Sean,
per our conversation about the future of the List, I think you're right. I don't feel comfortable advocating books for inclusion in advance of having read them, even with the 'classics' (although those are usually a safe bet). From a practical standpoint, I think it is necessary to have A list, if only to have a guide of books to read each year, but that doesn't have to be synonymous with THE List. Hopefully, this will allow us to read potential List books, but I think I've found more books I want on the List from my random selections than those we had originally planned to include.
One such example of this is the book I'm currently reading, Reinventing Knowledge. I highly recommend we include it in the List, as it is essentially a history of the List; specifically, the making and preservation of the Western Canon. I'm only halfway through, but definitely imppressed; in addition to the subject matter, it's well-researched, and (to me) even more importantly, well-written. It's a thick little book - 275 pages with only six chapters and a conclusion, but I honestly have a hard time putting it down. If I wasn't stealing time to read right before bed (and losing sleep because of it), I'd have finished the book already.
I'll write a more through review of Reinventing Knowledge later, after I finish it, but it's the type of book I want us to include on the List. And I discovered it the way we probably will most List books - by trolling the history section of my library. I added it to my personal reading list only because I thought it would be interesting reading for a project on knowledge management I'm doing at work. At the time, I was looking for Boorstin's The Creators, another in his series with The Discoverers, which was recommended by many for the List. I think I've told you, but if not, The Discoverers bored me to tears. I could not make myself read it, and I am definitely a completionist when it comes to reading! The Creators is still tentatively on the List plan for this year, but I don't expect it to make the final cut.
I have to dig out my reading list from last year since it has my final notes, but I think that I'll continue this year much the same as I did the previous one - reading anything that catches my fancy, and trying to include as much of the List's planned entries as possible. At the end of this year, since it will mark the end of the first 'era' of the List, you and I should sit down and review 10-30 books for inclusion in years 1&2 (I am counting them as a unit, so averaging 15 books a year, not 60 total). In the mean time, this is what I'm reading:
Reading 2009
Non-Fiction
Trivium- Joseph
Royal Nonesuch- Phillips
Ideas that Conquered the World
Discover Your Inner Economist
Fifth Discipline- Peter M. Senge
Future and Its Enemies- Postrel
Cyberprotest- Dahlgren
Reckless Mind- Lilla
Living High and Letting Die
Always On – Baron
Future Imperfect – David Friedman
Distracted – Jackson
Cognitive Diversity – Scott Page
Inventing Human Rights - Lynn Hunt
Crowd-Sourcing
This Is Your Brain on Music
Reinventing Knowledge
Farewell to Alms
Bottom Billion
Hackers and Painters
Fiction
At Swim-Two-Birds
Bangkok 8
Evidence of Things Unseen- Wiggins
Devil Wears Prada
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
Middlesex
Acts of Faith- Caputo
27th City- Franzen
Passage
Last Cavalier- Dumas, trans. Lauren Yoder (carry over from last year's reading)
Carry On, Jeeves
The List (potentially)
A Brief History of Time
A Little History of the World - Gombrich
A World History - McNeill
An Urchin in the Storm
Art of the Novel- Milan Kundera
Big History
Biography: A Brief History- Nigel Hamilton (carry over from last year)
But Is It Art? – Freeland
Clan of the Cave Bear
Critical Mass – Ball
Curtain: Essay in Seven Parts- Milan Kundera, trans. Linda Asher
Golden Bough
History of God
How to Read a Book - Adler
How to Read and Why - Bloom
I Have Landed Introducing Aesthetics – Kul-Want
Perennial Philosophy – Huxley
Power of MythReligions of Man
Six Great Ideas – Adler
Story of Us Humans
Ten Geographic Ideas that Changed the World
The Creators
The Overflowing Brain
The Rhetoric of Fiction
The Stuff of Thought
Varieties of Religious Experiences
Walking on Water- Jensen
What Good Are the Arts?- John Carey
Your Inner Fish
Other/Additional (as in, will/*should* be the last to be read)
One Economics, Many Recipes - Rodrik
Origins: A Memoir - Amin Maalouf
Ethical Shopping - Young and Welford
Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism - Baumol
Not Buying It
Letters to a Young Activist
Bad Modernisms- Mao and Walkowitz
Peasants, Traders and WivesAnthropology, Development, and the Post-Modern Challenge- Gardner and Lewis
Plowshares and Pork Barrels- Pasour
I Write What I Like- Biko
Africa Unchained
We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
When Things Fell Apart - Robert H. Bates
On Being Certain
After War
Love the Work, Hate the Job - David Kusnet
Enterprise 2.0
Momentum
Everything Is Miscellaneous
Groundswell
Fear and Trembling - Kirkegaard
Wikinomics
Showing posts with label mariel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mariel. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
I took a break from reading W&P to read Thomas C. Foster's How to Read Like a Professor (perhaps hoping that it would improve my reading of W&P - that remains to be seen).
