Defending Freedom

On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom 

by Cass R. Sunstein

“If government is to respect people's autonomy, or to treat them with dignity, it should not deprive them of freedom. It should treat them as adults, rather than children or infants.”

― Cass R. Sunstein

Legal scholar Cass R. Sunstein provides a constructive, "big-tent" defense of the liberal tradition against growing nationalist and populist criticisms in On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom. Building on his training in behavioral economics and his essay "Why I Am a Liberal" from 2023, Sunstein presents liberalism as a dynamic framework intended to maximize human freedom and individual flourish.

Sunstein begins by listing dozens of essential tenets that characterize a liberal commitment, including institutional pluralism, social protections, and negative rights. Sunstein contends that allowing people to experiment with different lifestyles is the ultimate goal of liberalism, drawing heavily from John Stuart Mill. He asserts that in order for people to truly exercise their right to choose, the state must support certain conditions (such as nudge theory, social safety nets, and regulation).

The book's central theoretical argument pits Friedrich Hayek's market-based, spontaneous order against John Stuart Mill's progressive, experimental vision. Regretfully, Sunstein favors active institutional mechanisms over state models that are strictly non-interventional.

Sunstein presents a proactive, upbeat vision for contemporary governance rather than just responding to illiberalism. He makes a convincing case for practical reform by fusing political philosophy, constitutional law, and behavioral insights.

Unfortunately, Sunstein's definition of liberalism is too broad to produce a clear political program due to his attempt to accommodate positive rights and extensive regulatory interventions. As a classical liberal, I thought Sunstein's criticism of Hayek was a little unresolved because he underestimated how government interventions and special-interest capture can skew free choices.Despite his shortcomings, Sunstein offers readers who want to comprehend how progressive liberalism tries to balance individual liberty with governmental action an interesting and relevant manifesto.

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The Aim of Eloquence

On Eloquence 

by Denis Donoghue

"Eloquence . . . is a play of words."

This poignant book masterfully illustrates the nature of eloquence and the necessity of it in our literature. Eloquence is defined by Donoghue as "those deep skills of imagination by which we get into words, what, when it is there makes them memorable, and what, when it is gone, makes them empty" by R. P. Blackmur. This is but one illustration of the eloquence examined in this intriguing journey into the essence of literary language.
Donoghue defends esthetic language, challenging the contemporary inclination to view words only as instruments for debate, politics, or practical communication. Donoghue's main goal is to distinguish between eloquence and rhetoric. Rhetoric is persuasive and transactional language that is used to accomplish a particular objective, sway opinions, or further an agenda. Eloquence is "gratuitous" and self-sufficient; it is a burst of artistic energy and beauty for its own sake, functioning without regard to purpose or utility. "Saying the right, beautiful thing, regardless of consequences" is his definition of eloquence. Donoghue contends that eloquence functions as an indispensable act of individual freedom and artistic joy (sprezzatura) in a world where "sedated language" and predictable political posturing predominate. The book, which consists of seven linked essays, reads less like a strict academic treatise and more like a contemplative meditation:

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A Memoir

Worlds Apart: A Memoir 

by David Plante

This is the second volume taken from David Plante's lengthy fifty-year diary, Worlds Apart: A Memoir (2015), is a companion to his first volume, Becoming a Londoner. The memoir, which mostly focuses on the 1980s, depicts Plante's life with his longtime partner, poet and art publisher Nikos Stangos, as they move through high-society literary and artistic circles in London, Italy, New York, and Oklahoma.

The memoir offers frank, unvarnished insights into well-known cultural personalities. Highlights include visiting Israel with Philip Roth (who might have taken inspiration from Plante for a character in The Counterlife), living in a Tulsa home with feminist critic Germaine Greer, and hanging out with poet Stephen Spender and artist David Hockney.

Plante considers his forty-year collaboration with Stangos in great detail. He examines the conflicts of faithfulness, jealousy between partners, self-doubt, and how long-term love changes. Set in the 1980s, the story documents the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among his friends, juxtaposing moments of grief and mortality with high-society rumors. It is a fascinating exploration of the life of one of my favorite authors.

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Revolution

Man's Fate

 by 

André Malraux

“It was Ferral's experience that governments are indulgent task-masters, that they treat their favorite children, the big financial groups, with commendable leniency. But while governments are accustomed to seeing the treasury robbed, they do not like to see it robbed of all hope.”

― André Malraux, Man's Fate

Man's Fate (La Condition humaine) by André Malraux is a towering masterpiece of 20th-century existentialist philosophy and political literature. It was published in 1933 and won the coveted Prix Goncourt. The novel explores deep, timeless issues of human loneliness, dignity, and purpose against the turbulent backdrop of the 1927 Communist uprising in Shanghai.

Over the course of several days, the novel follows a varied group of revolutionaries, conspirators, and opportunists as the Shanghai uprising takes place, only to be brutally betrayed and put down by Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces.

Instead of focusing only on political strategy, Malraux examines the psychological motivations of those enmeshed in historical turmoil. High-stakes killings, street battles, ideological differences with Moscow, and the catastrophic fallout from defeat are all woven throughout the story.

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Hughes' Poetic Translations

Selected Translations: Poems 

by Ted Hughes

Ted Hughes' Selected Translations, edited by Daniel Weissbort, provides a thorough understanding of Hughes as a limitless interpreter of world literature as well as an English poet. The volume, which collects his work from several decades, covers modernist poetry, classical drama, ancient mythology, and experimental theater.

The book contains passages from religious writings like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Tibetan Book of the Dead, as well as classical Greek dramatists like Euripides' Alcestis and Aeschylus' Oresteia.

It also includes pieces by contemporaries from the 20th century, such as Paul Éluard, Yehuda Amichai, Jürgen Pilinszky, Vasko Popa, and Yves Bonnefoy. Additionally, it contains passages from Hughes's essays, letters, and unpublished manuscripts, as well as passages from Orghast, a dramatic work written in an invented language derived from Greek and Farsi.

