Currently I’m reading Nina Burton’s ‘Livets tunna väggar’ which translate to something like Walls of Life. It’s a book by a Swedish writer who inherits her mother’s summer house. When she wants to renovate it, she finds all sort of life around and in the house. She uses said life to teach you something about the intellect of various insects and animals, which goes deeper than humans normally think.
It’s a very interesting book that makes me think about non-human life even more. Creatures that are thousands of times smaller than we are have such complex societal structures. Humans have overcommodified animal life for centuries now, seeing them as property and commodities instead of complex and intelligent life forms.
What are you reading?
That sounds really interesting!
I’m listening to:
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Wretched of the Earth - I’ve read about half of it in the past, but I’d like to finish it.
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At the Earth’s Core - Edgar Rice Burroughs - neat ideas unfortunately locked in the authors views on race and humanity.
And reading:
- Desert Solitaire - Edward Abbey - I like the ecology bits, but he’s somewhat reactionary and unfocused. Pretty writing, though.
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr. It’s a breakdown of the imperialistic history of the US that, as a student in the States, you never really heard a lot about. It covers the displacement of the Native Americans, guano islands, the colonization of Puerto Rico and the Philippines, post-WWII military bases, the English language, and stop signs.
Cool! I love thinking about non human life. They’re essentially aliens to me. I’ve tried to overcome some fear of bugs being on me so I can hold them. Also saw my first owl (that wasn’t a brief glimpse at night flying) last week…I forgot their heads can turn 180° 😅
I’m reading “Laurus”, a translation of a book by Eugene Vodolazkin. 14th century Russian medieval peasant boy becomes a holy fool on a pilgrimage for God in the midst of plague. I haven’t read many books in my adult life but as far as I know, it’s my favorite (second read).
Currently reading Inventing Reality: The Politics of News Media by Parenti :). A great book, but also somewhat depressing. Even though it’s quite old, it definitely still holds up. It kind of seems like nothing has changed.
Have I got a takedown for you: The Mainstream and the Margins: Noam Chomsky vs. Michael Parenti
Edit: Lorenzo’s a funny guy, if you can still find his work, some of which requires elbow grease & the Wayback Machine.
Example: 5 people who deserve as much shit as Banksy for their half-baked politics
I’m currently only reading Things Fall Apart and Half-Earth Socialism. TFA is pretty good so far. I’m reading it for school. It’s about a pre-colonial African society, but later on in the book I think they get colonized. HES is so good and I’ll never stop plugging it or the game https://half.earth. If enough people read the book I think it could be really important. It debunks mainstream views of how to solve the climate crisis and argues that it can only be solved through a holistic political and social movement with the backing of science. It describes how planning is necessary and gives some history of socialist economic planning. It argues on behalf of Utopianism by showing how scientific socialism with a clear view of the future can forge a better path toward reconciliation with the earth. I’ve learned a lot so far, and it keeps making connections between ideas and thinkers I already knew a tiny bit about.