I actually have very little to say about this book, other than I loved it. Of the books I've read so far, of the books that I will read for the List, this is definitely one of the most enjoyable.
The chapter list is fairly comprehensive. While, as he notes, the topics covered aren't exhaustive, they would give anyone a good start into the realm of literary understanding and criticism. Each is accessible, providing thought-provoking but recognizable examples to learn from and digest. I haven't read most of the books he discusses but he has made me look forward to reading them (although, really, it's not hard to do that).
The chapters are self-contained units, but Foster takes care to use the same sources through several chapters, and reference previous themes he has discussed to build a more complete picture of the work.
At the end of the book, he includes an exercise for practice (A Test Case), but participation is obviously optional, and since I read it at 11 last night, I didn't bother, and still learned a lot.
My one quibble is I don't agree with him at all about Song of Solomon. The imagery he discusses are there, but I think the novel's character development is sufficiently flawed to negate its potential.
Foster is engaging and helpful, and is definitely one of my favorite English professors I've never had. This book is the best of English class with none of the worst (like homework, or even really reading the numerous texts he references). I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone attempting a project like the List, or even just anyone wanting to get the most from their reading, and pop culture more broadly.
- M
I actually have very little to say about this book, other than I loved it. Of the books I've read so far, of the books that I will read for the List, this is definitely one of the most enjoyable.
The chapter list is fairly comprehensive. While, as he notes, the topics covered aren't exhaustive, they would give anyone a good start into the realm of literary understanding and criticism. Each is accessible, providing thought-provoking but recognizable examples to learn from and digest. I haven't read most of the books he discusses but he has made me look forward to reading them (although, really, it's not hard to do that).
The chapters are self-contained units, but Foster takes care to use the same sources through several chapters, and reference previous themes he has discussed to build a more complete picture of the work.
At the end of the book, he includes an exercise for practice (A Test Case), but participation is obviously optional, and since I read it at 11 last night, I didn't bother, and still learned a lot.
My one quibble is I don't agree with him at all about Song of Solomon. The imagery he discusses are there, but I think the novel's character development is sufficiently flawed to negate its potential.
Foster is engaging and helpful, and is definitely one of my favorite English professors I've never had. This book is the best of English class with none of the worst (like homework, or even really reading the numerous texts he references). I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone attempting a project like the List, or even just anyone wanting to get the most from their reading, and pop culture more broadly.
- M
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The Case for Literature
As noted, The List is definitely a work in progress.
First example: The Case for Literature, a truly excellent collection of essays by Gao Xianjian, translated by Mabel Lee. When I included The Case for Literature, I thought it was a book-length dissertation on why literature is important to read and understand. And while I was incorrect in this assumption, I wasn't disappointed. However, I have removed the book from The List, and instead listed selected essays ("The Case for Literature,"Author's Preface to "Without Isms," "Without Isms," and Literature as Testimony: The Search for Truth").
All of Xianjiang's essays are beautifully written, and his explorations of the impact of the Chinese language on the possibilities of thought and story-telling make me wish I had the time (and gumption, frankly) to learn.