Hughes was a well-known proponent of literal rendering as opposed to poetic embellishment. He maintained that adding superfluous devices to convey the "spirit" of a poem weakens the piece. His translations translate ancient violence and metamorphosis into straightforward, muscular English while maintaining the elemental, mythic, and brutal intensity found in his own poetry (such as Crow or Gaudete). Hughes believed that translated poetry was a universal language that could transcend ideological differences, and he co-founded the Modern Poetry in Translation journal in 1965.

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Romantic Adventure

Ninety-Three 

by Victor Hugo

Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo is a glorious romantic imagining of an episode from the year 1793, during the French Revolution and the year of the Great Terror. The scene is in Brittany, where the leaders of the Revolution are being opposed by counterrevolutionary forces. The elderly Marquise de Lantenac, the group's leader, is a romantic hero in the purest sense. After arriving on the western coast, this Breton noble assumes the identity of a peasant. His goal is to lead the rebels, use them for the royalist cause, and create a chance for an English military invasion. He pursues this goal with ruthless determination.

The Revolutionary forces under the command of Gauvain, his grand-nephew, appear to be in control of his destiny. Gauvain, the former Vicomte de Gauvain, is facing Lantenac after giving up his aristocratic background to support the republican cause. Gauvain is in charge of the republican forces that support Marat and are entrusted with finding and eliminating Lantenac.

Cimourdain, a former priest and Gauvain's tutor who is now an ardent revolutionary, is the third main character. The political principles that Gauvain has embraced were initially taught to him by Cimourdain. Cimourdain has a secret—the one weak point in his ideological armor—because he has loved Gauvain since he was a young child, treating him like the son he never had. Marat, the revolutionary leader, sends Cimourdain to the Vendée as a special agent to make sure Gauvain stays loyal. Marat has heard unsettling rumors that Gauvain might be able to show mercy, which the revolutionary leaders consider to be a cardinal sin.

In addition to the intensely thrilling action, the story's ideas also contribute to its tension. Gauvain tells Cimourdain at one point:
"Among the lions, Louis XVI was a sheep. He made an attempt to escape in order to protect himself. . . But not everyone can be a lion who wants to. His feeble attempt was regarded as a crime."
He asks Cimourdain, "Lions? What are they?"
"This made Cimourdain think. He raised his head and said, 'Those lions are consciences. Those lions are ideas. Those lions are principles.'" (pp. 197-98)

While Gauvain is a man of action, a revolutionary for the republic, he is also a thinker, and it is his thoughts about the humanity of men that lead him to his ultimate actions.
The grandeur of this novel is superb, while Hugo builds suspense in every section. Some scenes are so vivid that you are unlikely to forget them. One scene that is sometimes excerpted from the novel is the great cannon episode, depicting a loose cannon on a ship of anti-revolutionary French Royalists sailing towards Brittany to aid the anti-revolutionary Chouannerie rebellion.
The whole of the novel is like this, filled with one astonishing experience after another, keeping this reader spellbound.

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The Constructed Self

Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth 

by Hermann Hesse

In the Prolog to Demian, Herman Hesse states that "each man's life represents a road toward himself, an attempt at such a road, the intimation of a path." (p. 2) Does reality exist outside of our "constructed self"? Is every man on the road instead? Hesse attempts to tell the tale of one young man's journey toward self-discovery thru Emil Sinclair and his relationship with Max Demian.
Demian gives a first-person narrative of Sinclair's life that was written shortly after World War I and focuses on significant moments from his early years, between the ages of ten and twenty. His friendship with Max Demian, an older boy who saves him from a bully and pushes him to think for himself in order to break free from his parents' pietistic lifestyle, dominates his childhood memories. Emil adopts Pistorius, a renegade theologian, as his new mentor after leaving for boarding school. He also develops platonic feelings for a young girl he sees in a park. He meets Demian again at the university where he enrolls and continues to grow spiritually until Demian departs for battle. Emil's realization that he doesn't require outside guardians like Demian leads to his eventual spiritual independence.

Hesse draws upon Nietzsche, Jung, and others for his ideas, but the story is almost an archetypal example of the search for both meaning and identity. The forming of an identity involves discovering values, forming beliefs, and learning how to deal with reality. It involves reconciling the two worlds of his life, the world of light represented by a home filled with order and Christian goodness, and the world of dark that exists in the streets of the town with the temptations of sex, violence, and lust. It is only through his relationship with Demian that Emil is able to escape from the temptations of this life, at least for a time.

Emil is not satisfied with a life of quiet piety. Life for Emil includes his dream life. He tells a friend, "I live in my dreams—that's what you sense. Other people live in dreams, but not in their own. That's the difference." (p. 118) The experiences of Emil are dramatic and result in a rejection of the conventional life for one of a seeker. In his search Emil confronts his beliefs, dreams, and more. An epiphany occurs on one spring day when he is attracted by a young woman in the park. He names her Beatrice and is soon transformed "into a worshiper in a temple." (p. 81) He says,
"I had an ideal again; life was rich with intimations of mystery and a feeling of dawn that made me immune to all taunts. I had come home again to myself, even if only as the slave and servant of a cherished image." (p. 81)
Thus the narrator describes what in Jungian terms is his "anima." This inspires him to create and to read as his journey takes him in a new direction. For Hesse and for the reader, it is always a path on "a road toward himself."

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Tension and Murder

Literary Murder 

by Batya Gur

"The tension in the hall had slackened, as if the lights had gone out." - Batya Gur, a "Literary Murder"

Batya Gur's "Literary Murder: A Critical Case" is a cerebral, intensely atmospheric police procedural that strikes a balance between a sharp sociological critique of Israeli academia and a conventional whodunit framework. The story centers on Chief Superintendent Michael Ohayon of the Jerusalem Serious Crimes Unit, a moody and intelligent man. He is asked to look into a startling double murder that takes place at Hebrew University Secondary School over the course of a single weekend. During a scuba diving excursion in Eilat, Iddo Dudai, a bright young lecturer, is subtly poisoned. In his campus office, Shaul Tirosh, the head of the Hebrew Literature Department and a highly regarded poet and cultural icon, is brutally bludgeoned to death. As Ohayon delves deeper, he must negotiate a closed-off, fiercely protective ecosystem where intellectual hierarchy, tenure, and artistic jealousy foster a murderous environment.

