Reading Log, 2009
Submitted by neptune on Fri, 01/16/2009 - 05:30
Tags:
- More to be added
- Hamlet
- The Sorrows of Young Werther
- The Mayor of Casterbridge
- Wessex Tales
- Wuthering Heights
- Crime and Punishment
- T.S. Eliot Collections
- A Portrait of The Artist as A Young Man
- Heart of Darkness
- Ulysses
- [Loved] The Trial by Franz Kafka : A beautiful dystopian nightmare blended with haunting surrealism and philosophy, this is one of the best books I've ever read. I would elaborate but I'm tired, I may extend this review later. Also worth nothing is the film inspired by this; Orson Welles' 1962 cinematic piece of the same name.
- [Liked] Beneath The Underdog by Charles Mingus : An autobiography by my favourite Jazz composer? Count me in. This is wonderfully illustrious and all-involving, a book that is both informative and interesting. To quote Miles Davis, 'Mingus was something else, man. A pure genius. I loved him.'
- [Loved] Beyond Good and Evil: A Prelude to Philosophy of The Future by Friedrich Nietzsche : It's odd to think that such a man is so widely cited and respected, due to the sexist, anti-religious and anti-democratic sentiments expressed in this work. For instance, in describing women, he writes that they are 'going against their better nature' in joing the workforce, that they thrive on superficiality and claims that men should treat them as possessions. Why did I notice this? His descriptions and analogies are so spiteful and contemptuous of just about everyone and thing he disagrees with (including most previous philosophers) that often it's hard to concentrate on the content itself, and this is why I view him more as a cynical witty writer rather than a much more serious philosopher such as Kant or Hegel. Also, some of his philisophical ideas (particularly that of the 'will') are just developments upon Schopenhauer's, so for that I recommend reading 'The World as Will & Representation' beforehand. Wow, that was negative, did I forget to mention this was probably the most entertaining and quotable philisophical book I've read ever?
Author Comments:
Currently Reading:
James Joyce - Finnegans Wake
Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights
Bertrand Russell - Why I'm Not A Christian
Thomas Hardy - Wessex Tales
Cloned From:
I've just started Beyond Good & Evil and I absolutely love it. Do you know of any other like-minded philosophers who are similar to Nietzsche?
Wow this list is really back-dated; I should update it.
Like Nietzche? Philisophically or lyrically?
Kirkegaard and Sartre are both existential/nihilist philosophers who have written some great material.
Stylistically, Schopenhauer (who was also a kind of proto Nietzche in many ways) is very similar. Voltaire is very witty in his writings, and is equally fun to read.
Any good?
I like both his ideas and the way he expresses them, but I'm much more interested in his philosophy. I'll have to check them out, any works in particular by Kirkegaard & Sartre? Thank you for responding!
Only know of Kirkegaard's ideas, not any work in particular. Sartre wrote his best La Nausée which is a novel, as well as Being and Nothingness which is brilliant. He also had an amazing play called No Exit which is really brilliant, and contains his epic quote, 'Hell is other people'.
'Lesser artists borrow; Greater artists steal' - Igor Stravinsky - i like this quote but i love the famous quote by T.S. Eliot:
"Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different." - which is how i think all art is composed: from the remnants of greatness exposed.
and i liked The Trial as well and have the film on my DVR ready to go, when i get around to it. have you seen it?
Nice quote! Less succinct than the Stravinsky but certainly more complete (:
The Trial is brilliant (both as text and on film), the cinematic version having Welles' genius finesse and style that the text sometimes lacks, but the allegory of the cave is more full and properly explained in the book. Both are brilliant and I recommend both!
Hey
Which version of the trial did you read?
Hey
Which version of the trial did you read?