Of these essays, I have to say that Xingjian's Preface to "Without Isms" is actually my favorites. One of the difficulties of reading a collection of someone's speeches and essays is that they often have common themes and after a while, they all start to sound the same. The Preface is the second essay included (after the Introduction) so its subject matter (expanded in "Without Isms," the fifth essay) was still fresh and new.
This essay actually affected me pretty deeply, to the exclusion of the other essays - I honestly can't remember what the others say nearly as well, altho I do know they are excellent. In fact, I'm basing a post on my blog, the Everyday Idealist, on the Preface (and once I have the post up at the EI, I'll link it). So I think I'll keep this post short, and just wait for Sean's comments (which I'm sure he'll make even tho he doesn't the essays yet.
For now though, I'll say that this is definitely a collection to add to mine and I will definitely have to include Soul Mountain on my reading list in the future.
- M
First example: The Case for Literature, a truly excellent collection of essays by Gao Xianjian, translated by Mabel Lee. When I included The Case for Literature, I thought it was a book-length dissertation on why literature is important to read and understand. And while I was incorrect in this assumption, I wasn't disappointed. However, I have removed the book from The List, and instead listed selected essays ("The Case for Literature,"Author's Preface to "Without Isms," "Without Isms," and Literature as Testimony: The Search for Truth").
All of Xianjiang's essays are beautifully written, and his explorations of the impact of the Chinese language on the possibilities of thought and story-telling make me wish I had the time (and gumption, frankly) to learn.
Of these essays, I have to say that Xingjian's Preface to "Without Isms" is actually my favorites. One of the difficulties of reading a collection of someone's speeches and essays is that they often have common themes and after a while, they all start to sound the same. The Preface is the second essay included (after the Introduction) so its subject matter (expanded in "Without Isms," the fifth essay) was still fresh and new.
This essay actually affected me pretty deeply, to the exclusion of the other essays - I honestly can't remember what the others say nearly as well, altho I do know they are excellent. In fact, I'm basing a post on my blog, the Everyday Idealist, on the Preface (and once I have the post up at the EI, I'll link it). So I think I'll keep this post short, and just wait for Sean's comments (which I'm sure he'll make even tho he doesn't the essays yet.
For now though, I'll say that this is definitely a collection to add to mine and I will definitely have to include Soul Mountain on my reading list in the future.
- M
Monday, February 18, 2008
War and Peace, Entry No. 1
This is going to take a while.
After I picked War and Peace up from the library, I let it sit on my shelf for a few days, just staring at me. It's an intimidating book - 1200 pages, one of the greatest books of all time, written by one of the greatest authors of all time (inspiring a philosopher no less than Isaiah Berlin to ponder his motivations,). It was precisely for these reasons that we included it in the beginning year of The List, rather than later on with his contemporaries - as Sean insisted, what better way to start off an exploration of human thought, history and literature than by reading W&P. So here we are. And this is going to take a while.
I'm intentionally taking my time with it, spreading it throughout the first year of this gedankenexperiment. Actually, as of this writing, I'm already off target, since my goal is to read 100 pages a month, and I'm only just now hitting that mark in February. It didn't help that it took me 60 (large, dense) pages to get into the story. Any book of this length, (including The Discoverers, which I love) is bound to be intimidating. But when it appears that the book will be nothing but reading reports of conversations (half in French, which, while I can read it without the translation, I'm still unsure of the point) between over-privileged Russian elites in their over-stuffed salons, even my interest flags (not that I would ever not finish the book - I am a completionist, and besides, this is The List, and War and freaking Peace!).
After the 60th page or so, something changed. I'm not sure if it was me, if it was Tolstoy, or what, but it captured me. Most of the *action* still takes place in drawing rooms and hallways, but each of the characters, however briefly noted, are complex actors. Each is fully human - not simply a caricature or type inserted for fill. Tolstoy is evidently fascinated by these individuals and their lives, the choices they make, the actions they take, the circumstances that shape them. After a while, it's infectious.
