/int/ - International

>>18750 I once read Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus in what I believe was the original English version. And I mean from way back when. Surprisingly, the language was MUCH closer to German than it is now.

>>18750 >Spanish-American War First time I'm hearing about this. Qrd?

>>18755 it was in America fighting for California or something - watch Zorro, man

>>18790 Why were Spaniards in America?

>>18791 Vacation.

>>18792 I mean specifically North America, I thought they were further south

>>18793 Ever wondered why so many Californian cities have Spanish names? No?

>>18794 Tejas and Nuevo Mexico too

>>18793 >I thought they were further south tordesillas, man there are even spanish cities in alaska like Cordova and Valdez https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdez,_Alaska#Spanish_beginnings but the spanish american war was in the caribbean and the pacific, spain didnt have any territory in the mainland by 1989 when it started

>>18797 >by 1989 when it started 1898*

>>18795 Las Vegas, Nevada

I read The World According to Clarkson by Jeremy Clarkson No overarching theme, each chapter is a story in itself. Non-fiction, beyond the fictitious parts he comes up with. He wrote real interesting things about migration. How human traffickers using fast motorboats to ship migrants from Albania to Italy, and that it's a great business for some, and that lots of migrants are forced to do crime for this mafia to so he can pay for his fee and save his family from being sold as slaves and prostitutes, and that the Afghans are coming. Elsewhere he also mentions how migrants try to get through the Channel into England. The book wasn't written in 2025, neither in 2015 at the start of the "migration crisis", but in 2001. This raises the question: when did this crisis start actually?

>>18755 It was a war between the US and Spain in the late 1800s, probably around 1880s. Cuba and the Philipenes had been engaged in a civil war and the US had recently concluded it's civil war. A US warship blew up in Cuba, probably die to its coal fire engine. US sensationalist newspapers blamed it on the Spanish. The US was also opposed to the occupation of Cuba due to the Monroe doctrine. The US won the war and captured a lot of Spanish islands, like Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.

>>18755 It was a very important war. The result - occupying the Flippines and Cuba - led the US to start to build her own client empire. You see they thought about what to do with those guys, they did not want colonies, but also did not want to integrate them as US states for they saw the population of said islands as childlike savages (like how they viewed dem injuns) that has no place in the enlightened and civilized US. So they set up regimes and made agreements with them that they can intervene if something happens see Cuba's Constitution, 1906.

>>18754 >Surprisingly, the language was MUCH closer to German than it is now. Interdesting. The grammar and vocabulary aren't that different from today. Do you mean the prose style? What I notice when reading old books like that is the long sentences with many clauses and commas, and a more poetic way of describing emotions and simple events. Is modern German like that?

>>18898 >not want to integrate them as US states Being a US territory is separate from being a US state. Territories have to apply for statehood, Congress has to approve it, and once a territory becomes a state it becomes integrated into the US government and cannot leave. I don't think the Philippines ever applied for statehood. They give me a headache because they boast about how they fought the US and lost, then complain that the US didn't do enough to protect them during WW2, then complain that the US rebuilt Japan and not them after they got their independence...

>>18910 To be fair, they have a lot to be mad about. We killed up to 10% of their population in a war to conquer them after liberating them, and if you've ever played HoI4 the lack of defense of the Philippines IRL is inconceivable.

>>18903 I can't give you any details, it was about two decades ago. I just remember that the part you quoted was my impression. That stuck with me.

>>18925 There are ancient terms like "wherefore". It's basically the German Wofür. Many English speakers don't know that it just means why.

Has the previous book thread sank?

>>19019 Had the same thought and was shocked to not find it anymore, so unless it has been deleted by the mods I guess it died…

>>19019 just like Kursk

I read the book 20000 miles under the sea for the first time and was very confused that it wasn't about diving 20000 miles deep but about traveling for 20000 miles along the sea. Slightly disappointed tbh.

