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15 <body>
16 <h1>A Not So Fancy Listing of Books</h1>
17 <div class="contents">
18<dl>
19<dt>
20<a href="#sec1">Marcus Aurelius</a>
21</dt>
22<dd>
23<dl>
24<dt>
25<a href="#sec2">Meditations</a>
26</dt>
27</dl>
28</dd>
29<dt>
30<a href="#sec3">William Blake</a>
31</dt>
32<dd>
33<dl>
34<dt>
35<a href="#sec4">The Four Zoas</a>
36</dt>
37<dt>
38<a href="#sec5">Jerusalem</a>
39</dt>
40</dl>
41</dd>
42<dt>
43<a href="#sec6">Neil Gaiman</a>
44</dt>
45<dd>
46<dl>
47<dt>
48<a href="#sec7">The Sandman (series)</a>
49</dt>
50</dl>
51</dd>
52<dt>
53<a href="#sec8">John Taylor Gatto</a>
54</dt>
55<dd>
56<dl>
57<dt>
58<a href="#sec9">Underground History of American Education</a>
59</dt>
60</dl>
61</dd>
62<dt>
63<a href="#sec10">Kahlil Gibran</a>
64</dt>
65<dd>
66<dl>
67<dt>
68<a href="#sec11">A Tear and a Smile</a>
69</dt>
70<dt>
71<a href="#sec12">The Prophet</a>
72</dt>
73<dt>
74<a href="#sec13">Sand and Foam</a>
75</dt>
76<dt>
77<a href="#sec14">The Madman</a>
78</dt>
79</dl>
80</dd>
81<dt>
82<a href="#sec15">William James</a>
83</dt>
84<dd>
85<dl>
86<dt>
87<a href="#sec16">The Varieties of Religious Experience</a>
88</dt>
89<dt>
90<a href="#sec17">The PhD Octopus</a>
91</dt>
92</dl>
93</dd>
94<dt>
95<a href="#sec18">Henry James</a>
96</dt>
97<dd>
98<dl>
99<dt>
100<a href="#sec19">The Altar of the Dead</a>
101</dt>
102</dl>
103</dd>
104<dt>
105<a href="#sec20">Gregor Kiczales</a>
106</dt>
107<dd>
108<dl>
109<dt>
110<a href="#sec21">The Art of the Metaobject Protocol</a>
111</dt>
112</dl>
113</dd>
114<dt>
115<a href="#sec22">Søren Kierkegaard</a>
116</dt>
117<dd>
118<dl>
119<dt>
120<a href="#sec23">Sickness Unto Death</a>
121</dt>
122<dt>
123<a href="#sec24">Either/Or</a>
124</dt>
125<dt>
126<a href="#sec25">Fear and Trembling</a>
127</dt>
128</dl>
129</dd>
130<dt>
131<a href="#sec26">Alan Moore</a>
132</dt>
133<dd>
134<dl>
135<dt>
136<a href="#sec27">Watchmen</a>
137</dt>
138<dt>
139<a href="#sec28">V for Vendetta</a>
140</dt>
141</dl>
142</dd>
143<dt>
144<a href="#sec29">Thomas More</a>
145</dt>
146<dd>
147<dl>
148<dt>
149<a href="#sec30">Utopia</a>
150</dt>
151</dl>
152</dd>
153<dt>
154<a href="#sec31">Friedrich Nietzsche</a>
155</dt>
156<dd>
157<dl>
158<dt>
159<a href="#sec32">Beyond Good and Evil</a>
160</dt>
161<dt>
162<a href="#sec33">On the Geneaology of Morals</a>
163</dt>
164<dt>
165<a href="#sec34">Ecce Homo</a>
166</dt>
167</dl>
168</dd>
169<dt>
170<a href="#sec35">Luke Rhinehardt</a>
171</dt>
172<dd>
173<dl>
174<dt>
175<a href="#sec36">The Dice Man</a>
176</dt>
177</dl>
178</dd>
179<dt>
180<a href="#sec37">Neal Stephenson</a>
181</dt>
182<dd>
183<dl>
184<dt>
185<a href="#sec38">Snow Crash</a>
186</dt>
187<dt>
188<a href="#sec39">Cryptonomicon</a>
189</dt>
190</dl>
191</dd>
192</dl>
193</div>
194
195
196<!-- Page published by Emacs Muse begins here --><h2><a name="sec1" id="sec1"></a>
197Marcus Aurelius</h2>
198
199
200
201<h3><a name="sec2" id="sec2"></a>
202Meditations</h3>
203
204<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">•••• </span> (6) / <em>Nonfiction</em></p>
205
206<p>I enjoyed reading this collection of meditations on Stoic
207philosophy. It is a fairly quick read; I read each of the twelve books
208before sleeping over the course of two weeks. Toward the end of the
209collection things get a bit topically repetetive (e.g. acting
210according to the nature of man is reflected upon over and over), but
211each repetition looks at the topic in a slightly different light. A
212number of passages I found quite inspiring, and scratched them down in
213my notebook to ponder further.</p>
214
215
216
217
218<h2><a name="sec3" id="sec3"></a>
219William Blake</h2>
220
221<p class="first">Blake is my <a href="William%20Blake.html">favorite</a> of the English poets. His
222unique use of relief etching and watercoloring makes for very
223interesting Illuminated works. There is a very high quality
224<a href="http://blakearchive.org">complete archive of Blake's works</a> online
225with high resolution plate scans and full transcriptions among other
226things.</p>
227
228<h3><a name="sec4" id="sec4"></a>
229The Four Zoas</h3>
230
231<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad"> </span> (10) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
232
233<p>The unfinished manuscript of Blake's longest apocalypse. The
234Four Zoas divide from Albion and rage through the ages of dismal woe
235to bring about the end of the cycle of Ulro and restore the cycle of
236Beulah.</p>
237
238
239
240<h3><a name="sec5" id="sec5"></a>
241Jerusalem</h3>
242
243<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad"> </span> (10) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
