My Reading So Far This Year
I haven't really maintained my Goodreads account much in recent years (i.e., it doesn't represent my actual reading much), simply because of lack of time. In case it's of interest, I shall list below the books that I have finished so far this year. This does not mean I started these books this year, or that there are no others I have been reading, they are simply the ones whose finishing dates have occurred since 2023 began.
I might make notes on some, although it seems doubtful that I'll have the time.
Holmes, Arthur F. - Fact, Value and God (Fin. 15th January 2023)
Yates, Frances - The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age (Fin. 16th January 2023)
Sladen, Elisabeth - Autobiography (Fin. 28th January 2023)
Jefferies, Richard - The Story of My Heart (Fin. 2nd February 2023)
Kuhn, Thomas - The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Fin. 15th February 2023)
Kant, Immanuel - Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (Fin. 17th February 2023)
Moore, Thomas - The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life (Fin. 19th February 2023)
Masefield, John - The Box of Delights (Fin 23rd February 2023)
Hari, Johann - Stolen Focus (audiobook) (Fin 1st March 2023)
Mumford, Stephen and Anjum, Rani Lill - Causation, A Very Short Introduction (Fin. 8th March 2023)
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques - Reveries of the Solitary Walker (Fin. 14th March 2023)
Shaughnessy, Susan - Meditations for Writers (Fin. circa 14th March 2023)
Carney, Jessica - Who's There? (Fin. 20th March 2023)
Hayashi Fumiko - Ukigumo (Finished 21st March 2023)
Heilbroner, Robert - The Worldly Philosophers (Fin. 5th April 2023)
Jenkins, Simon - A Short History of England (Fin. 9th April 2023)
Baring-Gould, Sabine - Red Spider (Fin. 12th April 2023)
Wilder, Thornton - The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Fin 22nd April 2023)
Grayling, A. C. - Wittgenstein, A Very Short Introduction (Fin. 5th May 2023)
Hesse, Hermann - Rosshalde (Fin. 6th May 2023)
Priest, Graham - Logic, A Very Short Introduction (Fin. 24th May 2023)
De Maistre, Joseph - The Works of (Fin. 18th June 2023)
Webb, Mary - Precious Bane (Fin. 20th June 2023)
Various - The Bible (Fin. 22nd June 2023)
Hemingway, Ernest - The Old Man and the Sea (Fin. 25th June 2023)
Among other books not listed here (because not finished) I gave up on Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations and Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, each about halfway through. These were two notable abortions.
I might make notes on some, although it seems doubtful that I'll have the time.
Holmes, Arthur F. - Fact, Value and God (Fin. 15th January 2023)
Yates, Frances - The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age (Fin. 16th January 2023)
Sladen, Elisabeth - Autobiography (Fin. 28th January 2023)
Jefferies, Richard - The Story of My Heart (Fin. 2nd February 2023)
Kuhn, Thomas - The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Fin. 15th February 2023)
Kant, Immanuel - Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (Fin. 17th February 2023)
Moore, Thomas - The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life (Fin. 19th February 2023)
Masefield, John - The Box of Delights (Fin 23rd February 2023)
Hari, Johann - Stolen Focus (audiobook) (Fin 1st March 2023)
Mumford, Stephen and Anjum, Rani Lill - Causation, A Very Short Introduction (Fin. 8th March 2023)
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques - Reveries of the Solitary Walker (Fin. 14th March 2023)
Shaughnessy, Susan - Meditations for Writers (Fin. circa 14th March 2023)
Carney, Jessica - Who's There? (Fin. 20th March 2023)
Hayashi Fumiko - Ukigumo (Finished 21st March 2023)
Heilbroner, Robert - The Worldly Philosophers (Fin. 5th April 2023)
Jenkins, Simon - A Short History of England (Fin. 9th April 2023)
Baring-Gould, Sabine - Red Spider (Fin. 12th April 2023)
Wilder, Thornton - The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Fin 22nd April 2023)
Grayling, A. C. - Wittgenstein, A Very Short Introduction (Fin. 5th May 2023)
Hesse, Hermann - Rosshalde (Fin. 6th May 2023)
Priest, Graham - Logic, A Very Short Introduction (Fin. 24th May 2023)
De Maistre, Joseph - The Works of (Fin. 18th June 2023)
Webb, Mary - Precious Bane (Fin. 20th June 2023)
Various - The Bible (Fin. 22nd June 2023)
Hemingway, Ernest - The Old Man and the Sea (Fin. 25th June 2023)
Among other books not listed here (because not finished) I gave up on Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations and Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, each about halfway through. These were two notable abortions.
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Robert wrote: "I felt reassured by your admission of giving up on Wittgenstein's famous works. There are some thinkers that I can't make headway in terms of their primary writing and I must rely on the inevitable..."I started with Philosophical Investigations, and found it something like a philosophical equivalent of Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveller. It seemed as if Wittgenstein were forever about to say something really quite interesting, but never actually getting around to saying it. Maybe the interesting thing was precisely that which he says in the Tractatus that we "must pass over in silence". In which case, I wished he would stop insinuating it so relentlessly.
Anyway, I resorted to Grayling for guidance, as a result also picked up the Tractatus, and might have persevered with it, if not for that fact that the reading of Wittgenstein combined with Grayling's pretty lucid commentary, gave me a sinking feeling of, "I know where this is going, or rather, not-going," and I was somewhat gratified to see that Grayling's summing up echoed significantly my own experience of Wittgenstein.
Hampton looks interesting! I might investigate further.
I recommend M. John Harrison's new book Wish I Was Here: An Anti-memoir. For me, anything by Harrison is worth reading but I think this one would be of particular interest to a writer.
Robin wrote: "I recommend M. John Harrison's new book Wish I Was Here: An Anti-memoir. For me, anything by Harrison is worth reading but I think this one would be of particular interest to a writer."Harrison is, of course, generally on my list as an author. I've got Light on my shelves somewhere, but haven't got round to it. I shall make a note of this one.
I see you more of a "The sunken land begins to rise again" guy QC but needs must...
AD wrote: "I see you more of a "The sunken land begins to rise again" guy QC but needs must..."What a great title! I take it it lives up to it?
I enjoyed it the most apart from the Viriconium cycle, he is allergic to cliché even self-cliché and there is an honest search for truth in this, I don’t claim to be a sophisticated enough reader to appreciate its nuance, but it evokes a haunting sense of place and time.
I'm currently working my way through a brilliant text titled, Romanticism and the Re-Invention of Modern Religion by Alexander Hampton. I often think of your novels and short stories when I'm reading it.