Cleo's bookshelf: all

Cleo's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 25 Apr 2025 09:55:06 -0700 60 Cleo's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Moffats (The Moffats, #1) 42337 212 Eleanor Estes 0152025413 Cleo 5 4.01 1941

author: Eleanor Estes
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1941
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/23
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: childrens-books, children-literature
review:
What a surprisingly delightful book. I had previously delayed reading it because I thought it might be too cutesy, but instead it was simply lots of fun! Mrs. Moffat is a single mother living in Cranbury, Connecticut (a stand-in for West Haven) with her four children, Sylvia, Joe, Jane and Rufus. The book's chapters contain all the adventures of the children and their delightful outlook on life. It's a nostalgic look back at life when it was still difficult but somehow more simple and meaningful. A wonderful read!
]]> Two Days in Aragon 21042134 252 M.J. Farrell Cleo 0 to-read 3.75 1941

author: M.J. Farrell
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1941
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dostoevsky: The Mantle of the Prophet, 1871-1881]]> 18807 A Raw Youth, Diary of a Writer, and his crowning triumph: The Brothers Karamazov.

Dostoevsky's final years at last won him the universal approval toward which he had always aspired. While describing his idiosyncratic relationship to the Russian state, Frank also details Doestoevsky's continuing rivalries with Turgenev and Tolstoy. Dostoevsky's appearance at the Pushkin Festival in June 1880, which preceded his death by one year, marked the apotheosis of his career--and of his life as a spokesman for the Russian spirit. There he delivered his famous speech on Pushkin before an audience stirred to a feverish emotional pitch: "Ours is universality attained not by the sword, but by the force of brotherhood and of our brotherly striving toward the reunification of mankind." This is the Dostoevsky who has entered the patrimony of world literature, though he was not always capable of living up to such exalted ideals.

The writer's death in St. Petersburg in January of 1881 concludes this unparalleled literary biography--one truly worthy of Dostoevsky's genius and of the remarkable time and place in which he lived.]]> 784 Joseph Frank 0691115699 Cleo 0 to-read 4.53 2002 Dostoevsky: The Mantle of the Prophet, 1871-1881

Dostoevsky: The Mantle of the Prophet, 1871-1881

author: Joseph Frank
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dostoevsky: The Miraculous Years, 1865-1871]]> 45983 523 Joseph Frank 0691015872 Cleo 0 to-read 4.55 1995

Dostoevsky: The Miraculous Years, 1865-1871

author: Joseph Frank
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.55
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dostoevsky: The Stir of Liberation, 1860-1865]]> 18812 416 Joseph Frank 0691014523 Cleo 0 to-read 4.48 1986

Dostoevsky: The Stir of Liberation, 1860-1865

author: Joseph Frank
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.48
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal, 1850-1859]]> 18817 344 Joseph Frank 0691014221 Cleo 0 to-read 4.47 1983

Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal, 1850-1859

author: Joseph Frank
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dostoevsky: The Seeds of Revolt, 1821-1849]]> 434860
Frank himself had not originally intended to undertake such a massive work. The endeavor began in the early 1960s as an exploration of Dostoevsky's fiction, but it later became apparent to Frank that a deeper appreciation of the fiction would require a more ambitious engagement with the writer's life, directly caught up as Dostoevsky was with the cultural and political movements of mid- and late-nineteenth-century Russia. Already in his forties, Frank undertook to learn Russian and embarked on what would become a five-volume work comprising more than 2,500 pages. The result is an intellectual history of nineteenth-century Russia, with Dostoevsky's mind as a refracting prism.

The volumes have won numerous prizes, among them the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, the Christian Gauss Award of Phi Beta Kappa, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the James Russell Lowell Prize of the Modern Language Association.]]> 424 Joseph Frank 0691013551 Cleo 0 to-read 4.30 1976 Dostoevsky: The Seeds of Revolt, 1821-1849

Dostoevsky: The Seeds of Revolt, 1821-1849

author: Joseph Frank
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1976
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fathoms: The World in the Whale]]> 52765413 Fathoms: The World in the Whale blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore: How do whales experience ecological change? Will our connection to these storied animals be transformed by technology? What can observing whales teach us about the complexity, splendour, and fragility of life? In Fathoms, we learn about whales so rare they have never been named, whale songs that sweep across hemispheres in annual waves of popularity, and whales that have modified the chemical composition of our planet’s atmosphere. We travel to Japan to board the ships that hunt whales and delve into the deepest seas to discover the plastic pollution now pervading the whale’s undersea environment.

In the spirit of Rachel Carson and Rebecca Solnit, Giggs gives us a vivid exploration of the natural world even as she addresses what it means to write about nature at a time of environmental crisis.]]> 352 Rebecca Giggs 198212069X Cleo 0 to-read 3.89 2020 Fathoms: The World in the Whale

author: Rebecca Giggs
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Thinking, Fast and Slow 11468377 Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.]]> 499 Daniel Kahneman 0374275637 Cleo 2 psychology, science
First of all, Kahneman's theory is that we have two ways of thinking: fast, which is intuitive and driven by emotions, and slow which is more reasoned and more considered or calculated. I could explain more but I won't. Kahneman uses copious examples to support his theory but his examples are as full of holes as swiss cheese. He would give an example and say, for example, "everyone would think or see this", or "the majority of the people would think or see this," yet about 80% of the time what I thought or saw was not what Kahneman was claiming. He also used test questions that were incredibly weak or would be influenced by things outside their scope. At times, the lack of perception was painful.

Here is an article that describes some of the problems with the work: .

And now I think of all that time that I can't get back .......]]> 4.17 2011 Thinking, Fast and Slow

author: Daniel Kahneman
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: psychology, science
review:
Gosh, I'm going to be in the minority here, but this book was not compelling at all.

First of all, Kahneman's theory is that we have two ways of thinking: fast, which is intuitive and driven by emotions, and slow which is more reasoned and more considered or calculated. I could explain more but I won't. Kahneman uses copious examples to support his theory but his examples are as full of holes as swiss cheese. He would give an example and say, for example, "everyone would think or see this", or "the majority of the people would think or see this," yet about 80% of the time what I thought or saw was not what Kahneman was claiming. He also used test questions that were incredibly weak or would be influenced by things outside their scope. At times, the lack of perception was painful.

Here is an article that describes some of the problems with the work: .

And now I think of all that time that I can't get back .......
]]> The Trumpet of the Swan 1127826 The delightful classic by E. B. White, author of��Charlotte's Web����Ի��Stuart Little, about overcoming obstacles ��Ի��the joy of music.��

Like the rest of his family, Louis is a trumpeter swan. But unlike his four brothers and sisters, Louis can't trumpet joyfully. In fact, he can't even make a sound. And since he can't trumpet his love, the beautiful swan Serena pays absolutely no attention to him.

Louis tries everything he can think of to win Serena's affection—he even goes to school to learn to read and write. But nothing seems to work. Then his father steals him a real brass trumpet. Is a musical instrument the key to winning Louis his love?

"We, and our children, are lucky to have this book."��—John Updike

The Trumpet of the Swan��joins E. B. White favorites��Charlotte's Web����Ի��Stuart Little��as classic illustrated novels that continue to speak to today's readers. Whether you curl up with your young reader to share these books or hand them off for independent reading, you are helping to create what are likely to be all-time favorite reading memories.]]> 251 E.B. White 006028935X Cleo 0 currently-reading 4.24 1970 The Trumpet of the Swan

author: E.B. White
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Middlemarch 271276 853 George Eliot 0141439548 Cleo 4 4.19 1872

author: George Eliot
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1872
rating: 4
read at: 2013/06/24
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: 2013-a-classics-challenge, 2013-back-to-the-classics-challenge, 2013-chunksters, 2013-european-challenge, classics, chunkster-over-800-pages, english-literature, 2013-tbr-challenge, currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Splendid Century: Life in the France of Louis XIV]]> 779767 306 W.H. Lewis 0881339210 Cleo 0 to-read 3.91 1953

The Splendid Century: Life in the France of Louis XIV

author: W.H. Lewis
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1953
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Levantine Adventurer 11390703 232 W.H. Lewis Cleo 0 to-read 3.80 1962

author: W.H. Lewis
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Origins of Totalitarianism (Expanded Edition)]]> 216752426 Hannah Arendt's definitive work on totalitarianism and an essential component of any study of twentieth-century political history

The Origins of Totalitarianism begins with the rise of anti-Semitism in central and western Europe in the 1800s and continues with an examination of European colonial imperialism from 1884 to the outbreak of World War I. Arendt explores the institutions and operations of totalitarian movements, focusing on the two genuine forms of totalitarian government in our time—Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia—which she adroitly recognizes were two sides of the same coin, rather than opposing philosophies of Right and Left. From this vantage point, she discusses the evolution of classes into masses, the role of propaganda in dealing with the nontotalitarian world, the use of terror, and the nature of isolation and loneliness as preconditions for total domination.]]> 900 Hannah Arendt 1598538063 Cleo 0 to-read 0.0 1951 The Origins of Totalitarianism (Expanded Edition)

The Origins of Totalitarianism (Expanded Edition)

author: Hannah Arendt
name: Cleo
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1951
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Odyssey 210864316 560 Homer 022660442X Cleo 0 to-read 4.29 -800

author: Homer
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.29
book published: -800
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (America: A Cultural History, Vol. I)]]> 32081
From 1629 to 1775, North America was settled by four great waves of English-speaking immigrants. The first was an exodus of Puritans from the east of England to Massachusetts (1629-1640). The second was the movement of a Royalist elite and indentured servants from the south of England to Virginia (ca. 1649-75). The third was the "Friends' migration,"--the Quakers--from the North Midlands and Wales to the Delaware Valley (ca. 1675-1725). The fourth was a great flight from the borderlands of North Britain and northern Ireland to the American backcountry (ca. 1717-75).

These four groups differed in many ways--in religion, rank, generation and place of origin. They brought to America different folkways which became the basis of regional cultures in the United States. They spoke distinctive English dialects and built their houses in diverse ways. They had different ideas of family, marriage and gender; different practices of child-naming and child-raising; different attitudes toward sex, age and death; different rituals of worship and magic; different forms of work and play; different customs of food and dress; different traditions of education and literacy; different modes of settlement and association. They also had profoundly different ideas of comity, order, power and freedom which derived from British folk-traditions. Albion's Seed describes those differences in detail, and discusses the continuing importance of their transference to America.

Today most people in the United States (more than 80 percent) have no British ancestors at all. These many other groups, even while preserving their own ethnic cultures, have also assimilated regional folkways which were transplanted from Britain to America. In that sense, nearly all Americans today are "Albion's Seed," no matter what their ethnic origins may be; but they are so in their different regional ways.

The concluding section of Albion's Seed explores the ways that regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics from 1789 to 1988, and still control attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence, on which differences between American regions are greater than between European nations.

Albion's Seed also argues that the four British folkways created an expansive cultural pluralism that has proved to the more libertarian than any single culture alone could be. Together they became the determinants of a voluntary society in the United States.]]> 946 David Hackett Fischer 0195069056 Cleo 0 to-read 4.37 1989 Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (America: A Cultural History, Vol. I)

Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (America: A Cultural History, Vol. I)

author: David Hackett Fischer
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A DEFENSE OF NONSENSE and Other Essays]]> 129890702 0 G.K. Chesterton Cleo 0 to-read 4.00

author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Iliad 45713857
This long-awaited new edition of Lattimore's Iliad is designed to bring the book into the twenty-first century—while leaving the poem as firmly rooted in ancient Greece as ever. Lattimore's elegant, fluent verses—with their memorably phrased heroic epithets and remarkable fidelity to the Greek—remain unchanged, but classicist Richard Martin has added a wealth of supplementary materials designed to aid new generations of readers. A new introduction sets the poem in the wider context of Greek life, warfare, society, and poetry, while line-by-line notes at the back of the volume offer explanations of unfamiliar terms, information about the Greek gods and heroes, and literary appreciation. A glossary and maps round out the book.

The result is a volume that actively invites readers into Homer's poem, helping them to understand fully the worlds in which he and his heroes lived—and thus enabling them to marvel, as so many have for centuries, at Hektor and Ajax, Paris and Helen, and the devastating rage of Achilleus.]]> 527 Homer Cleo 0 currently-reading 4.11 -800 The Iliad

author: Homer
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.11
book published: -800
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Daddy-Long-Legs (Daddy-Long-Legs, #1)]]> 1499952 Daddy Long-Legs is a 1912 epistolary novel by the American writer Jean Webster. It follows the protagonist, a young girl named Jerusha "Judy" Abbott, through her college years. She writes the letters to her benefactor, a rich man whom she has never seen.]]> 249 Jean Webster Cleo 3 February 27, 2025 - Second reading

This book was the book-of-the-month for my Children's Classics group and since I had little memory of it and had initially decided to give it 2 stars, I opted to read it again to find out why.

Jerusha Abbott or "Judy", as she names herself, is an older orphan at the John Grier Home for orphans. Really too old to be there, being seventeen, she is only kept as a helper at the school. But one day, a wonderful surprise is given to Judy. A Mr. John Smith has offer to pay four years of her college tuition and room and board; in return Judy is only required to write letters to him once per month. Judy is ecstatic and names her beneficiary, Daddy-Long-Legs. So follows a one-sided epistolary correspondence which is full of Judy's adventures, learning and friendships. Her cheerful demeanour and keen sense of humour infuse every letter until the reader is treated to the satisfactory end of her education.

Okay, so I think I have an idea of my original two-star rating, although I believe I was somewhat harsh in my estimation. While Judy's personality is effervescent, insightful and happy, it never changes. While she practically does different things, she is the same at the end of the four years as she is at the beginning of it. Her bubbliness became wearing by the end of the book. If I compare her to Anne of Green Gables, Anne's lively personality is part of who she is, it's not ALL that she is. So I had struggles with that aspect of the novel.

I also disliked the tone of some of her comments. Her critique of church was rather irritating. Heaven knows, there are things to criticize about the church, and Anne of Green Gables does it as well, with a light-hearted insight and a plan to make things better. Judy's criticisms have a sort of nasty edge to them, as if she has a chip on her shoulder, yet there is nothing in the book to explain this dislike. One wonders if it's not the author's bias breaking through. And Judy claims part way through that she's a socialist (without really having a good reason), so there should be things that she likes about church. In any case, it was another point that rubbed me the wrong way.