Some of that credit must be placed with the translators, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Being desperately out of practice with my own Russian language skills (and never having reached Tolstoy's level anyway), I really can't know for certain how true they are to the original text. The reader has to place tremendous faith in the work of the translators, the best of which rise to the level of interpreters - not merely transposing the original words, but actively reimagining the work - writing as the author would have, if s/he had written in the second language. While not a substitute for a reading in the native tongue, the best translations capture the spirit and render the thinking of the original. Given what I've heard about W&P from those who read it in Russian, Pevear and Volokhonsky have done a worthy job
So, this is going to take a while, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm also hoping that by writing every 100 pages or so, and interspersing my reading of this with other selections from The List, I will be able to observe my own thinking grow and evolve over the course of the year. I'm also looking forward to the inevitable debates with Sean about these books (since we rarely agree on any interpretation). All in all, it should be a very interesting year.
- M
After I picked War and Peace up from the library, I let it sit on my shelf for a few days, just staring at me. It's an intimidating book - 1200 pages, one of the greatest books of all time, written by one of the greatest authors of all time (inspiring a philosopher no less than Isaiah Berlin to ponder his motivations,). It was precisely for these reasons that we included it in the beginning year of The List, rather than later on with his contemporaries - as Sean insisted, what better way to start off an exploration of human thought, history and literature than by reading W&P. So here we are. And this is going to take a while.
I'm intentionally taking my time with it, spreading it throughout the first year of this gedankenexperiment. Actually, as of this writing, I'm already off target, since my goal is to read 100 pages a month, and I'm only just now hitting that mark in February. It didn't help that it took me 60 (large, dense) pages to get into the story. Any book of this length, (including The Discoverers, which I love) is bound to be intimidating. But when it appears that the book will be nothing but reading reports of conversations (half in French, which, while I can read it without the translation, I'm still unsure of the point) between over-privileged Russian elites in their over-stuffed salons, even my interest flags (not that I would ever not finish the book - I am a completionist, and besides, this is The List, and War and freaking Peace!).
After the 60th page or so, something changed. I'm not sure if it was me, if it was Tolstoy, or what, but it captured me. Most of the *action* still takes place in drawing rooms and hallways, but each of the characters, however briefly noted, are complex actors. Each is fully human - not simply a caricature or type inserted for fill. Tolstoy is evidently fascinated by these individuals and their lives, the choices they make, the actions they take, the circumstances that shape them. After a while, it's infectious.
Some of that credit must be placed with the translators, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Being desperately out of practice with my own Russian language skills (and never having reached Tolstoy's level anyway), I really can't know for certain how true they are to the original text. The reader has to place tremendous faith in the work of the translators, the best of which rise to the level of interpreters - not merely transposing the original words, but actively reimagining the work - writing as the author would have, if s/he had written in the second language. While not a substitute for a reading in the native tongue, the best translations capture the spirit and render the thinking of the original. Given what I've heard about W&P from those who read it in Russian, Pevear and Volokhonsky have done a worthy job
So, this is going to take a while, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm also hoping that by writing every 100 pages or so, and interspersing my reading of this with other selections from The List, I will be able to observe my own thinking grow and evolve over the course of the year. I'm also looking forward to the inevitable debates with Sean about these books (since we rarely agree on any interpretation). All in all, it should be a very interesting year.
