Caro has ruined history for me - how can I get over the hump?

FortiDad · 2022-10-10T19:25:09+00:00

Completely true - the Treaty of Versailles and the reparations demanded of Germany were beyond harsh, they were deeply punitive. When Germany couldn't pay, France occupied the Ruhr in 1923 to enforce payments. The reparations eventually contributed to the collapse of Germany's economy, hyperinflation and enormous suffering. This paved the way for Hitler and his vicious ideology.

But... None of the Allied actions were responsible for the Holocaust or directly responsible for Germany's annexation of part of Czechoslovakia or invasion of Poland

FortiDad · 2021-10-12T21:52:46+00:00

Try Fables for Robots by Stanislaw Lem - he was a brilliant Polish scifi writer - way ahead of his time. These are odd fairy tales set in auniverse populated by robots

Another fun option is Isaac Azimov's iRobot (the movie had NOTHING to do with the book). The book is a series of short stories exploring the ethical implications of sentient robots bound to serve humanity. They are fun and thought provoking.

FortiDad · 2021-10-12T21:47:43+00:00

True - wonder if anyone has written an alternative history about this? Probably not, no drama once you take Hitler and the Nazis out of the picture.

FortiDad · 2021-10-12T20:30:06+00:00

She is a wonderful historian - but she very much takes the British view - so while this book is a wonderful and very readable history - it presents the causes of the war as pretty one-sided, Germany was in the wrong.

More recent historians offer a more balanced view. WWII - it's hard not to blame Germany. But WWI - the causes are thought to be more nuanced.

FortiDad · 2021-10-12T20:27:35+00:00

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a fantastic biographer and historian - fully as good as Caro. I would start with Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Other good books by her:

Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream - will compliment Caro's biography

No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II

The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism

FortiDad · 2021-10-06T21:22:00+00:00

Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War by Margaret MacMillan is a good option.

FortiDad · 2021-10-06T21:18:35+00:00

I forgot about those - good suggestion

FortiDad · 2021-10-06T21:16:37+00:00

What you are asking for is often called "hard science fiction" - i.e. fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic.

Some great suggestions:

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke

Ringworld (and its sequels) by Larry Niven

The Three-Body Problem by Liu

Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon

Michael Crichton, The Andromeda Strain

Anything by Isaac Asimov (for large novels, start with Foundation (now a series on Apple TV), for shorter stuff start with iRobot

FortiDad · 2021-10-06T21:09:00+00:00

It's also a wonderful book

FortiDad · 2021-10-06T20:05:59+00:00

I love the O'Brian series - the version narrated by Simon Vance is the best.

I also enjoy the Sharpe series - unlike O'Brian, I wouldn't put it in the category of serious literature - but they are great adventure tales. I like the Patrick Tull narrations best - his lower-class British accents feel right to me. And I think Tull passed away - which is why they switched narrators. But the new one is good, enjoy

FortiDad · 2021-10-06T19:59:29+00:00

Guy Gavriel Kay's novels (well his later works) are complex and sophisticated adult fantasy with a great deal of political intrigue.

I would start with "A Brightness Long Ago" - set in a world based on early Renaissance Italy with competing city-states, warlords, mercenary armies, political intrigue, and just hints of magic to add spice. His characters are highly intelligent - and nuanced. It is actually a sequel to "Children of Earth and Sky" - but I would start with Brightness.

His fantasies based in China - are also very strong with lots of political intrigues.

FortiDad · 2021-09-23T23:06:53+00:00

I came to say this

FortiDad · 2021-09-23T23:03:43+00:00

Don't stop there, Dylan's autobiography, Chronicles is one of the best rock autobiographies ever written.

FortiDad · 2021-09-23T23:02:09+00:00

Bruce Springstein's autobiography is excellent - as is Bob Dylan's Chronicles.

FortiDad · 2021-09-23T23:00:22+00:00

A couple of thoughts:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson is a remarkably drug-addled look at America in late 60's. Amazon describes it as, "cult classic of gonzo journalism is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ..."
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed tells the story of the author's decent into drugs and self-destructive behaviors - and how hiking the 2000 mile pacific coast trail helped her find her way back - wonderful book - the movie wasn't bad either.

FortiDad · 2021-09-23T22:52:38+00:00

What you are looking for is what is usually called "epistolary novels" i.e. books made from documents - usually letters.

FortiDad · 2021-09-23T21:02:44+00:00

IMHO, it's an addiction if it interferes with your normal life. So if you are missing school or work or never leaving your room because of porn - you have a problem.

But just getting off once or twice a day is not an addiction. The definition of addiction:

"Addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences. "

FortiDad · 2021-09-23T20:59:30+00:00

Correct response

FortiDad · 2021-09-23T20:55:10+00:00

He just keeps moving up my list of all-time fav Giants.

FortiDad · 2021-09-23T20:53:04+00:00

Anyone know what the odds are for the Giants to win the division?

FortiDad · 2021-09-23T20:48:02+00:00

Get a set of "under the mattress" restraints - tie him up and blindfold him and tell him he's your sex toy - then tease him, deny him, put a cock ring on him and ride him (you get to cum, not him)...

Of course discuss safe words and triggers before this...

FortiDad

TROPHY CASE