What are you currently reading?

[Todd]

Power and Plenty, by Ronald Findlay and Kevin H O'Rourke.  A vastly ambitious book that strives to cram in a full millennium of (nearly) global economic history into 546 text pages.  The authors carve the Eurasian and North African landmasses into seven broad territories and consider each in turn in each chapter.  (Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas are not really considered, at least in the early going, though gold from the Ghana Empire is of course mentioned.)  I've finished the first three of ten chapters, and to give an idea of what the authors do, the first 42 page chapter offers a whirlwind world history to roughly the year 1000; the second 44 page chapter covers the  global economy around year 1000; and the 55 page third chapter covers world trade until the year 1500, with a decent portion given over the benefits of the Pax Mongolica and the economic and geopolitical impacts of the Black Death.  Each paragraph and page is fact-dense and shows how the known facts either do or do not conform with liberal economic theories.  (Those wanting a Marxist or alternative history should look elsewhere.)  Statistical data is of course light in the early going, but it starts ramping up in the third chapter, and later on the book it riddled with statistics.  Trade, politics, and war are all intertwined of course, and this book offers a magnificent synthesis of global history over the last thousand years.  It also mentions title after title of other works that appear just as appealing as this, but there is not enough time for a non-academic to read them all.  Great stuff.

[Super Blood Moon]

You can drink it, but can you read it?
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[Philo]

Currently reading a lot of texts, but the one that is the most pressing is Comparative Rhetoric by George Kennedy.

[Artem]

Finished these books recently:





Szabo and Cusk's books were pretty good. The Door is fairly straightforward story about the relationship of two women, while nothing really happens in the Outline, which is about a writer that goes to Greece to teach a course on writing. Both books are written in a kind of minimalistic style.

[Philo]

Currently reading a lot of texts, but the one that is the most pressing is Comparative Rhetoric by George Kennedy.

Finished Kennedy. My second time through and yet still insight. A must read for anyone interested in rhetoric prior to the Greeks or from oral cultures.

Currently reading After Babel by Steiner

[Ken B]

I have started to re-read a book I loved 30 years ago, The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth.

Karl knows it!

[Karl Henning]

I have started to re-read a book I loved 30 years ago, The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth.

Karl knows it!

Aye, I need to re-read that one!

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I have been halfway through Down and Out in Paris and London for a couple of months...I should go back to reading it once school is over forever in November.

[SimonNZ]

I have been halfway through Down and Out in Paris and London for a couple of months...I should go back to reading it once school is over forever in November.

^One of my absolute favorite books, along with his unjustly neglected Keep The Aspidistra Flying. But then practically everything Orwell wrote, however big or small, is essential reading.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

^One of my absolute favorite books, along with his unjustly neglected Keep The Aspidistra Flying. But then practically everything Orwell wrote, however big or small, is essential reading.

I agree re Orwell. His writings ring true for every time in history, the present and the future, he is probably one of the most influential people who ever lived. 1984 made me hate Murdoch's Newscorp regime and stuff like that lol.

[Karl Henning]

Clearly, the boys in that theater were there for the songs; the girls were there for their hormones.

My friend David Frieze's wonderful blog post about going to see A Hard Day's Night.

[NikF]

Reading the remaining short stories in this, on account of Gautier having written the libretto for the ballet we watched last night.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Going through Faust II. Amazing, so overwhelming that I'm exhausted. It lingers a bit too much with the mythological characters, though. It's great for a while but when it continues for too long, you want change. It was better in scenes with the Emperor. Mephistopheles steals the show, even from Faust himself. The real joy comes from the multiple ways he can be interpreted, he is so layered character. He can be played as incarnation of pure evil who still manages to have outward charm that fools people but also as a noble demon who isn't merely manipulating Faust 100 % of the time but has some genuine redeeming qualities.

After I'm finished with this and Richard III, I'll probably move on to Wilhelm Meister.

[lisa needs braces]

Such an interesting subject. I'm going through Dan Carlin's epic length aural tour of WW1 (the series is titled "Blueprint for Armageddon") and I wanted to delve into books on the subject afterwards. Any recs?

ps that Dan Carlin podcast link is here:

http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/

[Daverz]

Well written and argued, but way more nerdy detail than I was prepared for.  My thumb gets sore paging thru the chapter endnotes.  I'm sticking with it, though.  No spoilers, please!

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[Ken B]

Well written and argued, but way more nerdy detail than I was prepared for.  My thumb gets sore paging thru the chapter endnotes.  I'm sticking with it, though.  No spoilers, please!

[asin]B00B23DEBQ[/asin]

You probably want to pass on Erickson then ... But Beevor's book on Stalingrad is great.

[Daverz]

You probably want to pass on Erickson then ...

This is Stalin's War with Germany in 2 volumes?

I did enjoy Richard J. Evans 3 volume history of the Third Reich.  Stahel's book seems to be for a more academic audience, focusing somewhat relentlessly on his thesis.

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But Beevor's book on Stalingrad is great.

I've heard good things about it.

[Ken B]

This is Stalin's War with Germany in 2 volumes?

I did enjoy Richard J. Evans 3 volume history of the Third Reich.  Stahel's book seems to be for a more academic audience, focusing somewhat relentlessly on his thesis.

[asin]B0023SDQGW[/asin]

I've heard good things about it.

Yes, I think that's the title. I stopped part way. I have read book 1 of Evans and liked it. I have the second on my shelf. Burleigh is good too.
The one I liked best is an old one by Bracher, The German Dictatorship. Mostly about the process of consolidating power.

[Philo]

Finished After Babel. I've never taken so many notes reading a text. I'd only suggest it to one deeply interested in the philosophy of translation at the graduate level.

Next up is Calvin Schrag's chapter in Rhetoric and Hermeneutics in Our Time, the Ecology chapter from Lingua Fracta (but I'll likely read the whole thing), and Serequeberhan's Contested Memories (he's swiftly becoming a philosopher I love).

[Philo]

My Belief by Hesse
Totality and Infinity by Levinas