And finally, the ending was rather easily guessed.

In fact, there is an episode in this book where Judy's novel is rejected by an editor and many of the reasons he gives for this rejection are present in this novel by Jean Webster. So while in some ways the book is refreshing and definitely worth reading, I will raise my initially rating by one star. But that's it. Anne of Green Gables, it's not.

First read: ⭐️⭐️ February 7, 2016
Second read: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ February 27, 2025]]> 4.11 1912 Daddy-Long-Legs (Daddy-Long-Legs, #1)

author: Jean Webster
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1912
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: 2016-52-books-in-52-weeks, children-literature, fluff
review:
February 27, 2025 - Second reading

This book was the book-of-the-month for my Children's Classics group and since I had little memory of it and had initially decided to give it 2 stars, I opted to read it again to find out why.

Jerusha Abbott or "Judy", as she names herself, is an older orphan at the John Grier Home for orphans. Really too old to be there, being seventeen, she is only kept as a helper at the school. But one day, a wonderful surprise is given to Judy. A Mr. John Smith has offer to pay four years of her college tuition and room and board; in return Judy is only required to write letters to him once per month. Judy is ecstatic and names her beneficiary, Daddy-Long-Legs. So follows a one-sided epistolary correspondence which is full of Judy's adventures, learning and friendships. Her cheerful demeanour and keen sense of humour infuse every letter until the reader is treated to the satisfactory end of her education.

Okay, so I think I have an idea of my original two-star rating, although I believe I was somewhat harsh in my estimation. While Judy's personality is effervescent, insightful and happy, it never changes. While she practically does different things, she is the same at the end of the four years as she is at the beginning of it. Her bubbliness became wearing by the end of the book. If I compare her to Anne of Green Gables, Anne's lively personality is part of who she is, it's not ALL that she is. So I had struggles with that aspect of the novel.

I also disliked the tone of some of her comments. Her critique of church was rather irritating. Heaven knows, there are things to criticize about the church, and Anne of Green Gables does it as well, with a light-hearted insight and a plan to make things better. Judy's criticisms have a sort of nasty edge to them, as if she has a chip on her shoulder, yet there is nothing in the book to explain this dislike. One wonders if it's not the author's bias breaking through. And Judy claims part way through that she's a socialist (without really having a good reason), so there should be things that she likes about church. In any case, it was another point that rubbed me the wrong way.

And finally, the ending was rather easily guessed.

In fact, there is an episode in this book where Judy's novel is rejected by an editor and many of the reasons he gives for this rejection are present in this novel by Jean Webster. So while in some ways the book is refreshing and definitely worth reading, I will raise my initially rating by one star. But that's it. Anne of Green Gables, it's not.

First read: ⭐️⭐️ February 7, 2016
Second read: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ February 27, 2025
]]> The Napoleon of Notting Hill 49673 184 G.K. Chesterton 1600965237 Cleo 5 classics, faith, religion
Eveything seems to be going along tickety-boo until a road is proposed which will pass through Notting Hill and the provost there, Adam Wayne, simply refuses. Instead of taking the king's silly pagentry as something to accept to placate his monarch, he is serious about his task, takes up his sword and convinces the citizenry of Notting Hill to follow him. Heroism and patriotism mean something to him. And so begins the war .....

Chesterton examines many things such as the passiveness of people with regard to their government, and the dangers therein. At the beginning of the book, life is a fantasy of peace and goodwill, but the reality is perhaps not what we'd expect. Most of the population are uninspired, selfish, and uncommunicative, preferring to pursue their own interests and are intent on not upsetting the status quo. Life is boring. However once the war is started, we see the characters change. They come to life, begin to have their own opinions, initiate actions and have emotion about what is going on around them.

I believe Chesterton is saying that the things of life ..... disappointment, suffering, unexpected catastrophes and yes, even war, while they are unpleasant, are what give meaning to life. Without these things, the palette of life is reduced to a colourless humdrum existence.

I still don't get why the King of Nicaragua was a character at the beginning of the novel. He didn't return and wasn't reference after his appearance. I suspect the war in his homeland and the war on Notting Hill had some sort of parallel but it completely eluded me.

Again I will say that Chesterton is the most underrated author that I can think of. Even if you don't understand the underlying meaning of his books, boy, they are so much fun to read!]]> 3.88 1904 The Napoleon of Notting Hill

author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1904
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: classics, faith, religion
review:
Oh my! Another romp with Chesterton. This time we are in London in 1984 (eighty years after the book was written in 1904). The world is relatively quiet, there are no wars and life goes on placidly and uneventfully. That is until one of three friends, Auberon Quin, is chosen to be king. Auberon is not the usually dull person that appears to inhabit most places, but a man enjoys the pleasures of childhood as well as a good joke. He decides to bring back Medieval heraldry and divides the city into boroughs, each with a Provost with traditional garb and customs.

Eveything seems to be going along tickety-boo until a road is proposed which will pass through Notting Hill and the provost there, Adam Wayne, simply refuses. Instead of taking the king's silly pagentry as something to accept to placate his monarch, he is serious about his task, takes up his sword and convinces the citizenry of Notting Hill to follow him. Heroism and patriotism mean something to him. And so begins the war .....

Chesterton examines many things such as the passiveness of people with regard to their government, and the dangers therein. At the beginning of the book, life is a fantasy of peace and goodwill, but the reality is perhaps not what we'd expect. Most of the population are uninspired, selfish, and uncommunicative, preferring to pursue their own interests and are intent on not upsetting the status quo. Life is boring. However once the war is started, we see the characters change. They come to life, begin to have their own opinions, initiate actions and have emotion about what is going on around them.

I believe Chesterton is saying that the things of life ..... disappointment, suffering, unexpected catastrophes and yes, even war, while they are unpleasant, are what give meaning to life. Without these things, the palette of life is reduced to a colourless humdrum existence.

I still don't get why the King of Nicaragua was a character at the beginning of the novel. He didn't return and wasn't reference after his appearance. I suspect the war in his homeland and the war on Notting Hill had some sort of parallel but it completely eluded me.

Again I will say that Chesterton is the most underrated author that I can think of. Even if you don't understand the underlying meaning of his books, boy, they are so much fun to read!
]]> City of the Golden House 2531693 306 Madeleine A. Polland 0976638649 Cleo 0 currently-reading 4.18 1963

author: Madeleine A. Polland
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1963
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Introduction to the Philosophy of History with Selections from The Philosophy of Right]]> 25245 106 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel 0872200566 Cleo 0 to-read 3.72 1831

Introduction to the Philosophy of History with Selections from The Philosophy of Right

author: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1831
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Sign of the Beaver 207569 135 Elizabeth George Speare 0440779030 Cleo 5 February 15, 2025 Second reading (but probably third, if I count my childhood)

What an absolutely fantastic book! It's no wonder that it won so many awards after Speare wrote it in 1983.

Matt is left by himself deep in the woods of Maine, as his father travels to pick up his mother, sister and new-born baby to bring them back to their new settlement. Matt meets Attean, an Indian boy who is around the same age as he is, and while Matt sets out to teach English to Attean, Attean, in turn, teaches Matt so much more. The portrayal of their relationship is so realistic, showing both the divide in their cultural experience, but also the natural similarities of simply being human and young boys. Speare also does an exemplary job of portraying the problematic settling of North America and the effect on Native Americans. She makes neither party the victim nor the perpetrator but simply illustrates the mindset of each and some of the consequences of decisions that are made both innocently and with pointed intent. I did love that Attean and Matt formed a bond as brothers which gives the reader the experience of love and humanity when one attempts to understand someone or something different, instead of rejecting them and/or forming opinions without experience.

Apparently Elizabeth George Speare based this book on a true story that she had heard happen in Milo, Maine.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this one. It's a definite must-read!]]> 3.74 1983 The Sign of the Beaver

author: Elizabeth George Speare
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1983
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: childrens-books, children-literature, children-s-historical, classics-minor
review:
February 15, 2025 Second reading (but probably third, if I count my childhood)

What an absolutely fantastic book! It's no wonder that it won so many awards after Speare wrote it in 1983.

Matt is left by himself deep in the woods of Maine, as his father travels to pick up his mother, sister and new-born baby to bring them back to their new settlement. Matt meets Attean, an Indian boy who is around the same age as he is, and while Matt sets out to teach English to Attean, Attean, in turn, teaches Matt so much more. The portrayal of their relationship is so realistic, showing both the divide in their cultural experience, but also the natural similarities of simply being human and young boys. Speare also does an exemplary job of portraying the problematic settling of North America and the effect on Native Americans. She makes neither party the victim nor the perpetrator but simply illustrates the mindset of each and some of the consequences of decisions that are made both innocently and with pointed intent. I did love that Attean and Matt formed a bond as brothers which gives the reader the experience of love and humanity when one attempts to understand someone or something different, instead of rejecting them and/or forming opinions without experience.

Apparently Elizabeth George Speare based this book on a true story that she had heard happen in Milo, Maine.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this one. It's a definite must-read!
]]> <![CDATA[Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts]]> 262762 Forty years in the making, a new cultural canon that celebrates truth over hypocrisy, literature over totalitarianism.

Echoing Edward Said’s belief that “Western humanism is not enough, we need a universal humanism,�� the renowned critic Clive James presents here his life’s work. Containing over one hundred original essays, organized by quotations from A to Z, Cultural Amnesia illuminates, rescues, or occasionally destroys the careers of many of the greatest thinkers, humanists, musicians, artists, and philosophers of the twentieth century. In discussing, among others, Louis Armstrong, Walter Benjamin, Sigmund Freud, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Franz Kafka, Marcel Proust, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, James writes, “If the humanism that makes civilization civilized is to be preserved into the new century, it will need advocates. These advocates will need a memory, and part of that memory will need to be of an age in which they were not yet alive.�� Soaring to Montaigne-like heights, Cultural Amnesia is precisely the book to burnish these memories of a Western civilization that James fears is nearly lost.]]> 912 Clive James 0393061167 Cleo 0 to-read 4.11 2007 Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts

Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts

author: Clive James
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 1984 5470 328 George Orwell Cleo 4 4.15 1949 1984

author: George Orwell
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1949
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: classics, dystopian-utopian, english-literature
review:

]]> Embers 783505
In a secluded woodland castle an old General prepares to receive a rare visitor, a man who was once his closest friend but who he has not seen in forty-one years. Over the ensuing hours host and guest will fight a duel of words and silences, accusations and evasions. They will exhume the memory of their friendship and that of the General’s beautiful, long-dead wife. And they will return to the time the three of them last sat together following a hunt in the nearby forest--a hunt in which no game was taken but during which something was lost forever.

Embers is a classic of modern European literature, a work whose poignant evocation of the past also seems like a prophetic glimpse into the moral abyss of the present]]> 214 Sándor Márai 0375707425 Cleo 0 to-read 3.94 1942 Embers

author: Sándor Márai
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1942
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Here Is New York 10814 56 E.B. White 1892145022 Cleo 0 to-read 4.29 1948

author: E.B. White
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1948
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Centuries Thomas Traherne 1637-1674]]> 171482723 0 Thomas Traherne Cleo 0 to-read 3.71

author: Thomas Traherne
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.71
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Diary of a Madman 17879653 AKA "The Madman" 8 Guy de Maupassant Cleo 4 Read January 28, 2025

I must admit that I wanted to give this story one star. It is really disgusting. However, Maupassant does raise some pertinent questions. Does evil enter your soul depending on what you allow yourself to be exposed to? Why is it so much easier to choose evil over good? Does becoming a highly respected man with an important position put one in danger of getting a God-complex whereupon anything done by oneself is permissible? Does lack of a family also come with a lack of balance and support and therefore allow one more propensity to become skewed or deranged?

So many questions, but just, ugh! Unlike some reviewers, I didn't ponder the question of the magistrate in the story being the "everyman". Perhaps I'm just naive but I could never see myself choosing this road of pure evil.]]> 3.85 1886 The Diary of a Madman

author: Guy de Maupassant
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1886
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: classics, french-literature, short-stories
review:
Read January 28, 2025

I must admit that I wanted to give this story one star. It is really disgusting. However, Maupassant does raise some pertinent questions. Does evil enter your soul depending on what you allow yourself to be exposed to? Why is it so much easier to choose evil over good? Does becoming a highly respected man with an important position put one in danger of getting a God-complex whereupon anything done by oneself is permissible? Does lack of a family also come with a lack of balance and support and therefore allow one more propensity to become skewed or deranged?

So many questions, but just, ugh! Unlike some reviewers, I didn't ponder the question of the magistrate in the story being the "everyman". Perhaps I'm just naive but I could never see myself choosing this road of pure evil.
]]> Fedra 16126150
Here is a moving and accomplished translation of this complex play dealing the the violent passions stirred by innocence and beauty and the terrible power of ideology, hatred, and misunderstanding.]]> 87 Seneca 9724411907 Cleo 0 to-read 3.62 54 Fedra

author: Seneca
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.62
book published: 54
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Aberhart of Alberta 166538710 0 L. P. V.; MacNutt Johnson Cleo 0 to-read 0.0

author: L. P. V.; MacNutt Johnson
name: Cleo
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Grave Error: How The Media Misled Us (and the Truth about Residential Schools)]]> 202794401
Public discussion of Indian Residential Schools issues is now filled with the following assertions, all of which are either totally false or grossly exaggerated:

Thousands of “missing children�� went away to residential schools and were never heard from again.
These missing children are buried in unmarked graves underneath or around mission churches and schools.
Many of these missing children were murdered by school personnel after being subjected to physical and sexual abuse, even outright torture.
The carnage is appropriately defined as genocide.
Many human remains have already been located by ground-penetrating radar, and many more will be found as government-funded research progresses.
Most Indian children attended residential schools.
Those who attended residential schools did not go voluntarily but were compelled to attend by federal policy and enforcement.
Attendance at residential school has traumatized Indigenous people, creating social pathologies that descend across generations.
Residential schools destroyed Indigenous languages and culture.

