This is what I recommend for understanding Marx/Engels thought, rather than Das Kapital (too long) or The Communist Manifesto (just not that good): https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm

Blackshirts and Reds is a must read. It’s exceedingly approachable, not very long, and written in accessible plain English. It’s a must-read for all comrades, but very helpful to newcomers IMO.

I would suggest best boy peter gelderloos (https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-the-failure-of-nonviolence - for overview of recent political stuff from 80s-2010s from very anarchist blackpilled (😉) position) and best girl zoe (https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/zoe-baker-means-and-ends - more malatesta sunshine view). You can read malatesta and bakunin, but their beefs are more irrelevant in today world. i think reading along you would get perfectly good idea about anarchism/ancom thingy (at least ones i find relevant, anarchists have some stuff with egoism, but i find it rather disturbing ideology)

For more ml-friendly style - redsails has lot of interesting small essays (like https://redsails.org/masses-elites-and-rebels/ or https://redsails.org/really-existing-fascism/). You can read state and revolution ofc, for general thingy (but rather idealized). Imperialism in 21th century by john smith for more world spanning tale of shit as it is now. perry anderson for historic books to sort of see how historical materialism sees the world. marxism is more complicated cause they are more popular, council comms will read pannekoek and brain of the firm, ml will split on stalin/trotsky and then blame each other, dengists doing god knows what to explain their shit.

You have a lense (historical materialism - position that society (laws/customs/state) is structured around existing production and distribution, being a structure on top of it. Not ideas (e.g. you can rail about liberty all you want, ancient greece would still enslave your ass cause they need you to mine marble) changing society, but rather some objective things in material exchange breaking down during transitions), and what to do about that (intentionally breaking them down from below/above, reforming blah blah is where lots of marxists split), and how to go about it (electoralism, adventurism, intentional abstention and communizing etc). (anarchists frequently accept the lens of criticism, not so much the how and to which end to go about it, see means and ends)

@Cowbee@hexbear.net

we do have the literature comm!

No one’s mentioned Graeber and I think a lot of his work is a perfect jumping off point for baby leftists who don’t need to be told to read actual theory too (if you’ve already purchased Goldman and Stalin’s works I have no doubt your instincts are probably good enough and this post is unnecessary lol but…)

I’d recommend the following - not just Graeber but his work was the first that popped into my mind reading your post. Most of these are less ‘leftist theory’ and more just aligned with leftist politics but I do think they’re worth reading for any leftist:

• Debt: First 5,000 Years
• Bullshit Jobs
• Jakarta Method
• Wretched of the Earth

Hey comrade! Welcome! It’s great that you want ro get started reading. I made an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list called Read Theory, Darn it! It’s meant for absolute beginners, covers a broad range of authors and perspectives spanning the globe and timeline from the 1800s to today, and a fair amount of works have audiobooks. Please check it out! It’s very much my own bias, it’s a very Red Sails-y list and is unapologetically my own selfish project, but people seem to like it!

Also, feel free to join us over on c/theory in the reading threads we do!

Sidenote, finding anything by Stalin in a used bookstore is an incredible pull, I’ve never seen that!

State and Revolution was my first and is an incredibly important read for all comrades. I’d also recommend Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Both are by Lenin

Edit: didn’t mean to post twice

Pretty good starting points!

I like to recommend “principles of Communism” as a jumping off point as well. It’s a short essay in Q and A format written by Marx. Might help set the stage before jumping in to a book that’s more dense.

Another important area to learn is media criticism. Since most of your knowledge is going to be filtered through media and cultural biased in general, it’s important to understand them so you can “cancel them out”. The Citations Needed podcast does this sort of commentary and criticism in relation to current events. Highly recommended.

If you want something with more slop that “goes down easy” watch clips of Hasan Poker. He draws off the same material that we do, and you’ll get “up to speed” pretty quickly. Then check back here as you move past his presented viewpoints.

Don’t search for annas archive on google because that way you can download digital copies of any book in their database for free, which is bad because you wouldn’t pirate a car.

Maybe not exactly “theory” in a stricter sense, but I enjoyed listening to Graeber’s Debt: the First 5000 Years. Maybe a bit more “pop”-y, but a pretty good dive into what money/debt actually is and how it evolved. Some probably would disagree with some of his remarks about communism/socialism being an ideal that might not be realisticly achievable, but it has some interesting ideas about non-capitalistic economies. I also liked his framing of “everyday communism”.

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If you want a book with a possible vision of the future so you can see the kinds of things people are actively proposing, or the type of society some socialists envision, there’s Socialist Reconstruction : A Better Future for the United States. It’s a book written as a group project by the Party for Socialism & Liberation in the United States.

It’s only one possible vision, but it’s important to have something you’re fighting for, in addition to fighting against.

It’s more biography than a focus on details of theory but check out Left of Karl Marx.