Another terrific commentary on the legal profession is William Gaddis’ A Frolic of His Own.
What are You Reading Now?
- Thread starter jpmcwjr
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Arrived today. I have been looking forward to it’s arrival.
Trying it in the original Spanish, hoping it will improve my Spanish while giving me a good read. So far it’s going well. Learning what I guess is some Mexican slang
Peter Davis lived and farmed 8 miles from where I live, in what was then a very different world. Edited by the diarist's great-great grandson. There's nothing like a primary source when you're reading History: the dead speak directly to you across an age. Where I've gotten to, he's just taken his first train ride ("as fast as the wind", he says): he notes the departure and arrival times: seems the average speed his locomotive made was about 23 MPH, when a fast stagecoach ran at about 14 MPH. I have yet to find out whether or not he smokes a pipe...
Just finished The Wager - good book! I wasn't aware of the story and resisted Google until I had read the book. Lots of tidbits tossed in about seafaring jargon and expressions I didn't know the origins of, a few other bits of history, and overall well done. My only complaint is when the last of the survivors made it home the book seemed to wind down pretty quickly - would have liked little more of the post-events information.
Most of what I read these days is non-fiction that would bore most of you; but, I've been trying to incorporate once again at least a few minutes of great fiction each day --
I recently finished this:
And am now about half way through this:
I recently finished this:
And am now about half way through this:
I'm late to see this post -- sorry -- but BOTNS was one of the most remarkable (I don't necessarily mean that positively) things I've read in a long time. Read the four volumes about five years ago. Since then I've periodically been curious to discuss them with somebody else who got through them -- mainly to hear a sane person's take, because I felt insane by the end. FWIW, I appreciate the purposeful surreal-ness of something like MacDonald's Phantastes or Chesterton's Man Who Was Thursday ... but in both of those cases, I had the distinct impression that there was spiritual and symbolic (respectively) genius behind the trippy-ness, even if I didn't always get it; whereas, BOTNS did not always leave me with that sense, nor did I walk away with the same venerable impression of the author as a person. I'm interested to hear your take. Feel free to PM if you like.
I'm not sure I have any special insights into the series. I thought it was fascinating and very well written. I certainly see some deeper themes involving the impact of symbols on our identity, and themes around the sacramental nature of the human body. That being said, I also feel sure I don't understand a lot of the work. I haven't read the coda of the series -The Urth of the New Sun, but I hear that it makes some thing explicit that we're quite obscure in the main series. It's on my to read list.
A fun horror read about insects taking over the world. As long as you don't live in Louisiana, where bugs seem to already rule the world. Wait...
Me too. Just started….intellectually challenging so I’m going slowly….fascinating,
"Astronomy for Amateurs," prepared by the editorial staff of "Popular Science Monthly," 1934.
This is obviously a common name for, OK, books on astronomy for amateurs. I recently reported on an 1888 book by the same name that was intended for SERIOUS, advanced amateur astronomers. This one is intended for beginners with no real knowledge of astronomy. It's not a kid's book though, as many of the projects are far. from simple.
Aside from being an interesting take on astronomy, it's also a book giving one a dip into the great depression. All of the projects are intentionally inexpensive, the prism for the spectroscope being made from a mirror, a water holding butter dish, and a photographic plate with the emulsion scraped off. "no need to purchase a prism."
As an aside, I found 6 or 7 four leaf clovers pressed between the pages, and carefully left them as they were. When's the last time you saw someone looking for four leaf clovers?
I really enjoyed the experience of reading this unique book.
This is obviously a common name for, OK, books on astronomy for amateurs. I recently reported on an 1888 book by the same name that was intended for SERIOUS, advanced amateur astronomers. This one is intended for beginners with no real knowledge of astronomy. It's not a kid's book though, as many of the projects are far. from simple.
Aside from being an interesting take on astronomy, it's also a book giving one a dip into the great depression. All of the projects are intentionally inexpensive, the prism for the spectroscope being made from a mirror, a water holding butter dish, and a photographic plate with the emulsion scraped off. "no need to purchase a prism."
As an aside, I found 6 or 7 four leaf clovers pressed between the pages, and carefully left them as they were. When's the last time you saw someone looking for four leaf clovers?
I really enjoyed the experience of reading this unique book.
Attachments
Lately I've been interspersing readings from the Book of Daniel and its 3 Septuagint Chapters with audio lectures on the topic.
Finally reading Bleak House by Dickens. Enjoying it so far, about 1/5 the way through.