The flight from truth makes true Reconciliation impossible. Why will Canadians want to extend the hand of friendship to Indigenous people who continue to call them criminals and murderers? Why will Indigenous people want to engage in mutual cooperation with people whom they have been led to regard as criminals and murderers?

Getting beyond the “Grave Error�� and recovering a more balanced picture of residential schools is the only road to genuine Reconciliation.

This excellent collection of first rate articles is the place to start.]]> 343 C.P. Champion Cleo 5 known about the Indian residential schools in Canada. Through a number of essays by university professors, lawyers, a judge, journalists, and a residential school worker, the reader learns about the history of the residential schools and how they were run. They also cover the recent claims of unmarked graves. The editors have done a superior job of footnoting everywhere they found their information and much is from excellent resources. Of interest:

* Canada was committed in various treaties to provide the indigenous population with an education.

* a few priests were responsible for writing down, and therefore preserving, some indigenous languages. As far as the evidence we have, the Aboriginals were not allowed to speak their languages in class but could anywhere else. There were indigenous celebrations at the schools and many of the staff learned the indigenous language of the area. In fact, the Oblate nuns were required by their diocese to learn the indigenous language in order to be allowed to teach at a residential school.

* there is a Chronicle written by the Oblate nuns, which has never been officially released, that has the nuns referring to the children as "our dear children" or "our deal little ones" and also refer to the parents in equally positive terms and refer to the parents as those "to whom we owe so much."

* only about 1/3 of indigenous children attended residential schools and their average attendance was 4.5 years. Many indigenous children went to day schools where they returned home each day.

* in 1907 there was a report by the chief medical officer at Indian affairs criticizing the state of the residential schools and their defective sanitary conditions. By 1911, the government signed a new funding arrangement with significant increases in the budget for indigenous schools and tougher building standards for residential schools, outlining ventilation and air space requirements, etc.

* TB was/is unfortunately a disease to which the indigenous population is highly susceptible, with the rate of infection at 40 times higher than the general population

* certain criticisms of excess death and lack of funding during certain periods don't take into account the 1918/19 Spanish influenza and the Second World War. (more my observation than theirs)

* the essay by the residential school worker who married an indigenous Siksika woman is particularly interesting. He worked at two residential schools and shares his experience at both.

* The Truth and Reconciliation Report tended to pick and choose what they wished to present

* The First Nations people have been monetarily compensated 23 billion dollars for the claims of the treatment in Residential schools. The payments went to both those in Residential schools and Day schools. A further 49 billion dollars have been awarded for long term reforms. And I just read another 20 billion dollars will compensate for inadequate child welfare. (this information is from the book and other recent settlements) So basically nearly 1 trillion dollars in total.

And pertaining to the Kamloops accusation of unmarked grave sites and mass murders of children, and also with regard to similar accusations in Canada:

* to this day, there have been no grave sites discovered

* there was an excavation in Saskatchewan with regard to graves which found nothing (I remember seeing the chief's report on the findings and he seemed disappointed)

* at the Kamloops site, there had already been excavations done in the area prior to the "graves" accusation and nothing had been found

* the RCMP tried to investigate and Kamloops Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc band became upset with them and told them to leave. They had "Knowledge Keepers" who knew what had happened and that was all the evidence they needed. To this day, nothing has been investigated or discovered and now it is reasonably thought (with other investigation) that the "graves" are actually ground anomalies from an old septic field. Here is a website with photos and some interesting information:

* while Europeans buried their dead in marked graves and kept up their cemeteries, the indigenous practice with regard to death is completely different. They do not "tend" graves. The upkeep of cemeteries was taken from the church and given over to the native population at some point and as soon as that happened, the gravesites went into disrepair. This discrepancy in cultures completely explains any "unmarked graves"

These are only a few of the points that resonated with me. I'll finished with the last paragraph of the residential school worker's essay, which is one of the most truthful claims that I've read:

"Finally, the mainstream media should confirm the claims of missing and possibly murdered Indigenous children, before publishing such stories about Indian Residential Schools. Similarly, Canadian officials, especially the Prime Minister and Governor General, should verify what was claimed before lowering the Canadian flag and proclaiming that these claims are true. A democracy cannot function without a commitment to truth by governments, their officials, and the news media. Truth, and its verification, must be re-established as a fundamental value for Canada. Without truth, I fear that we will not have an honest and fair reconciliation."]]> 3.85 Grave Error: How The Media Misled Us (and the Truth about Residential Schools)

Grave Error: How The Media Misled Us (and the Truth about Residential Schools)

author: C.P. Champion
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.85
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves: canadian-literature, canadian-history, indigenous-literature
review:
Just an excellent read. It provides a balanced perspective of what is actually known about the Indian residential schools in Canada. Through a number of essays by university professors, lawyers, a judge, journalists, and a residential school worker, the reader learns about the history of the residential schools and how they were run. They also cover the recent claims of unmarked graves. The editors have done a superior job of footnoting everywhere they found their information and much is from excellent resources. Of interest:

* Canada was committed in various treaties to provide the indigenous population with an education.

* a few priests were responsible for writing down, and therefore preserving, some indigenous languages. As far as the evidence we have, the Aboriginals were not allowed to speak their languages in class but could anywhere else. There were indigenous celebrations at the schools and many of the staff learned the indigenous language of the area. In fact, the Oblate nuns were required by their diocese to learn the indigenous language in order to be allowed to teach at a residential school.

* there is a Chronicle written by the Oblate nuns, which has never been officially released, that has the nuns referring to the children as "our dear children" or "our deal little ones" and also refer to the parents in equally positive terms and refer to the parents as those "to whom we owe so much."

* only about 1/3 of indigenous children attended residential schools and their average attendance was 4.5 years. Many indigenous children went to day schools where they returned home each day.

* in 1907 there was a report by the chief medical officer at Indian affairs criticizing the state of the residential schools and their defective sanitary conditions. By 1911, the government signed a new funding arrangement with significant increases in the budget for indigenous schools and tougher building standards for residential schools, outlining ventilation and air space requirements, etc.

* TB was/is unfortunately a disease to which the indigenous population is highly susceptible, with the rate of infection at 40 times higher than the general population

* certain criticisms of excess death and lack of funding during certain periods don't take into account the 1918/19 Spanish influenza and the Second World War. (more my observation than theirs)

* the essay by the residential school worker who married an indigenous Siksika woman is particularly interesting. He worked at two residential schools and shares his experience at both.

* The Truth and Reconciliation Report tended to pick and choose what they wished to present

* The First Nations people have been monetarily compensated 23 billion dollars for the claims of the treatment in Residential schools. The payments went to both those in Residential schools and Day schools. A further 49 billion dollars have been awarded for long term reforms. And I just read another 20 billion dollars will compensate for inadequate child welfare. (this information is from the book and other recent settlements) So basically nearly 1 trillion dollars in total.

And pertaining to the Kamloops accusation of unmarked grave sites and mass murders of children, and also with regard to similar accusations in Canada:

* to this day, there have been no grave sites discovered

* there was an excavation in Saskatchewan with regard to graves which found nothing (I remember seeing the chief's report on the findings and he seemed disappointed)

* at the Kamloops site, there had already been excavations done in the area prior to the "graves" accusation and nothing had been found

* the RCMP tried to investigate and Kamloops Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc band became upset with them and told them to leave. They had "Knowledge Keepers" who knew what had happened and that was all the evidence they needed. To this day, nothing has been investigated or discovered and now it is reasonably thought (with other investigation) that the "graves" are actually ground anomalies from an old septic field. Here is a website with photos and some interesting information:

* while Europeans buried their dead in marked graves and kept up their cemeteries, the indigenous practice with regard to death is completely different. They do not "tend" graves. The upkeep of cemeteries was taken from the church and given over to the native population at some point and as soon as that happened, the gravesites went into disrepair. This discrepancy in cultures completely explains any "unmarked graves"

These are only a few of the points that resonated with me. I'll finished with the last paragraph of the residential school worker's essay, which is one of the most truthful claims that I've read:

"Finally, the mainstream media should confirm the claims of missing and possibly murdered Indigenous children, before publishing such stories about Indian Residential Schools. Similarly, Canadian officials, especially the Prime Minister and Governor General, should verify what was claimed before lowering the Canadian flag and proclaiming that these claims are true. A democracy cannot function without a commitment to truth by governments, their officials, and the news media. Truth, and its verification, must be re-established as a fundamental value for Canada. Without truth, I fear that we will not have an honest and fair reconciliation."
]]> <![CDATA[Systemantics: How Systems Work and Especially How They Fail]]> 583797 111 John Gall 0812906748 Cleo 0 to-read 4.24 1977

Systemantics: How Systems Work and Especially How They Fail

author: John Gall
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fathers of the Church: From Clement of Rome to Augustine of Hippo]]> 7254634
In these catecheses the Pope is not delivering academic lectures or preaching sermons. Rather, he is instructing Christian believers who want to have their faith confirmed and strengthened. Pope Benedict firmly believes that the Fathers of the Church still speak powerfully today, and his accessible presentations will make many readers eager to look further into the writings of these great early Christians.]]> 189 Pope Benedict XVI 0802864597 Cleo 0 to-read 4.20 2008 The Fathers of the Church: From Clement of Rome to Augustine of Hippo

The Fathers of the Church: From Clement of Rome to Augustine of Hippo

author: Pope Benedict XVI
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918]]> 28361223
Today, hundreds of military cemeteries spread across the fields of northern France and Belgium contain the bodies of millions of men who died in the "war to end all wars." Can we ever avoid repeating history?]]> Adam Hochschild Cleo 0 to-read 3.89 2011 To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918

author: Adam Hochschild
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Road to Serfdom 299215 The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and general readers for half a century. Originally published in England in the spring of 1944—when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program��The Road to Serfdom was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production. For F. A. Hayek, the collectivist idea of empowering government with increasing economic control would inevitably lead not to a utopia but to the horrors of nazi Germany and fascist Italy.

First published by the University of Chicago Press on September 18, 1944, The Road to Serfdom garnered immediate attention from the public, politicians, and scholars alike. The first printing of 2,000 copies was exhausted instantly, and within six months more than 30,000 were sold. In April of 1945, Reader's Digest published a condensed version of the book, and soon thereafter the Book-of-the-Month Club distributed this condensation to more than 600,000 readers. A perennial best-seller, the book has sold over a quarter of a million copies in the United States, not including the British edition or the nearly twenty translations into such languages as German, French, Dutch, Swedish, and Japanese, and not to mention the many underground editions produced in Eastern Europe before the fall of the iron curtain.

After thirty-two printings in the United States, The Road to Serfdom has established itself alongside the works of Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, and George Orwell for its timeless meditation on the relation between individual liberty and government authority. This fiftieth anniversary edition, with a new introduction by Milton Friedman, commemorates the enduring influence of The Road to Serfdom on the ever-changing political and social climates of the twentieth century, from the rise of socialism after World War II to the Reagan and Thatcher "revolutions" in the 1980s and the transitions in Eastern Europe from communism to capitalism in the 1990s.

F. A. Hayek (1899-1992), recipient of the Medal of Freedom in 1991 and co-winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1974, was a pioneer in monetary theory and the principal proponent of libertarianism in the twentieth century.

On the first American edition of The Road to Serfdom:
"One of the most important books of our generation. . . . It restates for our time the issue between liberty and authority with the power and rigor of reasoning with which John Stuart Mill stated the issue for his own generation in his great essay On Liberty. . . . It is an arresting call to all well-intentioned planners and socialists, to all those who are sincere democrats and liberals at heart to stop, look and listen."—Henry Hazlitt, New York Times Book Review, September 1944

"In the negative part of Professor Hayek's thesis there is a great deal of truth. It cannot be said too often—at any rate, it is not being said nearly often enough—that collectivism is not inherently democratic, but, on the contrary, gives to a tyrannical minority such powers as the Spanish Inquisitors never dreamt of."—George Orwell, Collected Essays]]> 274 Friedrich A. Hayek 0226320618 Cleo 5
I suspect that you would call The Road to Serfdom F.A. Hayek’s magnum opus. It was written in 1944 towards the end of the Second World War, when countries had been exposed to various socialist political experiments and the effect they had on the countries that adopted them were very, very evident. But Hayek did not take for granted that people’s common sense would see the dangers. He was well aware of the hazards socialism still posed with its pernicious ideology and promises of a better future where everyone would be equal, the rich would pay their fair share, and all would be secure within the society.

Born in Austria and living in England, Hayek saw socialism creeping into English and American life in the same ways that it had infected Germany and the Soviet Union previously. While this book is a well-reasoned apology for an economic free-market, it is more to expose the flaws and dangers within a socialist system, which always sounds sensible with its emphasis on equality and moral superiority, with the government sensibly running society but, in fact, the reality is completely different. One of Hayek’s pertinent quotes is: “If socialists understood economics, they wouldn’t be socialists.��

After a few prefaces and an introduction, Hayek sets his work up within the following chapters:

1. The Abandoned Road
2. The Great Utopia
3. Individualism and Collectivism
4. The “Inevitability�� of Planning
5. Planning and Democracy
6. Planning and the Rule of Law
7. Economic Control and Totalitarianism
8. Who, Whom?
9. Security and Freedom
10. Why the Worst Get On Top
11. The End of Truth
12. The Social Roots of Naziism
13. The Totalitarians in Our Midst
14. Material Conditions and Ideal Ends
15. The Prospects of International Order
16. Conclusion

It helps to understand the changes in the word “liberal�� which has occurred over the decades. Hayek explains:

“I use throughout the term ‘liberal�� in the original, nineteenth-century sense in which it is still current in Britain. In current American usage it often means very nearly the opposite of this. It has been part of the camouflage of leftist movements in this country, helped by the muddleheadedness of many who really believe in liberty, that ‘liberal�� has come to mean the advocacy of almost every kind of government control.��

This is an important distinction.

Hayek explains how traditional socialism transformed into the “new�� socialism and also how socialism made its transformation into fascism.

Marxism tends to begin in the universities and be transmitted outwards. The first people who are infected by this ideology are often professors and scientists. The professors and scientists who challenged the National Socialist movement in Germany were disposed of, but the many who were left lauded and perpetuated its growth.

