tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241445666161004335.post4068997072036236283..comments2024-01-20T15:51:35.268-06:00Comments on And So it Goes in Shreveport: On The Reading ShelfPat Austin Beckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05767059128758168960noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241445666161004335.post-2485342330519308322009-11-19T11:42:03.470-06:002009-11-19T11:42:03.470-06:00The list of great nonfiction of the 20th century h...The list of great nonfiction of the 20th century has a notable gap. It should have included Before Philosophy by Henri Frankfort, et al. This book is an essential key to understanding the ancient and medieval writers.<br />I consider myself moderately well read and I have only read 7 from that list. I cannot ever see myself reading Feynman or Keynes. And I doubt that Myrdal is any longer worth the trouble except to a specialist. I've read all of Solzhenitsyn's major novels at least twice but cannot see any point of wrestling with Gulag Archipelago. Wittgenstein's Tractatus is difficult, densely written and long since renounced by the author. <br />I was a little surprised that I have never heard of almost half of the list. No doubt that says more about me than about the list.Chris M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02185274210137762060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241445666161004335.post-24996029609584742122009-11-19T10:19:51.171-06:002009-11-19T10:19:51.171-06:001) Pat: agree with your response to FerFe one hund...1) Pat: agree with your response to FerFe one hundred percent. There’s nothing like cradling a book in your hands. There's nothing better than wandering your shelves and plucking out a tome. I have about 3,000 so far and my dream is 10,000 [someday, when we have a bigger house].<br /><br />2) I'm currently enjoying John Derbyshire's latest: <b>We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism</b>. Its a call-to-arms to the Right to get over its flirtation with Leftist utopianism and get back to being the cynical SOBs we really are. Its also a fun read.<br /><br />3) Donna B's recommendation of Barzun's masterwork is essential for understanding the course The West had taken. He's also a true Renaissance Man, so you'll learn a lot about this Civilization we're trying to save; I did.Bob Belvederehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17220595844172546069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241445666161004335.post-68792404808159552062009-11-18T20:58:54.227-06:002009-11-18T20:58:54.227-06:00I completely agree with Pat about the physical fee...I completely agree with Pat about the physical feel and smell of a book. <br /><br />I love books not only for the words and ideas, but also for the idea of their reality.<br /><br />As long as there is daylight I can read a book, but a Kindle depends on so much else. <br /><br />This is not to say I don't want a Kindle, but that it would never replace the books on my overloaded and sagging shelves.Donna B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16771075314473811594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241445666161004335.post-90174381430987366782009-11-18T06:17:53.822-06:002009-11-18T06:17:53.822-06:00What Ferfe said.What Ferfe said.Redhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00995981511802074871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241445666161004335.post-16868283011686786332009-11-18T06:14:51.017-06:002009-11-18T06:14:51.017-06:00@Donna - Those are some great recommendations! Th...@Donna - Those are some great recommendations! Thanks! I've been meaning to get The Black Swan; it's been suggested before and I meant to pick it up.<br /><br />@Ferfe - can't do a Kindle! I love the physical being of the books! The paper quality, the deckle edges, the typeset, the smell of the ink! I like to bury my nose in a new book and smell the ink and the newness of it. I like seeing them on my shelves and being able to pick them back up and refer to them.Pat Austin Beckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05767059128758168960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241445666161004335.post-81210734284967445232009-11-17T22:22:40.709-06:002009-11-17T22:22:40.709-06:00You need a KindleYou need a KindleFerfeLaBathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17086805759987027887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241445666161004335.post-31582774690945217382009-11-17T21:29:34.986-06:002009-11-17T21:29:34.986-06:00"Albion's Seed: Four British Foldways in ..."Albion's Seed: Four British Foldways in America" by David Hackett Fischer.<br /><br />It's a good read, plus an invaluable reference. I just counted and I have 8 sticky notes in it. I've had the book for several years and refer to it regularly.<br /><br />"From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life" by Jacques Barzun. This book was so valuable to me that I bought it again after my brother 'misplaced' it and now I've loaned it out to a son-in-law. I'll probably buy myself another copy because I think my son-in-law likes it as much as I do. While it's not as 'easy' a read as "Albion's Seed" it's probably the best treatise on how we got where we are that I've read.<br /><br />"The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements" by Eric Hoffer. Frankly, this book will frighten you, if you see the "left" as I do. <br /><br />"The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives" by Leonard Mlodinow. Much better (ie, easier to understand) than "Fooled By Randomness" or "The Black Swan" by Taleb. <br /><br />All the above books are ones that I've not only read but refer back to and re-read again. IOW, I highly recommend them.<br /><br />Take whatever time you were spending with Patricia Cornwell and spread it among these authors and you will be highly pleased :-)<br /><br />(Ever since Cornwell depicted the VA state computer network as controlled by AOL, I've been highly suspect of anything she writes. Some unrealities even fiction can't handle.)Donna B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16771075314473811594noreply@blogger.com