliad
Catcher in the Rye
Fooled by Randomness
In Search of Lost Time
“There is no man…however wise, who has not at some period of his youth said things, or lived in a way the consciousness of which is so unpleasant to him in later life that he would gladly, if he could, expunge it from his memory. And yet he ought not entirely to regret it, because he cannot be certain that he has indeed become a wise man.”
awww yes, as we age, hopefully we become wiser and more educated, however, our “age is a characterization of rationalization, intellectualization, and above all, our disenchantment of the world.” It is our own perception that justifies our actions of the past…simply because we were not better then than today…
I’ve read the first book of Ancillary Justice and liked it fine but not enough to read the rest. I thought The Sparrow was pretty good too. Isn’t there a sequel? Not sure…
Ender’s Game and Speaker are pretty hit-or-miss for folks, I’ve found. They’re easy reads so you won’t get Orson Scott Card mixed up with James Joyce, but I appreciated them the more I read them. Many lists have Speaker (or Ender’s Game) as the best sci-fi book of all-time. I’m not in that category, but still enjoyed them.
How to Solve It? by George Polya
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It
Re-read and learn how to solve it, brahs! Heuristic approach to abstract problem-solving grounded in mathematical methods but applicable to virtually any scenario.
That’s great, thank you for posting. I’d also recommend this, of a similar theme. I’ve gone over it several times.
https://www.amazon.com/Thinkers-Toolkit-Powerful-Techniques-Problem/dp/0812928083
the mindfulness and meditation talk along with the recent motorcycle thread reminded me of this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469
Have not read it since I was in high school. Think I’ll pick it up again.
Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos”
sorry but all meditation does is provide a peaceful release for your anxiety 
comics are actually a great learning tool for a child’s brains, they teach about the differences between right and wrong - our little grandson only reads comics and he got a high score on a IQ test