Caleb > Recent Status Updates

Lovecraft was a racist and his thinking was clearly formed by the popular ethnology of his day. I find it interesting seeing how these ideas along with his own poor mental health, and his philosophy is reflected in the pages of his writing. He contrasts Germanic descent against South European and other ethnicities, rationality and superstition, intellect and artistry. He will idealize one side and find folly in both.

I didn't read any of the Quran today. I guess I'm getting tired of being called a blind, deceitful, foolish, hypocritical, loser, hell-bound unbeliever.

I didn't really expect to find a variation of the prosperity gospel in the Quran. Not only are believers promised a far greater reward in the hereafter, but it is promised that true believers will not lose battles, will never lose the land they have won in war, and are guaranteed prosperous lives and homes. This is essentially the opposite of what Christians are told to expect in life.

I hope the inn's name is "Unlikely Circumstances."

I was interested in reading the Quran to understand Islam better, to gain some insight into 7th-century Arabian lore, and because Muslims so vehemently assert that the Quran is unparalleled in its linguistic beauty and its content. My former two goals have been a success. I have been let down in my third motivation. As successive surahs continue to shorten, I'm not hopeful that the linguistic brilliance will improve.

I did not expect to find jinn (aka genies) in the Quran, affirmed as real created beings that are rational and have free will like humans. I knew that jinn existed in Islamic era lore, but I assumed they would be dismissed as pre-Islamic pagan lore.

So far, these stories are far more captivating than I had imagined they would be. Lovecraft's own fractured mental health is compellingly reflected in the first person, through the characters he has written. By the end of each story, the reader is left to ponder the uncanny, the eerie, and the mysterious.

This book is not for those who want fairy tales with clear and happy resolutions.

Am I reading too many books at once? Nah.

I decided to make a review of the best and worst books that I read this year, as a recommendation to others. This is it, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p...