>>19111 >very confused that it wasn't about diving 20000 miles deep why did you even think it was about diving? maybe it was about a tunnel under the ocean

>>19112 When I was young I read something where a group of adventurers dove with a submarine very deep and discovered some kind of cave with air in it. All I can remember about the place was that it had a mushroom forest in it or something. I thought it was the same book. Anyway when the book features a very famous submarine you would think it would be about diving very deep.

>>19113 >it had a mushroom forest in it you may be talking about the Lost World by Conan Doyle

>>19113 but also there was that book by Jules Verne called A Journey towards the Center of the Earth

>>19118 > A Journey towards the Center of the Earth I think this was it! Thanks. I will read this next.

>>19123 I had like 12 volumes works of Jules Verne and read all of it when a teen the best one is Mysterious Island but that's exactly why you have to read 20000 Leagues under the Sea at first

hes hungry reading translation

>>19889 starving Norwegians

The Rabbit Tetralogy by John Updike. Feels a bit Bernd to me, reminds me also of Homo Faber by Frisch.

>>20023 >Homo Faber by Frisch I like that book

>>20023 only read the first one was nice

>>20025 You might want to try the first one - "Run Rabbit, Run". Rabbit is less calculating and precise than Faber but like him, he is helpless to influence any social situations he stumbles into to his advantage.

Powerful stuff by the enlightened Doctor

Bernd is at the moment i a 'reality' mystery phase. Because of this Bernd reads these two books at the moment. One about megalithic structures in Germany, one about the most chilling cases of alien abduction.

>>21399 >the other one is about one of the most chilling cases of alien abduction. Fixed.

a question to the French or Bernds who read this guy Boualem Sansal so read that he was finally freed from Algeria recently, while never have heard about him before so my question: is he a legit modern author? with this acclaim in France and internationally. also with his anti-clerical position seems like me kind of guy

A book about the political history of the Russian Orthodox Church. I don't like the writing style.

>>22881 pic says worlds

I’m not a computer scientist so I have to look up a lot of words, therefore even on a basic level, I still learning new concepts.

A new book about Medieval Christianity just dropped, looks very interesting

The Green Mile by Stephen King

>>23114 I read it long ago. Pretty decent book. Too much of the storyline about the guy's urination problems tho

I tried reading this, but I didn't like the writing style at all

The books i have lying around and need to read right now. I know, i have the taste of an edgy teenager. Since i don't read that many books, it will probably be late 2026 until i am done with them.

Are there any good high brow (serious literature) psychological thrillers?

>>23618 I wish Kaczynski would get talked more about in the mainstream philosophical discourse, I think he made some interesting and valid points in his Industrial Society. Sadly he brought discredit to himself and his ideas through his crimes.

- The Private Life of Chairman Mao When I was a teenager I picked this book up in my local bookshop, but I was not that into reading at the time and so it has sat in my parents' house for years. Oftentimes in my adult life I thought about this book, and how I want to read it. Now recently I did a big book sorting with my parents and brought it back home. It was definitely worth the wait! The author was the private physician of Mao for decades, and the book is essentially a personal memoir. But since his life was controlled almost totally by Mao, it also doubles as a biography of the man, and that's how the book gets its title. I would argue that the publisher has somewhat misrepresented the book in framing it as "private life", as, besides the accounts of his philandering and chronic bronchitis, it is not a particularly deep account of his private life. Instead the book can be seen as the account of a modern emperor's courtier - and a splendid account at that. The author finds himself in a unique situation, for - being Mao's private physician - he is almost always in close proximity to Mao as he tours China during his rule. Contrasted with other more well-known contemporaries of Mao, this is actually quite rare, as party leaders often found themselves far apart for prolonged periods of time due to their occupational obligations and the general political calculus of Mao. One can view with skepticism the fact that the author so often finds himself actually present in so many consequential political discussions, but as he himself points out, this was the way Mao operated - always letting random guards or other servants listen in on his conversations. Having read a lot of PRC history, to me the account seems to hold up to scrutiny; it doesn't appear to be a labored fiction of events, on the contrary I find the author quite sincere. The book is a real page turner and the translation is extremely well done. I am about 3/4 of the way through and starting to feel sad that the book will soon be over - the sign of a great read! Highly recommend it

>What is Bernd reading? Nothing. I haven't been able to properly read a book through to the end since I was a kid. I think since the end of high school, I've only ever read maybe 4 books in total. I always buy books, so I have a gargantuan backlog, but I can never muster up the focus to read any of them, and if I do, it seems to be random.

