Fall 2011 Reading List
Fall begins tomorrow. So I am going to start another group of books.
Here is what I have on my plate:
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antonius
Paradise Lost - Milton
Genghis series - Conn Iggulden
Democracy in America - Alexis De Toqueville
The Phenomenon of Man - Pierre Tielhard De Chardin
It's heavy lifting this time (except Iggulden's historical fiction series) so I expect it may take awhile to finish. If, for some reason, I finish early I'll post what else I read.
Meditations is great. One of my favorite books, to be honest.
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Originally Posted by Rafiki
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Valandui's Weekly Music Video
Tesseract: Concealing Fate Part Four: Perfection
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Just started The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Every book this fall (and spring) is gonna take a while because the only time I read anything outside of school texts is on the subway...and the pooper.
As for which I'll be reading next, my nerdiness hits full tilt. I choose every book at random using a random number generator and a list I've made of books I own but haven't read. The only exceptions are the occasional book I've borrowed or a gift from a person that will actually follow up on it...
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Rum Diaries, that new collection of HST articles/letters, and Stop Voting the *******s In.
Pretty sure I wrote that one last summer.
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Originally Posted by CedarPhin
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Currently reading Liberty Defined by Ron Paul, The Return of the Antichrist and the New World Order by Patrick Heron, and re-reading part of The Book of Lost Tales II by J.R.R. Tolkien. I usually have way too many books going at once. Still Need to finish Griftopia by Matt Taibbi as well.
Okay I finally finished Marcus Aurelius.
The bad thing about it is that it is sometimes all over the place making it hard to follow. I constantly had to reread whole paragraphs. Philosophy is active reading. You simply cannot sleepwalk through it like you can some novels.
The great thing about it is that he has some absolutely great advice to deal with douchebags. Stoicism as a life philosophy may be a bit over the top as far as not enjoying nor despairing life, but the tools it gives for dealing with people are invaluable. Let me quote his ten rules for dealing with douches (edited down of course):
On to Paradise Lost.If any have offended against thee, consider first: what is my relation to men, and that we are made for one another; and in another respect, I was made to be set over them, as a ram over the flock or a bull over the herd...
Second, consider what kind of men they are at table, in bed, and so forth; and particularly, under what compulsions in respect of opinions they are; and as to their acts, consider with what pride they do what they do.
Third, that if men do rightly what they do, we ought not be displeased; but if they do not do right, it is plain that they do so involuntarily and in ignorance. For as every soul is unwillingly deprives of the truth, so also is it unwilling deprives of the power of behaving to each man according to his deserts...
Fourth, consider that thou also doest many things wrong, and that thou art a man like others; and even if thou dost abstain from certain faults, still thou hast the disposition to commit them..
Fifth, consider that thou doest not even understand whether men are doing wrong or not, for many things are done with a certain reference to circumstances.
Sixth, consider when thou art much vexed or grieved, that man's life is only a moment, and after a short time we are all laid out dead.
Seventh, that it is not men's acts that disturb us, for those acts have their foundation in men's ruling principles, but it is our own opinions which disturb us. Take away these opinions then, and resolve to dismiss they judgment about an act as if it were grievous, and thy anger is gone...
Eighth, consider how much pain is brought on us by the anger and vexation caused by such acts than by the acts themselves, at which we are angry and vexed.
Ninth, consider that a good disposition is invincible, if it be genuine, and not an affected smile and acting a part. For what will the most violent man do to thee, if thou continuest to be of a kind disposition towards him...
But if thou wilt, receive also a tenth.. that to expect bad men not to do wrong is madness, for he who expects this desires an impossibility.
Where did you pick up that book, Rafiki?
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Marcus Aurelius? At a used book store. I got the Harvard Classics edition, like the link but in hardcover.
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Originally Posted by GoonBoss
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Oh, it's also available online for a free download from Project Guttenberg.
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