Ethics by Aristotle - I haven't read much Greek Philosophy, just some of the Socratic Dialogues. I'm only about a fifth of the way through, and often times I feel like I am going in circles. But I like his discussion so far with happiness serving as the central tenet. I am interested to see where it leads.
The Corner by David Simon and Ed Burns - I recently finished David Simon's Homicide: Life on the Killing Streets. If you are a fan of The Wire, buy it. Reading like a novel, the work offers a glimpse into the fascinating if not slightly terrifying and mostly depressing life of a Baltimore Homicide Detective. The Corner offers a similar unique insight, but this time from the angle of the dealers and addicts.
Titan by Ron Chernow - A mammoth work that I have been chugging through for a couple of months now at around fifty pages a week. Reading it is exhausting, I can only imagine what researching it must have been like. If you like biographies on industrial giants, not one to miss.
Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh - Picked this up after reading Superfreakonomics, as this author and Steve Levitt have done academic work together. The premise is a young sociology student (of Indian descent) befriends a local gang leader and becomes an informal member of the projects tribe. Starts off strong, but tails off at the end. Venkatesh tries too hard, in my opinion, to not hurt anyone's feelings.
Othello by Shakespeare - For some reason I just never really got into this one. I didn't find any of the characters particularly interesting, even Iago (who by the way was very much brought back to life by Christoph Waltz's epic performance as Col. Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds). I'll give it another shot in the future; I'm sure my reaction will be different.
Wow! That's a pretty prodigious reading list. I'm definitely interested in The Corner or Homocide: Life On the Killing Streets as I'm about to wrap up the 5th season of The Wire, and Baltimore will always have a special place in my heart.
ReplyDeleteBeowolf and Ethics are a little much for me to handle right now. I've been struggling with my reading list lately.
Chernow's Hamilton biography was probably my favorite biography so I'm interested to hear you take on Titan, but Alexander Hamilton took me a while to get through so I can sympathize.
Finally somebody who doesn't like Othello as much as I do! Honestly, if it was anybody but Shakespeare it would be a fantastic play, but I've come to expect so much from his other works that I just wasn't that impressed. I should get back into some Shakespeare... We'll see, right now I'm struggling through Tender is the Night which shouldn't be a struggle, but I just can't wrap my mind around caring about Fitzgerald's self absorbed characters (am I projecting?). Looking forward to the Non-Fiction next on my list.
After we get through these want to read the same book and get some dialogue, prehaps a book club complete with a roaring fireplace, tobacco pipes, and leather wingback chairs? I'm thinking The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It - http://www.amazon.com/Quants-Whizzes-Conquered-Street-Destroyed/dp/0307453375/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268227530&sr=8-1 .
Let me play catch up first on what's on my plate.
Oh and are these all being read on your Kindle? I'm interested to hear your take on how that changes/doesn't change the experience.
ReplyDeleteBook club is a great idea, as long you provide the eighteen year aged Glenlivet. "Quants" is on my list, so I think that would be a good one to start out with. Let me know when you're ready.
ReplyDeleteIn a similar vein, I also want to check out Barry Ritholtz's "Bailout Nation". Listened to a recent podcast with him; very interesting and provocative thinker.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bailout-Nation-Corrupted-Street-Economy/dp/0470520388
I read most of these on the Kindle ("The Corner" and "Titan" were the two exceptions). Ethics and Othello were free as they're public domain works, and Beowulf could have been but I decided to splurge and buy Seamus Heaney's translation, which I believe is widely considered the best.
Anyway, I find reading the Kindle just like reading an actual book. The screen is not like a computer screen (the text is actually constructed of may small pigments of ink), so it doesn't hurt your eyes. My only issue is instead of a page number there is a % meter showing how much you have read, and I can't help but glance at it every time I turn a page.
But other than that, very good experience.