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In a Book-Buying Mood
I dislike acquiring stuff. You only own things in part; in part the things own you. I also have too many unread books already. My shelves are nearly full. And despite my best attempts to convince myself otherwise, I want more books.
I’ve been jotting down a list of books that I need to look up and read sometime. A couple quick notes from it:
- Something by Vladimir Nabokov. Nabokov is known primarily for writing “Lolita,” but for reasons that ought to be obvious, I’ve got no desire to read that particular book. The @KirkianWanderer tells me that his other stuff is worth looking into, so I figured I’d give it a shot. My local library has exactly “Lolita” on its shelves. Okay, checked the local bookstore. It’s got two copies of “Lolita” on its shelves. Figures.
- “Four Quartets” by T.S. Eliot. This one comes from the “Young Heretics” podcast, which was on Ricochet before seeking greener pastures elsewhere. Eliot wrote “The Waste Land” [1] [2] before his conversion to Christianity, and “Four Quartets” [3], [4] afterward. When I checked the library, it didn’t have either, and the bookstore had three copies of “The Waste Land” but none of “Four Quartets.” Also figures.
- The Horatio Hornblower Series by C.M. Forrester. I figure this one will be fun. After that, perhaps I’ll read the Master and Commander series, but I’d like to get them in the right order.
- “Shadows of the Mind” by Roger Penrose. I read his “The Emperor’s New Mind” last year and wrote up about it on Ricochet. I haven’t tracked down his sequel yet. I need to sooner or later.
My list constitutes what former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld would have termed the “known unknowns,” the books that I know I ought to be reading. What books out there constitute the unknown unknowns, the books I don’t know that I ought to read? I figure I could do worse than throw the question to the discerning, intelligent, well read, and easily flattered Ricochetti.
What books should I be buying?
Published in Literature
You read The Consolation of Philosophy?
How about The Prisoner of Zenda? Sure, it’s light adventure and fun, but it is fun. Have you ever read it?
No, and no. Congratulations. those are now on the list.
Have you read any of George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman books? Those are good. So are Quartered Safe Out Here: A Recollection of the War in Burma, and Steel Bonnets.
C.S. Lewis’s “That Hideous Strength” is prescient about the abuse of science we’re seeing today with the WuFlu.
Several years ago, on a whim, I ordered a copy of Why Orwell Matters by Christopher Hitchens. That led me on a little exercise to read all of Orwell’s works in order. If you haven’t read them yet, I recommend the entire “series.”
In a similar vein, I offer a three book series by Jack London: The Road, The People of the Abyss, and The Iron Heel.
Ok. First I have enough Scotch blood that I try not to buy things I can borrow rather than buy. So I too go to the library first. BUT it is amazing to me how many books I think should be in the system are not. You would think they’d have 1 copy of all books by Nabokov, T. S. Elliott, Mencken, etc. I realize they have budgets but part of being a library is providing something other than the latest best seller or book by a Clinton or Obama. I have discovered Interlibrary Loan and have used it to get books not otherwise available. I had to get Lenin’s What Is To Be Done, To the Finland Station, and Andrew Studdaford’s Red Plenty that way. We need @Charlotte to chime in on this or other Ricochet librarians. As to your original question (sorry for the mini-rant), have you read Road to Serfdom, Boys in the Boat, or Albion’s Seed? All ones I’ve read that have stuck with me for various reasons.
I see a distinct lack of WWII history on your list.
I’d start with James Hornfischer’s The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945. Fantastic writer, unfortunately died earlier this year. I’d have loved to read whatever he had coming next.
Then I’d move on to the Ian Toll Pacific War trilogy.
Homer’s Iliad: and even if you’ve already read it in the past, it’s worth reading again. (I’m partial to Mitchell’s translation; Lattimore is great, too.)
That could be said about a lot of wars. First Punic War? Not on the list. War of 1812? Not on the list. Crimean War? Not on the list. We could be recommending books about every war since creation.
Yeah, Flashman and the Angel of the Lord. It was a bit much for me; a little too much of, shall we say, Flashman’s primary attributes. I might give the series another shot.
Read it. It’s about due for a reread, but not just yet.
My brother famously borrowed a copy of Burmese Days, and then lost it, only returning it eight long years later. Maybe I should give that a shot. I’ve been meaning to reread 1984, but it’s a rare day when I’m happy enough that I want to dig in to a book like that.
Yes, no, and “no”. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Hayek, not the least because his phrase “the pretense of knowledge” describes just about everything I see.
I spent Junior High reading about World War II. I suppose it’s a field I could learn more about. Also the Punic wars, though I specialized on the second. The Crimean War I rely on Balzer to know about. So far that strategy hasn’t let me down.
Probably on the top of my military history list has got to be Shelby Foote’s history of the Civil War. I started that but never finished it. (And before you ask Arahant, that’s the American Civil War, or the Late Unpleasantness if you must.)
I haven’t read the Illiad proper. I’ll have to amend that. The question of which translation is going to loom large in that decision. For reference I’m the kind of guy who reads the New King James version of the Bible because I prefer a little poetry in the words.
You know me so well.
Then go with Lattimore – his is better at retaining the flavor of the original Greek poetry.
I’ll give a wholehearted endorsement for Nabokov. I’ve read most of his novels (including Lolita, which was disturbing but, I thought, quite good). He, Salinger, Roth, and Amis (Martin, though Kingsley is also good) were for years my favorite authors.
Philip Bobbit’s Shield of Achilles
I just started Commodore Hornblower. It’s very good.
My mom loaned me The Iron Heel. I haven’t read it yet though. My TBR list is long and gets longer every week.
Lots of interesting books here. I’m well behind on my reading but I’ve been meaning to read Michel Houellebecq. Probably Serotonin or Submission. In terms of paper books… John Keegan’s The Second World War is something I’ve wanted to read that I can’t get on Kindle.
A couple of series:
“Incarnations of Immortality” by Piers Anthony. A series where each book details the human incarnation of one of several primal factors: Death, Time, War, Fate, Nature, Evil and Good. Apparently there was an eighth decades later. Interesting idea, fairly well executed.
Harry Turtledove did an alternate history series starting with the South winning the Civil War and running through the end of WWII, which still takes place but with very different players. The first one is “How Few Remain”. It is followed by by a trilogy, another trilogy and finally a tetralogy. Very well done. I can say from personal knowledge that his research is impeccable. (Confederate General George Patton runs the blitzkrieg through Ohio, passing by about a mile from where I’m sitting.)
I read Animal Farm and 1984, then picked up Homage to Catalonia, which is brilliant. At that point I read Down and Out in Paris and London, thought of in my mind as Holden Caulfield at 25. Yikes.
I very highly recomend “Tower of Skulls” by Richard B. Frank.
This is one of the best non-fiction books on the start of the China-Japan struggle in the 1930’s, and how that land war resulted in December 7th, 1941. This is the first book in a planned series.
https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324002109
His concept of the “market-state,” vs. the conventional “nation-state” is worth considering.
Ditto the Fitzgerald translation, and his Odyssey is even better.
If you like the excellent Hornblower series, you might also enjoy Bernard Cornwell’s outstanding Sharpe series. It was inspired by the Hornblower books, but is set in the British army instead of the navy.
Then Walter Lowrie is the Kierkegaard translator for you.
Also read Homage to Catalonia. Not particularly interested in Down and Out but want to get to End of Wigan’s Pier (I know I’m off on the title in some way). I appreciate that Orwell went through more grinding poverty than I ever have.
Put on my never-to-be-finished this side of heaven reading list. Thanks.