- Wartime by Milovan Đilas This is another memoir, this time by the Yugoslav revolutionary and comrade-cum-dissident to the more well known Tito. This book comes from my grandfather, another of the books I picked up from my parents' place recently, and also one that has been on my mind all these years. I am not that far with this book as I keep picking up the Mao book instead - it's more entertaining :D - but I still recommend it to anybody interested in the topic. Đilas also comes off as a sincere author who has faithfully recounted a totemic experience of his life and of history. Just three general notes here, since I'm only 1/3 through: - the narrative is rather straightforward - the author recounts his departure from Belgrade to Montenegro to bolster the revolution there, and recounts the subsequent people's uprising; successes and mistakes all with it. The rest of the book proceeds chronologically as he then links up again with Tito and marches through Yugoslavia - Some events are recounted quite vividly, others brushed over in broad strokes. I think this is a function of the author's memory, as anybody would relate to. I kind of like it, but it can be a bit confusing to follow sometimes. - Đilas - at least by his account - shows great courage and is surprisingly stern in his actions during the parts I have read so far. I have not read anything else by him, but knowing of his later fate, I'm intrigued by the level of ideological fervor he embodied at this time. I think I need to read more of this book and his other works to really make up my mind about him, although I have a favorable opinion. - The book is a bit heavy at times on the Marxist-Leninist technicalities that seem to lead to disagreements between Đilas and Tito etc. which I find kind of ridiculous. Overall an interesting book and certainly also quite engaging, but I can't read more than 40 pages in one sitting without getting a bit tired of it, for reasons expressed above.

- Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte This book was a birthday gift and not something I would normally pick up as I don't read much fiction. But it is hilarious and also crushingly painful to read at the same time. Quite a modern narrative structure and refreshing in many ways. I don't really want to get into the details except to recommend it. I am halfway through but can't wait to read more. Not the kind of book I'll necessarily be sad to finish though.

- The Power Broker by Robert Caro I bought this book after finishing the Years of Lyndon Johnson series by the same author, which is by far the greatest thing I ever read in my life. This is his first work and covers the famous New York City civil servant who became the most powerful man in the city for decades and shaped its future that we know today. A true portrait of how to gain and use power. I see a lot of his techniques in the modern day when reading news too. I think a lot of politicians learned a thing or two from reading this book :D (of course, few can beat such masters of the game as Moses or LBJ) A lot of people have reviewed this book so I won't bother, other than to recommend it highly. I am nearly finished with it sadly. I think the LBJ series is better though.

- The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro I already finished this ages ago but since I mentioned it in >>23892 I just want to post the covers here on the off chance that it piques somebody's interest, since I can't recommend it enough. It's over 3000 pages of the most gripping political thriller, split in 4 volumes: - The Path to Power (1982) This starts with LBJ's childhood and up to his first attempt at getting elected. It's actually my favorite in the series. The account of his upbringing is really compelling. - Means of Ascent (1990) Here Johnson comes into his element and finally gets elected. You see his indomitable drive in full view. When reading it I really thought "this guy is completely insane" - Master of the Senate (2002) This is about Johnson's time in the Senate, where he ruled supreme. Goes into a lot of gory details about Senate rules and procedure, and reminds of the maxim Stalin followed too: that sometimes the most menial and unattractive clerical job in politics actually holds all the keys to power, if you learn the rules and use them to your advantage. - The Passage of Power (2012) In this book Johnson is Kennedy's vice president and is cucked hard by him and his brother, since the VP role confers no power whatsoever. Johnson gets depressed but then JFK is killed and he suddenly fires up his spirit again as he assumes the presidency. - there is a 5th book, still in the works, which will cover the rest of his presidency including the shitshow that was Vietnam. Every fan of this series is hoping that the author, who is very old now, manages to finish it before he dies.