More of my favourite books and
authors:
James
Joyce: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
The site linked gives a
comprehensive account of the life and work of one of Ireland's greatest
authors, James Joyce.
Myself and Katherine are having a weekend in Dublin at the end of January
2004, and I shall take the opportunity to pay pilgrimage to Mr Joyce.
Herbert Marcuse: One Dimensional Man
This link includes a review I submitted to Amazon:
"...The social, political and
intellectual life of society is shaped by vested interests...The economic
co-ordination of life and the use of ‘legal’ coercion and forced hegemony both
at home and abroad crushes all dissent...Both man and his society are
fragmented, one dimensional; an age away from Marx’s ideal of 'the whole
man', and unless things change, we are without salvation..."
Marcuse's
'An Essay On Liberation' is also highly recommended.
Jean-Paul Sartre: The Age of Reason
This link takes you
to Amazon.
Buy this book. Its a
slow burner but worth it in the end, I promise. It's part of the trilogy
'Roads to freedom', in which I am in the middle of 'Iron of the Soul', the
second book of the three.
John Gray: Straw Dogs- Thoughts on Humans and other Animals
This link takes you to an
excellent article by Philip Cowley.
This is a book that
you can dip in and out of. It angers and inspires, helping you question long
held assumptions. He believes that humans are scarcely different from other
animals: the self is a flimsy construct. "'Most people think they belong to a
species which can be master of its own destiny,' Gray writes. 'This is faith,
not science... Looking for meaning in history is like looking for patterns in
clouds... We cannot be rid of illusions. Illusion is our natural condition."
Gray argues that true
knowledge always begins in disillusionment, in the stripping away of false
beliefs and idols. From there, we can move on - and perhaps even to begin to
dream of a better future.
Go to:
Home Page
Marc's Photo Album
Marc's Music
Literature Links
And you can contact me by clicking here
