Some Kind of Journey

The Folded Leaf 

by William Maxwell

“But to live in the world at all is to be committed to some kind of a journey.”

― William Maxwell, The Folded Leaf

When I first came across this book in college, I really liked the plot and the author's style. In the Midwest in the 1920s, when childhood lasted longer than it does now and even adults were more naive about what life could bring, two boys find each other in the quietly observed but profoundly moving tale The Folded Leaf. The narrative centers on Lymie and Spud, two young boys who, despite their apparent differences, have a close friendship. The majority of the book is told from the viewpoint of Lymie, a quiet, reserved, introverted, and extremely sensitive young man who adores Spud. On the other hand, Spud is a little stronger and an athlete who is able to recognize his friend's sensitivity while not really understanding. They work well together, with Spud drawing strength from his friend and Lymie taking security from Spud's strength.

When they fall in love with the same girl, Sally Forbes, their intense, almost symbiotic high school friendship turns into a tense college rivalry. A dramatic and possibly tragic climax results from the tension that follows. The book has overtly homoerotic undertones, despite Maxwell's refusal to call it "gay fiction." Readers today see the boys' frequent bed sharing and physical intimacy through a queer lens. Because of the author's poetic prose, emotional accuracy, and psychological realism, I have read this again since I was in college.

It is a classic book written by one of our most esteemed authors, who has written such well-known books as So Long, See You Tomorrow and All the Days and Nights. These novels demonstrate why William Maxwell is among the greatest authors I have ever come across.

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Desire to be Real

Great Expectations 

by Vinson Cunningham

“...I wanted to be more than a Rorschach, more legible than a symbol, more vivid and musical, at least to the kid, than even the most laureled statue could ever be. I wanted to be real in a way that history wasn't...”

― Vinson Cunningham, Great Expectations

Vinson Cunningham’s debut novel, Great Expectations, is a coming-of-age story that follows David Hammond, a young Black man working as a fundraiser for a charismatic junior senator's 2008 presidential campaign. While some critics praised the book for its intellectual depth and elegant prose, others noted its unconventional, ambivalent narrative voice. As for me, this book let me down for a number of reasons. Many passages are merely a springboard for cultural criticism and have nothing novel or even intriguing to say. The narrator, David, has a biographical background, but the combination of personal memories and political campaigning insight is occasionally weak and uninteresting. I continually found I was forcing myself to continue due to my lack of interest in the narrative.

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Illustrated Memories

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana 

by Umberto Eco

“Memory is a stopgap for humans, for whom time flies and what is passed is passed.”
― Umberto Eco, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

Giambattista "Yambo" Bodoni, a 60-year-old rare book dealer from Milan, has "paper memory" after suffering a stroke. He has no autobiographical memory—he cannot identify his wife, daughters, or his own past—but he can remember every book, poem, and song he has ever come across. Yambo withdraws to his Solara childhood home at his wife Paola's suggestion. He searches his grandfather's large attic, which is stocked with diaries, comic books, old newspapers, and records.
Yambo recreates his generation's experiences with Catholic guilt, wartime propaganda, and American pop culture icons like Flash Gordon and Fred Astaire by using these artifacts to recreate the world of his childhood in Mussolini's fascist Italy. After a second "incident," Yambo experiences a coma during which his real memories resurface.

The book is renowned for its nearly 200 illustrations, which show how culture shapes individual identity and include comic strips, posters, and ads from Eco's own collection. Yambo is used by Eco as a metaphor for a "truly postmodern figure"—someone whose identity is derived more from literature and media than from personal experience.
The title "Mysterious Flame" alludes to a particular Tim Tyler's Luck comic.

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Fanny's Heart

Mansfield Park 

by Jane Austen

“This would be the way to Fanny's heart. She was not to be won by all that gallantry and wit and good-nature together could do; or, at least, she would not be won by them nearly so soon, without the assistance of sentiment and feeling, and seriousness on serious subjects.”

― Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

Out of all Jane Austen's novels, Mansfield Park has the dubious distinction of being disliked by more of her fans. Sense and Sensibility is about striking a balance between feelings and thoughts, Pride and Prejudice is about passing judgment on people too quickly, Emma is about maturing into adulthood, and Persuasion is about second chances. These themes are very different from those of her other books, which can usually be summed up in one sentence or even one phrase. In contrast, it is difficult to characterize Mansfield Park's theme. Does it have to do with ordination? Is it a parable about Regency England? Does it have to do with slavery? Is it related to children's education? Is it about how appearances and reality differ from one another? Is it about the consequences of defying social norms? Mansfield Park can be applied to any or all of those themes.
The main character, Fanny Price, presents the biggest challenge because she is timid, shy, insecure, physically frail, and, to some, irritatingly, always correct. She is definitely not like Pride and Prejudice's vivacious and clever Elizabeth Bennett. However, Mansfield Park also has a large following, whose respect and allegiance can be ascribed to the novel's rich and nuanced themes as well as to the protagonist, a young lady who stands out from most literary heroines. In the end, most readers only care that it is a well-written book that is enjoyable to read.

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Riveting Debut

The Summer Between 

by Robert Raasch

"I worked a palmful of mousse through my hair, and clicked each pearly shirt snap closed save the top two. I stepped before the full-length mirror and didn't hate the person I saw." - Robert Raasch, The Summer Between. 

The protagonist of this tale about coming to terms with one's sexual orientation is a teenager who just finished high school and is planning to attend college. The story illustrates the feelings, perplexity, anguish, and happiness of a young man discovering his sexuality and identity in that group. Despite some of the narrative's rough edges, I still found the book to be enjoyable enough to finish. Although the teen's sensibilities were occasionally unclear and the circumstances he encountered appeared somewhat manufactured, the narrative ultimately came together in a satisfying manner.

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Annual Top Ten Reads

 

 Annual Top Ten Favorites

Since January 1, 2025, these books have been my favorite reads, and sometimes rereads.  They span a wide range of reading genres, from nonfiction to fiction, from lengthy to short works, and from the classics to modern literary fiction. I would recommend them to one and all.

The list is in no particular order, but if I had to pick my favorite of the year, it would be Orlando by Virginia Woolf.

Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad

And There Was Light by Jon Meacham

Knife by Salman Rushdie

Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal 

Orlando by Virginia Woolf 

Praise of Folly by Erasmus

The Immense Journey by Loren Eiseley 

Arturo's Island by Elsa Morante

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

 Playground by Richard Powers

Shadows of Clouds

Wolf Solent 

by John Cowper Powys

"The world is not made of bread and honey…nor of the sweet flesh of girls. This world is made of clouds and of the shadows of clouds. It is made of mental landscapes, porous as air, where men and women are as trees walking, and as reeds shaken by the wind.”

― John Cowper Powys, Wolf Solent

In 1929, Powys, then 57 years old and still earning a living from his traveling lecture show, published Wolf Solent. It was his first work as a mature novelist, an intensely poetic character study of the kind that would become his specialty, and it was brutally analytical. The conflict between brothers, the hypnotic eroticism of girls, the depraved elders, and the remnants of innocence are all typical components of his unique psychodrama. Wolf Solent is not a sentimental pastoral. Powys, who extolled the virtues of nature, never hesitated to expose its horrors. Violent implications abound in his work. He considered it a mistake to ignore what he referred to as "the necessity of opposition," in a somewhat Zen way: Good and Evil; Male and Female; Life and Death; Appearance and Reality. He claims that all of these

"All solid entities have to dissolve, if they are to outlast their momentary appearance, into atmosphere, while they must be joined together, forced into one another, and proven dependent upon each other."

Similar to Hardy's Return of the Native, the novel appears to be a fairly simple tale of a native son's return. After having a mental breakdown in London, Wolf, the title character and incredibly sensitive person, returns to his hometown on the South Coast of England. However, he completely loses his innocence at home rather than regaining it. He is traveling to a supposedly peaceful writing assignment for the local squire in order to get away from the city's intensity, comprehend his past, and in some way defend his deeply wounded mother. Nothing goes according to plan. He gets caught up in a number of romantic and professional affairs and learns terrible things about some former neighbors and friends. In his mind, a struggle rages between his mother's anxiety and his father's joy of life. He starts to feel sympathy for his father's mistress and develops feelings for his half-sister. He came for a job that was completely different from what he had anticipated. Actually, there's nothing in this town that relieves the intensity.

Ultimately, he returns to the anonymity of London, disillusioned. The novel can be summed up as "You can't go home again," but Powys finds this to be far too brief. It is what permeates every aspect of this book, from the living hero to every grass blade, housefly, and surrounding environment. He plays out every interpretation of his life on numerous reflective walks through the English countryside in an attempt to make sense of it. His respect and care for the natural world are admirable, though they can be challenging at times. Powys stayed where others might go because he detested most aspects of modern life, including capitalism and technology. This is central to the narrative and every one of Powys's books.