Readers who anticipate a thriller with lots of action and adrenaline may be disappointed. In order to allow the psychological tension to develop gradually through dialogue and character analysis, Gur purposefully takes a slow, methodical pace. Gur has a master's degree in Hebrew literature, so her portrayals of university life are very real. The book includes in-depth discussions and lengthy lectures on literary hermeneutics. These scenes are a great way to ground the world, but some mystery fans might find them a little boring. Ohayon is a particularly interesting, complex protagonist. He reads suspects like texts using his knowledge of literature and history, revealing their closely guarded secrets and hidden weaknesses. Readers who are patient will find this murder mystery to be a very intricate, slow-burning procedural. Anyone who enjoys a cerebral, atmospheric mystery in which the psychological terrain is as perilous as the crime should definitely pick it.

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Deadly Trenches

In Memoriam 

by Alice Winn

“Ellwood smiled, and a sudden, dry bleakness spread over Gaunt’s heart as he thought of Hercules, and Hector, and all the heroes in myth who found happiness briefly, only for it not to be the end of the story.” ― Alice Winn, In Memoriam



In Memoriam, Alice Winn's debut novel, is a remarkable work of historical fiction that skillfully strikes a balance between the visceral, unrelenting horrors of World War I and a tender, forbidden gay romance. It follows the lives of two affluent English boarding school students, Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood, as they move from the idyllic safety of their youth into the deadly trenches of the Western Front. 

The fictional Preshute College is where the story begins in 1914. Sidney Ellwood, a charming boy who loves poetry, and Henry Gaunt, a reserved half-German, are best friends who are secretly in love. Gaunt enlists early to shield his family from anti-German sentiment and to get away from the excruciating weight of his suppressed emotions. Ellwood and many of their gullible classmates follow him to the front line after being horrified by his departure. The glorious war they envisioned turns into mud, trauma, shell shock, and catastrophic loss, and what follows is a brutal awakening.

Winn draws a contrast between the grim reality of mechanized slaughter and the idealized, poetic nationalism that young men are taught. The emotional core of the book is Gaunt and Ellwood's relationship. The tragedy of a love that is strong enough to endure the trenches but socially and legally taboo back home is masterfully captured by Winn. The book examines how these affluent, teenage boys with limited experience were given immediate military command over men's lives due to the strict British class system. School newspaper clippings that document the catastrophic erasure of an entire generation of boys in real time are scattered throughout the book.

I found the book engaging and especially appreciated the realistic historical details supporting the fictional narrative of love and loss.

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Intro to Revolution

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 

by Rick Atkinson

The Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Rick Atkinson's book is a masterwork of narrative military history. The American Revolution's mythology is stripped away, revealing a grim, chaotic, and profoundly human struggle. The book, which is the magnificent first volume of his Revolution Trilogy, covers the first 21 months of the war and shows how a small-scale colonial uprising turned into a worldwide struggle for independence. The author exhibits meticulously balanced viewpoints, in-depth archival research, and cinematic storytelling.

The story begins with a lengthy prologue set in June 1773, describing King George III inspecting the magnificent Royal Navy at Portsmouth, the pinnacle of British imperial confidence. After that, it moves quickly through the Boston political powder keg, the opening shots at Lexington and Concord, the horrific carnage at Bunker Hill, the catastrophic American invasion of Canada, and the exhausting battle for New York. In the winter of 1776–1777, the book reaches its dramatic climax, depicting the "Ten Crucial Days" when George Washington's desperate surprise actions at Trenton and Princeton alone saved the flagging American cause.

I was captivated by the details in this readable history. It moves quickly while maintaining an incredible level of detail.

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A Singular Tale

The Real Life of Sebastian Knight 
by Vladimir Nabokov

“There is only one real number: one. And love, apparently, is the best exponent of this singularity.”

― Vladimir Nabokov, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight

Vladimir Nabokov's first book written entirely in English is this novel, a masterful, multi-layered literary detective tale. The book, which was finished in Paris in 1938 and released in 1941, is a masterwork of metafiction that presents a convoluted, puzzle-like story.

The narrator of the tale, simply referred to as "V.," chooses to write his definitive biography after the premature death of his estranged half-brother, Sebastian Knight, a renowned English novelist. V. sets out to rectify the record after Sebastian's former secretary, Mr. Goodman, published a trashy, hurried biography. V. travels throughout Europe with just a few letters and pieces of Sebastian's personal documents. In order to piece together his brother's true identity, he speaks with friends, acquaintances, and former flames. But the investigation becomes a maze of falsehoods, dead ends, and misleading recollections.

Early on in V., Nabokov cautions readers that there are three aspects to truth: that shaped by the teller, reshaped by the listener, and concealed from both by the dead man. You can't fully believe what V. discovers. It functions as a preliminary postmodern experiment, demonstrating how hard it is to fully capture the essence of another person's soul. Sebastian Knight's own fictional novels contain complex, perplexing plot structures that are exactly reflected in V.'s search.

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Existential Isolation

Queer 

by William S. Burroughs

“Writers, like elephants, have long, vicious memories. There are things I wish I could forget.”

― William S. Burroughs

Queer is a harrowing, darkly comic, and raw exploration of unrequited desire and existential isolation. The manuscript was deemed too explicitly homosexual for the era and languished unpublished until 1985. Acting as a vital bridge in the author's bibliography, it captures the exact moment where Burroughs begins to transition away from straightforward, gritty realism into the hallucinated, avant-garde style that would define his masterpiece, Naked Lunch. The narrative is a circular seduction set against the backdrop of a corrupt and spectral 1950s Mexico City. The novel functions as a heavily autobiographical self-portrait.

The reader follows William Lee, Burroughs's recurring literary alter ego—who is stranded in a sordid expat community while suffering from acute heroin withdrawal.Lee becomes frantically obsessed with Eugene Allerton, a detached, younger American military veteran.Lee drags Allerton from bar to bar in a painfully circular attempt at seduction.To keep Allerton anchored to him, Lee concocts an expedition in search of yage, a mythical, telepathic, mind-altering vine.

