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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2967 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 21, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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So, what are you reading?

I've finished Churchill's Savrola. The latter half is a long revolution, with a focus on the fighting. Now that it's over, I can't say that it has been particularly memorable, but maybe I'll come back to it in the future. I found its specific interests of personality and capability, and its realistic, detailed style to be interesting. Not a bad read. I'll definitely be reading other writings of Churchill, though it seems like this was his only novel.

When all deductions had been made on the scores of ambition, duty, excitement, or fame, there remained an unabsorbed residuum of pure emptiness. What was the good of it all? He thought of the silent silent streets; in a few hours they would echo with the crackle of musketry. Poor broken creatures would be carried bleeding to the houses, whose doors terrified women would close in the uncharitable haste of fear. Others, flicked out of human ken from solid concrete earth to unknown, unformulated abstractions, would lie limp and reproachful on the paving-stones. And for what? He could not find an answer to the question. The apology for his own actions was merged in the much greater apology nature would have to make for the existence of the human species. Well, he might be killed himself; and as the thought occurred to him he looked forward with a strange curiosity to that sudden change, with perhaps its great revelation. The reflection made him less dissatisfied with the shallow ends of human ambition. When the notes of life ring false, men should correct them by referring to the tuning-fork of death. It is when that clear menacing tone is heard that the love of life grows keenest in the human heart.

I just finished A Canticle For Leibowitz based on the recommendations of a few people here. I was genuinely surprised when I finished it and found out it was written in the 50s - the whole time, it felt like it was a more recent work for some reason. I was also surprised it was so Catholic, mainly because religion is so low these days, but coming from the 50s it makes more sense. I enjoyed the book quite a bit, though the transitions between the parts could be a bit jarring as you had to figure out what was going on. Particular favorite bits were the scene where the monks activate the electric light while reciting Genesis 1 in Latin, and the part 3 abbot's explanation of the concept of redemptive pain to a suffering mother. Overall, solid book and I echo the other recommendations people have given here.

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