244
245<p>The finest of Blake's Illuminated works.</p>
246
247
248
249
250<h2><a name="sec6" id="sec6"></a>
251Neil Gaiman</h2>
252
253
254
255<h3><a name="sec7" id="sec7"></a>
256The Sandman (series)</h3>
257
258<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad"> </span> (10) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
259
260<p>Perhaps the best comic book series of all time; I would say <em>The
261Sandman</em> as a whole ranks higher than anything even Alan Moore has
262written.</p>
263
264
265
266
267<h2><a name="sec8" id="sec8"></a>
268John Taylor Gatto</h2>
269
270<p class="first">Former teacher and now author-activist.</p>
271
272<h3><a name="sec9" id="sec9"></a>
273Underground History of American Education</h3>
274
275<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> •••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">• </span> (9) / <em>Nonfiction</em></p>
276
277<p>An interesting <em>underground</em> history of the American education
278system. Available
279<a href="http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/underground/">online for free</a>.</p>
280
281
282
283
284<h2><a name="sec10" id="sec10"></a>
285Kahlil Gibran</h2>
286
287<p class="first">Kahlil Gibran is fairly interesting; his earlier works do not
288agree with my æsthetic sense (blah blah), but <em>The Madman</em> onward are
289all rather nice. A few of his works are
290<a href="http://leb.net/~mira/">online</a>, but I recommend scouting used book
291stores for old hardcover editions. The (late 90s onward at least)
292<em>hardcover</em> versions from <em>Alfred A. Knopf</em> are in fact permabound
293paperbacks with a hardcasing, and are of seriously inferior quality to
294the editions from the 50s and 60s (and cost quite a bit more,
295naturally).</p>
296
297<h3><a name="sec11" id="sec11"></a>
298A Tear and a Smile</h3>
299
300<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> •••</span><span class="rating-bad">••••••• </span> (3) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
301
302<p>One of Kahlil Gibran's earlier works, I did not much like <em>A
303Tear and a Smile</em> excepting the last poem (&quot;A Poet's Voice&quot;).</p>
304
305
306
307<h3><a name="sec12" id="sec12"></a>
308The Prophet</h3>
309
310<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> •••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">• </span> (9) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
311
312
313
314
315
316<h3><a name="sec13" id="sec13"></a>
317Sand and Foam</h3>
318
319<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> •••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">••• </span> (7) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
320
321<p>An interesting little book of aphorisms.</p>
322
323
324
325<h3><a name="sec14" id="sec14"></a>
326The Madman</h3>
327
328<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">•• </span> (8) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
329
330
331
332
333
334
335<h2><a name="sec15" id="sec15"></a>
336William James</h2>
337
338
339
340<h3><a name="sec16" id="sec16"></a>
341The Varieties of Religious Experience</h3>
342
343<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> •••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">••• </span> (7) / <em>Nonfiction</em></p>
344
345<p><a href="William%20James%20-%20The%20Varieties%20of%20Religious%20Experience.html">A partially finished extended summary</a></p>
346
347
348
349<h3><a name="sec17" id="sec17"></a>
350The PhD Octopus</h3>
351
352<p><em>Nonfiction</em></p>
353
354<blockquote>
355<p class="quoted">
356America is thus as a nation rapidly drifting towards a state of things
357in which no man of science or letters will be accounted respectable
358unless some kind of badge or diploma is stamped upon him, and in which
359bare personality will be a mark of outcast estate. It seems to me high
360time to rouse ourselves to consciousness, and to cast a critical eye
361upon this decidedly grotesque tendency. Other nations suffer terribly
362from the Mandarin disease. Are we doomed to suffer like the rest?</p>
363
364</blockquote>
365
366<p><a href="William%20James%20-%20The%20PhD%20Octopus.html">Full Text</a></p>
367
368
369
370
371<h2><a name="sec18" id="sec18"></a>
372Henry James</h2>
373
374<p class="first">The novelist brother of William James; I've not read many (read:
375one) of his books, but what I did was decent.</p>
376
377<h3><a name="sec19" id="sec19"></a>
378The Altar of the Dead</h3>
379
380<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> •••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">••• </span> (7) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