Fiction can take you to places that are completely outside of your own personal experience. This novel from the pen of William S. Burroughs does just that with its litany of addicts in the thrall of eros. It is exciting and visceral in its realism. Through the back streets and nights filled with haunting images of men with sexual drives that determine their fates. Powerful and comic yet sad -- a brilliant narrative from a literary genius.

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Comic Suffering

Crome Yellow 

by Aldous Huxley

“When one individual comes into intimate contact with another, she—or he, of course, as the case may be—must almost inevitably receive or inflict suffering.” ― Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow

Crome Yellow, Aldous Huxley's first novel, is a clever, plotless satire of high society in Britain after World War I. This "comedy of ideas" chronicles a summer house party at Crome, an estate populated by pretentious intellectuals, artists, and eccentrics. It provides an intriguing, pessimistic glimpse of the "Bright Young Things" negotiating the early 1920s disillusionment. Denis Stone, a naive and angsty young poet who comes to Crome House for a summer vacation, is the protagonist of the book. Denis is incredibly in love with Anne Wimbush, the hosts' niece, but he keeps stumbling because of his extreme self-consciousness and numerous romantic competitors. The book weaves together lengthy terrace walks, informal trysts, and in-depth philosophical debates among the guests rather than presenting a conventional narrative arc.
Among these visitors is the host, Henry Wimbush, who writes an enigmatic history of his own estate while ignoring his living guests. Mr. Scogan is a hyperrational, cynical philosopher who makes unsettling, pre-dystopian predictions. He is based on Bertrand Russell. In addition, Mr. Barbecue-Smith is a well-known hack writer who says he uses his "subconscious" to produce thousands of profitable, meaningless words every hour. These characters, especially Barbecue-Smith, were delightfully funny to me. This book is brief, to the point, and does not go overboard.

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Deepest Essence

Letters to a Young Poet 

by Rainer Maria Rilke

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet is a masterwork of introspective writing. The book, which was written between 1903 and 1908, is made up of ten letters that Franz Xaver Kappus, a 19-year-old military cadet, received asking for guidance on his poetry and life decisions. Rather than providing technical writing criticism, Rilke offers a profound manual on leading a genuine, creative life.

Loneliness is reclaimed by Rilke as a holy, useful place. He contends that a great deal of sometimes agonizing inner solitude is necessary for profound artistic creation and self-discovery. The letters promote accepting adversity rather than running away from it. Rilke famously suggests that instead of hurrying to find quick answers, we should love the questions themselves, like locked rooms. Love is presented as the ultimate test of maturity rather than as a straightforward emotional haven. According to Rilke, love is two solitudes that greet, border, and defend one another.

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Outsider with AIDS

Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story 

by Paul Monette

“The problem with secret crushes: in the absence of requital the love turns bitter.”

― Paul Monette, Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story

Paul Monette, who grew up in the 1950s, had a life that was somewhat similar to mine because I was also born in the 1950s. Additionally, I share with him the theme of exploration and introspection, which, if it doesn't inspire every boy to write his own autobiography, does inspire them to pursue imaginative lives and a passion for literature and the arts. Paul Monette's story is about the outsider, the gay man in the boy whose life leads to the age of AIDS and the loss that comes with it. It goes beyond his coming-of-age in the 1950s. Monette adds a truth to his story that only a genuinely intimate memoir can contain, from a small town to an Ivy League school to the life of a writer. The spirit and narrative of this book should be treasured because they are universal and compassionate. Seldom has a book so richly earned the recognition and honors it has received.

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Casebook of Love

The Pure and the Impure 

by Colette

“You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.”

― Colette

First published in 1932, The Pure and the Impure (Le Pur et l'impur) is a captivating, non-linear masterpiece that the renowned French author Colette famously regarded as her best and most autobiographical work. This succinct but dense 184-page work functions as a profound "casebook of love," charting the sensual and psychological landscape of Paris's Belle Époque sexual underground, transcending the boundaries of fiction, memoir, and cultural critique.

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Thinking About the Planet

Green Philosophy: How to Think Seriously about the Planet 

by Roger Scruton

“Top-down solutions have a tendency to confiscate problems from those whose problems they are.”

― Roger Scruton, Green Philosophy: How to Think Seriously About the Planet

Instead of framing environmentalism as a leftist monopoly, the book reframes it as a fundamental conservative obligation. Scruton contends that international treaties and top-down bureaucratic interventions are ineffective because they ignore local love and individual responsibility, which are the primary forces behind human conservation. His central idea is oikophilia. A few distinct pillars form the philosophical basis of Scruton's book: Oikophilia, which means "the love of home." According to Scruton, people preserve the environment because they cherish their immediate, physical surroundings rather than out of an abstract sense of global utilitarianism. He advocates for bottom-up stewardship, saying that small-scale institutions, friendships, and local civil associations are the most effective ways to manage conservation. Large NGOs, the UN, and international climate treaties are all criticized by Scruton in his critique of globalism as unaccountable bureaucracies that have far-reaching unintended consequences. Instead, he supports holding polluters directly accountable through the use of free-market networks, unambiguous property rights, and tort laws. This is a readable and sensible perspective on how conservatives can contribute to environmental preservation.

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Search for Nature

The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age 

by Hans Jonas

“Blind nature will nearly always select the most probable, but man can let the most improbable become actual.”  ― Hans Jonas


A risk-averse framework for the scientific era is introduced by Jonas. The worst-case scenario must take precedence over ideal projections when assessing existential risks such as genetic engineering or climate change. He contends that although we can afford to lose a bet on advancement, we cannot afford to lose a bet on human survival. Jonas bases his ethics on metaphysics, in contrast to many modern philosophers who separate ethics from objective reality. He claims that Being is intrinsically more valuable than Non-Being. Humanity has an unavoidable obligation to safeguard nature's intrinsic purpose for existing. The last sections criticize utopianism by focusing on both capitalist and Marxist ideas of unending technological advancement. Jonas argues for a politics of self-control and clearly illustrates how utopian visions of technological abundance directly result in ecological collapse.

