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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2715 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 10, 2024

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 going through the Quran. Some themes are emerging. The sight of the unseen, the desire to express things which seem difficult to communicate, the rejection of wealth and privilege as a justification for belief, and above all the adherence to principle rather than expedience because the things desired were themselves provided by their God. Repetition of form but not substance seems like a principal means of expressing subtlety.

There's an evident underlying rage, but I think that we lose much by examining only the words and not the approach. There was a dream here, one which may help fill some of the gaps in my understanding.

Still on McGilchrist and Dumas.

Going on a Jack the Ripper walking tour around Whitechapel in January (after which my poor girlfriend couldn't sleep a wink, God bless her) inspired me to reread Alan Moore's From Hell. I never rated it as highly as Watchmen (which I also reread last year), but reading it this time I think it might be even better. From Hell feels a lot more interested in actually telling a story rather than showing off what can be done with the medium. It's also exhaustively researched: you get the distinct impression that Alan Moore has read any and every book with even the most tangential connection to Jack the Ripper from cover to cover.

The review of Lying for Money (of "the optimal amount of fraud is not zero" fame) posted on Astral Codex Ten is so fascinating that I've read it three times - if that's not a recommendation for the book itself I don't know what is, so I bought it yesterday and I'm going to read it next.

I’ve been getting through quite a few audiobooks at work, mostly sci-fi and horror classics. Recently finished 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Trial. Right now I’m listening to Dracula, despite me thinking I knew the whole story already it’s surprisingly good, so far it’s more impressive than the Cthulhu stories I’ve read.

I’m also working through Henry Kissinger’s Diplomacy. Given how little I know of the history covered I doubt I’ll be able to catch any wild claims but I have to start somewhere.

Deciding whether to start I, Claudius or The Darkness That Comes Before. The latter was recommended to me by my brother, but I’m always hesitant to start a long fantasy series. The older I get, the more I want to read books that are one and done. I don’t need to spend thousands of pages in the same world.

I finished MJ and while an interesting chronology of Michael Jackson’s life, it really didn’t give me any insight into what made Michael tick or his core personality. It was a lot more of “this event happened, then this event happened, then this event happened, etc”. It has helped me get more into MJs music, which I have to say, is really really fucking good. Do I feel any guilt about enjoying a kid diddlers music? Not really. Im able to keep the two separate in my mind, but I wouldn’t judge anyone who can’t listen to him.

So many books, so little time!

The Darkness That Comes Before.

Finished this series (The Second Apocalypse) recently, highly recommended for fantasy fans. In terms of word count it's actually only as long as Harry Potter, though obviously a more challenging read. Really not that many characters to keep track of though and there are some handy guides online for it.

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