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Much better than freakonomics. No math, beyond basic arithmetic, needed so far. A delight.

From ‘Borghesia’:

“She had her servant but he was completely unreliable. He resigned every week and they had to beg him to stay and take him to have acupuncture because he suffered from insomnia. “

Good fun so far, in typically Ginzburg style. E.g.

“.. they had quarreled terribly about politics, because she was against Stalin, and so was he, but from a different point of view; …”

I love the ‘Outline’ trilogy by the same author but I find it hard to finish this book because of the overdose of pseudo-psychological babble. If it does not improve soon, I will not be able to finish it.

Very irritating: every few paragraphs a useless “, Jeffers,” which I assume is supposed to uphold the fiction of the text being a letter addressed to “Jeffers” who, as far as I can tell, plays no further role.

dnf

This was a favorite author of Natalia Ginsburg. I can see why. So far so beautiful.

“The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat.” Confucius

‘To stay free, you have to reject change.’ (p. 69)

Great fun! I learn a lot. The guy is not the best writer but the contents is superb. Hope it keeps that way.

Reading this may be a mistake. As a rule, I dislike horror stories. We'll see.

Very disappointing. So far: a history lesson for beginners on the October revolution, the rise of Stalin and his atrocities, the failed Nazi attack. Around this the story of a family that has to deal with this history. Too long winded and boring. Will probably not be able to finish it. Pity.

Pretty good with an unexpected and fascinating story, so far.

Interesting. Imprinted genes mystified me a bit, but then Wikipedia came to my rescue :).

A bit too overtly preaching politics in the beginning, but it gets better now.

Enjoyable and interesting. Here’s a quote from Maugham on taking Proust’s books with him when traveling; “a great deal was exquisitely boring [but] I would sooner be bored by Proust than amused by anybody else. “. (page 286)

Enjoyable and interesting. Here’s a quote from Maugham on taking Proust’s books with him when traveling; “a great deal was exquisitely boring [but] I would sooner be bored by Proust than amused by anybody else. “. (page 286)

Oh dear, the introduction favorably mentions Lacan and Deleuze. This bodes ill for the main text.

Paused. Rather boring so far, may not finish it.