Just wanted to celebrate a bit. I had a lot of help from @ReadFanon@hexbear.net and @Edie@lemmy.ml when making it, and seeing it slowly but steadily get more upvotes as more people saw it felt pretty satisfying. It’s hosted over here, on Lemmy.ml. It’s very much influenced by my own tastes, such as featuring Red Sails prominently.

Future plans include a dedicated section on historical materialism, one on culture, art, and propaganda, and fleshing out the audiobooks and trimming back redundant or low-value add entries (such as Ian Wright’s essay, which is valuable but not in the scope of a beginner list).

Thanks for any of you that gave feedback, such as @PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml, @yogthos@lemmygrad.ml, and @thelastaxolotl@hexbear.net!

        • Cowbee [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
          6·
          2 months ago

          It’s totally fine to read it out of order. If you want to focus on, say, philosophy, you can start right there. However, it’s also designed to be read in order for best effect.

        • alexei_1917 [mirror/your pronouns]@hexbear.netEnglish
          1·
          2 months ago

          Honestly, what matters is that you’re reading theory. A well laid out reading list to follow in order can be useful, and most beginners’ reading lists are laid out the way they are for good reasons, but just pick up something on the list and read and you’ll be doing better than a lot of leftists out there.

  • theturtlemoves [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    5·
    2 months ago

    Amazing list. Just a few suggestions:

    1. Those who are ‘just curious’ may be intimidated by the length of the list. Do you want to make an abridged version with only the works you see as most important?

    2. Maybe move Principles of Communism up. It is short, explains the basics, and is in a Q&A format that won’t bore readers. Also Q17 answers the common ‘why does China / Vietnam have private companies’ question. (Although I admit that Einstein brings a sort of credibility or respectability to the argument, lol.)

    3. For readers from a STEM background, you can suggest JBS Haldane’s Why I am a Materialist. Short essay, goes from basic scientific principles to arguing for a materialistic outlook.