Whatcha reading?

[Silent Majority]

79) Sing Your Sadness Deep - Laura Mauro. 2019. Kindle. A highly impressive collection of short stories, mostly horror inflected. The stories are unsettling, honey sweet, and completely unbridled in their emotional resonance and imagination. They're brilliantly written, with characters who ache off the page in damaged humanity. Every page seems found rather than written, with no phrase out of place.

[Dr. Medulla]

I'm still plugging away at Perlstein's Reaganland (45 minutes a day on a 45-hour book takes some time). It's quite good and continues the revision of Reagan from hack actor to skilled politician. It's a case where the usual complaints about "liberal media" are actually borne out. There was a hell of a lot more going on in his head than just being a puppet for right-wing interests, as he was presented back in the 80s. It doesn't mean rethinking his policies, but it does demand greater respect for his abilities.

And after setting aside for a couple months Barry Gewen's The Inevitability of Tragedy, about the cultural and intellectual foundations of Henry Kissinger's thought, I've been plugging away at that. Understanding Kissinger's realpolitik is much clearer, as the experiences of German Jewish emigres who had first-hand experience that democracy (Weimar) can lead to nightmare, so their worldview was shaped by a desire for order, to contain the passions of the masses. Admittedly, the situation the US is in these days help make this case. While I'm still on the side of a morality-based worldview, I can better appreciate the realist position. The former seeks something better, the latter fears something worse.

[Silent Majority]

80) Lieutenant Hornblower - CS Forester. 1952. Audiobook. It's nice to be reading a series of books, I don't tend to do that very often. This is the second chronologically and it's in the same vein, British navy, repressed hero, bloody Bonaparte. Hilariously, here starts the affectionate nickname for the protagonist: Horny. Great stuff.

[Silent Majority]

I'm still plugging away at Perlstein's Reaganland (45 minutes a day on a 45-hour book takes some time). It's quite good and continues the revision of Reagan from hack actor to skilled politician. It's a case where the usual complaints about "liberal media" are actually borne out. There was a hell of a lot more going on in his head than just being a puppet for right-wing interests, as he was presented back in the 80s. It doesn't mean rethinking his policies, but it does demand greater respect for his abilities.

And after setting aside for a couple months Barry Gewen's The Inevitability of Tragedy, about the cultural and intellectual foundations of Henry Kissinger's thought, I've been plugging away at that. Understanding Kissinger's realpolitik is much clearer, as the experiences of German Jewish emigres who had first-hand experience that democracy (Weimar) can lead to nightmare, so their worldview was shaped by a desire for order, to contain the passions of the masses. Admittedly, the situation the US is in these days help make this case. While I'm still on the side of a morality-based worldview, I can better appreciate the realist position. The former seeks something better, the latter fears something worse.

Indeed, Kissenger's worldview only makes sense when you consider his personal history.

[Dr. Medulla]

I'm still plugging away at Perlstein's Reaganland (45 minutes a day on a 45-hour book takes some time). It's quite good and continues the revision of Reagan from hack actor to skilled politician. It's a case where the usual complaints about "liberal media" are actually borne out. There was a hell of a lot more going on in his head than just being a puppet for right-wing interests, as he was presented back in the 80s. It doesn't mean rethinking his policies, but it does demand greater respect for his abilities.

And after setting aside for a couple months Barry Gewen's The Inevitability of Tragedy, about the cultural and intellectual foundations of Henry Kissinger's thought, I've been plugging away at that. Understanding Kissinger's realpolitik is much clearer, as the experiences of German Jewish emigres who had first-hand experience that democracy (Weimar) can lead to nightmare, so their worldview was shaped by a desire for order, to contain the passions of the masses. Admittedly, the situation the US is in these days help make this case. While I'm still on the side of a morality-based worldview, I can better appreciate the realist position. The former seeks something better, the latter fears something worse.

Indeed, Kissenger's worldview only makes sense when you consider his personal history.

I wouldn't say "only" (Nixon, for example, shared his perspective without a comparative biography) but it having first-hand experience of democracy leading to totalitarianism and genocide does help explain why a person would be wary of ideological crusades or faith in the masses, and would privilege order above all else.

[Silent Majority]

81) Daft Wee Stories - Limmy. 2015. Audiobook. I read Limmy's autobiography last year and I enjoy the way he writes. It's got a great conversational style and the stories here, like written down sketches from his show, are all the better from his reading them. I needed to take them in short bursts, but it's actually a cool set of short stories with a unique voice. Funny ones, mostly, with a few creepy ones too. Recommended.

[Silent Majority]

82) Aleister Crowley: Man, Myth and Magic - Steven Ashe. 2015. Audiobook. A short run through of the life of the wealthy psychopath with good connections who wrote okay poems and played around with black magic, which I read as part of research on the occult. Probably a good starting point.

[Silent Majority]

83) Rabbi Jesus - Bruce Chilton. 2002. Hardback. A book which sets out to trace the life of the historical Jesus. The subtitle is The Jewish Life and Teaching That Inspired Christianity, so it's very much about putting the guy in his actual context. I enjoyed the read considerably, and it's plausible as anything as a synthesis of the sources but it's never willing to admit any uncertainty which is a failing considering the paucity of actual traceable historical data. Throw a few 'probablys' and 'most likely' and I'd respect it a bit more. Still, a startlingly good read.

[Wolter]

Still wading through Gibbon. Unabridged, so I’m nowhere near done. Just hit a long digression on imperial finances in the middle of the reign of Alexander Severus and ok, this is where I see students hating it. Get back to the salacious gossip, Eddie.

Edit: okay, there’s some fine cattiness about the nobles of Augustus’ time pissing and moaning about a 5% inheritance tax (“But the nobles of Rome were more tenacious of their property than of freedom”) until Augustus very pointedly reminded the Senate that if he didn’t tax inheritance he’d have to get the money some other more direct way...

Edit 2: of course an equally catty footnote to Gibbon’s footnote implies Gibbon made that up entirely since it isn’t in Cassius Dio, the supposed source.

[eumaas]

been reading a lot of Lacanians

[Marky Dread]

This thread should be called "whatcha listening to".

[Silent Majority]

I listen to music, I read audiobooks.

[Marky Dread]

I listen to music, I read audiobooks.

I read music, I listen intently.

[Dr. Medulla]

I listen to music, I read audiobooks.

I read music, I listen intently.

Paying attention is overrated. Distractedness is vital therapy these days.

[Wolter]

I don’t even pay attention when I’m reading.