What are you currently reading?

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Caroline Eden's book Black Sea will really whet your appetite. It is a combination travel book, photography book, and cookbook. (Although the writing in her second book, about Central Asia, is even better.)

Irresistible. Both the books sound excellent. I will get copies.
P.s. I posted about the movie of The Tea House of August Moon. I have a feeling that you may like it. 

Thinking of perhaps borrowing Dostoyevsky's Demons from the library at some point. Read parts where he makes fun of Turgenev through the character of Karmazinov.

You should go ahead, I think.

[vers la flamme]

Arthur Schopenhauer, Essays & Aphorisms



Wow. Completely mind blowing stuff. I read this when I was in high school, but I think some of it went over my head at the time.

[Florestan]

Any good seafood at restaurants there? How are they in comparison to the seafood from the Aegean Sea? For years, I've been thinking about visiting a Black Sea coastal area either in Bulgaria or Turkey.

For historical reasons seafood is not as popular în România as in Greece, Turkey or the Mediterranean. That being said, I love it and yesterday we hâd an excelent seafood dish at a restaurant near the well conserved ruins of the ancient city of Histria, some 30 km North away from where we are curently located.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Arthur Schopenhauer, Essays & Aphorisms



Wow. Completely mind blowing stuff. I read this when I was in high school, but I think some of it went over my head at the time.

The portrait is on the wall, above my vacuum tube amp, in my reading/listening room.

[aligreto]

Douglas Stuart: Shuggie Bain





This novel focuses on one family; Agnes, her husband and the three children in the era that was the Thatcher years in Britain with all of the social deprivation which that brought. Agnes is an idealist, spoilt as a child by her father, who wants more from life. Her husband is a philanderer. Agnes' life is spiralling out of control through alcoholism. Her husband decides to move out and abandon them. This story depicts the poverty, deprivation and the results of addiction on both the individual and their extended group in a detailed and realistic way. There is nothing that is pretty, pleasant or romantic about it. It is a realistic look at the underbelly of a [any] big city, its characters and its way of life. It can often be brutal but it is an excellent portrayal and an excellent book.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

For historical reasons seafood is not as popular în România as in Greece, Turkey or the Mediterranean. That being said, I love it and yesterday we hâd an excelent seafood dish at a restaurant near the well conserved ruins of the ancient city of Histria, some 30 km North away from where we are curently located.

Sounds wonderful! Have a great time there. You may like the book mentioned by Brian.

[vers la flamme]

The portrait is on the wall, above my vacuum tube amp, in my reading/listening room.

Ah, so I can assume his work spoke to you, too. I can't agree with everything he says, by any means, but a lot of what he says makes a lot of sense to me. (Speaking as someone with next to zero background in philosophy.)

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Ah, so I can assume his work spoke to you, too. I can't agree with everything he says, by any means, but a lot of what he says makes a lot of sense to me. (Speaking as someone with next to zero background in philosophy.)

Personally, Schopenhauer is the man who exerted most influence on me. Other influences include Hesse, Mann, Michel de Montaigne, Epictetus, La Rochefoucauld, etc. S's writing is simple and straight-ahead- no snake oil, no philosopher's stone. His philosophy largely encompasses worldly wisdoms (ie. your book etc.) and metaphysics (plus a little aesthetics and ethics.) For the former, S is substantially/partially with Stoics, Montaigne, Baltasar Gracian, etc. Apropos of the latter, his philosophy is an extension of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Kant said that the world we see and hear is merely an image/perception created by our brain (I am simplyfying.) The very real world independent of our perception/senses, that is independent of three dimensional space and unidimentional time, is unknowable (Kant) or "Will" (Schopenhauer.) As for the book you are reading, I think we have to forgive him for some of the things he says because of the time he lived.

I would like to read a (new) review by Florestan on S. S was admired by Hesse, Mann, Nietzsche, Wagner, Prokofiev, Einstein, Schrodinger, and many others.

[vers la flamme]

Personally, Schopenhauer is the man who exerted most influence on me. Other influences include Hesse, Mann, Michel de Montaigne, Epictetus, La Rochefoucauld, etc. S's writing is simple and straight-ahead- no snake oil, no philosopher's stone. His philosophy largely encompasses worldly wisdoms (ie. your book etc.) and metaphysics (plus a little aesthetics and ethics.) For the former, S is substantially/partially with Stoics, Montaigne, Baltasar Gracian, etc. Apropos of the latter, his philosophy is an extension of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Kant said that the world we see and hear is merely an image/perception created by our brain (I am simplyfying.) The very real world independent of our perception/senses, that is independent of three dimensional space and unidimentional time, is unknowable (Kant) or "Will" (Schopenhauer.) As for the book you are reading, I think we have to forgive him for some of the things he says because of the time he lived.

