Reading log, September 22, 2024

Books discussed:
Aristotle for Everybody by Mortimer J. Adler
Bag of Bones by Stephen King
The Rebels by John Jakes
The Collected Fiction of Jorge Luis Borges
Aristotle Metaphysics
The Revolt of Aphrodite by Lawrence Durrell
Penguin Clothbound edition of Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust
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[@JamesAdams-ev6fc]

The Penguin clothbound classics feature good translations and nice designs by Coralie Bickford-Smith. The translation of Don Quixote is much better than the expensive edition by Everymans Library, whose translation dates from 1700--seriously.

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Best wishes with what you choose to read and to your channel.

[@JamesAdams-ev6fc]

I think that Aristotle is just a hard author to read. This summer our reading group worked through Nicomachean Ethics. There are many useful insights, but it took the entire summer to digest. In college we read the Posterior Analytics, which almost drove the class mad. Even a harder book. By hearsay, the Poetics is supposed to be enjoyable.

[@nualafaolin7129]

Cool! Did you join Jared Henderson’s readalong for the Nicomachean Ethics? I didn’t get a chance to join buy hoping to get to it soon…

[@JamesAdams-ev6fc]

@@nualafaolin7129 Yes, that was the read-along that I was referring to! Jared has left his notes on each Book of the Ethics on his website. It is a hard book, and I'm pretty sure I'll be reading it again.

[@nualafaolin7129]

@@JamesAdams-ev6fc yea I kept all the emails from his newsletter, looking forward to getting around to it soon!

[@JamesAdams-ev6fc]

@@nualafaolin7129 He's doing a novel next month, Mrs. Dalloway. Maybe you can catch that one. It should be much easier as well.

[@greatbooksbigideas]

Yes, he's a toughie. The books on logic are absolutely brutal. The Ethics and Poetics I had a much easier time with. Politics wasn't bad, either.

[@book-ramble]

Borges is an author I got into recently - I love his library of books you can never leave. As to all the others - yes, Aristotle is dry.

[@LibroParadiso-ep4zt]

A week ago I read an interesting King story, "The Life of Chuck" from his "Let it Bleed" collection. It was good. It may be the only end of the world story that makes the reader smile. It has been made into a film starring Tom Hiddleston. I'm surprised about the ebay prices for those cloth books. Madness.

[@greatbooksbigideas]

I haven't sampled much of King's short fiction. I think we have Hearts in Atlantis here somewhere, a collection of linked stories. Maybe I'll give it a shot. With the Proust Penguin clothbounds back in print, the prices are down to more reasonable levels. Amazon's selling them for $25 a pop.

[@nualafaolin7129]

Lovely clothbound designs! I’ve never read Proust, which is your favourite &why do you like him? Will have to get some… I’d say keep the old ones for now, if you haven’t looked at them or remembered them in the next year, pass them on! But take pics first ,that way you can still be reminded… I read Adler’s “how to read a book”, was useful, but I really didn’t get on with his writing style! 😅

[@greatbooksbigideas]

Good advice!

[@VuGaZulu]

Read Berserk Next I think you'd enjoy it

[@JamesAdams-ev6fc]

Yes they the Penguin hardcovers are available in the US. Please do The Count of Monte Cristo, and Jim, maybe start a read-along or two.

[@greatbooksbigideas]

Any suggestions for the best way to conduct a read-along? I'm game, but I want to do it the right way.

[@JamesAdams-ev6fc]

@@greatbooksbigideas Jared Henderson does a good job on his Substack Channel, which he has renamed Commonplace Philosophy. He breaks the books up into small pieces to be read per week or per month. A long book or a hard one would take several months. I am reading The Count of Monte Cristo, the hardcover Penguin translation by Robin Buss. I read it late in the day, and at the rate of ~20 pages per day, this will take me two months. Of course I am reading hard journal articles in economics and I am writing during the day! 😊

[@JamesAdams-ev6fc]

@@greatbooksbigideas I forgot: wait a little while as your membership grows. Also, read-alongs cost time and money, maybe start, eventually, a paying channel. This will take time.

[@greatbooksbigideas]

@@JamesAdams-ev6fc Yes, that's what I was thinking. Give it some time before belly flopping into it!