Monthly Archives: June 2011

The Great Conversation by Robert M. Hutchins

The Great Conversation: The Substance Of A Liberal Education by Robert Maynard Hutchins My rating: 5 of 5 stars This slim opening volume of the Britannica Great Books of the Western World contends that liberal education, an unquestioned necessity for … Continue reading

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The Mystery of Mar Saba by James H. Hunter

The Mystery of Mar Saba by James H. Hunter My rating: 2 of 5 stars This Christian pre-World War II spy melodrama provides both action and (mainly unintentional) chuckles as it tells the story of how a forged ancient text … Continue reading

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reading just the right amount

“You read too much, my friend.” The gravelly, hoarse voice belonged to the diminutive proprietor of the cafe in Athens where I had indeed been hanging around a while, reading (possibly my first pass through James Joyce’s Ulysses). It was … Continue reading

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A Study of History 1 by Arnold J. Toynbee

A Study of History 1: Introduction; The Geneses of Civilizations, Part One by Arnold J. Toynbee My rating: 5 of 5 stars This first volume of Toynbee’s 10-volume investigation of how civilizations arise, flourish, and die provides a fresh and … Continue reading

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Human Action by Ludwig von Mises

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics by Ludwig Von Mises My rating: 5 of 5 stars One of the most important books of the 20th century, not yet as influential as it deserves to be. I was brought to this … Continue reading

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How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren

How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler My rating: 5 of 5 stars It’s not how much you read, but how well–and this book gives you specific, step-by-step techniques to get you to read as well as possible. … Continue reading

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Story by Robert McKee

Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee My rating: 5 of 5 stars If you’re a writer of drama or fiction, you need to master these rules before you consider breaking them. I knew from … Continue reading

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on telling it like it (sort of) was

Yesterday I continued to explore Goodreads.com, a large social-networking site for readers of books. Seeking readers whom I might be able to interest in my own book Truth of the Python, I started looking at discussion groups on the topic … Continue reading

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landmark books

Having posted to this blog so far only by way of writing book reviews at Goodreads.com, I’ll now jump in and try writing a post from scratch. In trying to come up with where to start, the expression landmark books … Continue reading

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Ulysses Annotated by Don Gifford & Robert Seidman

Ulysses Annotated by Don Gifford My rating: 5 of 5 stars Indispensable for a thorough reading of Ulysses. This is a reference book, with entries arranged in order of their occurrence in the text. Originally compiled to help students in … Continue reading

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