My only experience with Dostoevsky was “Memoirs from the House of the Dead” and I was honestly pretty underwhelmed. Of course, I felt the same about Kafka after reading Metamorphisis, but once I got past that and read some of his other work I appreciated him, so I haven’t completely written him off yet.
I’m in the middle of Nietzsche’s “On The Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life” and, like most of his works, I dig it. Great alternative perspective, as usual.
Otherwise, have read a LOT of books about training recently. Just been in a binge. Josh Bryant remains an awful author, demonstrated across “Tactical Strongman”, “Jailhouse Strong” and his “Tijuana Barbell Club” book, the latter being the most enjoyable of the 3, but that’s not saying much. Was underwhelmed by Tactical Barbell book 1, as it wasn’t anything I hadn’t already read from Wendler and Pavel, but book 2 has been solid so far. Dan John’s “Attempts” was OK, but paled in comparison to “Never Let Go”. Too much of the former was dedicated to explaining the “Easy Strength” program, which I honestly just plain didn’t care about. Re-read “Super Squats” and it was even better than I remembered: I now consider it required reading for BEGINNER lifters. “Brawn” is vastly superior to “Beyond Brawn”. Marty Gallagher’s “Purposeful Primitive” is a FANTASTIC read on kindle and stupidly inexpensive for it’s value: more “required reading” for anyone with any interest in moving heavy iron. Was pretty unimpressed with Steve Justa’s “Rock Iron Steel”, but I do appreciate that, at the time it was released, it was paradigm breaking. Steve Jeck’s book on stonelifting had some good parts to it. If you liked Rogue’s video series on stonelifting, you’ll appreciate it for it’s history element. Re-read 5/3/1 Forever and it’s better than I remember. Once again, one of those books that everyone who likes training should read.
There are some more in there, but that’s a decent rundown for now.
“The Brothers Karamazov” is Dostoevsky’s magnum opus. It’s dense but is well worth the effort. You’ll never forget the Grand Inquisitor passage after you read it.
Try “The Trial.” It’s the essence of what people mean when they describe something as “Kafka-esque.”
Greatly enjoyed The Trial. Well, as much as one can experience “joy” with Kafka. “In the Penal Colony” remains my favorite work in total of his. Excellent short story.
@cyclonengineer@Matthew_Weeldreyer Finished it yesterday. It was all right, had some interesting tidbits. I think it’s more of a book on categorization and persuasion; black-and-white thinking is addressed more in the last 25% of the book. I might even be generous because after being recently disappointed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow, my expectations were low. Overall I wouldn’t call it a waste of time, but it’s skippable.
I’m moving on to
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Gorbachev: His Life and Times by William Taubman
I’ve been tearing through Vodka Politics. It’s a really good read, but quite biased IMO. Regardless, very fascinating stuff! Some thoughts:
Frat boys have a lot to learn from Imperial Russia. My personal favourite- Peter the Great’s “Great Eagle”, a 1.5L bowl he used to punish officials who attempted to under drink
A “Vodka marathon” is doesn’t sound like a good way to start off the new year
Currently reading “Carnivorous Plants: Physiology, ecology, and evolution.” It’s quite above my level as botany isn’t my field, but I’m learning a lot regardless. Reading about carnivorous plants has made me appreciate nature in a way I never have before.
Here’s an excerpt on how the trap of a Venus fly trap operates:
Read " The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect: a novel of the singularity" really good and not to long. Read it over 2 days.
“In a time not far from our own, Lawrence sets out to build an artificial intelligence that can pass as human – and finds himself instead with one that can pass as a god”
I just received a replacement The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge, that I had loaned out about 12, or so, years ago on what must have been “the never return plan.” I read through and used as a reference book for my work. I have decided to read it through again.
I guy I help at the gym is planning on getting his MBA, and I wanted to be sure he has a chance to delve deep into systems thinking. I might end up loaning out this copy too.
The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton The way a federal budget actually works. Renders the "How ya gonna pay for it " question completely impotent.
And Forgive Them Their Debts by Michael Hudson Goes back in times of antiquity showing that for centuries it was common place to forgive all personal debts. It was called a Clean Slate. In the bible it was called Jubilee Year.
