Random books from skholiast's library
Selected writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon by P.-J Proudhon
Answer to Job by C. G. Jung
Philosophy as metanoetics by Hajime Tanabe
Eros the Bittersweet: An Essay by Anne Carson
The Collected Dialogues of Plato by Plato
Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges
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Member: skholiast
CollectionsYour library (201)
Reviews18 reviews
Tagsphilosophy (43), fiction (39), poetry (37), spirituality (24), poetics (15), myth (15), theology (15), sui generis (14), lit. crit. (13), history (10) — see all tags
Cloudstag cloud, author cloud
GroupsA Pearl of Wisdom and Enlightenment, Baker Street and Beyond, Christian Worship and Liturgy, Christianity, Inklings, Philosophy and Theory, Poetry Fool, RYM/Rate Your Music
Favorite bookstoresMagus Books (Seattle), Open Books: A Poem Emporium, Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore
About meI am a teacher and fellow-student among school children in Seattle, Washington. For as long as I can remember I've kept (at least) two books with me: one to read; the other, blank. If I am not reading or scribbling, I'm probably walking to the next cafe.
I am also a musician and lover of music, and am listing some of my record library on the closest thing to a musical analogue of LibraryThing, called rateyourmusic.com --O Brave New World, that hath such time-wasters in it! (There's a link below to some of music library if you care).
Surpassing even books or music for me-- which is saying quite a lot-- is the pleasure of dialogue, whether with old friends or chance encounters; a pleasure more intense, but also rarer. Like literature, talk varies much in quality (especially if you've just met); but you can't just put a conversation down like a paperback. (Music you can leave on, at least).... Still, for good talk, I will (temporarily) lay aside whatever I am reading-- and half the time we wind up discussing books, anyway.
About my libraryI have lived with, in, and on top of books since before I could read. (Thanks, Mom!) The first fictional character I remember relating to was Bilbo Baggins. The next was Dorian Gray. Probably explains a thing or two.
My library has been stored in many manners and permutations. For a while I lived in a tiny studio with my bed in the breakfast nook atop of fifteen banker's boxes full of (some of) my books. Later I kept some 200 cubic feet of them-- less than half-- in a storage unit just across the street; I visited them often, but still, I felt like a bad parent. Twice in my life I've let go a good quarter to third of my books, accommodating my library to available space; And having recently moved, I am now in the midst of purge number three, calling for the courage of Achilles, the discernment of Solomon, and the resignation of Marcus Aurelius.
When I joined LibraryThing, I had just moved into a new apartment, and I decided to keep "the absolute essentials" in my study on a shelf next to my desk. The attempt proved a lesson in the elasticity of "essential," but choosing two hundred to list here was a helpful accessory exercise. Initially, I listed 200 "desert island" books. Later, I tried to be "representative" in my choices as well as honestly showing what I considered to be a genuine reflection of who I am as a reader and thinker. My latest revision of the list has had to do with wearing my commitments more on my sleeve. That is, some books listed are here not because I would be able to read them over and over but because they have strongly informed who I am and the choices I make. Also here are the occasional works with which I fiercely disagree but whose rigor I respect and engagement with which keeps me honest. And of course, my relationship to these books changes all the time....
In other words, this list of 200 is a work in progress. It's possible I may continue to rotate titles through from time to time before (inevitably?) upgrading my membership to "lifetime".
Three volumes don't appear which are standards: The Bible, Homer, and the dictionary (preferably the O.E.D. --I've got the 2-vol. set with the magnifying glass). I take it for granted (more and more mistakenly) that every library, like every hotel room, will contain at least the first (actually every hotel room, like every library, ought to contain the second as well; in fact, at the risk of sounding like a dead white colonialist, I'd lobby for Shakespeare, Dante, Plato, and the Mahabharata too). The third... well, it *is* the library, as it were edited down to its elements-- sort of the Reader's Digest Condensed Version.
--
"Philosophy does not consist in asking what men have said, but in asking after the truth of the matter."
--St. Thomas Aquinas (In I lib. de Coelo, lect. xxii; II Sent., D. xiv, a. 2, ad 1um).
"Yet...if that olde bokes were a-weye,
Y-loren were of remembraunce the keye.."