The early socialists freely admitted that to implement their ideology, an authoritarian government was not only preferred but necessary. Democratic governments function on broad mandates and general ideas which most people can agree on, but socialists must suppress the Rule of Law ( a safeguard and the embodiment of freedom. It ensures that all the actions of government must be bound by rules which are fixed and declared beforehand so your average person is capable of seeing and predicting with fair certainty, how the authority will use its power in any given circumstances so one is able to plan one’s affairs based on this knowledge), as they must also dispense with individual freedoms for the functionality of their central planning.

If we think that economic ends can be separated from other ends in life, in that we can restrict central planning to economics only, we are sadly mistaken; everything intersects. Economic factors affect our circumstances, and those circumstances influence our striving for other ends.

The government’s meddling, or central planning, not only causes problems economically, eventually the control becomes more and more ridged and spread over more and more areas that our freedom eventually disappears. The continuous giving over of freedom may be trumpeted as being for the good of society but when one looks at the results of the original utopian plan, one often sees a worsening in all areas that were supposed to be improved and a concentrated power at the top of the pyramid, which ushers in a totalitarian format. Central planning leads to dictatorship simply because dictatorship is the most effective way of coercion and the reinforcement of ideals.

Hayek outlines many of the Dangers of Socialism but this point is particularly concerning:

“��. the most important change which extensive government control produces is a psychological change, an alteration in the character of the people. This is necessarily a slow affair, a process which extends not over a few years but perhaps over one or two generations. The important point is that the political ideals of a people and its attitude toward authority are as much the effect as the cause of the political institutions under which it lives. This means, among other things, that even a strong tradition of political liberty is no safeguard if the danger is precisely that new institutions and policies will gradually undermine and destroy that spirit. The consequences can of course be averted if that spirit reasserts itself in time and the people not only throw out the party which has been leading them further and further in the dangerous direction but also recognize the nature of the danger and resolutely change their course.�� Chapter 1

Why do people continue to choose socialism despite many, many examples of the terrible consequences of its implementation? Hayek thinks there are a few reasons. First of all, people like to think they’re in control. In a free market society, one must be content with not being able to predict everything and must be willing to ride out these unknowns and learn from them. If the government controls everything, the average person doesn’t have to make the effort to understand the economic factors and there is the illusion that someone else is handling everything. It gives them a false impression of security, that everything will be fixed or at least will be in a short time. A visual image that comes directly to my mind is an ostrich with its head in the sand.

A particularly valuable aspect of Hayek’s writing is that he traces the transformation of National Socialism in Germany pre-WWII and thus gives us a snapshot into those times. He does not villainize the German population but reveals how such thinking can permeate a society of generally rational people.

Being someone who is sceptical of the nearly unchecked progressivism, and knowing deeply the pitfalls of human nature, Hayek’s book resonated deeply with me. And after seeing, especially recently, how easily people are willing to demonize each other for simply having different ideas or philosophies, I can see the boots of socialism marching across our culture and its outcome remains to be seen. One hopes for the best but with the examples of Nazi Germany, Stalin’s Russia, Venezuela, Argentina and a number of other socialist countries, we can expect times of upheaval and loss of individual freedom and possibly worse if the march continues.

Here are some quotes from Hayek that deserve to be remembered:

“Our freedom of choice in a competitive society rests on the fact that, if one person refuses to satisfy our wishes, we can turn to another. But if we face a monopolist we are at his absolute mercy. And an authority directing the whole economic system of the country would be the most powerful monopolist conceivable…it would have complete power to decide what we are to be given and on what terms. It would not only decide what commodities and services were to be available and in what quantities; it would be able to direct their distributions between persons to any degree it liked.��

“It is true that the virtues which are less esteemed and practiced now–independence, self-reliance, and the willingness to bear risks, the readiness to back one’s own conviction against a majority, and the willingness to voluntary cooperation with one’s neighbors–are essentially those on which an individualist society rests. Collectivism has nothing to put in their place, and in so far as it already has destroyed then it has left a void filled by nothing but the demand for obedience and the compulsion of the individual to what is collectively decided to be good.��

“Freedom to order our own conduct in the sphere where material circumstances force a choice upon us, and responsibility for the arrangement of our own life according to our own conscience, is the air in which alone moral sense grows and in which moral values are daily recreated in the free decision of the individual. Responsibility, not to a superior, but to one’s own conscience, the awareness of a duty not exacted by compulsion, the necessity to decide which of the things one values are to be sacrificed to others, and to bear the consequences of one’s own decision, are the very essence of any morals which deserve the name.��

“Probably it is true enough that the great majority are rarely capable of thinking independently, that on most questions they accept views which they find ready-made, and that they will be equally content if born or coaxed into one set of beliefs or another. In any society freedom of thought will probably be of direct significance only for a small minority. But this does not mean that anyone is competent, or ought to have power, to select those to whom this freedom is to be reserved. It certainly does not justify the presumption of any group of people to claim the right to determine what people ought to think or believe.��]]> 4.14 1944 The Road to Serfdom

author: Friedrich A. Hayek
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1944
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: classics, economics, english-literature, philosophy
review:
Read October 23, 2024

I suspect that you would call The Road to Serfdom F.A. Hayek’s magnum opus. It was written in 1944 towards the end of the Second World War, when countries had been exposed to various socialist political experiments and the effect they had on the countries that adopted them were very, very evident. But Hayek did not take for granted that people’s common sense would see the dangers. He was well aware of the hazards socialism still posed with its pernicious ideology and promises of a better future where everyone would be equal, the rich would pay their fair share, and all would be secure within the society.

Born in Austria and living in England, Hayek saw socialism creeping into English and American life in the same ways that it had infected Germany and the Soviet Union previously. While this book is a well-reasoned apology for an economic free-market, it is more to expose the flaws and dangers within a socialist system, which always sounds sensible with its emphasis on equality and moral superiority, with the government sensibly running society but, in fact, the reality is completely different. One of Hayek’s pertinent quotes is: “If socialists understood economics, they wouldn’t be socialists.��

After a few prefaces and an introduction, Hayek sets his work up within the following chapters:

1. The Abandoned Road
2. The Great Utopia
3. Individualism and Collectivism
4. The “Inevitability�� of Planning
5. Planning and Democracy
6. Planning and the Rule of Law
7. Economic Control and Totalitarianism
8. Who, Whom?
9. Security and Freedom
10. Why the Worst Get On Top
11. The End of Truth
12. The Social Roots of Naziism
13. The Totalitarians in Our Midst
14. Material Conditions and Ideal Ends
15. The Prospects of International Order
16. Conclusion

It helps to understand the changes in the word “liberal�� which has occurred over the decades. Hayek explains:

“I use throughout the term ‘liberal�� in the original, nineteenth-century sense in which it is still current in Britain. In current American usage it often means very nearly the opposite of this. It has been part of the camouflage of leftist movements in this country, helped by the muddleheadedness of many who really believe in liberty, that ‘liberal�� has come to mean the advocacy of almost every kind of government control.��

This is an important distinction.

author: W.W. Jacobs
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1902
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Journeyman 1203197 161 Elizabeth Yates 0890845352 Cleo 0 to-read 4.08 1943

author: Elizabeth Yates
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1943
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Brine and Bone 56698246
Magdalena of Ondile adores the crown prince of Corenden, but she'd sooner die than admit it. Ejected from the royal court, she spends her days at a sage's seminary, where her sparkling memories and destructive empathy magic prey upon her.

Until the ocean rips her charming prince into its depths.

When Magdalena discovers him washed ashore, her rescue-by-happenstance draws her back to the glittering palace and its stifling rules. But Prince Finnian's miraculous return attracts more than the nobility of the court. The eerie creature that spared his life would gladly reclaim it, even if staking that claim requires a sacrifice of flesh and endless torment.

This novella is based on H. C. Andersen's "The Little Mermaid"]]> 158 Kate Stradling 194749502X Cleo 0 to-read 4.78 2018 Brine and Bone

author: Kate Stradling
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.78
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Bertie on the Beach 4349449 32 Jane Johnson 0590078224 Cleo 0 to-read, childrens-books 4.33 1981

author: Jane Johnson
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read, childrens-books
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite]]> 2774327
Originally published in Macmillan's Magazine, May-Dec. 1870.]]> 256 Anthony Trollope 0486249530 Cleo 0 to-read 3.52 1870

author: Anthony Trollope
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1870
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mr. Harrison's Confessions 1166155 This charming and witty prequel to Cranford is a neglected Gaskell classic with all the period detail, distinctively drawn characters, and a well-knitted plot associated with her works

Enjoying the comforts of his well-kept home, country doctor William Harrison is prevailed upon by his longtime friend Charles, a bachelor, to dispense some advice on the "wooing and winning" of women’s affections. So begins the fascinating and varied recollections of one of Gaskell's best-loved characters. Lured to rural Duncombe by the promise of a partnership in a country practice, William finds himself trapped in claustrophobic provincial life where society is apparently presided over by the scheming of a set of under-occupied middle-aged women. Their supposed matchmaking prowess in fact leaves much to be desired; so much so, indeed, that before long the hapless young physician finds himself betrothed to three women—none of whom is the beautiful Sophy, the woman he truly desires. Chaotic, hilarious, and poignant, this comedy of manners—and of errors—will resonate with Gaskell aficionados and newcomers alike.]]> 80 Elizabeth Gaskell 1419135546 Cleo 0 to-read 3.72 1851 Mr. Harrison's Confessions

author: Elizabeth Gaskell
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1851
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Christians as the Romans Saw Them]]> 135143 Acknowledgments
Introduction
Abbreviations
Pliny: a Roman gentleman. The making of a Roman official; Travels of a provincial governor; A Christian association; Offerings of wine & incense
Christianity as a burial society. Church or political club?; A sense of belonging; A Bacchic society; An obscure & secret association
The piety of the persecutors. Roman religion & Christian prejudice; The practice of religion; "We too are a religious people"
Galen: the curiosity of a philosopher. Philosophy & medicine; Christianity as a philosophical school; The practice of philosophy; The arbitrary god of the Christians
Celsus: a conservative intellectual. Begging priests of Cybele & soothsayers; The deficiencies of Christian doctrine; Demythologizing the story of Jesus; An apostasy from Judaism; Religion & the social order
Porphyry: the most learned critic of all. In defense of Plato; The Jewish scriptures; The Christian New Testament; Philosophy from oracles; The religion of the emperor; Jesus not a magician; An unreasoning faith
Julian the Apostate: Jewish law & Christian truth. The emperor's piety; Greek education & Christian values; Against the Galilaeans; The tribal god of Jews & Christians; An apostasy from Judaism
Epilogue
Suggestions for Further Reader
Index]]> 238 Robert L. Wilken 0300098391 Cleo 0 to-read 4.08 1984 The Christians as the Romans Saw Them

author: Robert L. Wilken
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1984
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> C. S. Lewis's Oxford 209195175 232 Simon Horobin 1851245642 Cleo 0 to-read 4.35

author: Simon Horobin
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.35
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Four Gospels and the Revelation (English and Ancient Greek Edition)]]> 482314 301 Richmond Lattimore 0374158010 Cleo 0 currently-reading 4.29 1979

The Four Gospels and the Revelation (English and Ancient Greek Edition)

author: Richmond Lattimore
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1979
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Sylvia's Lovers 830205 Librarian note: 2004 edition of the same ISBN can be found here.

A very powerfully moving novel of a young woman caught between the attractions of two very different men, Sylvia’s Lovers is set in the 1790s in an English seaside town. England is at war with France, and press-gangs wreak havoc by seizing young men for service. One of their victims is a whaling harpooner named Charley Kinraid, whose charm and vivacity have captured the heart of Sylvia Robson. But Sylvia’s devoted cousin, Philip Hepburn, hopes to marry her himself and, in order to win her, deliberately withholds crucial information—with devastating consequences.
The introduction discusses the novel's historical and geographical authenticity, as well as its innovative treatment of gender and human relationships

Includes a new chronology, updated further reading, notes, and appendices]]> 484 Elizabeth Gaskell Cleo 4 classics, english-literature First read January 6, 2025

The novel is set around 1796 during the Napoleonic Wars, where in England it was common experience for press-gangs to kidnap sailors or other townsmen to fight for the King. Gaskell introduces us to Sylvia, the only daughter of Bell and Daniel who live in a farm near to the town of Monkshaven, where many a whaling vessel is moored. Somewhat spoiled and willful, Sylvia is the darling of her cousin, Philip Hepburn, who is a conservative, staid young man with good prospects for his future career in business. Conversely, Philip simply annoys Sylvia who wishes for a more romantic beau and gets him in Charley Kinraid, a specksioneer newly home from sea. As the two become closer, Philip realizes his chance to win Sylvia's love is rapidly dwindling. When Kinraid is taken by a press-gang and pleads with Philip to tell Sylvia of his love and promise to return, having previously heard of Kinraid's fickleness with women, Philip decides to keep the message to himself and the consequences of his resolution reach farther than he could ever imagine ........

Oh my, so much melodrama and angst and unlikely meetings and improbable circumstances! But Gaskell does it so well! As I close the book, I feel like I've been living in Monkshaven for this past number of weeks and it's really difficult to leave. The detail Gaskell gives the reader, all tied up with exceptional writing skills, is sublime. Even the dialect added to the story, although it took a little bit to get used to it.

In the introduction to the novel, it says that from time to time Gaskell left off writing the story and at times her publisher would have to press her to finish. The story does occasionally have an unevenness to it and I suspect this fact would account for it. But all-in-all, a wonderful read! It is truly "the saddest story" Gaskell ever wrote!]]> 3.75 1863 Sylvia's Lovers

author: Elizabeth Gaskell
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1863
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: classics, english-literature
review:
First read January 6, 2025

The novel is set around 1796 during the Napoleonic Wars, where in England it was common experience for press-gangs to kidnap sailors or other townsmen to fight for the King. Gaskell introduces us to Sylvia, the only daughter of Bell and Daniel who live in a farm near to the town of Monkshaven, where many a whaling vessel is moored. Somewhat spoiled and willful, Sylvia is the darling of her cousin, Philip Hepburn, who is a conservative, staid young man with good prospects for his future career in business. Conversely, Philip simply annoys Sylvia who wishes for a more romantic beau and gets him in Charley Kinraid, a specksioneer newly home from sea. As the two become closer, Philip realizes his chance to win Sylvia's love is rapidly dwindling. When Kinraid is taken by a press-gang and pleads with Philip to tell Sylvia of his love and promise to return, having previously heard of Kinraid's fickleness with women, Philip decides to keep the message to himself and the consequences of his resolution reach farther than he could ever imagine ........