381
382<p>A short novella about a man who maintained an altar in a church
383for all of his lost loved ones on the surface, but something a bit
384more beneath.</p>
385
386
387
388
389<h2><a name="sec20" id="sec20"></a>
390Gregor Kiczales</h2>
391
392
393
394<h3><a name="sec21" id="sec21"></a>
395The Art of the Metaobject Protocol</h3>
396
397<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad"> </span> (10) / <em>Nonfiction</em></p>
398
399<p>AMOP is useful as a reference to the CLOS MOP (although less so with
400the online MOP spec), but the true value of the book lies in the first
401half of the book. It presents the design of the CLOS MOP through a
402series of revisions that fix limitations of earlier implementations
403and gradually work toward a generic and well designed MOP for
404CLOS. Through that process one is made more aware of a few general
405object protocol design skills, and gains insight into how to cleanly
406make mapping decisions customizable.</p>
407
408
409
410
411<h2><a name="sec22" id="sec22"></a>
412Søren Kierkegaard</h2>
413
414<p class="first">Kierkegaard was a master of style and philosophy; his writing is
415interesting even if one finds the theistic extentialism espoused
416disagreeable.</p>
417
418<h3><a name="sec23" id="sec23"></a>
419Sickness Unto Death</h3>
420
421<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad"> </span> (10) / <em>Nonfiction</em></p>
422
423<p>I purchased this when I was looking through books at a store after
424being unable to find the book I really wanted, and I must say that it
425was better for me to have found this one.</p>
426
427<p>Contained within is a beautiful analysis of despair in the context of
428Christianity (really theism in general). Even if the argument offends,
429the presentation cannot. The dialectical nature of despair is
430reflected in every aspect of the work, and the method of presentation
431forces reflection.</p>
432
433
434
435<h3><a name="sec24" id="sec24"></a>
436Either/Or</h3>
437
438<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad"> </span> (10) / <em>Nonfiction</em></p>
439
440<p>Composed of two portions, <em>Either/Or</em> is a rather lengthy but
441rewarding read. The first book is a series of essays and a diary of a
442young esthetician; the second is a pair of long letters from an older
443ethicist friend to this esthetician. You are then left to resolve the
444conflict between the views.</p>
445
446
447
448<h3><a name="sec25" id="sec25"></a>
449Fear and Trembling</h3>
450
451<p><em>Nonfiction</em></p>
452
453<p>An interesting dialectical lyric contrasting Despair and Faith.</p>
454
455
456
457
458<h2><a name="sec26" id="sec26"></a>
459Alan Moore</h2>
460
461
462
463<h3><a name="sec27" id="sec27"></a>
464Watchmen</h3>
465
466<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">•• </span> (8) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
467
468
469
470
471
472<h3><a name="sec28" id="sec28"></a>
473V for Vendetta</h3>
474
475<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad"> </span> (10) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
476
477
478
479
480
481
482<h2><a name="sec29" id="sec29"></a>
483Thomas More</h2>
484
485
486
487<h3><a name="sec30" id="sec30"></a>
488Utopia</h3>
489
490<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> •••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">••• </span> (7) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
491
492<p>I read most of Utopia in high school with the TI-89 ebook reader, but
493the way the book was split up made it a bit difficult to grasp the
494overall structure. I found a copy at a used book store one day, and so
495I read it again, and found it much more comprehensible. It is a quick
496read, and decent piece of literature. The interesting social system
497espoused resembles resembles state communism (even if perhaps as a
498negative ideal), but with an strange blend of 14th century European
499social customs.</p>
500
501
502
503
504<h2><a name="sec31" id="sec31"></a>
505Friedrich Nietzsche</h2>
506
507<p class="first">A bit acerbic and esoteric, Nietzsche is for me a good <em>secular</em>
508counterpart to Kierkegaard's theistic philosophy. Nietzsche's
509polemical works raise important questions for anyone who reads works
510on ethics. As such it is a shame that he has gotten a bad reputation
511by being read by far too many angsty teenagers who see (and relay)
512only Nietzsche the asshole rather than Nietzsche the master of the
513polemic.</p>
514
515<h3><a name="sec32" id="sec32"></a>
516Beyond Good and Evil</h3>
517
518<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">•• </span> (8) / <em>Nonfiction</em></p>
