Re:I like unusual books. Here’s what I’d read – if I had time
by nonrandomstring on Monday April 04, 2022 @05:43AM
(#30904780)
Reading old books is advice given by Professor Steven Smith at the
conclusion of Yale lecture series PLSC 114: Introduction to Political
Philosophy. [1] It is also advice repeated by someone prominent like
Snowden (I recall vaguely) in answer to the question of intellectual
self-defence in an age of shallow wilful deceit.
Obscure books have a magnetism so I collect and read them. I love
wandering through those "bookstores" (which are really private
collections with a public storefront) in York, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and
Oxford, and finding titles that are unthinkable to the modern mind,
and which evoke a highly spiritual sense that mixes revelation,
melancholy, wonder and an excited sense of the forbidden (I am sure
many a hacker can relate to this).
Most can be bought for a few quid and I generally read only a little
of each, but keep its title/contents in mind as a reference for
inspiration. Note for insatiable progressives: minus the fire hazard a
good bookshelf provides decent thermal insulation and pleasant
acoustics, even if you can't read anything unless it's on a
screen. Just reaching out to a shelf now I find:
"The riddle of the universe: Being an attempt to determine the first
principles of metaphysic, considered as an inquiry into the conditions
and import of consciousness by Edward Douglas Fawcett, London 1893.
It's got a strange marbled cover and smells of time-travel.
I paid 2 bucks for it. If nothing else it contains one of the most
original takes on Idealism , Shelling and Hegel, and a delightful
"Criticism of Critique" which would make anyone who likes to denounce
post-modernism feel like they'd been handed a light-sabre.
Re:I like unusual books. Here’s what I’d read – if I had time
by bencollier49 on Monday April 04, 2022 @05:57AM
(#30904864)
Interesting choice of Victorian occult fluffery. The author of the piece does describe it as fantasy, but it's responsible for a whole host of exciting real-world madness in the 20th century and afterwards.
It's important to recognise that until the internet made it much easier for people to discuss ideas and find counterarguments, there were large numbers of people floating around claiming that the contents of these books were not only beyond reproach, but that <insert group invented in the 20th century> was an unbroken descendant of one of the mythical groups invented by Victorian pseudohistorians.
Re:I like unusual books. Here’s what I’d read – if I had time
by nonrandomstring on Monday April 04, 2022 @07:09AM
(#30905237)
You're absolutely right. And that is precisely their charm to a mature mind.
When I described the titles as "unthinkable to the modern sensibility"
I was dodging mention of such topics as the "Physiognomy of the Pygmy
peoples" or "Universal suffrage by all necessary means" - which are
basically books on racism and terrorism, for example as espoused in
the works of Emma Goldman.
Old books are dangerous. Ideas are dangerous. Our modern ideas no less
so, and to claim otherwise is a "parochialism of the present".
But ones understanding of the world will be much richer, and intellect
fortified by at least knowing of these books and ideas, Otherwise we
may as well join the ranks of Firemen of Bradbury's 451 brigade.
Re:I like unusual books. Here’s what I’d read – if I had time
by bencollier49 on Monday April 04, 2022 @07:28AM
(#30905381)
Oh, I don't disagree. That said, some of them stand up to time better than others, in as much as they can contain genuinely novel ideas, by the standard of most modern people.
Other books and authors are just infuriating - the memes they set running weren't necessarily a great thing the first time around, and did a lot of damage to collective human reason. Eliphas Levi immediately springs to mind; there are plenty of others. "Illuminatus!" probably falls into this category, but I don't think that was R.A. Wilson's fault.
Re:I like unusual books. Here’s what I’d read – if I had time
by nonrandomstring on Monday April 04, 2022 @07:54AM
(#30905582)
Not a book Ben, but if you haven't already heard Jon Ronsons's audio
"origin stories of the culture wars" in a BBC series Things Fell
Apart [1], I'd heartily recommend it. He says basically what you're
saying, and traces the lineage of exasperating _bad_ ideas that won't
just gracefully die (which is a theme in lots of his writing).