Oh my, so much melodrama and angst and unlikely meetings and improbable circumstances! But Gaskell does it so well! As I close the book, I feel like I've been living in Monkshaven for this past number of weeks and it's really difficult to leave. The detail Gaskell gives the reader, all tied up with exceptional writing skills, is sublime. Even the dialect added to the story, although it took a little bit to get used to it.

In the introduction to the novel, it says that from time to time Gaskell left off writing the story and at times her publisher would have to press her to finish. The story does occasionally have an unevenness to it and I suspect this fact would account for it. But all-in-all, a wonderful read! It is truly "the saddest story" Gaskell ever wrote!
]]> <![CDATA[Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front]]> 835344 358 Joel Salatin 0963810952 Cleo 0 to-read 4.18 2007

Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front

author: Joel Salatin
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis]]> 32273239 381 J.D. Vance 141049666X Cleo 5 December 31, 2024

I enjoyed reading about Vance's family and his experience with the hillbilly culture. The writing was pretty simple. I won't complain about it though, as I've learned about the pressure publishers put on authors to dumb-down their writing because they believe the public is not smart enough to understand complex thought.

In any case, this was a four-star read for me, however I gave it five stars because, upon reading reviews, I found people very ungracious in their complaints about this book. This book is an autobiography. Can you really argue with an autography? It's Vance's opinions and experience. Just because a person has different experiences and has different opinions, doesn't make him wrong. It seems more beneficial to take opinions that are different than yours and give them some thought. Some of the complaints seem to say more about the people making them than Vance.

I am a Canadian so I'm not emotionally invested in the politics of the U.S. I just like to see people treated fairly. So this four-star book gets a five from me.]]> 3.72 2016 Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

author: J.D. Vance
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: biography, american-literature, memoirs
review:
December 31, 2024

I enjoyed reading about Vance's family and his experience with the hillbilly culture. The writing was pretty simple. I won't complain about it though, as I've learned about the pressure publishers put on authors to dumb-down their writing because they believe the public is not smart enough to understand complex thought.

In any case, this was a four-star read for me, however I gave it five stars because, upon reading reviews, I found people very ungracious in their complaints about this book. This book is an autobiography. Can you really argue with an autography? It's Vance's opinions and experience. Just because a person has different experiences and has different opinions, doesn't make him wrong. It seems more beneficial to take opinions that are different than yours and give them some thought. Some of the complaints seem to say more about the people making them than Vance.

I am a Canadian so I'm not emotionally invested in the politics of the U.S. I just like to see people treated fairly. So this four-star book gets a five from me.
]]> Madame Badobedah 44164977 Who is Madame Badobedah? Mabel sets out to prove that an eccentric new hotel guest is really a supervillain in this witty storybook about an intergenerational friendship.

There's a strange new guest at the Mermaid Hotel -- a very old lady with a growly voice, bags stuffed with jewelry and coins and curiosities, and a beady-eyed pet tortoise. Mabel, whose parents run the hotel, is suspicious. Who is this "Madame Badobedah" (it rhymes with "Oo la la") who has come to stay indefinitely and never has any visitors? To find out, Mabel puts on her spy costume and observes the new guest. Conclusion? She must be a secret supervillain hiding out from the law. The grown-ups think Madame Badobedah is a bit rude -- and sad -- but when she invites "dahlink" Mabel for a cup of forbidden tea and a game of pirates, the two begin a series of imaginary adventures together, and Mabel realizes that first impressions can sometimes be very wrong.]]> 56 Sophie Dahl 1406384402 Cleo 4
Positives:
Imaginative: it was lacking subtlety but it was still enjoyable
Heartwarming: I was left with a curiosity of Madame Badobedah's past life and also how her realtionship with Mabel developed

Negatives:
I didn't feel that the story grew from the author's imagination, you know, in the way that good stories can have a life of their own. It felt like the story was growing from a planned framework ........ a good framework, but a framework nonetheless.

Why, oh, why do authors have to make children consistently bratty? I understand that children can be contrary at times but modern authors seem to think that it's cute for children act rude and edgy much of the time. There is nothing charming about this. In this case, the portrayal was not overdone, but there is still an essence of it.

The illustrations ....... I'm still not decided about this ......... while I think the choice and placement was well-done, I found the quality somewhat lacking. However, did they fit well with the story? ..... maybe. I'll have to think more about it.

In any case, this book was a nice surprise and I'm glad that I read it.]]> 4.05 Madame Badobedah

author: Sophie Dahl
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: childrens-books, children-s-picture-books
review:
I don't have a high opinion of modern children's books in general, but this one exceeded my expectations. A girl named Mabel who is living in the Mermaid Hotel meets a guest, an old lady whom she names "Madame Badobedah." Convinced that the old lady is a super spy, she sets out to prove her theory and instead of gaining evidence, gains something much more valuable.

Positives:
Imaginative: it was lacking subtlety but it was still enjoyable
Heartwarming: I was left with a curiosity of Madame Badobedah's past life and also how her realtionship with Mabel developed

Negatives:
I didn't feel that the story grew from the author's imagination, you know, in the way that good stories can have a life of their own. It felt like the story was growing from a planned framework ........ a good framework, but a framework nonetheless.

Why, oh, why do authors have to make children consistently bratty? I understand that children can be contrary at times but modern authors seem to think that it's cute for children act rude and edgy much of the time. There is nothing charming about this. In this case, the portrayal was not overdone, but there is still an essence of it.

The illustrations ....... I'm still not decided about this ......... while I think the choice and placement was well-done, I found the quality somewhat lacking. However, did they fit well with the story? ..... maybe. I'll have to think more about it.

In any case, this book was a nice surprise and I'm glad that I read it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Power of Light: Eight Stories for Hanukkah]]> 383954 87 Isaac Bashevis Singer 0374459843 Cleo 5 Read January 2, 2025

What a compilation of beautiful stories to celebrate Hanukkah! From a barren couple to a stolen child, from a parakeet with a personality to a couple fleeing the Nazis; each story is at least as engaging as the one before. The stories are as follows:

1. A Hanukkah Evening in My Parent's House
2. The Extinguished Lights
3. The Parakeet Named Dreidel
4. Menashe and Rachel
5. The Squire
6. The Power of Light
7. Hershele and Hanukkah
8. Hanukkah in the Poorhouse

The themes of faith, love, loss, devotion, and perseverance, and this tradition that lives in a people in a way that binds them together through millennia is truly moving.

Read one story for each day of Hanukkah!]]> 4.17 1980 The Power of Light: Eight Stories for Hanukkah

The Power of Light: Eight Stories for Hanukkah

author: Isaac Bashevis Singer
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1980
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: classics, children-literature, yiddish-literature
review:
Read January 2, 2025

What a compilation of beautiful stories to celebrate Hanukkah! From a barren couple to a stolen child, from a parakeet with a personality to a couple fleeing the Nazis; each story is at least as engaging as the one before. The stories are as follows:

1. A Hanukkah Evening in My Parent's House
2. The Extinguished Lights
3. The Parakeet Named Dreidel
4. Menashe and Rachel
5. The Squire
6. The Power of Light
7. Hershele and Hanukkah
8. Hanukkah in the Poorhouse

The themes of faith, love, loss, devotion, and perseverance, and this tradition that lives in a people in a way that binds them together through millennia is truly moving.

Read one story for each day of Hanukkah!
]]> War and Peace 656
War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men.

As Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy brilliantly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.

Tolstoy gave his personal approval to this translation, published here in a new single volume edition, which includes an introduction by Henry Gifford, and Tolstoy's important essay `Some Words about War and Peace'.]]> 1392 Leo Tolstoy 0192833987 Cleo 5
War and Peace follows the lives of five families of Tsarist Russia: the Rostovs, the Bolkonskis, the Bezukhovs, the Kuragins and the Drubetskoys, their interactions and struggles, and the afflictions suffered by each set among the events leading up to and during Napoleon's invasive campaign in the year of 1812. Pierre Bezukhov is the illegitimate son of a nobleman and, through a series of circumstances, inherits a great fortune. His new position in society chafes against his natural character of simplicity, naiveté, and introspection. The Rostov family is a well-respected family, yet are in financial difficulties. The son, Nikolai, joins the Russian army, his brother, Petya, will soon follow, and their daughter, Natasha, a joyful free-spirit, becomes attached to a number of men throughout the story. Sophia, an orphaned niece, is raised by the Rostovs, and shows a steady and loyal character as she pledges her love to Nikolai early in the novel. Bolkonsky senior is a crochety old count who attempts to control his son, Andrei, and terrorizes his daughter, Maria.

And so begins the dance between the cast of characters, sometimes a smooth waltz, and at others a frenzied tango. There is contrast between generations, between old and new ideas, between life and its purpose, yet Tolstoy is adept as showing the gray tones overshadowing the blacks and whites; that situations are not always as they appear.

Tolstoy's highest attribute is his ability to peel off the layers of each person and look into his soul. His characters are crafted with such depth and such human motivations that the reader can only marvel at his skill. And not only can he give birth to such characters, he understands them. The scenes involving the Russian peasantry, who act completely contrary to reason, yet with such humanness, are evidence of Tolstoys profound comprehension of human nature and the human condition.

I love how Tolstoy lets humanity and compassion show through the animosity and the bloodletting of war. One of my favourite characters of the novel was Ramballe, the French officer whom Pierre met in Bazdeev's house and who showed brotherhood and goodwill despite that fact that, given the circumstances, they should have been pitted against each other as sworn enemies. Originally, Pierre is portrayed somewhat as a bumbling oaf, a man of a lower class who, by luck and circumstances has managed to rise to a position of prestige yet has never been able to cast aside his peasant-like origins. However by his actions in the novel, he becomes admirable, echoing a segment of humanity that shows kindness, goodness, bravery and integrity that shines out from the avariciousness and shallowness of high society.

Tolstoy himself was very ambiguous about his masterpiece stating that it was, "not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less an historical chronicle." He believed that if the work was masterful, it could not conform to accepted standards and therefore could not be labelled.

"It is natural for us who were not living in those days to imagine that when half Russia had been conquered and the inhabitants were fleeing to distant provinces, and one levy after another was being raised for the desense of the fatherland, all Russians from the greatest to the least were solely engaged in sacrificing themselves, saving their fatherland, or weeping over its downfall. The tales and descriptions speak only of the self-sacrifice, patriotic devotion, despair, grief, and the heroism of the Russians. But it was not really so. It appears so to us because we see only the general historic interest of that time and do not see all the personal human interests that people had. Yet in reality those personal interest of the moment so much transcend the general interests that they always prevent the public interest from being felt or even noticed. Most of the people at that time paid not attention to the general progress of events but were guided by their own private interests, and they were the very people whose activities at that period were most useful. Those who tried to understand the general course of events and to take part in it by self-sacrifice and heroism were the most useless members of society, they saw everything upside-down, and all they did for the common good turned out to be useless and foolish …��.. Even those, fond of intellectual talk and of expressing their feelings, who discussed Russia's position at the time involuntarily introduced into their conversation either a shade of pre tense and falsehood or useless condemnation and anger directed against people accused of actions no one could possibly be guilty of. ……�� Only unconscious action bears fruit, and he who plays a part in an historic event never understands its significance. If he tries to realize it his efforts are fruitless. The more closely a man was engaged in the events then taking place in Russia the less did he realize their significance ……��."

Perhaps Tolstoy is showing us that people are imperfect, with human vice and human foibles and that, in spite of trying to find heroics in war, the actions are only the actions of people trying to survive. It is history looking backwards that make the heroes, but in reality, the characters in these trials of life are all people acting out their parts in a very human way. There is no glory in war, only people trying to deal with the circumstances as best they can, and to get by with a little human dignity. Success can be more a matter of chance than planning, and it is often luck or misfortune that places people in either the bright spotlight of fame, or the dark dungeons of villainy.

I know that many people shy away from War and Peace because of its length, and I did too for a long time. Another criticism is that Tolstoy's "war" parts are monotonous. It certainly is a lengthy novel but by doing some cursive research on this period of Russian history, the reader can gain enough of a base to allow him to relax and be pulled into the story. And by viewing the wars scenes, not only as history, but as a chance to learn from people's reactions in situations of stress and conflict, I think they can give us more of an insight into human motivations. So pick it up and let yourself be swept away into the Russia Empire of the early 1800s. You won't be disappointed!

(translated by Aylmer & Louise Maude)
]]> 4.14 1869 War and Peace

author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1869
rating: 5
read at: 2020/06/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: 2014-52-books-in-52-weeks, 2014-around-the-world-challenge, 2014-chunkster-challenge, 2014-mount-tbr-challenge, 2014-read-dead-writers, 2014-russian-literature-challenge, chunkster-over-800-pages, classics, classics-club-challenge-5-yr, history, russian-literature, russian-history, guardians-1000-list, currently-reading
review:
I am very hesitant to even attempt to review this book. How can one do even the slightest bit of justice to an epic like this? How can one even touch on the depth of the myriad of characters, not to mention communicate the complexities of a war that even the participants had difficulty distinguishing? And how do you review such an epic tale without producing an epic review?

War and Peace follows the lives of five families of Tsarist Russia: the Rostovs, the Bolkonskis, the Bezukhovs, the Kuragins and the Drubetskoys, their interactions and struggles, and the afflictions suffered by each set among the events leading up to and during Napoleon's invasive campaign in the year of 1812. Pierre Bezukhov is the illegitimate son of a nobleman and, through a series of circumstances, inherits a great fortune. His new position in society chafes against his natural character of simplicity, naiveté, and introspection. The Rostov family is a well-respected family, yet are in financial difficulties. The son, Nikolai, joins the Russian army, his brother, Petya, will soon follow, and their daughter, Natasha, a joyful free-spirit, becomes attached to a number of men throughout the story. Sophia, an orphaned niece, is raised by the Rostovs, and shows a steady and loyal character as she pledges her love to Nikolai early in the novel. Bolkonsky senior is a crochety old count who attempts to control his son, Andrei, and terrorizes his daughter, Maria.

