Generation X by Douglas Coupland

Generation X
by Douglas Coupland
Note the format of this edition. Wider – not std paperback. i mention this as the graphic design of the book enhances the post-it notes…ps. remeber to have a life. It’s like a webpage, it’s like a childrens book – stuffed with little drawings and sub stories and paragraphs. It lifts [...]

The Outsider by Colin Wilson

The Outsider
by Colin Wilson
“It is repetition of Van Gogh’s problem  – the day by day struggle for intensity that disappears overnight, all interrupted by human trivialities and endless pettiness”.
I tend to agree.
Wilson wrote this book while skint and living in a library – not as tough as the protagonists he examines,  the beatific, those [...]

Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World Revisited
by Aldous Huxley 
This return to look at his earlier work, Brave New World, shows Huxley as a capable stateman. He lifts the metaphors from the first book to peel back a sociological and technical dynamic multifaceted view of the world…
“By cunningly associating the lowest passion with the highest Ideas so that atrcocities [...]

Sophies World by John Rawh

Sophies World 
by John Rawh
 This book is a look at the development of Western philosophy through the eyes of a little girl Sophie (Sophos is Greek for knowledge) and her grandfather who teaches her in simple terms the meaning behind the ideas of Greek and Europes philosophers. We are of course asked to take the place of [...]

NAD – Understanding Raga Music by Sandeep Bagshee

Sandeep Bagshee’s book is a wonderous achievement and was my number one manual to reach for when studying Indian music. Indian music is a daunting artform and it’s easy to drown in the concepts. The book breaks down the structure, meaning and traditions of Indian classical music aswell as providing excellent technical illustrations of the [...]

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World  
by Aldous Huxley 
Not so much a novel as a thinly veiled sociological horoscope for humanity. Huxley is factual and dispassionate in pre-supposing the effects of scientific ‘advances’ and emerging social control mechanisms. Orwell’s ‘1984′ illustrated a society under control using force while Brave New World’s hypothisis that we will be controlled by over-pleasuring [...]

The Art of Seeing by Aldous Huxley

The Art of Seeing
by Aldous Huxley
A radical look at how we use our eyes in both physical and cognitive terms. This book was written out his need to repair his eyes from an infection that was slowly claiming his sight. The book provides excellent resources for flexing the muscles in our eyes and testing our [...]

The Doors of Perception / Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley

The Doors of Perception / Heaven and Hell
Huxley takes mescaline (mind altering drug similar to LSD) and documents his findings. This book is an alternative to the drug recordings of the more stereotypical counter-culture types. A short book and well worth a read. The Doors named their band after reading this book.

The Perrenial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley

The Perrenial Philosophy
by Aldous Huxley
Huxley is a statesman of the mind and soul. Huxley looks at the major religions on the planet and highlights the parallels between them all. Impeccably researched and structured this book is indeed an almanac on relgion and all it’s flavours. Huxley is very subtle on his own views in this [...]

The Dice Man by Luke Rhineheart

The Dice Man
by Luke Rhineheart
This book caused an uproar when it was released and has since went on to be a cult classic. There was even a follow up called ‘Beyond the Dice Man’ (I think) that is equally as good.
The main premise of the book is that we can change the course of [...]