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Mao and Birth of Modern China

A Force So Swift: 
Mao, Truman, and 
the Birth of Modern China, 1949 

by Kevin Peraino

The tumultuous months of 1949 are the sole focus of the book. President Harry S. Truman's administration struggled to handle a significant geopolitical change as Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government fell and withdrew to Taiwan. Peraino contends that decades of Cold War conflict, including the Korean and Vietnam Wars, were made possible by the choices, reluctance, and domestic political pressures of this one year.

Instead of providing a dry policy analysis, Peraino uses the personal perspectives of five key players to tell this intricate tale: Secretary of State Dean Acheson and President Harry S. Truman struggled to develop a coherent strategy in the face of strong domestic criticism for "losing" China. Mao Zedong: The cunning Communist leader who managed complicated relationships with Joseph Stalin while planning a huge revolution. Madame Chiang Kai-shek: The Nationalist leader's American-educated wife who vigorously but ineffectively pushed Washington for military and financial intervention. Congressman Walter Judd, a former missionary from Minnesota, spearheaded the strong domestic political opposition to Truman's detached stance. Overall I found this an insightful historical study.

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On an Island

Robinson Crusoe 

by Daniel Defoe

'It happen'd one Day about Noon going towards my Boat, I was exceeding surpriz'd with the Print of a Man's naked Foot on the Shore, which was very plain to be seen in the Sand: I stood like one Thunder-struck ...'

Robinson Crusoe is one of the most famous adventure stories ever written. The account of a sailor shipwrecked on a desert island for twenty-eight years, it is also a tale of mythic proportions, an allegory, and a spiritual autobiography. I remember being fascinated with the industrious nature of Crusoe and his ability to develop survival habits while stranded, alone at first, until encountering the man whom he would name "Friday." In more recent years I have been able to understand better the historical and literary context, but the wonder of Defoe's story has not diminished with the years. This has been a favorite of mine since I was a young boy. I have read it several times, and the Norton edition is the one I have most recently read.

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THe Heiress

Washington Square 

by Henry James

“Don’t underestimate the value of irony—it is extremely valuable.”

― Henry James, Washington Square

My first exposure to Henry James's art was in Washington Square. I bring this up because the first time I saw James in a dramatic setting was during a performance of "The Heiress" by Ruth and Augustus Goetz. In 1947, they had adapted James's short story. The play had gained popularity among high school students by the late 1960s, which is how I first came across it and, indirectly, Henry James. James first serialized his book in Cornhill Magazine and Harper's New Monthly Magazine in 1880. It is a structurally simple tragicomedy that recounts the conflict between a dull but sweet daughter and her brilliant, domineering father. The plot of the novel is based upon a true story told to James by his close friend, British actress Fanny Kemble.

The book is sometimes compared to Jane Austen's work for the clarity and grace of its prose and its intense focus on family relationships. James was hardly a great admirer of Jane Austen, so he might not have regarded the comparison as flattering. In fact, James was not a great fan of Washington Square itself. He tried to read it over for inclusion in the New York edition of his fiction (1907–1909) but found that he could not, and the novel was not included. Other readers, though, have sufficiently enjoyed the book to make it one of the more popular works of the Jamesian canon. Its popularity may have been enhanced by the stage adaptation "The Heiress" by Ruth and Augustus Goetz.

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Berlin During War

Stay Alive: Berlin, 1939-1945 

by Ian Buruma

This is an immersive, deeply human, and meticulously researched social history. Published in early 2026, the book explores how ordinary people navigated the moral catastrophe of the Third Reich. It derives its title from the wartime greeting Berliners used as the city collapsed into rubble: “Bleiben Sie übrig” (“Stay alive”). The book's core themes, structure, and critical approach are presented clearly. Instead of focusing on military strategy or top-tier Nazi commanders, Buruma chronicles the everyday survival of Berlin’s diverse wartime population. The book is organized year-by-year from 1939 to 1945. This structure tracks Berlin's transition from a thriving cultural redoubt to a battered, desperate hellscape. Buruma pieces together letters, diaries, memoirs, and rare interviews with aging survivors. He features a wide cast of characters: resistance fighters, swing dancers, movie stars, hiding Jews, and ordinary citizens. The narrative is anchored by the letters of Buruma’s own Dutch father, Leo Buruma. Leo was one of 400,000 foreign workers conscripted into forced labor in the German war economy. The result is an informative and well-written history of a specific time and place.

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The Supreme Court

Sarah Isgur's A Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today's Supreme Court is a lighthearted, data-driven, and incredibly approachable defense of the U.S. Supreme Court that refutes popular media narratives regarding judicial partisanship. The book uses Isgur's vast experience as a lawyer, political operative, and legal analyst to make the case that the high court is the only branch of government operating in accordance with its original constitutional design, despite widespread misconceptions. 📊
The conventional media framing of a "6-3 partisan court" is undermined by Isgur. By pointing out that almost half of the cases in recent terms were decided unanimously, she uses statistics to demonstrate that sharp ideological divisions are uncommon. Isgur presents the "Y-Axis" spectrum, which stands for institutionalism. This determines whether a justice is a "chaos agent" ready to upend precedent or an institutionalist who values stability. The book blames an inactive Congress for high-profile legal disputes. It contends that the executive branch overreaches with executive orders as a result of lawmakers' failure to enact clear statutes, putting the Court in an untenable position of serving as a referee.
Isgur emphasizes that the Court's primary responsibility is rarely to decide whether a policy is "good." Instead, its role is figuring out which entity has the legal authority to make that decision.

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Internal Monologue

Jack 

by Marilynne Robinson

She said, "It's noise that you have to do it, and language that you do it, anyway." She said softly, "Maybe poetry.”

― Marilynne Robinson, Jack

The romance on the back cover of my paperback copy of this novel did not appear to me in any substantial way. I previously enjoyed Gilead, but I was disappointed in this rambling story. I did not find myself captivated, from the first pages, by the author's admirable prose.

