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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   588 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 28, 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.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, what are you reading?

I'm picking up Taylor's Hegel, a topic which seems long overdue.

Finished Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay during the week, the third book in the Neapolitan quartet. It's the first one I can really say I enjoyed without reservation, the pacing was on point and Ferrante managed to compel empathy for certain secondary characters in a way she hadn't in previous volumes. When I started reading it I observed that, in retrospect, the first two volumes probably should have been compressed into one, an opinion that hadn't changed when I got to the end.

On the recommendation of Rob Henderson and Theodore Dalrymple, I'm reading La Rochefoucald's collection of maxims. One I read this morning that I liked (I'm paraphrasing):

It is possible to find a woman who has never been in a love affair, but rare to find one who has only been in one.

It occurs to me that I know multiple femcels (either in person or people who post here), but am struggling to think of any women I know who've only been in exactly one relationship, my own mother excepted.

Rereading A Wizard of Earthsea and the rest of the novels. There's a reason LeGuin is legendary. She's an incredible storyteller and writer.

The Penultimate Truth by Philip K Dick.

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On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


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