At one point, the critic George Steiner asserted that Powys was the only English author of the twentieth century who was comparable to Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. The renowned English novelist Margaret Drabble feels that "we need to pay attention to this man." She describes the fantasy setting of his books as "densely populated, thickly forested, mountainous, erudite, and strangely self-sufficient." Although this country receives fewer visitors than Tolkien's, it is just as fascinating and has more air.

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Ethics of the End

Imagining the End: Mourning and Ethical Life 

by Jonathan Lear

Imagining the End: Mourning and the Ethical Life by Jonathan Lear is a profound philosophical and psychoanalytic meditation on how to find purpose and thrive during a period of pervasive worry about personal and societal loss. Lear examines the idea of "the end" in two senses: telos (the goal, purpose, or good of life) and termination (such as a planetary catastrophe or cultural collapse), drawing on his training as a philosopher and psychoanalyst. He contends that our confusion in the face of the former is closely linked to our inability to understand or agree upon the latter.

Lear's main contention is that, when properly understood and practiced, mourning is an ethical, creative, and active act that can create meaning and support our well-being rather than just a passive response to loss. By supporting a type of mourning that acknowledges the anguish of loss but transforms it into a capacity for hope and forward-looking renewal, he sets this apart from melancholia, which Freud defined as a pathological reaction where the lost object is incorporated into the ego.

In order to create a position from which the psyche can look outward and thrive, this "creative mourning" entails investigating dashed hopes, abandoned endeavors, and broken attachments. Expanding upon his previous book, Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation, Lear explores the fragility of the institutions and cultures that provide us with comfort. He investigates how we might live when we acknowledge the frailty of the conventional framework of meaning.

Lear links the qualities of thankfulness and hope to a healthy grieving process. Gratitude is presented as a basic "attunement" to the world, emphasizing the benefits gained from what is now lost, rather than merely as an emotion. Moral exemplars, drawn from sources like Homer's Priam and personal history, serve as models for how to embody virtues and navigate life's inevitable setbacks, offering a kind of practical instruction in ethical living.
Lear suggests that the humanities serve as a special form of mourning. They conserve our best accounts of what it is to be human—what he terms the kalon (the fine, noble, or beautiful)—by preserving and presenting images of the past as models for creative "repetition" and ethical action in the present.

In essence, Imagining the End challenges readers to confront loss—personal, cultural, and even planetary—not with despair or melancholia, but by transforming the work of mourning into a powerful and ethical process of meaning-making that sustains the good life.



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Playfulness

Playground 

by Richard Powers

"Evie liked Captain Cousteau--his playfulness, his singsong voice, his tobacco scent." - Richard Powers, Playground.








Four characters—Evie Beaulieu, a trailblazing oceanographer; Ina Aroita, a French Polynesian artist; Rafi Young, a scholar of literature; and Todd Keane, a tech entrepreneur who creates the wildly popular, gamified social media platform also known as "Playground"—are interwoven in Playground. The story comes together on the isolated island of Makatea, where locals are voting on a contentious "seasteading" project put forth by Todd's group. Makatea is still healing from the effects of colonial phosphate mining.

The book examines the benefits and drawbacks of social media and artificial intelligence, raising concerns about who gains from technological development and its unforeseen effects on interpersonal relationships and society.
The vulnerability of ocean ecosystems and the effects of human exploitation and climate change are major topics of discussion. Powers presents the ocean as a "playground" that humans are in danger of destroying, both literally and figuratively.
The book explores betrayal, ambition, complicated relationships, and forgiveness. The "infinite game" of life and planetary stewardship is contrasted with human "finite games" that are centered around winning.
Through literature, art, science, and technology, the characters represent various perspectives on the world, encouraging contemplation of whether wisdom and knowledge can coexist to secure a better future.

Modern Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey 

by Arthur C. Clarke

“The more wonderful the means of communication, the more trivial, tawdry, or depressing its contents seemed to be.”

― Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey

The book is divided into four main sections that span a wide range of time:
The narrative starts with a group of hominids whose survival is in doubt millions of years ago. The start of human evolution is signaled by the unexpected appearance of an enigmatic black monolith, which stimulates their intelligence and leads to the use of tools. Dr. Heywood Floyd investigates the finding of another monolith buried on the Moon close to the Tycho crater in the near future of 1999 (as seen from the book's point of view). In the original conception of the book, the monolith emits a strong radio signal toward Saturn when it is exposed to sunlight.