Jack is profoundly aware of his capacity to destroy everything he touches. Because of his early exposure to scripture, he views divine knowledge as a burden rather than a source of comfort. His life turns into a torturous quest for a "theology of harmlessness"—a desperate, monastic attempt to withdraw so he can't hurt the people he cares about, especially Della. Jack faces the harsh realities of American racism head-on, in contrast to the comparatively remote, small-town theological discussions of Gilead and Home. Robinson painstakingly details how Jack and Della's world is compressed by societal prejudice, familial disapproval, and legal risk, transforming their relationship into a silent, agonizing act of defiance.

The novel avoids predictable, sweeping romantic tropes, choosing instead to present an intimate, slow-burning portrait of love existing under extreme duress. However, the narrative relies heavily on circular, self-obsessed internal monologues. I found it difficult to fully understand Della's motivations, as her thoughts are never directly unpacked, leaving her reasons for sacrificing so much for a "genteel hobo" somewhat mysterious.


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Tragic Moment

A Separate Peace 

by John Knowles

“What I mean is, I love winter, and when you really love something, then it loves you back, in whatever way it has to love.”

― John Knowles, A Separate Peace

This remains one of the most enduring and psychologically astute coming-of-age novels in American literature. The novel is set in 1942, during the dark days of World War II. The story takes place at the Devon School, a fictional elite New England boarding school based on Knowles’ alma mater, Phillips Exeter Academy. The story is told from the perspective of an older, wiser Gene Forrester, looking back fifteen years later, and it is a harrowing exploration of identity, envy, and the tragic end to adolescent innocence.

It takes a close look at the complicated co-dependent relationship of two roommates who are polar opposites. Gene Forrester: The narrator. An intellectual, very insecure, introverted, and very neurotic person. Phineas (Finny): Gene’s best friend, a charismatic, fiercely athletic daredevil who glides through life with a natural charm and an innate purity of heart. This tension comes to a head during an idyllic summer term, when Gene becomes convinced that Finny’s effortless grace is a deliberate attempt to undermine Gene’s academic success. This toxic mixture of deep resentment and adoration leads to a momentary, impulsive act of betrayal.

As the boys come of age, they are faced with the worldwide violence of World War II. Knowles is a master at reflecting the large-scale warfare of the world in the small-scale, private wars of the human soul. The "separate peace" that the boys discover during that quiet summer is an illusion.


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The Enigma of Evil

Evil: 

A challenge to philosophy and theology 

by Paul Ricœur

This is a small but positively brilliant exegesis of the origin of evil. Ricoeur is eloquent and deep in his analysis based on a lecture given in Lausanne, Switzerland. Ricoeur's exploration of evil delves into its multifaceted nature, examining how it manifests in human experience and moral philosophy. He articulates the tension between the presence of evil and the quest for meaning, suggesting that understanding evil is essential to grasping the human condition.

Through his lens, Ricoeur emphasizes the importance of narrative in confronting evil, positing that storytelling allows individuals to process and make sense of their experiences with suffering and injustice. He invites readers to reflect on the ethical implications of evil, urging a deeper engagement with the moral dilemmas it presents.

Ultimately, Ricoeur's insights challenge us to confront the complexities of evil, encouraging a dialogue that transcends simplistic notions of good and evil and fostering a more profound understanding of our shared humanity.

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Art and Morals

The Shape of the Artistic Mind: 

 A Search for the Metaphysical Link Between Art and Morals in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas 

by Bradley T. Elliott OP








Is the ethical life an art form? Are the arts a form of virtue? This book explores how Thomas Aquinas responds to these questions by situating classical depictions of art and virtue within a rich account of God as creator. Helpful resources are provided for readers who want to further appreciate the role of the arts in the moral life.

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Suddenly a Wall Appeared

The Wall 

by Marlen Haushofer

“I often look forward to a time when there won't be anything left to grow attached to. I'm tired of everything being taken away from me. Yet there's no escape, for as long as there's something for me to love in the forest, I shall love it; and if some day there is nothing, I shall stop living.”
― Marlen Haushofer, The Wall




Marlen Haushofer’s 1963 Austrian novel The Wall is a hauntingly claustrophobic feminist sci-fi masterpiece that subverts traditional survival narratives. It tells the story of an unnamed 40-year-old woman who is on holiday at a hunting lodge in the Austrian mountains and wakes to find herself completely cut off from civilization by a mysterious, transparent, impassable wall. On the other side of the barrier, all life seems instantly petrified and dead. Her life is isolated forever, turned into a brutal series of alpine survival routines with a small menagerie of animals: a loyal dog (Lynx), a pregnant cow (Bella), and a cat. And yet the story is profoundly meditative. I enjoyed the eerie environment and moments of poetic reverie that the author created.

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My Lonely

Sula 

by Toni Morrison

“Lonely, ain't it? Yes, but my lonely is mine. Now your lonely is somebody else's. Made by somebody else and handed to you. Ain't that something? A secondhand lonely.”

― Toni Morrison, Sula

Toni Morrison's Sula is a "modern masterpiece" and a "complicated masterpiece" about the lifelong friendship of two Black women, Nel Wright and Sula Peace. The story takes place in the fictional community of “The Bottom” in Medallion, Ohio. Originally published in 1973, it is renowned for its lush, lyrical prose and thoughtful examination of womanhood, identity, and the limits of friendship. 

The bond between Nel and Sula is so strong that 'they had a hard time telling one’s thoughts from the other’s. “ Their relationship becomes a platform for interrogating the Black feminine experience, and the search for meaning.  Nel signifies conformity and adherence to societal norms whereas Sula is a “outlaw woman” who challenges the status quo with her anarchistic ways. 

The two girls grow up with a dark secret that creates a bond “stronger than anything.” This bond is finally tested by a betrayal that comes to the very brink of forgiveness. Set between 1919 and 1965, the novel uses World Wars I and II, the Great Depression, and the civil rights era as a backdrop for the struggles of life in "The Bottom."