Re:I like unusual books. Here’s what I’d read – if I had time
by borroka on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @03:21AM
(#30916200)
I share a similar fascination/interest in unusual books. I am currently in the process of collecting all the books on Autogenic Training written in my native language. There is a formidable wealth of knowledge that would otherwise not even be lost, but never acknowledged. These books are out of print and can be found in online marketplaces or some bookstores that deal in used books. I'm not interested in first editions or collectibles at all, just the information in the book.
Previously, my interest was in 19th century bodybuilding and strength training books, along with WWI special forces diaries. It certainly contributed to my enjoyment of life and a certain, unusual way of looking at things (although the direction of causality can go both ways).
Re:I like unusual books. Here’s what I’d read – if I had time
by tokai on Monday April 04, 2022 @07:00AM
(#30905188)
Its great, can highly recommend. You should pick it up. Its encyclopedic and you're not loosing anything by not reading all of it. You can even shop around in the chapters you find interesting.
Re:I like unusual books. Here’s what I’d read – if I had time
by mdp2021 on Monday April 04, 2022 @04:47AM
(#30904521)
The author of the article seems to show more "curiosity" than "interest". What is "weird" is to join approaches and topics out of contexts ("I read many fitness books today, it's entertaining").
Re:I like unusual books. Here’s what I’d read – if I had time
by eimrine on Monday April 04, 2022 @06:05AM
(#30904900)
Any non-fictions in the list except Oliver Sacks’s “Hallucinations”? The list lacks for some descriptions and IMO any fiction book just don't deserves to be called "unusual".
Obscure books have a magnetism so I collect and read them. I love wandering through those "bookstores" (which are really private collections with a public storefront) in York, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Oxford, and finding titles that are unthinkable to the modern mind, and which evoke a highly spiritual sense that mixes revelation, melancholy, wonder and an excited sense of the forbidden (I am sure many a hacker can relate to this).
Most can be bought for a few quid and I generally read only a little of each, but keep its title/contents in mind as a reference for inspiration. Note for insatiable progressives: minus the fire hazard a good bookshelf provides decent thermal insulation and pleasant acoustics, even if you can't read anything unless it's on a screen. Just reaching out to a shelf now I find:
"The riddle of the universe: Being an attempt to determine the first principles of metaphysic, considered as an inquiry into the conditions and import of consciousness by Edward Douglas Fawcett, London 1893. It's got a strange marbled cover and smells of time-travel.
I paid 2 bucks for it. If nothing else it contains one of the most original takes on Idealism , Shelling and Hegel, and a delightful "Criticism of Critique" which would make anyone who likes to denounce post-modernism feel like they'd been handed a light-sabre.
[1] https://oyc.yale.edu/political-science/plsc-114/lecture-1
It's important to recognise that until the internet made it much easier for people to discuss ideas and find counterarguments, there were large numbers of people floating around claiming that the contents of these books were not only beyond reproach, but that <insert group invented in the 20th century> was an unbroken descendant of one of the mythical groups invented by Victorian pseudohistorians.
When I described the titles as "unthinkable to the modern sensibility" I was dodging mention of such topics as the "Physiognomy of the Pygmy peoples" or "Universal suffrage by all necessary means" - which are basically books on racism and terrorism, for example as espoused in the works of Emma Goldman.
Old books are dangerous. Ideas are dangerous. Our modern ideas no less so, and to claim otherwise is a "parochialism of the present".
But ones understanding of the world will be much richer, and intellect fortified by at least knowing of these books and ideas, Otherwise we may as well join the ranks of Firemen of Bradbury's 451 brigade.
Other books and authors are just infuriating - the memes they set running weren't necessarily a great thing the first time around, and did a lot of damage to collective human reason. Eliphas Levi immediately springs to mind; there are plenty of others. "Illuminatus!" probably falls into this category, but I don't think that was R.A. Wilson's fault.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2021/radio-4-jon-ronson-thin...
Previously, my interest was in 19th century bodybuilding and strength training books, along with WWI special forces diaries. It certainly contributed to my enjoyment of life and a certain, unusual way of looking at things (although the direction of causality can go both ways).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anatomy_of_Melancholy