The primary story follows astronauts Dave Bowman and Frank Poole, as well as the sentient, all-powerful computer HAL 9000, as they travel to Saturn aboard the spacecraft Discovery One. The computer's deadly rebellion against the human crew is caused by the stress of the mission and a fundamental conflict in HAL's programming—keeping the mission's true purpose a secret. After escaping the encounter, Bowman follows the mystery to Jupiter, where he comes across a third, enormous monolith. This item serves as a portal, sending him on a journey of transformation throughout the universe that ends with his rebirth as the "Star Child," a transcendent, higher form of human existence.

With its realistic depiction of space travel and profound philosophical ideas, the book is a prime example of hard science fiction. The novel highlights the idea that evolution is not a finished process; HAL is a tragic figure driven insane by contradictory orders from its human creators rather than a straightforward villain. Clarke skillfully captures the vastness and enigma of the cosmos. A mind-blowing examination of the incomprehensible nature of extraterrestrial intelligence is the novel's climax.

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Charisma and More

“

Creation Lake 

by Rachel Kushner

“Charisma does not originate inside the person called “charismatic.” It comes from the need of others to believe that special people exist.”

― Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake

Rachel Kushner's fourth book, Creation Lake, is a blend of dark satire, philosophical analysis, and espionage thriller that was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and longlisted for the National Book Award. It centers on Sadie Smith, a 34-year-old American freelance spy with a "clean beauty" and a brutal edge who is assigned to infiltrate an anarchist collective plotting against industrial agriculture. The story takes place in the rural southwest of France amid eco-activism and prehistoric echoes. Sadie's witty, sardonic first-person narrative is intercut with emails from Bruno Lacombe, a reclusive philosopher who is fascinated by Neanderthals, caves, and human origins. In her most plot-driven work to date, Kushner—a two-time Booker and National Book Award finalist best known for The Flamethrowers and The Mars Room—weaves noir tension with reflections on identity, ideology, and extinction.
Kushner has a taut, erudite, and wryly humorous prose that transcends the conventions of the genre. Sadie's sardonic, disdainful, and increasingly reflective voice propels the book's fast-paced reimagining of the spy thriller. Its intellectual bravery is praised by critics, who point out that it asks important questions like "What is a human being?" Sadie's cynicism contrasts with the activists' idealism through Bruno's tangential dispatches on Neanderthal depression and cave art.

The scene is a grim "proletarian 'real Europe'" of nuclear power plants, reservoirs, and peasant uprisings; it feels urgent, mocking characters such as Michel Houellebecq (posing as "Michel Thomas") while paying homage to actual ZAD (zones to defend) movements.

I was impressed with Sadie, the main character, who was intelligent and perceptive, if occasionally chilly, even though it occasionally seemed to be a jumble of fact and whimsical imagination, fragmented, with vignettes that don't always cohere. It's a fun, approachable book with a fantastic plot that balances prehistory, agriculture, and chaos. Fans of Le Carré will love it.

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Masterful Tale

Of Human Bondage 

    Somerset Maugham

Of Human Bondage is one of my favorite books, even though I've enjoyed reading a lot of Maugham's stories and novels. Strangely, though, I find it hard to comprehend the thoughts and deeds of Philip Carey, the hero (or anti-hero?) of this book. He won this reader over early in his story, if only because of his reading habit, which is mentioned in the aforementioned quote.

Like the author, Philip is raised by his uncle after becoming an orphan. He is mistreated, has intellectual and physical limitations, a clubfoot, and a tendency to take advantage of opportunities by making poor decisions and/or lacking skill. The death of Philip's mother and the cruel treatment he receives from his self-centered and hypocritical uncle while being tortured by his classmates and teachers at King's School in Tercanbury mark the start of the first half of the book. The Victorian style of this first section of the book is somewhat evocative of Dickens' Great Expectations.

Written in the style of a bildungsroman, the book explores the protagonist's intellectual and emotional development as it follows his education and takes him to Germany, Paris, and London. This makes me think of Flaubert's book A Sentimental Education, which may have had an impact on Maugham. Philip settles into a sort of life in London as he gets older, but he keeps making poor decisions. By doing this, he starts a destructive relationship with Mildred, a crude and self-centered Cockney waitress. Despite all of his poor decisions and the challenges that follow, Philip eventually finds the right woman. Maugham presents a Schopenhauerian philosophical view of man in servitude to his will, but the book succeeds with its pleasant ending and clear prose, just as Philip triumphs over his passions. Because Maugham's story is so masterfully told, I have found myself returning to it time and time again over the years.

