Forgetting to Remember Old Lessons Hard-Won, or: Read Emerson Now
Ralph Waldo Emerson's Study, circa 1888. Photo: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. Nature and Other Essay…
I ought? I owe it to Whom?
The Great Day of His Wrath by John Martin, circa 1851. Public Domain via Wikimedia. The Genealogy of Morals by Friedri…
What we do in life echoes in eternity, or: There is much to learn from the pre-Socratic philosophers
Héraclite by Johannes Moreelse, c. 1630 (Public Domain vie Wikimedia). The Fragments of Heraclitus by Heraclitus My ra…
Vintage ephemera, or: Even the 1880s had B-grade horror
The Nightmare by John Henry Fuseli, 1781 The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins My rating: 2 of 5 stars Wilkie Collins ha…
On Narcissism or: How I learned to stop narking and love other narcissists
Echo and Narcissus by John William Waterhouse, 1903. Public Domain via Wikimedia . Rethinking Narcissism: The Secret to…
Trivial nonsense, or: Work will dominate your mind if you let it...
Frankie at Pawtails Rural Retreat (and Frida in the background) When she chewed my Nokia recharge cable, I bought a sma…
I think, therefore, I am... Hey, what's that shadow?
Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre meet Ernesto Che Guevara in Cuba, 1960. Photo: Public Domain . Irrational Man: …
Instead of Hemingway's iceberg, think Gabriel's peephole...
Steamers on the Magdalena River. Photo: Clímaco Calderón (1852-1913), Wikimedia , Public Domain. Love in the Time of C…
Book Notes: "Teach Yourself Stoicism and the Art of Happiness" by Donald J. Robertson
Guillaume Guillon-Lethière's "The Death of Cato of Utica" (1795). Source: Wikimedia . Teach Yourself Stoi…
Book Notes: "The Revolution Betrayed" by Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky in Petrograd, winter 1918\1919. Scan by "Der Speigel" (2008), via Wikimedia . The Revolution Bet…
Book Notes: "Lenin on the Train" by Catherine Merridale
Lenin carpet, In the National Museum (formerly Lenin Museum) in Bishkek (2007) via Wikimedia . Lenin on the Train by C…
Book Notes: "The Inner Life" by Thomas à Kempis
Thomas a Kempis on Mount Agnes (c. 17th Century) via Wikimedia . The Inner Life by Thomas à Kempis My rating: 3 of 5 s…
Book Notes: "The Myth of Sisyphus" by Albert Camus
The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus My rating: 3 of 5 stars Camus gives words and thoughts and theories and literary …
Book Notes: "The Authentic Swing: Notes From the Writing of a First Novel" by Steven Pressfield
The Authentic Swing: Notes From the Writing of a First Novel by Steven Pressfield My rating: 3 of 5 stars In this work…
Book Notes: "Eva Luna" by Isabel Allende
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende My rating: 3 of 5 stars The title, the name of the protagonist, belies the intricate web of…
Book Notes: "A Summary of Stoic Philosophy: Zeno of Citium in Diogenes Laertius Book Seven" by Charles Duke Yonge and Keith Seddon
A Summary of Stoic Philosophy: Zeno of Citium in Diogenes Laertius Book Seven by Charles Duke Yonge My rating: 3 of 5 …
Book Notes: "The Good Soldier Švejk" by Jaroslav Hašek
The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is quite a tome. It is really four books in one …
Book Notes: "Eclogues" and "Georgics" by Virgil
Eclogues and Georgics by Virgil My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book of pastoral poems is a classic, and therefore diffic…
Book Notes: "Mrs Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the first Virginia Woolf novel I have read, but I have…
Book Notes: "How to be Idle" by Tom Hodgkinson
How to be Idle by Tom Hodgkinson My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book was useful in that it points to historical authors …