--Geoffrey Chaucer, ("Legend of Good Women," ll 25-26)
Homepagehttp://rateyourmusic.com/~skholiast
LocationSeattle, WA
Emailskholiast
gmail.com
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http://www.librarything.com/profile/skholiast (profile)
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Common KnowledgeSeries (28), Awards (61), Characters (844), Places (197)
Member sinceJun 29, 2006
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 skholiast reviewed, rated, added:Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life by Daniel C. Dennett  (read review) |
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posted by SundinRichards at 10:14 am (EST) on Feb 28, 2009
posted by SundinRichards at 9:02 am (EST) on Feb 28, 2009
posted by alexnisnevich at 2:26 pm (EST) on Jul 1, 2008
Apologies for delay in responding; unintentional, I assure you.
Intrigued to note 15 titles we share, but even more by your 17 splendid reviews.
Never heard of Glenn Parker, alas, but you make me keen to learn more, esp where you note that "The bivalence of a word like "become" is one of the pieces of fallout from Babel. Parker knew very well that language obscured as well as made possible." I'm great fan of Brautigan at any rate (esp. "Dreaming of Babylon" and "Revenge of the Lawn") though I prefer Ann Carson for her poetry. From your review of her "Eros the Bittersweet" I (particularly) liked the whole paragraph beginning "Her relationship with her texts, if one can put it like this, is itself erotic" and that ends "prying open the whole word, the whole self."
Ashberry is another poet I'm unfamiliar with, by and large, but your summary "prayer in the pulse...almost a breviary" makes him sound attractively "religious" (in inverted commas, note). Most religious writers (I do not exclude Martin Buber)are practically unreadable and only marginally better than most "poetry" on the market. Happily, John Donne is an exception on both fronts, and I thoroughly endorse your high opinion of him.
I guess we either like or loathe Kant, and I'm afraid I can't abide him (or the Enlightenment, period). Foundations or otherwise of the "Metaphysics of Morals" sounds like a contradiction-in-terms, but I take your point that he could be a great "stylist" when he needed to. So could Bertrand Russell and John Henry Newman, even Karl Popper on occasion, but would anyone care to advocate any of them as "wise"? (instead of plain "silly"). More generally, I'm unconvinced by the Kantian image of Wittgenstein, whom I see as more Augustinian, but I take to your neat conclusion that these issues are "not..incontestable" but engage questions "most worth contesting".
Certainly you are correct "Cuisine is more than a matter of munching" and on your advice I shall look out for Irma Rombauer's book. Thanks.
On the "Illuminatus" trilogy, you note that "Not only were Shea and Wilson the original Deleuze and Guattari; their book is way funnier."
It is also a lot sexier, of course, which has to be a bonus.
"Lost in the Cosmos", I'm afraid, left me comatose (not unlike my posting must be leaving you) but I agree he makes an interesting reminder of CSPeirce's triadic rather than dyadic epistemology.
Like all Chesterton's works "The Man Who Was Thursday" merits a mention and I agree that Borges only saw three-quarters of his hero.
Our little Argentinian friend was always trying to be clever, whereas to GKC it was second nature, almost effortless. Only GK's bete noir, Oscar Wilde, was ever wittier. Or more profound.
Finally, I love your suggestion that Finnegan's Wake should be read before going to sleep, to induce dreaming in "stereophonic etymology"
Superb!
Mazel tov
posted by reuchlin at 2:18 pm (EST) on Sep 22, 2007
I have read all your reviews, which I enjoyed very much. In fact I'm going to read quite a few of your books. I like your clear style and your intelligent and interesting observations. In fact it makes me very happy to know that people like you actually exist, living on top of your books and hauling them along wherever you go.
As for me I care very little about literary cathegories, what matters to me is whether the books have any bearing on my own life or not. And that may quite as easily be children's books as the more forbidding things obviously intended for adults to grapple with.
What I'm really looking for is books that make things stand out from the background and in a way come into being through that particular text. To be quite honest this can be very scary, because seeing things in a new and different way can mean changing. The creative effort of poetry sometimes trigger things in myself that push me into a phase of transition which can be very freaky indeed.
I often think of the poetic project when I do things that are a bit over the top like bungee jumping. I mean I stand ready on the platform, the abyss snapping at my feet. In this moment of overwhelming fear I listen to the jumpmaster's countdown. And then suddenly I enter a new dimension, a timeless realm of poetry and love and insights and life and death. This is the moment where my darkest fears suddenly are transformed into joy and elation and clarity, the moment when I experience life in all its vibrancy and intensity.
