Books: Book(s) you are Currently Reading | Part 3

GB

Registered User
Mar 6, 2002
5,029
148
UK
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I've barely read this year. I've been struggling through this on and off for a while now. It's not bad but every time I put it down I have no desire to pick it back up. At least it's short.
 
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HolyGhost

Registered User
May 6, 2016
1,765
1,053
Buffalo
I also just finished two books on the old west on unsolved mysteries and Conspiracy theories. Both went into great detail on Billy the Kid/Bill Roberts who claimed to be Billy the KId and about the death of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid. The Bil Roberts claim was somewhat debunk as Roberts went by the story that was public knowledge and would be tripped up but the fact over the proof the of the time Billy the KId was hiding in Mexico or in Globe Arizona, blaming his old age for getting the time line wrong, But yet, his story was along the line of what the public excepted not knowing that much of it was hearsay. As for Butch Cassidy, the writers went off of a lot details that Cassidy's own family related to their time in Washington state. Unlike Bill Roberts, the guy who Butch's family said was Butch, he only one time claimed publicly to be Butch Cassidy and it was right before he died. It was Cassidy's family that came forward after the death of the person they believed to be Cassidy was in fact him.
 

Babe Ruth

Don't leave me hangin' on the telephone..
Feb 2, 2016
1,455
621
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A firsthand account of life in the foster system. And the (now adult) author examines a smug blind spot in contemporary thinking, that dismisses the advantage of family stability..
 

Babe Ruth

Don't leave me hangin' on the telephone..
Feb 2, 2016
1,455
621
71rTNU5CWuL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg

Backstory on the relationship between American government and Hussein, leading to the American invasion of Iraq.
 

Hippasus

1,9,45,165,495,1287,
Feb 17, 2008
5,627
350
Bridgeview
Since it is not a book, I want to review "Nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson here. I was going to maybe read "Self-Reliance" as well, but I think I got the gist of what I needed at this time, and should probably focus on something else in the near future.

This essay is an astounding blend of poetic prose and philosophy, though, I think it is more poetic prose than philosophy. Emerson has a strong cadence and sense of flow in his presentation. There are many related themes in this essay, but I will try to enumerate some of them. 1. Uniqueness of individuals, or particulars in nature, is of utmost significance to substantive beliefs. The universe is mirrored in them. I think that everything plays a role is an implication he was making. 2. The reality of God is one and is suggested by the experience of the individual. This is seen by human individuals in nature or the world in the broadest sense of these terms. 3. Science, poetry, and craftsmanship alike are expressions of this underlying God. 4. One requires a certain sort of open perspective to see the truth that Emerson sees as ancient, eternal, and indubitable. In a phrase, something like appreciative reflection, or celebration of life. One should seek out experiences, goals, and actions that bring the best part of one's dreams and imaginings to fruition. 5. Destiny and degrees of freedom through spirit are not at odds with one another if one looks at science, ethics, and aesthetics through an appropriately robust frame of mind. Truth, beauty, and goodness are different sides of the same object or notion.

The so-called problem of evil was not discussed, but I think doing so might have made this essay even better, given Emerson's theological disposition. Neither was the prospect of polytheism. Regardless, he is an amazing writer. I found myself thinking how right he is. I often had pictures of various landscapes from memory in the back of my mind.

Emerson is quite consonant with both Spinoza and Nietzsche, even though Emerson is a theist and Nietzsche an anti-theist. Spinoza is the prime example of a pantheist, which he tried to access through reason and-or understanding. The bare bones of Spinoza's and Emerson's theses seem in plain congruence with one another, albeit expressed through markedly different styles of expression. I can see how Nietzsche was influenced by Emerson with his foci of self-improvement, countenancing of the particularity of nature and history, as well as through Nietzsche's strongly poetic style.
 
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