Tyler Cowen on Reading 4/18/22

Intellectual omnivore Tyler Cowen of George Mason University and EconTalk host Russ Roberts talk about their reading habits, their favorite books, and the pile of books on their nightstands right now.
Links and transcript for this episode: www.econtalk.org/tyler-cowen-...
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[@evfast]

I read Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (R. Pirsig) around the age of 16. Definitely my first piece of serious philosophical fiction and was the most complex book I had attempted up to that point. Russ mentioning it created a moment of connection during this podcast, and brought the story flooding back to me.

[@EricJacobusOfficial]

Enjoyed this conversation. My currents: 1. Totemism & Exogamy III by JG Frazer 2. Japan: A Cultural History by Sansom 3. On Revolution by Hannah Arendt 4. Blood Taking and Oath Making 5. The Duel and the Oath by H C Lea Looking forward to Cowen's new book and Russ's too.

[@kennethbashford7520]

Always nice to find someone else who has ‘A Soldier of the Great War’ in his Top 5. A real thrill when it’s Russ Roberts.

[@kreek22]

Helprin I liked at first, but as I read on I developed the sense that he had a fundamentally anti-literary mind, a reductionist mind that he had set, by muscular effort, to make literary. But, that is his best book. The one following it, Memoir from Antproof Case, showcases his weaknesses more clearly.

[@eniac78]

That's interesting about remembering information in the context of where it appears on the page. This is definitely how I used to recall information I read for exams.

[@kreek22]

This is common. It's related to why the ancients used the mnemonic technique of memory palaces: the human memory evolved to have a strong spatial orientation. We were hunters and gatherers for hundreds of thousands of years. We've been readers for a few thousand years at most.

[@foeppel]

Love this conversation! I wonder how does one arrive at their idiosyncratic methods for getting the most out of their reading? Russ and Tyler’s methods differed in important ways at times.

[@DanHowardMtl]

Great resource for finding new books to read! Thanks!

[@bennguyen1313]

I've heard it said (Maria Popova, Patrick Collison?) that John Crowley's "Little, Big. Little, Big book", takes a while to warm-up to , but that it's worth it. I recommend Sadhguru's Death book.

[@lloydritchey]

It was a literary crime that Mark Twain, Will Durant, & Robert Heinlein were never mentioned. I'm going to take Tyler's tip on clustering & put it to practice.

[@GordonAitchJay]

5:11 Russ: I used to have a lot of trouble writing in books. The whole idea of highlighting was so horrifying to me. It was sacrilegious- Tyler: It's violence- It's violence against books, right? Russ: Yeah, it's horrible. I hated it. Tyler: Especially if it's yellow, that's the worst highlight colour. Russ: Awful, awful!

[@noontimespender]

Dear KZbin comment section readers, Allow me to offer some free life advice, put some Morton Feldman on the hifi and read Samuel Beckett. How it is. Molloy. Malone Dies. The Unnameable. Watt. Enjoy.

[@redman6790]

@19:29