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The Well of the Past

Joseph and His Brothers 

by Thomas Mann

"Very deep is the well of the past. Should we not call it bottomless?"
With this beginning, Thomas Mann creates a monumental novel based on the story of Joseph in Genesis. By the time you have read more than two hundred pages and Joseph is yet to be born, you begin to realize just how monumental this novel will be. The good news is that it is worth the time and effort.

Mann sets the story in the 14th century BC and makes Akhenaten the pharaoh who anoints Joseph as his vice-regent. A dominant topic of the novel is Mann's exploration of the status of mythology and his presentation of mythical truths and the emergence of monotheism. Events of the story of Genesis are frequently associated and identified with other mythic topics.

From the opening page of the novel, the notion of the underworld and the mythical descent to the underworld is a central theme. Jacob's sojourn in Mesopotamia (hiding from the wrath of Esau) is paralleled with Joseph's life in Egypt (exiled by the jealousy of his brothers) and, on a smaller scale, his captivity in the well. Abraham is repeatedly presented as the man who "discovered God." Jacob, as Abraham's heir, is charged with further elaborating this discovery. Joseph is surprised to find Akhenaten on the same path (although Akhenaten is not the "right person" for the path), and Joseph's success with the pharaoh is largely due to the latter's sympathy for "Abrahamic" theology. Mann's approach reminds one of Sigmund Freud's Moses and Monotheism, which had appeared in 1939, just before Mann began work on the tetralogy's fourth part. As Joseph is saved from the well and sold to Egypt, he adopts a new name, Osarseph, replacing the "Yo-" element with a reference to Osiris to indicate that he is now in the underworld. This change of name is made to account for changing circumstances and encourages Amenhotep to change his own name to Akhenaten.

The breadth of the story can be seen in a survey of the four major sections of the novel. The first, The Tales of Jacob, recounts the story of the birthright struggle with Esau and Dinah's trials. When it finally introduces us to the relationship between Jacob and his favored son, Joseph, first-born of his favored wife Rachel, you see one whose flaws of overconfidence and presumption are obvious from the beginning. The familiar stories here include how Jacob’s mother, Rebeccca, managed to obtain Isaac’s blessing for Jacob rather than first-born Esau (the “clod”) and the parallel deception by Jacob’s host Laban in which Jacob was given Leah’s hand in marriage rather than Rachel’s. The second part, Young Joseph, tells the familiar story of Joseph’s catastrophic descent in which his brothers, utterly fed up with his arrogance, throw him into the pit from which he is rescued three days later by an itinerant group of merchants. Having sold him to the merchants, his brothers then deceive their father by showing him the many-colored coat, stained with the blood of a lamb, and leaving it to him to draw the conclusion that his son was killed by a lion.

The two remaining sections take Joseph to Egypt and the court of the Pharaoh through to his reunion with his father and brothers. Mann's recounting of the story of Potiphar and his wife is exceptional among the many stories that are related about Joseph's life in Egypt. You also see Joseph growing in wisdom, although he is not always aware of his own abilities. "Toward him alone and urgently went Joseph's thoughts and the speech of his tongue, unaware that it was guided not by chance or choice but by inheritance and tradition." (p 459)

Mann is a fascinating, extraordinarily well-read writer with a powerful understanding of the human condition. His character studies (and Joseph is nothing if not a very extended character study) are deep and multi-faceted. He does a remarkable job of bringing to life a pre-monotheistic way of thinking. His thoughtfulness and imagination combine to create an immense classic that wins you over time and again. The depth of this remarkable classic knows no bounds.

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Contemporary Prophecy

The Hungry Tide 

by Amitav Ghosh

Words are like the winds that blow ripples on the water's surface . . ."  -  The Hungry Tide, p. 277

Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide is a masterful work of historical fiction that weaves together environmental conservation, political displacement, and human connection in the treacherous Sundarbans archipelago. Originally published in 2004, the novel features Ghosh's lyrical prose and is supported by extensive anthropological research. The story follows an unlikely trio navigating the "tide country"—a maze of islands on the India-Bangladesh border: Piyali (Piya) Roy, an Indian-American marine biologist who studies the rare Irrawaddy dolphin; Kanai Dutt, a sophisticated translator from Delhi, who is visiting his aunt to retrieve a journal left by his late uncle, Nirmal; and Fokir, an illiterate local fisherman who becomes Piya's guide. Despite the language barrier, Piya and Fokir have a strong, unspoken bond. The book balances this nuanced personal drama with larger sociopolitical issues, such as the Marichjhapi massacre of 1978–79 and the ongoing conflict between wildlife conservation (the Bengal tiger) and the survival of marginalized human populations.

The Sundarbans landscape transforms into a "character in itself." As I read the novel, I almost felt as if I were "inhabiting" its lush yet dangerous world. I enjoyed the novel's pace and storytelling style, which brought the mythic history of the lands and waters to life. The scientific detail and historical exposition captivated me just as much as the contemporary human story. The characters, while complex, were relatable, and the author was able to address themes such as neocolonialism and global power dynamics without sounding preachy. The author succeeded in capturing my emotions through the work's thematic richness. The novel is a beautiful narrative of history, love, and man's relationship with nature. It left me in awe of Amitav Ghosh's ability to beautifully highlight issues of language, love, and nature.

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                                                Sea of Poppies

           by Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh is a story-teller of the highest order and, in Sea of Poppies, he weaves several tales together bound by the limits of time, class, poppies, and above all else the sea. It is the sea that permeates the stories of various men and women and that provides the thread that ties this book together. He deftly opens the book with three paragraphs that limn three basic motifs for the novel: the sea, poppies, and the village; a village that is the starting point for Deeti, the first of many people whose stories will emerge throughout the novel. On the sea we meet Zachary Reid, but more importantly we are introduce to his ship, the Ibis, which becomes an important character in the author's sea of stories.
The novelist is notable for his use of language. Not since Rushdie have I encountered the brilliance and bounty penned by an author. That bounty is magnified by the appendage of a forty-three page section entitled "The Ibis Chrestomathy" which, as a chrestomathy or selection of literary passages, serves as more than a glossary and can be read in its own right. Ultimately, the author's ability to recreate a particular time and place and the way he intertwined the characters' stories were the best aspects of this novel. In spite of moments were I, if only fleetingly, felt that some of the individual events were contrived the overarching themes, motifs, and design of the novel moved it beyond these moments and made it a great read.