And so begins the dance between the cast of characters, sometimes a smooth waltz, and at others a frenzied tango. There is contrast between generations, between old and new ideas, between life and its purpose, yet Tolstoy is adept as showing the gray tones overshadowing the blacks and whites; that situations are not always as they appear.

Tolstoy's highest attribute is his ability to peel off the layers of each person and look into his soul. His characters are crafted with such depth and such human motivations that the reader can only marvel at his skill. And not only can he give birth to such characters, he understands them. The scenes involving the Russian peasantry, who act completely contrary to reason, yet with such humanness, are evidence of Tolstoys profound comprehension of human nature and the human condition.

I love how Tolstoy lets humanity and compassion show through the animosity and the bloodletting of war. One of my favourite characters of the novel was Ramballe, the French officer whom Pierre met in Bazdeev's house and who showed brotherhood and goodwill despite that fact that, given the circumstances, they should have been pitted against each other as sworn enemies. Originally, Pierre is portrayed somewhat as a bumbling oaf, a man of a lower class who, by luck and circumstances has managed to rise to a position of prestige yet has never been able to cast aside his peasant-like origins. However by his actions in the novel, he becomes admirable, echoing a segment of humanity that shows kindness, goodness, bravery and integrity that shines out from the avariciousness and shallowness of high society.

Tolstoy himself was very ambiguous about his masterpiece stating that it was, "not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less an historical chronicle." He believed that if the work was masterful, it could not conform to accepted standards and therefore could not be labelled.

"It is natural for us who were not living in those days to imagine that when half Russia had been conquered and the inhabitants were fleeing to distant provinces, and one levy after another was being raised for the desense of the fatherland, all Russians from the greatest to the least were solely engaged in sacrificing themselves, saving their fatherland, or weeping over its downfall. The tales and descriptions speak only of the self-sacrifice, patriotic devotion, despair, grief, and the heroism of the Russians. But it was not really so. It appears so to us because we see only the general historic interest of that time and do not see all the personal human interests that people had. Yet in reality those personal interest of the moment so much transcend the general interests that they always prevent the public interest from being felt or even noticed. Most of the people at that time paid not attention to the general progress of events but were guided by their own private interests, and they were the very people whose activities at that period were most useful. Those who tried to understand the general course of events and to take part in it by self-sacrifice and heroism were the most useless members of society, they saw everything upside-down, and all they did for the common good turned out to be useless and foolish …��.. Even those, fond of intellectual talk and of expressing their feelings, who discussed Russia's position at the time involuntarily introduced into their conversation either a shade of pre tense and falsehood or useless condemnation and anger directed against people accused of actions no one could possibly be guilty of. ……�� Only unconscious action bears fruit, and he who plays a part in an historic event never understands its significance. If he tries to realize it his efforts are fruitless. The more closely a man was engaged in the events then taking place in Russia the less did he realize their significance ……��."

Perhaps Tolstoy is showing us that people are imperfect, with human vice and human foibles and that, in spite of trying to find heroics in war, the actions are only the actions of people trying to survive. It is history looking backwards that make the heroes, but in reality, the characters in these trials of life are all people acting out their parts in a very human way. There is no glory in war, only people trying to deal with the circumstances as best they can, and to get by with a little human dignity. Success can be more a matter of chance than planning, and it is often luck or misfortune that places people in either the bright spotlight of fame, or the dark dungeons of villainy.

I know that many people shy away from War and Peace because of its length, and I did too for a long time. Another criticism is that Tolstoy's "war" parts are monotonous. It certainly is a lengthy novel but by doing some cursive research on this period of Russian history, the reader can gain enough of a base to allow him to relax and be pulled into the story. And by viewing the wars scenes, not only as history, but as a chance to learn from people's reactions in situations of stress and conflict, I think they can give us more of an insight into human motivations. So pick it up and let yourself be swept away into the Russia Empire of the early 1800s. You won't be disappointed!

(translated by Aylmer & Louise Maude)

]]> <![CDATA[The Chosen (Reuven Malther, #1)]]> 187181 304 Chaim Potok 0449213447 Cleo 5 currently-reading 4.06 1966

author: Chaim Potok
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1966
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Circle of Quiet (Crosswicks Journal) by Madelaine L'Engle (31-Dec-1998) Paperback]]> 141870935 0 Madelaine L'Engle Cleo 0 to-read 4.00

Circle of Quiet (Crosswicks Journal) by Madelaine L'Engle (31-Dec-1998) Paperback

author: Madelaine L'Engle
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Euthyphro 3346962 48 Plato 1406558540 Cleo 0 currently-reading 3.86 -399

author: Plato
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.86
book published: -399
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Ethnic America 9858230
Publisher's Summary

Thomas Sowell provides us with a useful and concise record tracing the history of nine ethnic groups: Irish, Germans, Jews, Italians, Chinese, Japanese, Blacks, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans.

He offers perspective-building facts, such as the fact that there are more people of Irish ancestry in the United States than in Ireland and more Jews than in Israel. He explains each ethnic group's varied experiences in adapting to American society.
©1981 Basic Books, Inc. (P)1989 Blackstone Audio, Inc.]]> 0 Thomas Sowell 0786100486 Cleo 0 to-read 4.60 1975 Ethnic America

author: Thomas Sowell
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.60
book published: 1975
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death's Head: A Soldier With Richard the Lionheart (Death's Head #1)]]> 30065333 613 Robert Broomall Cleo 0 to-read 4.46

Death's Head: A Soldier With Richard the Lionheart (Death's Head #1)

author: Robert Broomall
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Première Étape: Basic French Readings (I-V)]]> 4707135 313 Otto F. Bond Cleo 0 currently-reading 4.00 1935

Première Étape: Basic French Readings (I-V)

author: Otto F. Bond
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1935
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Lift 52889468
That is, until the sudden appearance of a mysterious new button opens up entire realms of possibility, places where she can escape and explore on her own.

This is a story that will lift your spirits and expand your imagination, by the award-winning creators of Drawn Together.]]> 56 Minh Lê 1368036929 Cleo 0 children-s-picture-books 4.36 2020 Lift

author: Minh Lê
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: children-s-picture-books
review:
Okay, I didn't care for this one. Iris was sort of a brat and she steals an elevator button out of the repairman's bucket as if it's okay. As far as I can tell, she learns nothing from her travels and the transition from thinking her little brother a traitor (for pushing HER elevator buttons) to taking him with her on her travels was pretty weak. I thought the illustrations were pedestrian (although the facial expressions were good). Nice ideas but poor execution.
]]> Witch Hazel 58064779 ��
This poignant tale and artistic tour de force from Caldecott Honoree Molly Idle gently explores the passage of time and the transcendent power of sharing our stories.]]> 40 Molly Idle 0316541133 Cleo 0 children-s-picture-books 4.28 2022 Witch Hazel

author: Molly Idle
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: children-s-picture-books
review:
A bittersweet story about the friendship between an older woman, Hazel, and a little girl, Hilda. The illustrations are exceptional and enhance this lovely tale.
]]> <![CDATA[The Platonic Tradition: Understanding Plato's Impact Through The Ages]]> 16373466 5 Peter Kreeft 1464047405 Cleo 0 to-read 4.23 2012

The Platonic Tradition: Understanding Plato's Impact Through The Ages

author: Peter Kreeft
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Diddakoi 1302501 149 Rumer Godden 0670272205 Cleo 0 to-read 4.04 1972

author: Rumer Godden
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1972
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Christmas Carol 5326
Introduction and Afterword by Joe Wheeler
To bitter, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, Christmas is just another day. But all that changes when the ghost of his long-dead business partner appears, warning Scrooge to change his ways before it's too late.

Part of the Focus on the Family Great Stories collection, this abridged edition features an in-depth introduction and discussion questions by Joe Wheeler to provide greater understanding for today's reader. "A Christmas Carol" captures the heart of the holidays like no other novel.]]> 184 Charles Dickens 1561797464 Cleo 5 December 19, 2024 (probably my fifth read)
It made me think that no one is truly lost and there is hope for even the most hardened of hearts. God bless us, every one!

December 24, 2022
What an uplifing book! I could read it every year and never get tired of it. A timely reminder to think of others before oneself, to keep the true meaning of Christmas always in focus and to put forth kindness and happiness towards others regardless of their manner or circumstance.]]> 4.06 1843 A Christmas Carol

author: Charles Dickens
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1843
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: classics, english-literature, z-a-classics-challenge-2012, z-back-to-the-classics-challenge-20, victorian-challenge-2012, z-tbr-challenge-2012
review:
December 19, 2024 (probably my fifth read)
It made me think that no one is truly lost and there is hope for even the most hardened of hearts. God bless us, every one!

December 24, 2022
What an uplifing book! I could read it every year and never get tired of it. A timely reminder to think of others before oneself, to keep the true meaning of Christmas always in focus and to put forth kindness and happiness towards others regardless of their manner or circumstance.
]]> <![CDATA[February 1933: The Winter of Literature]]> 125644704 288 Uwe Wittstock 1509553797 Cleo 0 to-read 4.45 2021

author: Uwe Wittstock
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Present Age: Progress and Anarchy in Modern America]]> 499767 The Present Age challenges readers to reexamine the role of the United States in the world since World War I. Nisbet criticizes Americans for isolationism at home, discusses the gutting of educational standards, the decay of education, the presence of government in all facets of life, the diminished connection to community, and the prominence of economic arrangements driving everyday life in America.

This work is deeply indebted to the analyses of Tocqueville and Bryce regarding the threats that bureaucracy, centralization, and creeping conformity pose to liberty and individual independence in the western world. The Present Age relates a tragedy—the unprecedented militarization of American life in the decades after 1914, as the result of the necessary resistance to National Socialist and Communist totalitarianism that fed into and reinforced the profound tendencies toward centralization within modern society.

Robert Nisbet (1913��1996), former professor of sociology at Columbia University, is the author of Sociology as an Art Form; The Social Philosophers; Prejudices: A Philosophical Dictionary; The Sociological Tradition; History of the Idea of Progress; and Twilight of Authority, also published by Liberty Fund.]]> 156 Robert A. Nisbet 0865974098 Cleo 0 to-read 4.26 1988 The Present Age: Progress and Anarchy in Modern America

The Present Age: Progress and Anarchy in Modern America

author: Robert A. Nisbet
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics of Order & Freedom]]> 945423 272 Robert A. Nisbet 1558150587 Cleo 0 to-read 4.32 1953

The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics of Order & Freedom

author: Robert A. Nisbet
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1953
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Twilight of Authority (The Classics of Liberty Library)]]> 129571432 Modern Political Philosophy 0 Robert A. Nisbet Cleo 0 to-read 0.0 1975

Twilight of Authority (The Classics of Liberty Library)

author: Robert A. Nisbet
name: Cleo
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1975
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mystery in White 16168490 J. Jefferson Farjeon Cleo 3 english-literature, mystery 3.12 1937

author: J. Jefferson Farjeon
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.12
book published: 1937
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves: english-literature, mystery
review:
Hmmm ....... This mystery was well-plotted and the setting was certainly interesting; a snowbound train, a vacant cottage and murders all around. Yet even so, there was something missing. Did it feel somewhat contrived? Were the characters not as original as they could have been? Was Mr. Maltby just a little too clever and the ghostly element too unbelievable? In any case, it didn't really capture my imagination. I'll definitely read more of these British Library Crime Classics, I just won't expect too much.
]]> <![CDATA[Our Oriental Heritage (The Story of Civilization, #1)]]> 174722 classic reference on world history, recognized as the most comprehensive general history ever written, the result of four decades of work by Will and Ariel Durant -- a set that The New York Times called "a splendid, broad panorama of hereditary culture in words and images that the layman can fully understand." This series began as an effort to write a history on the nineteenth century, an undertaking that Will Durant realized could only be understood in terms of what had come before. So the Durants embarked on an encyclopedic survey of all civilization, ancient and modern, Occidental and Oriental.

The books:

Our Oriental Heritage (Volume 1): Will Durant opens his massive survey of civilized history with a sweeping look at the Orient: the Egyptians, who perfected monumental architecture, medicine and mummification; the Babylonians, who developed astronomy and physics; the Judeans, who preserved their culture in the immortal books of the Old Testament; and the Persians, who ruled the largest empire in recorded history before Rome.

The Life of Greece (Volume 2): Will Durant's survey of ancient Greece shows us the origins of democracy and the political legacy to the Western world; the golden age of Athens, its architecture, poetry, drama, sculpture and Olympic contests; the blossoming of philosophical thought amid a society still rooted in slavery and barbarism; and the mysterious lost island of Crete, land of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth.

Caesar and Christ (Volume 3): Spanning a millenium in Roman history, the third volume in the Durants' series shows us a world-conquering Roman army, undefeated, unafraid and...vegeterian; Hannibal, who transported an army of elephants over the Alps to invade Rome; Julius Caesar, who brought Western Europe under Roman rule; the life and Passion of Christ; and the struggle of the rising church.

The Age of Faith (Volume 4): Over 1,000 years, we meet the Christian ascetics and martyrs, including Simeon Stylites, who sat atop a pillar for 30 years, exposed to rain, sun, and snow, and rejoiced as worms ate his rotting flesh; the saints, including Augustine, the most influential philosopher of his age; Mohammed, the desert merchant who founded a religion that conquered one-third of the known world in two centuries; and the Italian poet Dante, whose sensibility marks the transition to the Renaissance.

The Renaissance (Volume 5): In this volume, Will Durant examines the economic seeds -- the growth of industry, the rise of banking families, the conflicts of labor and capital -- for Italy's emergence as the first nation to feel the awakening of the modern mind. He follows the cultural flowering from Florence to Milan to Verona and eventually to Rome, allowing us to witness a colorful pageant of princes, queens, poets, painters, sculptors and architects. We see humanity moved boldly from a finite world to an infinite one.

