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Tag Archives: “classic”
Selections from “How Dante Can Save Your Life”
Review of Book Great art speaks with wisdom and authority to what is eternal in the human condition. The presence of God radiated from the Chartres cathedral so powerfully that it even pierced the dark wood into which I had … Continue reading
War and Peace
War and Peace pub. 1869 Leo Tolstoy trans. 1957 Rosemary Edmunds 1444 pages My word, what a book! In the beginning, dear readers, I’ll confess that I anticipated failure. Tolstoy’s epic addressing the nature of history and war, and the … Continue reading
The Histories of Herodotus
One doesn’t study history for very long, at least in the West, before running into Herodotus. I’ve meant to read him for years, given his reputation as one of the earliest, if not the earliest, historian — that is, someone … Continue reading
The Jungle
The Jungle © 1906 Upton Sinclair 475 pages Welcome to The Jungle, but we don’t have fun and games. We have despair, ruin, and death. The Jungle begins as the story of the Rudkus-Lukoszaite family, who have arrived in America … Continue reading
The Federalist Papers
“It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged "classic", Early American Republic, essays, US Constitution
11 Comments
Of Romans, manly saints, and the beginning of the end
I spent much of August crawling through the first volume of Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. I was very careful, in making my list, that I specified “Volume I”: I had little interest in trying … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged "classic", Catholicism, history, Of Boys and Men, Rome, survey
7 Comments
The Education of Henry Adams
The Education of Henry Adams © 1918 Henry Adams 324 pages Who is Henry Adams, and why would anyone read about his education? Personally, I discovered this book through a personal interest in his family; Henry’s great-grandfather was John … Continue reading
More short rounds: hackers and silly vicars
Needing a quick break from all the classics, I read The Hacker Crackdown, a bit of cybersecurity history. Sterling first delivers the background of the telecommunications system in the United States, specifically the expansive growth of AT&T and its recent … Continue reading
Short rounds: Star Trek and Musketeers
It’s been open season on the classics this month: not only did I finish up June ( and take care of July, but I’ve recently advanced into August’s reading, defeating The Three Musketeers, and am about to mount an attack … Continue reading
Catch-22
Catch-22 © 1961 Joseph Heller 453 pages “That crazy bastard might be the only sane one left on this base!” Captain John Yossarian, said C.B., is convinced that everyone is out to kill him. The Germans certainly are, at least … Continue reading