I’m trying (and so far, succeeding) in getting a lot of reading done this summer, since little proper work can be done in this magnificent heat we are having. So I present to you, my reading list for the coming weeks. Here are some classics that should be a prerequisite for membership in adult society (long overdue for me), and some weird and funny books, too.
A considerable part of this stack is based on recommendations and notes by the great Carl Sagan, and deals with things like the nature of consciousness (and in the case of Heaven And Hell, in relation to art history) and the history of civilisation and culture.
The Doors Of Perception & Heaven and Hell I found to be intensely inspirational, not for its descriptions of the effects of chemical hallucinogens on the mind, but for its research on the history of art and society related to chemical imbalances in humans in general. Make an art show, tell people not to eat or sleep for two days before seeing it. People will see some shit.
Aldous Huxley – The Doors of Perception & Heaven And Hell
Aldous Huxley – Brave New World
Herbert J. Muller – The uses of the past–Profiles of former societies
Franz Kafka – The trial (Prosessen)
Terry Pratchett – The science of discworld IV–Judgement day
How about you guys? Got books?