519
520<p>A somewhat more comprehensible, if a bit less aesthetically
521pleasing, presentation of much of the philosophy found in <em>Thus Spoke
522Zarathustra</em> in the negative form. The final chapters are very
523important (not to detract from the value of the rest of the work) if
524one wishes to understand <em>On the Genealogy of Morals</em>.</p>
525
526
527
528<h3><a name="sec33" id="sec33"></a>
529On the Geneaology of Morals</h3>
530
531<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> •••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">• </span> (9) / <em>Nonfiction</em></p>
532
533<p><em>On the Geneaology of Morals</em> is a wonderful book of three
534polemical essays on the origin of moral/ethic valuations, and the
535blindness of modern philosphers whose very thinking is tainted by
536these valuations unknowingly.</p>
537
538
539
540<h3><a name="sec34" id="sec34"></a>
541Ecce Homo</h3>
542
543<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> •••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">••• </span> (7) / <em>Nonfiction</em></p>
544
545<p><em>Ecce Homo</em> is Nietzsche's very strange autobiography and
546explanation of his own works. At points it is clear that it could have
547used a bit more editing (prevented by Nietzsche ... falling into a
548catatonic state and all), but is still a very useful book to read as
549Nietzsche explains the overall structure of his works.</p>
550
551
552
553
554<h2><a name="sec35" id="sec35"></a>
555Luke Rhinehardt</h2>
556
557
558
559<h3><a name="sec36" id="sec36"></a>
560The Dice Man</h3>
561
562<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> •••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">••• </span> (7) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
563
564<blockquote>
565<p class="quoted">
566And it's his illusions about what
567constitutes the real world which are
568inhibiting him...
569His reality, his reason, his society
570...these are what must be destroyed</p>
571
572</blockquote>
573
574<p>A quotation from one of my <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughter_of_the_Soul">favorite metal songs</a> inspired me to grab
575this book; at worst it would be a waste of time. Much reward was found
576in this random stab in the dark. The book is framed as an
577autobiography of the author as a psychoanalyst, and his progression
578through life as a Dice Man after deciding to live his life through
579random chance.</p>
580
581<p>The style, plot, and content are equally neurotic; part comedy, part
582attack on psychoanalysis, and part deep philosophy. It was often
583difficult to put down, and was read in under a week of spare time.</p>
584
585
586
587
588<h2><a name="sec37" id="sec37"></a>
589Neal Stephenson</h2>
590
591
592
593<h3><a name="sec38" id="sec38"></a>
594Snow Crash</h3>
595
596<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> •••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">• </span> (9) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
597
598<p>As one must read the <em>Bible</em> to understand English literature, so one
599must read <em>Snow Crash</em> today to be a nerd. In the realm of modern pop
600fiction this is one of the better books I've read; it was devoured in
601a mere four nights. Neal Stepheson may not be Milton, but he does come
602up with enganging tales. <em>Snow Crash</em> has a nice undertone of (quite
603accurate) political and social commentary that makes it worth reading
604as more than mere cyberpunk fiction.</p>
605
606
607
608<h3><a name="sec39" id="sec39"></a>
609Cryptonomicon</h3>
610
611<p><em>Rating:</em> <span class="rating-good"> ••••••••</span><span class="rating-bad">•• </span> (8) / <em>Fiction</em></p>
612
613<p>I read <em>Cryptonomicon</em> when it was new, and at the time I thought it was
614good. It could have lost a hundred or so pages without detracting from
615the plot, but it was easy reading and didn't take very long to
616finish. The story was enganging, and the continual switching between
617the 1940s and present day slowly unravelled the tale in a nice way.</p>
618
619<p>I'd still have to recommend <em>Snow Crash</em> if one wished to read only one
620Stephenson novel.</p>
621
622
623
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650<p class="cke-footer">Corinne: this is why we should have designated bath buddies
651Corinne: to get places you cant reach because youre slippery and in
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654</p>
655<p class="cke-timestamp">Last Modified:
656 December 14, 2008</p>
657 </body>
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