I would like to read a (new) review by Florestan on S. S was admired by Hesse, Mann, Nietzsche, Wagner, Prokofiev, Einstein, Schrodinger, and many others.

Very interesting. Thank you for your perspective on this very famous philosopher. Can I assume you've read the whole of The World as Will and Representation? I am curious to read it some day, but find the prospect daunting. I'd also love to read Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, but baby steps.

[Karl Henning]

Thinking of perhaps borrowing Dostoyevsky's Demons from the library at some point. Read parts where he makes fun of Turgenev through the character of Karmazinov.

I'm a big fan of that book.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Very interesting. Thank you for your perspective on this very famous philosopher. Can I assume you've read the whole of The World as Will and Representation? I am curious to read it some day, but find the prospect daunting. I'd also love to read Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, but baby steps.

Numerous times, I read the WWR and PP (Parerga and Paralipomena). I think your book (I have it too with many underlines) is a compilation of some chapters in the PP. The WWR and PP are phenomenal books that would be a great revelation and consolation to the readers. Still, if I may, I would like to suggest reading some introductory books first, that will save your time overall when you read the WWR and PP. They would include your book, Christopher Janaway (Oxford), Bryan Magee, and/or Alex Neill/Janaway (Blackwell.)

I like the book you are reading (it's a mini-PP!), and I hope you will have a good time reading the book.

[SimonNZ]

Half way through:



Read a lot of Chomsky in the 90's and thought this was one of them, but it seems I can't have - there's much here that would definitely have stuck even in my sieve-like memory.

Interesting approach of doing a very deep dive into a small handful of examples rather than the more usual scatter-gun approach. And the prose is highly polished.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I'm a big fan of that book.

Me too!

[Ganondorf]

About halfway through Mann's Joseph the Provider. Just finished the chapter regarding Tamar and what a section that was! Also freaking hilarious, Mann's dry dark humor is excellent. And, once again, one of these parts where reader knows more than a character, most masterfully depicted. This and the second part seem much more well balanced in that they don't feel overwritten the way the first and third parts did. I really do need the laughs that Joseph the Provider, has provided me, in high stress I am currently suffering from.

[André]

About halfway through Mann's Joseph the Provider. Just finished the chapter regarding Tamar and what a section that was! Also freaking hilarious, Mann's dry dark humor is excellent. And, once again, one of these parts where reader knows more than a character, most masterfully depicted. This and the second part seem much more well balanced in that they don't feel overwritten the way the first and third parts did. I really do need the laughs that Joseph the Provider, has provided me, in high stress I am currently suffering from.

Excellent read, Ganondorf !

I assume you have read the other books before Joseph the Provider ? The humour in the Joseph saga is all over the place. It's sometimes just hilarious as you mention (Judah's comical indecision concealing a foregone conclusion), sometimes stunningly theatrical, as in the recognition scene towards the end. One of the greatest books I've ever read.

[Ganondorf]

Yes, I have read the other books.  I posted about other books under my previous accounts (Alberich and AlberichundHagen).  I guess I never explicitly said I am him although I never tried to hide it, I have referred To my earlier accounts' posts at some instances.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The Idiot, Dostoevsky.
A social drama largely based upon a love 'rectangle' (not triangle) among Prince Myshkin, Nastasya, Aglaya, and Rogozhin. The tense, and volatile, relationships among them and the surrounding people are depicted very realistically, credibly and beautifully. As always, Dostoevsky skillfully presents a caricature of various, and ubiquitous, human characters such as opportunist, pathological lier, sycophant, nihilist, self-destructionist, schemer, etc. Personally I don't like Myshkin much, but I find Nastasya Filippovna very lively and attractive. Also, I hate Ganya- an ambitious and jealous mediocrity- so much. It's a wonderful read. When I was in high school, I preferred Tolstoy to Dostoevsky by a large margin. But now, it's totally opposite.

[Cato]

About halfway through Mann's Joseph the Provider. Just finished the chapter regarding Tamar and what a section that was! Also freaking hilarious, Mann's dry dark humor is excellent. And, once again, one of these parts where reader knows more than a character, most masterfully depicted. This and the second part seem much more well balanced in that they don't feel overwritten the way the first and third parts did. I really do need the laughs that Joseph the Provider, has provided me, in high stress I am currently suffering from.

Many moons ago I came across Joseph the Provider and enjoyed it very much, similar to your experience!

When I started years later to read the entire book, I thought: "What happened?!  This is NOT like Joseph the Provider!"

"Overwritten" is the polite word!   

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I haven't read Joseph and His Brothers. Is it enjoyable read even for atheist readers?

[André]

Yes, I have read the other books.  I posted about other books under my previous accounts (Alberich and AlberichundHagen).  I guess I never explicitly said I am him although I never tried to hide it, I have referred To my earlier accounts' posts at some instances.

Fine, thanks. Well, welcome back, even if you never totally left  .