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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   4710 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 24, 2023

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?

Can't say I'm reading much. Poor Edmond Dantes is in prison. I suppose I'll pick up something Christian soon.

Someone gave me "Breath" by James Nestor as a Christmas gift. It's setting all of my woo alarms. I'll report back.

Just finished The Mountain of Silence which is a fun story that discusses the practices of Eastern Orthodox Christian mysticism. It was a fascinating and beautiful read, shattered many of my preconceptions about Orthodoxy.

The Eastern mystical tradition has quite a bit in common with Buddhism and other more popular mystical traditions in the West, but is still quite distinct. I hope we see a resurgence of monasteries in the US.

A friend lent me Sum, a collection of very short stories about different permutations of the afterlife. It's refreshing to read something that gets straight to the point.

Planning to finally start Blindsight when I get on the plane tomorrow. It gets so much praise that I don't know if it's going to be one of those highly-praised books that's really good, or one of those ok books that everyone decided to ostentatiously praise as part of some mutually-reinforcing social phenomenon at some point.

Hoping for the best.

Looking forward to your thoughts on Monte Cristo.

I’m almost done with Dreamland. Been enjoying it so far.

I just ordered a book of Kafka stories from eBay. I read The Metamorphosis in high school and recall enjoying it. We’ll see if his stuff is a bit too…grey for my liking.

It's the only Kafka I've read, but A Country Doctor is a must-read.

Finished Prit Buttar's Battleground Prussia: The Assault on Germany's Eastern Front, 1944-45. The endgame of the Eastern Front tends to get short shrift in popular history with the exception of the capture of Berlin, and this is a very interesting book about a very messy series of campaigns. A must-read for lovers of war crimes.

Currently reading a collection of dissident (leftist) Soviet author Varlam Sharlamov, called Sketches of the Criminal World. More grim stuff, but quite darkly humourous at times.

dissident (leftist) Soviet author Varlam Sharlamov

Have you read his Gulag stories?

The book I'm reading is the second volume of a 2018 translation of his gulag stories.

Have you read "Till We Have Faces?" You might enjoy it, it's the rare book that's enjoyable both on the first read and on subsequent reads as well.

Just now rereading this for like the fourth time. It's fantastic, and Lewis himself called it his best book.

It's on the list now, thanks.

Yeah I think it's my favorite of Lewis' fiction, especially the first half.

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