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‘What Have You Read?’
Here on Ricochet lately, we’ve been having a number of discussions between and about “Social Conservatives” and “Libertarians.” (Don’t ask.) In this context a question arose which might be summarised as follows: “What have you read?” I should like to ask this question more generally – not least because there are certain books that can be an education in themselves.
But which ones, and why, specifically, should we read them? We’ve all only got so much time, and some of these books aren’t cheap. Without at least something to spark our interest[1] or otherwise inspire us, the way to a vivid world of understanding may remain lost forever in the shadowy Terra Incognita of our minds; an echo of which may now and then reach us, before fading back “into the forest dim.”[2] Sometimes even when we’ve gone and got the book, it sits there on our shelves waiting hopefully for a day that may never come.
Question: What book or books did you really learn something from, or gain a whole new sense of understanding from reading? Please particularly explain why others of us might find it worth making the effort to read them.
Maybe like those of Thomas Sowell, or F. A. Hayek, they explain a lot, or else vividly illustrate some old truth grown forgotten. Sometimes it may be a particular insight or way of looking at things; or some facet of Economics, or History, Philosophy, or even Literature. A book or writer that to you seems sadly neglected; one “well known,” but not much read. A chance to show your gratitude to the trusty ship, or even “little wooden boat,”[3] on which you first set sail for new and unknown lands.
[1] (an Uncommon Knowledge episode, say)
[2] John Keats, Ode to a Nightingale.
[3] Ronald Reagan, Farewell Address, January 11, 1989.
Published in General
The Death of Common Sense by Philip K. Howard – I credit this book with finally convincing me to personally adopt the label of “conservative”.
The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg
Boom, Bust & Echo by David Foot
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley
The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton
The Rebel Sell and Nation of Rebels by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter
Let’s also not forget Atlas Shrugged. Love it or hate it, it’s a must-read.
Fiction, then:
1. Heinlein. At least Starship Troopers (may Verhoeven burn in — civility interrupt), Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, the Lazarus Long books, obviously Time Enough For Love.
2. Vernor Vinge’s novella The Ungoverned.
3. Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon :-), and The Baroque Cycle.
4. O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series. Among other things — including dramatically improving your command of The King’s English — a sure-fire cure for feminism. Reading in the second chapter about the main character standing there on the quarterdeck ignoring a musket ball through an earlobe will man you right up. :-).
5. David Friedman: Harald. “Fantasy without magic.” Learn what a cataphract is. Putting all his SCA time to good use, this.
Also, In the Beginning … Was The Command Line.
My name is EThompson and I am a bookaholic. There are too many all night binges to list, so I’ll focus on my latest four in chronological order:
1. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.
2. America by Dinesh D’Souza.
3. Please Stop Helping Us by Jason L. Riley.
4. Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley (in case you were wondering if I had any sense of humor).
Friedman’s Freedom and Capitalism is a seminal work as is Banfield’s Unheavenly City. I still like the Buckley compilations, the man’s mind was a gem, no one more articulate. Can’t go wrong with Sowell. I like Marxism and Basic Economics for a clear and concise review of basic market principles. John Q Wilson’s The Moral Sense should be more widely read.
Yertle the Turtle: possibly the best book on the subject of turtle stacking ever written.
Oh, and Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia.
Kevin Kelly’s Out of Control
Peter Bernstein’s Capital Ideas
Peter Huber’s The Geodesic Network
I know Doug Barnes. He was here for a wedding in January. :-)
Did you read it?
All’s quiet, and on the main feed the thread is slowly disappearing over the horizon. (Absent any further comments or suggestions) it remains to thank everyone for reading, following, and commenting: Ladies and Gentlemen of Ricochet, thank-you.
After studying the usual fields of science in high school and college, I learned to understand science from Jacob Bronowski via all his essays on the subject across many books. I did not read The Ascent of Man, but at least some of the essay collections I read are listed at his Amazon page (http://www.amazon.com/Jacob-Bronowski/e/B000APHXDW/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1410051385&sr=1-2-ent).