The Reformation (Volume 6): In Europe's tumultuous emergence from the Middle Ages, we encounter two rival popes fighting for control of a corrupt, cynical church; the Hundred Years' War and 13-year-old warrior Joan of Arc; Christopher Columbus' accidental discovery of the New World; and Martin Luther, who defied the pope and ultimately led Northern Europe into the age of individualism.

The Age of Reason Begins (Volume 7): In one of Europe's most turbulent centuries, Philip II of Spain sees his "invincible" armada suffer defeat at the hands of England; Elizabeth I of England receives assistance from explorer Walter Raleigh and pirate Francis Drake; and new appeals for reason and science are exemplified in the ideas of Copernicus, Galileo and Descartes.

The Age of Louis XIV (Volume 8): This installment is the biography of a period some consider the apex of modern European civilization. "Some centuries hence," Frederick the Great predicted to Voltaire, "they will translate the good authors of the time of Louis XIV as we translate those of the age of Pericles or Augustus." Those authors are lovingly treated here: Pascal and Fenelon, Racine and Boileau, Mme. de Sevigne and Mme. de La Fayette, and, above all, the philosopher-dramatist Moliere, exposing the vices and hypocrisies of the age.

The Age of Voltaire (Volume 9): A biography of a great man and the period he embodied. We witness Voltaire's satiric work in the salons and the theater as well as his banishment to England. With him we view the complex relationships between nobility, clergy, bourgeoisie and peasantry in the France of Louis XV. We explore the music of Bach and the struggle between Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa of Austria. And finally we hear an imaginary discussion between Voltaire and Pope Benedict XIV on the significance and value of religion.

Rousseau and Revolution (Volume 10): This volume ranges over a Europe in ferment, but centers on the passionate rebel-philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who contended with Voltaire for the mind of Europe. Rousseau condemned civilization as a disease, glorified the noble savage, proclaimed to the world with equal intensity his own love affairs and the natural rights of man, and became the patron saint of the French Revolution and social upheavals across the globe for two centuries.

The Age of Napoleon (Volume 11): The final volume. Napoleon is the archetypical hero, whose restless, ambitious, and intelligent mind dominated his age and has never ceased to fascinate the world he helped fashion. Yet even Bonaparte is dwarfed by the age that took his name. For, the Durants have re-created the life, the history, the arts, the science, the politics, the philosophy, the manners and the morality, the very spirit of the turbulent epoch that began with the French Revolution, ended with the fall of the emperor and ushered in the modern world.

]]> 1047 Will Durant 1567310125 Cleo 0 4.30 1935 Our Oriental Heritage (The Story of Civilization, #1)

author: Will Durant
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1935
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves: currently-reading, classics, history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Christmas Supper in the Marais & Other Christmas Stories by Alphonse Daudet: Christmas Specials Series]]> 72000616 Christmas Specials Series 32 Alphonse Daudet 8027343194 Cleo 5
I. A Christmas Supper in the Marais
II. Three Low Masses
III. Salvette and Bernadou
IV. The Three Christmas Masses

]]> 4.00

Christmas Supper in the Marais & Other Christmas Stories by Alphonse Daudet: Christmas Specials Series

author: Alphonse Daudet
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves: christmas, classics-minor, french-literature, short-stories
review:
What a wonderful short compilation of Christmas stories! There were four stories but the last one was a different translation of the second one, so there were really only three. But Daudet's lovely descriptions and tight character development was impressive. 4.5 stars only because the first story was not quite as good as the other two.

I. A Christmas Supper in the Marais
II. Three Low Masses
III. Salvette and Bernadou
IV. The Three Christmas Masses

]]> The Life of Our Lord 6382417 144 Charles Dickens 0664256805 Cleo 5
"Remember! --- It is Christianity TO DO GOOD always -- even to those who do evil to us. It is christianity to love our neighbour as ourself, and to do to all men as we would have them Do to us. It is christianity to be gentle, merciful, and forgiving, and to keep those qualities quiet in our own hearts, and never make a boast of them, or of our prayers or of our love of God, but always to shew that we love Him by humbly trying to do right in everything. If we do this, and remember the life and lessons of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and try to act up to them, we may confidently hope that God will forgive us our sins and mistakes, and enable us to live and die in Peace." ~ Charles Dickens]]> 3.31 1934 The Life of Our Lord

author: Charles Dickens
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.31
book published: 1934
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves: classics, english-literature, faith
review:
What a lovely little book where Dickens re-wrote the Gospels for his children. You can tell by his emphasis that he is trying to impart kindness and understanding and forgiveness as exemplified by Jesus.

"Remember! --- It is Christianity TO DO GOOD always -- even to those who do evil to us. It is christianity to love our neighbour as ourself, and to do to all men as we would have them Do to us. It is christianity to be gentle, merciful, and forgiving, and to keep those qualities quiet in our own hearts, and never make a boast of them, or of our prayers or of our love of God, but always to shew that we love Him by humbly trying to do right in everything. If we do this, and remember the life and lessons of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and try to act up to them, we may confidently hope that God will forgive us our sins and mistakes, and enable us to live and die in Peace." ~ Charles Dickens
]]> <![CDATA[One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (Hercule Poirot, #23)]]> 9821573
Turning to the other patients for answers, Poirot finds other, darker, questions.…]]> 224 Agatha Christie 006207377X Cleo 4 english-literature, mystery 3.65 1940 One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (Hercule Poirot, #23)

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (Hercule Poirot, #23)

author: Agatha Christie
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1940
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: english-literature, mystery
review:
Poirot's dentist is murdered and his investigation reveals an incredibly intricate mystery with many possible suspects. The identity of the killer was definitely a surprise.
]]> The Adventures of Pinocchio 6059070 256 Carlo Collodi 8809018168 Cleo 5 3.65 1883

author: Carlo Collodi
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1883
rating: 5
read at: 2015/01/24
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves: 2015-52-books-in-52-weeks, 2015-back-to-the-classics, 2015-books-in-translation, children-literature, classics, italian-literature
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder is Easy (Superintendent Battle, #4)]]> 9870472 272 Agatha Christie 006207380X Cleo 3 3.76 1939

Murder is Easy (Superintendent Battle, #4)

author: Agatha Christie
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1939
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves: classics, english-literature, mystery
review:
There were so many great elements in this mystery, but a weak main character and a melodramatic romance torpedoed the enjoyment of it overall.
]]> Homer and His Iliad 62084696 464 Robin Lane Fox 0241524512 Cleo 3 non-fiction, greek-history
First of all, speculation. We just don’t know tons about Homer and we know a little more about his culture. I would rather a writer say: this is what we know, this is what we can surmise from reasonable evidence and this is what we just don’t know. However, Fox tends to build on theories with his own theory and then states his theory / conclusions as fact, or close to fact. Such as his belief that Homer composed orally but at some point had his poems written down to edit or extend, and the poem was probably written down by his daughter. Where is any evidence of this? There isn’t any. It’s just a supposition.

He also tends to use allusion or comparison that run the gamut from Homer’s time to the 20th century and he does it with limited introduction, so you are nicely ensconced in the world of ancient Greece and then jarringly pulled into the 19th century with references to Florence Nightingale and Thomas Hardy, etc. Yikes!

From the prologue, I could tell that Fox attempted to organize his work into sections that were logical, however, his communication within those sections felt disorganized. For example, when he referenced C.S. Lewis and his three qualities that epics must have, those qualities were mentioned but not clearly in his writing. And at times he would insert weird observations that did not tie to the poem itself, for instance, “for Homer indeed, dark lives matter.��

But there were some nice highlights. I particularly enjoyed the topographical journey that Fox took us on which gives the reader a deeper connection to the poem. There was also some nice insight into some of the characters and I particularly enjoyed his unusual focus on Sarpedon, who is one of my favourite characters.

At 454 pages, one feels like Fox was trying to add as much information as he could and cover every angle. My preference would be for it to be more focussed and better organized. 2.5 stars bumped to 3 simply because of the volume of information and the interesting pictures included at the end of various scenes of the Iliad.]]> 4.10 2023 Homer and His Iliad

author: Robin Lane Fox
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves: non-fiction, greek-history
review:
Ah, this was a little bit tedious, which was a complete surprise because, if I was stranded on a desert island, The Iliad would be one of five books I would love to have. So what was it about this book didn’t resonate with me?

First of all, speculation. We just don’t know tons about Homer and we know a little more about his culture. I would rather a writer say: this is what we know, this is what we can surmise from reasonable evidence and this is what we just don’t know. However, Fox tends to build on theories with his own theory and then states his theory / conclusions as fact, or close to fact. Such as his belief that Homer composed orally but at some point had his poems written down to edit or extend, and the poem was probably written down by his daughter. Where is any evidence of this? There isn’t any. It’s just a supposition.

He also tends to use allusion or comparison that run the gamut from Homer’s time to the 20th century and he does it with limited introduction, so you are nicely ensconced in the world of ancient Greece and then jarringly pulled into the 19th century with references to Florence Nightingale and Thomas Hardy, etc. Yikes!

From the prologue, I could tell that Fox attempted to organize his work into sections that were logical, however, his communication within those sections felt disorganized. For example, when he referenced C.S. Lewis and his three qualities that epics must have, those qualities were mentioned but not clearly in his writing. And at times he would insert weird observations that did not tie to the poem itself, for instance, “for Homer indeed, dark lives matter.��

But there were some nice highlights. I particularly enjoyed the topographical journey that Fox took us on which gives the reader a deeper connection to the poem. There was also some nice insight into some of the characters and I particularly enjoyed his unusual focus on Sarpedon, who is one of my favourite characters.

At 454 pages, one feels like Fox was trying to add as much information as he could and cover every angle. My preference would be for it to be more focussed and better organized. 2.5 stars bumped to 3 simply because of the volume of information and the interesting pictures included at the end of various scenes of the Iliad.
]]> <![CDATA[C.S. Lewis: A Celebration of His Early Life]]> 504577 144 Ruth James Cording 0805422005 Cleo 5 biography, non-fiction 3.86 2000

C.S. Lewis: A Celebration of His Early Life

author: Ruth James Cording
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves: biography, non-fiction
review:
Quite a lovely little book that allows the reader to step right into the life of C.S. Lewis. As a Wheaton College archivist and eventually working in the Marion E. Wade Center, Cording was responsible for preserving many of Lewis' manuscripts, letters, etc. The book includes wonderful photography of various places, poems, and people connected to Lewis. For Lewis fans, this is definitely a read not to be missed!
]]> <![CDATA[Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth]]> 7343 Tolkien and the Great War also introduces the close friends who spurred the modern world's greatest mythology into life. It shows how the deaths of two comrades compelled Tolkien to pursue the dream they had shared, and argues that Tolkien transformed the cataclysm of his generation while many of his contemporaries surrendered to disillusionment. The fruit of five years of meticulous research, this is the first substantially new biography of Tolkien since 1977, distilled from his personal wartime papers and a multitude of other sources.]]> 398 John Garth 0618574816 Cleo 0 to-read 3.73 2003 Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth

Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth

author: John Garth
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[St. Bonaventure's on the Reduction of the Arts to Theology (English and Latin Edition)]]> 3614258 On the Reduction of the Arts to Theology, or, in Latin, De Redcutione Artium ad Theologiam, St. Bonaventure deals with the relation of the finite to the infinite, of the natural to the supernatural, in a way which well establishes his preeminence as a mystic, a philosopher and a theologian. This English translation (from Latin) and commentary brings to the modern day reader an appreciation of the return of all created things to God.

This volume is reprinted with a revised translation, introduction and commentary by Zachary Hayes, OFM, from the original by Emma Therese Healy, CSJ, in 1955.]]> 80 Bonaventure 1576590437 Cleo 0 to-read 4.33 1996 St. Bonaventure's on the Reduction of the Arts to Theology (English and Latin Edition)

St. Bonaventure's on the Reduction of the Arts to Theology (English and Latin Edition)

author: Bonaventure
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Little Grey Rabbit's Christmas]]> 1676721 Little Grey Rabbit's Christmas was first published in 1940, and has more than stood the test of time, rating amongst the great classics, loved by millions, and winning over new readers every day.

A stunning recreation of all that is good in Little Grey Rabbit's world, with carol singers, mince pies, sprigs of holly, and blazing hearths, bringing a warmth, and delectability, to the life of Little Grey Rabbit, and his adorable friends, this classic tale would make the perfect gift for any child - or indeed any adult - who takes pleasure in a good, old-fashioned, heart-warming story.

"A great book for adults to read along with young children, and for older children who are just starting to read alone." (Age 4 and over) - Susan Harrison]]> 62 Alison Uttley Cleo 5 The Wind in the Willows yet with it's own special flavour. Squirrel, Hare and Little Grey Rabbit all have distinctive memorable characters and I do love the name of Moldy Warp. And Uttley's descriptions are charming:

"The silver moon shone down on the white fields, making them glitter with a strange and beautiful light. The stars twinkled in the frosty air, and now and then a shooting star left a track of gold across the heavens."

I'm so grateful to have spent time with these little animals and their Christmastime in the woods!]]> 4.16 1939 Little Grey Rabbit's Christmas

author: Alison Uttley
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1939
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves: children-literature, childrens-books, christmas
review:
What a lovely Christmas story, very reminiscent of The Wind in the Willows yet with it's own special flavour. Squirrel, Hare and Little Grey Rabbit all have distinctive memorable characters and I do love the name of Moldy Warp. And Uttley's descriptions are charming:

"The silver moon shone down on the white fields, making them glitter with a strange and beautiful light. The stars twinkled in the frosty air, and now and then a shooting star left a track of gold across the heavens."

I'm so grateful to have spent time with these little animals and their Christmastime in the woods!
]]> Theo of Golden 196693307 Who is he, and why is he here?
He arrives early one spring and by chance - or is it? - he visits a coffee shop where 92 framed pencil portraits are on display. Inspired, Theo sets out on a mission of purchasing all the portraits one at a time and quietly bestowing them on their 'rightful owners.'
Stories are told; friendships are born; and lives are changed.
Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted story about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the far-reaching possibilities of anonymous kindness.]]> 399 Allen Levi Cleo 0 to-read 4.65 Theo of Golden

author: Allen Levi
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.65
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Submission 25322084
Meanwhile, it’s election season. And although Francois feels “about as political as a bath towel,�� things are getting pretty interesting. In an alliance with the Socialists, France’s new Islamic party sweeps to power. Islamic law comes into force. Women are veiled, polygamy is encouraged, and Francois is offered an irresistible academic advancement—on condition that he convert to Islam.

Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker has said of Submission that Michael Houellebecq is “not merely a satirist but—more unusually—a sincere satirist, genuinely saddened by the absurdities of history and the madnesses of mankind.�� Houellebecq’s new book may be satirical and melancholic, but it is also hilarious, a comic masterpiece by one of France’s great novelists.]]> 246 Michel Houellebecq 0374271577 Cleo 0 to-read 3.68 2015 Submission

author: Michel Houellebecq
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Peter Tschaikowsky and the Nutcracker Ballet]]> 6018543 96 Opal Wheeler Cleo 0 to-read 3.93 1959

Peter Tschaikowsky and the Nutcracker Ballet

author: Opal Wheeler
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1959
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis: How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind]]> 59019846
What shaped the mind of this great thinker? Jason Baxter argues that Lewis was deeply formed not only by the words of Scripture and his love of ancient mythology, but also by medieval literature. For this undeniably modern Christian, authors like Dante and Boethius provided a worldview that was relevant to the challenges of the contemporary world.

Here, readers will encounter an unknown figure to guide them in their own journey: C. S. Lewis the medievalist.]]> 0 Jason M. Baxter 164091918X Cleo 0 to-read 4.49 2022 The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis: How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind

The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis: How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind

author: Jason M. Baxter
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Queen Of The Sea: A History Of Lisbon]]> 40866505
Barry Hatton unearths these forgotten memories in a vivid account of Lisbon’s colourful past and present, bringing to life the 1147 siege during the Iberian reconquista, the assassination of the king, the founding of a republic and the darkness of a modern dictatorship. He reveals the rich, international heritage of Portugal's metropolis―the gateway to the Atlantic and the unrivalled Queen of the Sea.]]> 280 Barry Hatton 1849049971 Cleo 0 to-read 3.94 2018 Queen Of The Sea: A History Of Lisbon

author: Barry Hatton
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Jesus through Medieval Eyes: Beholding Christ with the Artists, Mystics, and Theologians of the Middle Ages]]> 123266418
The answers will surprise you.

Jesus through Medieval Eyes, by Grace Hamman, looks to the Christians of the Middle Ages, to a time and culture dissimilar to our own, for their answers to these questions. Medieval Europeans were also suffering through pandemics, dealing with political and ecclesial corruption and instability, and reckoning with gender, money, and power. Yet their concerns and imaginations are unlike ours. Their ideas, narratives, and art about Jesus open up paradoxically fresh and ancient ways to approach and adore Christ--and reveal where our own cultural ideals about the Messiah fall short.

In thoughtful and accessible chapters, medievalist scholar Grace Hamman explores and meditates upon medieval representations of Jesus in theology and literature. These representations of Jesus span from the familiar, like Jesus as the Judge at the End of Days, or Jesus as the Lover of the Song of Songs, to the more unusual, like Jesus as Our Mother. Through the words of medieval people like Julian of Norwich, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Margery Kempe, and St. Thomas Aquinas, we meet these faces of Jesus and find renewed ways to love the Savior, in the words of St. Augustine, that "beauty so ancient and so new."]]> 194 Grace Hamman 031014583X Cleo 0 to-read 4.05 Jesus through Medieval Eyes: Beholding Christ with the Artists, Mystics, and Theologians of the Middle Ages

Jesus through Medieval Eyes: Beholding Christ with the Artists, Mystics, and Theologians of the Middle Ages

author: Grace Hamman
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shadow Hawk (Living History Library)]]> 83108 256 Andre Norton 1883937671 Cleo 4
This book was a wonderful adventure novel but because of many characters and nationalities to keep track of and a few realistic battle scenes, it's better suited to children grade 5 and up, although it would be interesting for adults as well.]]> 3.90 1960 Shadow Hawk (Living History Library)

author: Andre Norton
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1960
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves: egypt, children-s-historical, childrens-books, historical-fiction
review:
Rahotep, his lands in Egypt taken by the invading Hyksos, is part of a Nubian-Egyptian scout group of archers of excellence whose task is to fend off the fierce wandering Kush warriors from Nubian territory. His father is the Nubian viceroy but upon his death, his brother, Unis, takes this role of power and, because of strife between them, Rahotep decides to serve the Pharoah of Egypt who is still on his throne in Thebes but is threatened from the advancing Hyksos from the north. Rahotep’s adventures are full of battles, betrayal, fealty and discernment as he navigates his destiny in the uncertain world of ancient Egypt.

This book was a wonderful adventure novel but because of many characters and nationalities to keep track of and a few realistic battle scenes, it's better suited to children grade 5 and up, although it would be interesting for adults as well.
]]> <![CDATA[The Age of Nihilism: Christendom from the Great War to the Culture Wars (Paradise and Utopia: The Rise and Fall of What the West Once Was Book 4)]]> 63366826 528 John Strickland Cleo 0 to-read 4.68 The Age of Nihilism: Christendom from the Great War to the Culture Wars (Paradise and Utopia: The Rise and Fall of What the West Once Was Book 4)

The Age of Nihilism: Christendom from the Great War to the Culture Wars (Paradise and Utopia: The Rise and Fall of What the West Once Was Book 4)

author: John Strickland
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.68
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Didascalicon of Hugh of Saint Victor: A Medieval Guide to the Arts]]> 492359 254 Hugh of Saint-Victor 0231096305 Cleo 0 to-read 4.21 1127

The Didascalicon of Hugh of Saint Victor: A Medieval Guide to the Arts

author: Hugh of Saint-Victor
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1127
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture]]> 179617 296 Jean Leclercq 0823204073 Cleo 0 to-read 4.31 1960

The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture

author: Jean Leclercq
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1960
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Faust 406373 Faust reworks the late medieval myth of a brilliant scholar so disillusioned he resolves to make a contract with Mephistopheles. The devil will do all he asks on Earth and seeks to grant him a moment in life so glorious that he will wish it to last forever. But if Faust does bid the moment stay, he falls to Mephistopheles and must serve him after death. In this first part of Goethe’s great work, the embittered thinker and Mephistopheles enter into their agreement, and soon Faust is living a rejuvenated life and winning the love of the beautiful Gretchen. But in this compelling tragedy of arrogance, unfulfilled desire, and self-delusion, Faust heads inexorably toward an infernal destruction.]]> 503 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 0385031149 Cleo 0 to-read 3.90 1808 Faust

author: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1808
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man]]> 126274 Terms and phrases such as "the global village" and "the medium is the message" are now part of the lexicon, and McLuhan's theories continue to challenge our sensibilities and our assumptions about how and what we communicate.

This reissue of Understanding Media marks the thirtieth anniversary (1964-1994) of Marshall McLuhan's classic expose on the state of the then emerging phenomenon of mass media. Terms and phrases such as "the global village" and "the medium is the message" are now part of the lexicon, and McLuhan's theories continue to challenge our sensibilities and our assumptions about how and what we communicate.

There has been a notable resurgence of interest in McLuhan's work in the last few years, fueled by the recent and continuing conjunctions between the cable companies and the regional phone companies, the appearance of magazines such as WiRed, and the development of new media models and information ecologies, many of which were spawned from MIT's Media Lab. In effect, media now begs to be redefined. In a new introduction to this edition of Understanding Media, Harper's editor Lewis Lapham reevaluates McLuhan's work in the light of the technological as well as the political and social changes that have occurred in the last part of this century.]]> 389 Marshall McLuhan 0262631598 Cleo 0 to-read 4.12 1964 Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

author: Marshall McLuhan
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1964
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Unforgiven 18800640 288 Alan LeMay Cleo 0 to-read 4.10 1957

author: Alan LeMay
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1957
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Brother Dusty-Feet 127811201 231 Rosemary Sutcliff Cleo 0 to-read 4.00 1953

author: Rosemary Sutcliff
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1953
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Ravensgill 4833467 174 William Mayne 0525380817 Cleo 0 to-read 4.00 1970

author: William Mayne
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dead Souls 119075 Dead Souls, a comic masterpiece about a mysterious con man and his grotesque victims, is one of the major works of Russian literature. It was translated into English in 1942 by Bernard Guilbert Guerney; the translation was hailed by Vladimir Nabokov as "an extraordinarily fine piece of work" and is still considered the best translation of Dead Souls ever published. Long out of print, the Guerney translation of Dead Souls is now reissued. The text has been made more faithful to Gogol's original by removing passages that Guerney inserted from earlier drafts of Dead Souls. The text is accompanied by Susanne Fusso's introduction and by appendices that present excerpts from Guerney's translations of other drafts of Gogol's work and letters Gogol wrote around the time of the writing and publication of Deal Souls.

��

"I am delighted that Guerney's translation of Dead Souls [is] available again. It is head and shoulders above all the others, for Guerney understands that to 'translate' Gogol is necessarily to undertake a poetic recreation, and he does so brilliantly."—Robert A. Maguire, Columbia University

��

"The Guerney translation of Dead Souls is the only translation I know of that makes any serious attempt to approximate the qualities of�� Gogol's style—exuberant, erratic, 'Baroque,' bizarre."—Hugh McLean, University of California, Berkeley

��

"A splendidly revised and edited edition of Bernard Guerney's classic English translation of Gogol's Dead Souls. The distinguished Gogol scholar Susanne Fusso may have brought us as close as the English reader may ever expect to come to Gogol's masterpiece. No student, scholar, or general reader will want to miss this updated, refined version of one of the most delightful and sublime works of Russian literature."—Robert Jackson, Yale University]]> 304 Nikolai Gogol 0300060998 Cleo 5 classics, russian-literature 4.08 1842 Dead Souls

author: Nikolai Gogol
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1842
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/14
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves: classics, russian-literature
review:
4.5 stars. I read the Bernard Guilbert Guerney translation revised and edited by Susanne Fusso which is supposed to be the best translation to capture Gogol’s humour.
]]> The Emperor's arrow 133897836 72 Burke Boyce Cleo 0 to-read 4.50 1967

author: Burke Boyce
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1967
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks]]> 65215225 Nicolson crafts a geography of the ancient world and a brilliant exploration of our connections to the past.

In How to Be, Adam Nicolson takes us on a glorious, immersive journey. Grounded in the belief that places give access to minds, however distant and strange, this book reintroduces us to our earliest thinkers through the lands they inhabited. To know the mental occupations of Homer or Heraclitus, one must visit their cities, sail their seas, and find landscapes not overwhelmed by the millennia that have passed but retain the atmosphere of that ancient life. Nicolson, the award-winning author of Why Homer Matters, uncovers ideas of personhood with Sappho and Alcaeus on Lesbos; plays with paradox in southern Italy with Zeno, the world's first absurdist; and visits the coastal city of Miletus, burbling with the ideas of Thales and Anaximenes.

Sparkling with maps, photographs, and artwork, How to Be provides a vital new way of understanding the origins of Western thought. It's an expedition into early ideas and a geography of our deepest preconceptions. Nicolson takes us to the dawn of investigative thought and a nexus of cross-cultural connection, and he makes the questions of the ancient world new again. What are the principles of the physical world? How can we be good in it? And why do we continue to ask these questions?

"A thing of beauty as well as wit and wisdom." --Paul Cartledge, author of Thebes: The Forgotten City]]> 356 Adam Nicolson 0374610118 Cleo 0 to-read 3.71 How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks

How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks

author: Adam Nicolson
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.71
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy]]> 134798 Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy remains one of the greatest works of social theory written this century. When it first appeared the New English Weekly predicted that 'for the next five to ten years it will cetainly remain a work with which no one who professes any degree of information on sociology or economics can afford to be unacquainted.' Fifty years on, this prediction seems a little understated.

Why has the work endured so well? Schumpeter's contention that the seeds of capitalism's decline were internal, and his equal and opposite hostility to centralist socialism have perplexed, engaged and infuriated readers since the book's publication. By refusing to become an advocate for either position Schumpeter was able both to make his own great and original contribution and to clear the way for a more balanced consideration of the most important social movements of his and our time.]]> 460 Joseph A. Schumpeter 0415107628 Cleo 0 to-read 4.02 1942 Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy

author: Joseph A. Schumpeter
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1942
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Religion of the Apostles: Orthodox Christianity in the First Century]]> 57957141 310 Stephen De Young Cleo 0 to-read 4.52

Religion of the Apostles: Orthodox Christianity in the First Century

author: Stephen De Young
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.52
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King]]> 204640542
For Dan Jones, Henry V is one of the most intriguing characters in all medieval history, but one of the hardest to pin down. He was a hardened, sometimes brutal warrior, yet he was also creative and artistic, with a bookish temperament. He was a leader who made many mistakes, who misjudged his friends and family, but he always seemed to triumph when it mattered. As king, he saved a shattered country from economic ruin, put down rebellions, and secured England’s borders; in foreign diplomacy, he made England a serious player once more. Yet through his conquests in northern France, he sowed the seeds for three generations of calamity at home, in the form of the Wars of the Roses.

Henry V is a historical titan whose legacy has become a complicated one. To understand the man behind the legend, Jones first examines Henry’s years of apprenticeship, when he saw the downfall of one king and the turbulent reign of another. Upon his accession in 1413, he had already been politically and militarily active for years, and his extraordinary achievements as king would come shortly after, earning him an unparalleled historical reputation. Writing with his characteristic wit and style, Jones delivers a thrilling and unmissable life of England’s greatest king.]]> 432 Dan Jones 0593652738 Cleo 0 to-read 4.40 2024 Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King

Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King

author: Dan Jones
name: Cleo
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Burglar’s Christmas 22674906
This edition of Willa Cather’s The Burglar’s Christmas includes a table of contents.]]> 17 Willa Cather Cleo 4 3.39 1896

author: Willa Cather
name: Cleo
average rating: 3.39
book published: 1896
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves: american-literature, classics-minor, short-stories
review:

]]>