- M
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Book Lust; Mariel's Version
Everything else I'm reading this year (for now)
* italicized denotes already read
Non-Fiction
The Bestiary - Nicholas Christopher
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver
Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language - Seth Lerer
Portraits and Observations: The Essays of Truman Capote
Housekeeping Vs. the Dirt - Hornby
Songbook - Hornby
Super Crunchers - Ayres
Trivium - Joseph
Foreign Aid - Lancaster
Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humors - Noga Arikha
Inventing Human Rights - Lynn Hunt
Long Road Home - Martha Raddatz
Walking on Water - Jensen
Discover Your Inner Economist - Cowen
Logic of Life - Harford
Politics of Freedom
Tipping Point - Gladwell
Walking on Water - L’Engle
Fiction
Last Cavalier - Dumas, trans. Lauren Yoder
Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolano, trans. Natasha Wimmer
Lost City Radio - Daniel Alarcon
Mr Sebastian and the Negro Magician - Daniel Wallace
Uncommon Reader - Bennett
Not Enough Indians - Harry Shearer
Q & A - Swarup
Slam - Hornby
Everything Is Illuminated
- M
* italicized denotes already read
Non-Fiction
The Bestiary - Nicholas Christopher
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver
Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language - Seth Lerer
Portraits and Observations: The Essays of Truman Capote
Housekeeping Vs. the Dirt - Hornby
Songbook - Hornby
Super Crunchers - Ayres
Trivium - Joseph
Foreign Aid - Lancaster
Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humors - Noga Arikha
Inventing Human Rights - Lynn Hunt
Long Road Home - Martha Raddatz
Walking on Water - Jensen
Discover Your Inner Economist - Cowen
Logic of Life - Harford
Politics of Freedom
Tipping Point - Gladwell
Walking on Water - L’Engle
Fiction
Last Cavalier - Dumas, trans. Lauren Yoder
Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolano, trans. Natasha Wimmer
Lost City Radio - Daniel Alarcon
Mr Sebastian and the Negro Magician - Daniel Wallace
Uncommon Reader - Bennett
Not Enough Indians - Harry Shearer
Q & A - Swarup
Slam - Hornby
Everything Is Illuminated
- M
Welcome
Welcome to The List.
The List is both our shared reading list and a place to discuss the included books and essays. The idea of The List came developed over a year’s time (2007) after Mariel mentioned to Sean that as part of organizing her massive reading list (over 40 pages), she intended to compress 50 000 years of human history and literature into a 15-20 year reading project. Sean, being who he is, insisted she actually do it, and that she share. Eventually they (meaning Mariel) sorted through The List, which is posted by year. This year, 2008, is the first year of The List.
This is a work in progress. While The List is organized in a (mostly) logical manner, neither of us have read these books. Many are included simply because they were recommended, or looked interesting, and so were sorted into their respective years. With this in mind, expect that The List will grow and evolve over time, as we actually begin reading the books, and deciding if they are truly worthy of inclusion.
Additionally, The List is only one part of a much larger project to categorize everything we and our friends find interesting and important. This project is broken down into two smaller parts: Awesomeosity and Blogworthy. If The List is everything you need to know to be human, Awesomeosity is everything you need to know to be in the know, and Blogworthy is everything else worthwhile you might have missed in your daily life. Eventually, we’ll actually build a webpage and start sharing our knowledge and thoughts with the rest of the world.
Until then, enjoy.
The List is both our shared reading list and a place to discuss the included books and essays. The idea of The List came developed over a year’s time (2007) after Mariel mentioned to Sean that as part of organizing her massive reading list (over 40 pages), she intended to compress 50 000 years of human history and literature into a 15-20 year reading project. Sean, being who he is, insisted she actually do it, and that she share. Eventually they (meaning Mariel) sorted through The List, which is posted by year. This year, 2008, is the first year of The List.
This is a work in progress. While The List is organized in a (mostly) logical manner, neither of us have read these books. Many are included simply because they were recommended, or looked interesting, and so were sorted into their respective years. With this in mind, expect that The List will grow and evolve over time, as we actually begin reading the books, and deciding if they are truly worthy of inclusion.
Additionally, The List is only one part of a much larger project to categorize everything we and our friends find interesting and important. This project is broken down into two smaller parts: Awesomeosity and Blogworthy. If The List is everything you need to know to be human, Awesomeosity is everything you need to know to be in the know, and Blogworthy is everything else worthwhile you might have missed in your daily life. Eventually, we’ll actually build a webpage and start sharing our knowledge and thoughts with the rest of the world.
Until then, enjoy.
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