Dillard is the most amazing wordsmith I've encountered since I first read Joseph Conrad. Her fecund creativity bombards the reader's mind with images Dillard is the most amazing wordsmith I've encountered since I first read Joseph Conrad. Her fecund creativity bombards the reader's mind with images of things, some of which never before had images. Her natural history observations vary from transcendent to gruesome, but all are fascinating....more
This wonderful book is beautifully written, well researched, and densely packed with important ideas and fascinating supportive information. It has usThis wonderful book is beautifully written, well researched, and densely packed with important ideas and fascinating supportive information. It has useful suggestions for the precarious situation in which we find ourselves now, trying to preserve the American republic from a dictatorial oligarchic takeover....more
This would probably have made an inspiring magazine article, but there's just too much padding and not enough substance for an entire book.This would probably have made an inspiring magazine article, but there's just too much padding and not enough substance for an entire book....more
This starts in summer but has a few fall and numerous winter strips, too. It is both humorous and philosophical at times. Sometimes Calvin deals with This starts in summer but has a few fall and numerous winter strips, too. It is both humorous and philosophical at times. Sometimes Calvin deals with real kid issues, sometimes with adult psychological or societal ones. A few of the strips' stories are in rhyme....more
This is a wonderful book, but a synopsis cannot do it justice. Ishmael is a gorilla who communicates mentally to the "students" he takes on. His methoThis is a wonderful book, but a synopsis cannot do it justice. Ishmael is a gorilla who communicates mentally to the "students" he takes on. His method is Socratic. His subject is how to save the earth....more
This is a charming fantasy from the early 1900s with an anthropomorphic dog as main character. Gissing has philosophical and theological questions thaThis is a charming fantasy from the early 1900s with an anthropomorphic dog as main character. Gissing has philosophical and theological questions that lead him out into the world, first to become a floorwalker in an NYC department store and ten its general manager. Later his questions take him into the pulpit and then to sea. Besides the philosophical ruminations, this also expanded my vocabulary, as I had to consult the OED about "strepitant," "scarp," " hebdomadal, " "fiddley," and "oxter."...more
Short but abstruse. Some passages I did not understand at all. I was surprised, though, at how relevant this book published in the 1960s seems to our Short but abstruse. Some passages I did not understand at all. I was surprised, though, at how relevant this book published in the 1960s seems to our situation today regarding the growth of strongman movements, not just abroad but here in the U.S. with Trump's MAGA cult. I even found something to laugh at in Prof. Jaspers' debate with a psychotherapist....more
I chose this book for the ATY '24 prompt "Raining Cats and Dogs" because of the word "rain" in the title. I was delighted to find these lines on page I chose this book for the ATY '24 prompt "Raining Cats and Dogs" because of the word "rain" in the title. I was delighted to find these lines on page 47: "It was bad weather that night. Raining cats and dogs. It's hard to make a good shot when you're being pelted with pets." The clever banter and dips into philosophy raise this police procedural to another level....more
This Pulitzer-Prize-winning, third-person autobiography by the grandson and great-grandson of U.S. Presidents shows him to have been an intellectual'sThis Pulitzer-Prize-winning, third-person autobiography by the grandson and great-grandson of U.S. Presidents shows him to have been an intellectual's intellectual. Oddly, he omitted the years 1872-1891, during which he married, his wife Clover committed suicide, and Adams commissioned his friend Augustus St. Gaudens to create a now-famous statue in her memory....more
Facing mortality can make us choose more wisely how to use our brief time on the planet. Realizing that we don't know how much time we have left forceFacing mortality can make us choose more wisely how to use our brief time on the planet. Realizing that we don't know how much time we have left forces us to make better choices, and ones oriented toward the present, as a future is not guaranteed. ...more
Fifty pages, 29 of which are black-and-white photographs, raise the question of whether this is really a "boSummary: Get a life, and be present in it.
Fifty pages, 29 of which are black-and-white photographs, raise the question of whether this is really a "book" or just a short essay in hard covers. It is worth reading -- from a public library or used-book store, not for $12.95....more
Gabriel Syme is hired as an undercover policeman to infiltrate a secret society of anarchists and, through his clever debating, is elevated to the govGabriel Syme is hired as an undercover policeman to infiltrate a secret society of anarchists and, through his clever debating, is elevated to the governing committee of seven, all codenamed as days of the week. Is the story an allegory, a satire, or just a bad dream? ...more
This hilarious homage to Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat won Hugo and Locus Awards and was also nominated for a Nebula Award. In it, Ned Henry This hilarious homage to Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat won Hugo and Locus Awards and was also nominated for a Nebula Award. In it, Ned Henry has been sent from 2057 Oxford back in time on the trail of the bishop's bird stump, a hideous iron flower holder that disappeared around the time of the WWII firebombing of Coventry Cathedral. However, that seems to be linked to events in June 1888 at a Victorian country house where fellow time-traveler Verity Kindle seems to be trapped....more
I enjoyed this, learned some stuff, and picked up several nice quotes to foist upon my Facebook friends. The combination of viewing Earth from above (I enjoyed this, learned some stuff, and picked up several nice quotes to foist upon my Facebook friends. The combination of viewing Earth from above (mentally, at least) and applying the scientific method to make evidence-based decisions is a goal worth striving towards....more
This is about the season of winter, autumn to spring, but also about personal winters: illness, hard times, depression, and how to deal with them physThis is about the season of winter, autumn to spring, but also about personal winters: illness, hard times, depression, and how to deal with them physically, psychologically, and philosophically. Fave quote: "There are gaps in the mesh of the everyday world, and sometimes they open up and you fall through them into somewhere else."...more
Yes, I know I don't fit the demographic this targets, but concerns about nostalgia, regrets, and mortality are not exclusive to readers born in the 19Yes, I know I don't fit the demographic this targets, but concerns about nostalgia, regrets, and mortality are not exclusive to readers born in the 1970s or '80s. MIT philosophy professor Setiya shares his explorations of philosophers who spoke to his own midlife misgivings....more
Just when one thinks the book is headed in a certain direction, it makes a twist, and then another and another, and ends up being as multi-faceted as Just when one thinks the book is headed in a certain direction, it makes a twist, and then another and another, and ends up being as multi-faceted as a crystal chandelier. Quite a number of the questions that arise are not answered by the author but instead left up to the reader. Truly thought-provoking....more
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