Author Archives: smellincoffee

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About smellincoffee

Citizen, librarian, reader with a boundless wonder for the world and a curiosity about all the beings inside it.

Resist Much, Obey Little

Posted on September 14, 2020 by smellincoffee

Resist Much, Obey Little: Remembering Ed Abbey© 1996 James Hepworth & Gregory McNamee254 pages To the States or any one of them, or any city of the States, Resist much, obey little,Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved,Once fully enslaved, no … Continue reading →

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Selections from The Vanishing American Adult

Posted on September 11, 2020 by smellincoffee

But across most of history, you didn’t require a grasp of the finer points of a Puritan worldview to understand the simple secular reality that if you didn’t work hard, you were going to die, soon. God is love; winter … Continue reading →

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Lives in Ruins

Posted on September 10, 2020 by smellincoffee

Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble© 2014 Marilyn Johnson272 pages Archaeology’s blend of history and science, topped off with a bit of danger, is a winsome combination. For those curious about it, Marilyn Johnson’s account … Continue reading →

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Classics Club Run I: Final List

Posted on September 9, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. Danny Jackson (12/4/2016) The Aeneid, Virgil (2/20/2019) The Histories, Herodotus (10/3/2019) The Conquest of Gaul, Julius Caesar (2/05/2019) The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. I, Edward Gibbon (09/02/2019) One Thousand and One … Continue reading →

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Wisdom Wednesday: The Great Tradition

Posted on September 9, 2020 by smellincoffee

This week features a quote from Will Durant, whose epic Story of Civilization, partially co-written with his wife, was a masterful review of western history — surveying literature, politics, philosophy, etc — from Mesopotamia to Napoleon. This particular quote comes … Continue reading →

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The Brothers Karamazov

Posted on September 9, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Brothers Karamazov© 1879 Fyodor Dostoevsky, trans. 1992 Pevear & Volkonsky840 pages Fathers and teachers, I ask myself: “What is hell?” And I answer thus: “The suffering of being no longer able to love.” The Brothers Karamazov has the unusual … Continue reading →

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Classics Club….FINALE!

Posted on September 8, 2020 by smellincoffee

Yesterday, I finished The Brothers Karamazov, and, with that last page, completed  the Classics Club challenge.   I began the challenge in September 2015, and pecked away until late  2018, when I realized I had two years left and over half … Continue reading →

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The Coddling of the American Mind

Posted on September 7, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure© 2018 Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt352 pages There was a time when I was a youthful idealist, full of love and … Continue reading →

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Firefly: Ghost Machine

Posted on September 3, 2020 by smellincoffee

Firefly: Ghost Machine© 2020 James Lovegrove336 pages Mal Reynolds didn’t survive the Independence War by not trusting his gut. It was that same gut that told him to back away from this latest job of Badger’s. The item may have … Continue reading →

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Wisdom Wednesday: Live not by Lies

Posted on September 2, 2020 by smellincoffee

From The Brothers Karamazov, an early chapter in which the brothers and their father receive advice from an Elder at the monastery:   “Above all, above everything else — do not lie.” “About Diderot, you mean?” “No, not exactly about … Continue reading →

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