This obviously sounds like a rather childish and trivial personal thing, but to me it seems like a good analogy to the poetic effort. And when I read poets like Eliot or Keats or Sylvia Plath I always do it with some awe and trepidation because I have to think of the dreadful leap they had to make into the abyss to get to these insights. Poetry is rather dangerous stuff that should never be taken lightly.
I'm very happy to have got this small glimpse into your life. Happy reading!
And by the way. Yes, my life is quite interesting come to think of it.
posted by agricolaoval at 6:08 pm (EST) on Jul 22, 2007
posted by keylawk at 12:16 pm (EST) on Mar 24, 2007
It sounds, to say the least, different.
posted by dcozy at 4:41 am (EST) on Feb 16, 2007
"Yick," Davenport would have said.
Best,
posted by dcozy at 1:47 am (EST) on Jan 25, 2007
The world is a poorer place without him.
posted by dcozy at 1:41 am (EST) on Jan 24, 2007
posted by mijaloz at 10:07 am (EST) on Jan 11, 2007
On Strauss, this little thesis of mine will never get much acceptance so long as the 'culture wars' continue. If you need to think that Strauss is bad then he is the follower of the supposedly 'fascistic' Nietzsche. Now, to ward off this attack his followers overplay the Plato hand. Both interpretations, imho, make Strauss incoherent. Now, there are 'incoherencies' in the thought of any genuine philosopher due to the comprehensive nature of the philosophical project and also the insurmountable opacity, for all forms of human reason, of the Whole. Of course, Humanity itself remains a riddle too... However, in spite of all this, interpretation (or commentary) should strive not to introduce more confusion but rather to explain it such as it is.
________________________________________...
skholiast wrote:
Hi again. Among modern Euro-thinkers, I think Badiou is a major player. He's wrong, but his theses have a ferocious consistency, and like Sartre he can't be disregarded w/ impunity. Zizek makes a similar point to yours about the puppet and dwarf; but I find him a little cloying to read for long stretches. He's very clever and fun for a while, in part because he's inherited Freud's fondness for jokes; but after a certain point I begin to veer towards adapting Capote on Kerouac: That's not thinking, it's typing. I've encountered divergent verdicts on Agamben, as well as on Vattimo. For myself, I find the latter more readable. As re. Taubes' book on Paul, I agree- it is the best I've seen-- mainly because he does *not* try to reduce Paul, though he does make explicit a political dimension. (Also, the tone of the book, reproduced from the lectures, makes it a pleasure to read). On the theological front, N.T. Wright's recent work on Paul is i.m.o. the most plausible and important work in decades.
You make a very interesting point on Strauss and al-Farabi (i.e., that the Islamic thinker is the hinge for understanding LS's claims about esotericism and his conception of what philosophy is). I will have to think that one over.
posted by skholiast at 3:43 pm (EST) on Sep 25, 2006
posted by pomonomo2003 at 7:47 pm (EST) on Sep 26, 2006
In my review of Walter Benjamin I perhaps touched on some of the points you have in mind. I joked about how the philosophical position of puppet and dwarf had switched. With Benjamin, the ugly, but wise, dwarf 'theology' hides in the puppet 'historical materialism' in order to ensure that historical materialism always wins. Now, or so many of our contemporary readings would lead us to believe, the ugly, but wise dwarf 'Marxism' is to hide in the puppet of theology. I perhaps flatter myself in believing I indicated why Benjamin ultimately must prefer his configuration to the au courant one now being peddled.
I had not made the connection between todays essays on Paul and this essay by Kierkegaard. -Good point! Had I thought of it I would have probably mentioned it but my focus was on Kierkegaard's contempt of 'modern Christians' and the argument between philosophy and religion. The gist of this last is that any religion (or God!) that cannot unite human History will suffer repeated attempts by philosophy to do so...
Joe
________________________________________...
skholiast wrote:
Hi again,
read your recent remarks on Kierkegaard with interest. This essay (Genius v. Apostle) is all the more relevant at present now that Agamben and Badiou and Zizek are all chiming in with their "readings" of St. Paul. S.K. had already anticipated their approach in the early 19th c.
~~skholiast
posted by skholiast at 2:20 am (EST) on Sep 24, 2006
posted by pomonomo2003 at 5:28 pm (EST) on Sep 24, 2006
Agree with you completely about a need for a music equivalent of LT, but no basis like Amazon, or LC exists to my knowledge.
Best regards.
posted by Ferrarese at 9:06 pm (EST) on Aug 13, 2006
posted by quartzite at 1:42 pm (EST) on Aug 4, 2006