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/lit/ - Literature

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4562331 No.4562331[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

Are there any interesting anti (modern)western culture(by western culture I mean things like consumerism, need to be entertained 24/7, technology, use of drugs, etc) books that aren't written by complete nutters? I feel like my cultural values aren't challenged enough so I'd like to try and change that.

Just to give you something to go off of I'm think of things like Brave New World, the TV series Black Mirror and these two Sleater-Kinney songs(Modern Girl and Entertain)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbxRu7fwR24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ1KkorXdBY

Thanks in advance.

>> No.4562356

>>4562331
Read up on the ancient Cynics and the Epicureans.

>> No.4562363
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>> No.4562369
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>>4562363

>> No.4562376

>>4562331
Generation of Vipers by Phillip Wylie

>> No.4562415

>>4562376
>>4562369
>>4562363
Thanks, these all sound like pretty good books.

>>4562356
These are older than what I'm looking for but I appreciate it anyways.

>> No.4562425

>>4562331

There's the entire genre of cyberpunk. Digs at consumerism, corporate culture, alienation caused by technology, all that stuff you're talking about. With bonus gunfights.

I recommend Gibson's Bridge trilogy. Start with Virtual Light.

>> No.4562465
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4562465

>>4562415
>These are older than what I'm looking for but I appreciate it anyways.
Yes, I realise that, but they're probably much more relevant than you might suspect. I mean, the Cynics already travelled to the Olympics to make a public mockery out of the sporty spectacle 300 years b.c. They already protested consumerism and offered an alternative with their lifestyle. They condemned decadence and hedonism, they basically invented satire as we know it. They were the original counter culture.

>> No.4562470

>>4562465
I'll definitely take your word for it then, it's not like I'll lose anything by reading a book. Thanks.

>> No.4562488
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>>4562470
You're welcome.

Collection of Diogenes anecdotes:
http://members.optushome.com.au/davidquinn000/Diogenes%20Folder/Diogenes.html

Introductory podcast:
http://www.historyofphilosophy.net/cynics

Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynicism_(philosophy)

Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy:
http://www.iep.utm.edu/cynics/

And I've got a bunch of works on them here:

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/zp2ppnxjwj28c//Cynicism

>> No.4562489

>>4562425
Not OP, but why Bridge over Sprawl? I've read the Sprawl trilogy but not the Bridge trilogy. Just wondering why you suggest it instead.

>>4562465
The cynics and stoics are cool as fuck.

>reading Seneca
>start to feel really sad because of how he died
>immediately get to a part about how we shouldn't be sad that heroes died because they died well, and shouldn't be sad that cowards died because they don't deserve it
I fucking love that dead bastard.

>> No.4563084

bump

>> No.4563322

>>4562331
I have to agree with OP on somewhat related grounds. Where did all the good SciFi reflection stories go? I get annoyed that I seem to find three major types of books in relation to my search.

1. Deep and well made books about the future, technology and our civilization. But are several decades old and don't really work so well given how things changed. (that is not to say they are bad, just too old for what I am looking for)

2. Technology or some related thing is bad/evil. In these there is very little thinking. X is bad, so kill X. (This also includes all those poorly made gilded Utopias, where they are obviously just pushing some agenda.) This totally ignores how it is dependent on how we use technology and things.

3. Everything is wrong or is going wrong till X comes to save us. Go, X.

Basically I want a book that involves some deeper thinking about future issues, but is not dysfunctional dated. Cynics and the Epicureans looks like it might work under the grounds such issues are timeless, but I would prefer more recent things.

>> No.4563326

>>4563322
PKD's A Scanner Darkly

>> No.4563340

>>4563326
Thanks, this is much closer to what I am looking for.

>> No.4563347

>>4563340
Good read, doesn't get too deep into Dick's philosophy and it can be digested in an afternoon/evening.

>> No.4563357
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>>4562331
Island by Aldous Huxley is a counterpoint to Brave New World were he expounds on a utopian society that's values are contrary to most of the modern-industrial worlds. It is an insightful read that may point to some actual answers or at least guide the reader to what's truly valuable. Karuna!

>> No.4563378

>>4563357
I actually started to read this today.

>> No.4563522

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man - Marshall McLuhan

>> No.4565027

Last bump then I'll let the thread die.

>> No.4565031

How about The Circle by Dave Eggers?

I have not read it myself so I can't give you a personal appraisal.