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Wonder in Literature

All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age 

by Hubert L. Dreyfus

Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher and philosophy begins in wonder.

-- Plato

This book presents a review of a few Western classics and is somewhat insightful. With repeated exposure, I found the writers' singular viewpoint became less appealing. There are questions posed as to what constitutes human excellence and the optimal way to live a life. In my opinion the summary is valuable, and I would suggest this text as excellent supplementary reading.

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A New Day

The Old Man and the Sea 

by Ernest Hemingway

“Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.”

― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

"I will show him what a man is capable of and what a man is willing to endure." Santiago is the title's old man, a poor Cuban fisherman who has not caught a fish in eighty-four days. The other fishermen now call him unlucky, and his best friend, the boy Manolin, has been forbidden from fishing with him any longer. On the eighty-fifth day, Santiago decides to go farther out than usual, farther than the other fishermen, in the hopes of finding a big fish. On that day, he hooks a massive marlin, and the battle for dominance and survival commences.

This is more than just a tale of the struggle to catch a big fish. When you join the old man in his boat, you realize how much he loves the boy, the sea, and the fish. This, combined with his vision of lions on a beach, gives him the courage to keep going, as well as the cheerfulness that allows him to do so day after day.

This is the book that won Hemingway the Pulitzer Prize and, eventually, the Nobel. It depicts man alone against nature in the simple style that Hemingway mastered. I first read this many years ago and have since read other of his novels, but this is the one that sticks with me the most.

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Haunting Tale

Burial Rites 

by Hannah Kent

“It’s not fair. People claim to know you through the things you’ve done, and not by sitting down and listening to you speak for yourself.”

― Hannah Kent, Burial Rites

Hannah Kent's debut novel, Burial Rites, is a haunting and lyrical reimagining of the final months of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last person executed publicly in Iceland in 1830. Set against the stark, brutal landscape of 19th-century northern Iceland, the book delves into themes of justice, the power of storytelling, and the humanity hidden behind a "monstrous" reputation.

Agnes, convicted of the brutal murder of two men, one of whom was her former master and lover, Natan Ketilsson, is sent to an isolated farm to await her death sentence, where she is cared for by a family who is forced to house her. She is portrayed as a smart, resilient, but tragic figure whose life is marked by poverty and abandonment.
Tóti (Assistant Reverend Thorvardur Jónsson) is the young, inexperienced priest who Agnes chooses as her spiritual guardian. His role shifts from a stern advisor to a compassionate listener. Jón, Margrét, and their daughters initially view Agnes with disgust and terror, but their feelings gradually shift to sympathy and connection as they work alongside her.
The book is an unusual story well told with special attention to the emotional aspects of the narrative.


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Fearless Narrator

This Boy's Life 

by Tobias Wolff

“Fearlessness in those without power is maddening to those who have it.”

― Tobias Wolff, This Boy's Life

This Boy's Life, a critically acclaimed 1989 memoir, chronicles the author's turbulent coming-of-age in the 1950s. The story follows young Toby and his mother, Rosemary, as they travel across the country—from Florida to Utah and eventually to Washington State—escaping dysfunctional relationships and pursuing a version of the American Dream that they consistently fail to achieve.

The book's narration is honest and dispassionate, avoiding self-pity while detailing a life of petty delinquency, domestic abuse, and the constant struggle for a secure identity. Toby's toxic relationship with his stepfather, Dwight, is central to the story. Dwight, a "dictatorial, gun-loving alcoholic," subjected Toby to psychological and physical abuse, such as forcing him to husk chestnuts until his fingers bled.

Faced with a world in which he feels "unworthy," Toby renames himself "Jack" (after Jack London) and begins a series of fabrications. This culminates in him forging transcripts and letters of recommendation to secure a scholarship to a prestigious prep school—an act he sees as consistent with the "authentic" person he believes he is. Despite their nomadic and frequently dangerous lifestyle, Toby and his mother have a deep, almost "telepathic" trust. Rosemary is portrayed as an adventurous but docile reckless woman who struggles to find healthy partners. Overall, I enjoyed this book because of its candor and lovely writing style.

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Little Man

Hombrecito 

by Santiago José Sánchez

“He kisses her again, with more conviction this time, the way she kisses his cuts and bruises, as if love were something tangible, a balm to spread over every injury.”
― Santiago Jose Sanchez, Hombrecito






Hombrecito is a lyrical, queer coming-of-age story that delves into immigrant identity, familial trauma, and desire. It has a palpable emotional intensity combined with exquisite prose. The novel follows a young narrator, also named Santiago, from his childhood in Ibagué, Colombia, to his life as an immigrant in Miami and, eventually, New York City.
The title ("little man") alludes to the narrator's childhood role as he navigates a complicated relationship with his mother, who frequently "forgets she is a mother" and disappears for long periods of time.
Sanchez's writing is passionate and electrifying. The novel's focus on minute, visceral details—such as the smell of fried plantains or the texture of a mother's dress—is one of its greatest strengths. The narrative structure is nonlinear, and it can occasionally feel like a series of photographs rather than a continuous stream of events. Overall, it was a fascinating read.


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Conquest Masquerading as Aid

Violent Saviors: The West's Conquest of the Rest 

by William Easterly

"The quest for agency is everywhere and nowhere in the business of development aid." - William Easterly






This is a work of genius in the defense of freedom. The lessons learned from a history of self-serving and arrogant conquests in the name of economic development are vividly depicted. The outcome emphasizes the common patronizing thread that runs through so many attempts to impose assistance on underdeveloped regions. The obvious conclusion is that the imposition of expert judgments requires voluntary consent. This book is a valuable resource for developing a defense of free market capitalism because of its wealth of historical examples.

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