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A Search and a Journey

Travels with Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life 

by Daniel Klein

Daniel Klein's Travels with Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life is a humorous, approachable, and perceptive reflection on how to age well. The book is part travelogue, part memoir, and part philosophical exploration, all centered on the theme of finding fulfillment and authenticity in one's later years.

Klein's personal struggle in his early seventies—deciding between a more straightforward denture plate that represented his acceptance of aging and costly, uncomfortable dental implants to preserve a youthful appearance—served as the inspiration for the book. Because of this, he decides to travel to the Greek island of Hydra, which he had visited as a young man, in pursuit of "authentic old age."

Klein challenges the Western preoccupation with staying "forever young" and the desire to prolong one's prime indefinitely. He contends that doing so deprives people of the unique, worthwhile, and introspective stage of life known as old age. With a suitcase full of philosophy books, Klein consults philosophers such as Sartre, Aristotle, Seneca, and Epicurus, who serves as the book's main character. He frames his thoughts on aging, happiness, and mortality with their concepts.

The idea that Epicureanism equates to excessive hedonism is debunked by Klein. He instead emphasizes Epicurus's core beliefs, which include appreciating life's basic, timeless joys, being free from pain—particularly that which results from needless striving—and enjoying the company of others (philia). The elderly residents of Hydra, whom the author observes and befriends, provide an inspiring contrast to the fast-paced modern world with their laid-back, unhurried lifestyle and acceptance of their advanced age.

The book's lighthearted tone, humor, and light touch make academic philosophy approachable and applicable to the common human experience of aging. Inspiring readers to value their own life stages, lessen anxiety, and acknowledge the special pleasures accessible to an adult mind, it is a delightful and upbeat manual on living well in old age. It is an interesting read, particularly for people who are thinking about entering their later years.



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The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable 

by Amitav Ghosh

This is an exhortation to think apocalyptically from a writer of several outstanding books. I know the author as a novelist, but he offers a literary perspective on one of the most significant existential issues of our time. He does this effectively in a captivating extended essay.

He contends that the bourgeois experience is the foundation of the modern novel, which emphasizes linear time, individual moral journeys, and the predictable rhythms of everyday life. Climate events (such as superstorms or sharp sea level rise) are abrupt, extreme, and collective; they just seem too unlikely or "unrealistic" for the prevailing literary genre. According to Ghosh, this emphasis on the individual has led to a more widespread cultural exile of the concept of the collective, which is exactly what is required to solve a collective problem such as global warming.

Ghosh examines the historical factors that contributed to the current crisis, highlighting the ways in which colonialism, empire, and the emergence of the carbon economy are all intertwined. The book emphasizes that Asia, with its population and rapid industrialization, is central to both the causes and potential solutions of the climate crisis, but also faces the most devastating human consequences. He draws attention to the historical injustice that allowed the West to develop through carbon-intensive industrialization while limiting similar paths for countries in the Global South.

The book argues that contemporary political systems are inadequate in addressing the issue, pointing out that political discourse has shifted too much toward individual moral reckoning as opposed to systemic, group action. According to Ghosh, the self-interested nation-states that make up the current global political structure are essentially unable to coordinate the required worldwide response. He points out that the planet just cannot support the same high-consumption, resource-intensive lifestyle, challenging the Western-promoted idea that all countries can and should strive for it. He points to figures like Gandhi as having provided an alternate, low-carbon path that was ultimately rejected.

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Trends in Modern Thought

Escape from reason 

by Francis A. Schaeffer

First published in 1968, this is a foundational work of Christian philosophy and apologetics by Francis A. Schaeffer. It provides a succinct yet thorough examination of Western philosophical and cultural history, charting the emergence of secular humanism and the fall of reason.

Schaeffer's main argument is that Western thought split into a fatal dichotomy, resulting in a "two-story" view of reality. Lower Story (Nature/Reason): The domain of science, particulars, rationality, and objective knowledge. The domain of faith, meaning, value, universals, and the non-rational is the Upper Story (Grace/Freedom).

He links this division to Thomas Aquinas's differentiation between Nature and Grace, contending that a humanistic component was added by allowing the intellect to function independently in the "Nature" realm. A sense of meaninglessness and despair resulted from the lower story of autonomous reason's gradual reduction of everything, including humanity, to mere mechanics and mathematics as time went on (through the Renaissance, Enlightenment, and philosophers like Kant, Rousseau, and Hegel). His "line of despair" is the place where reason is unable to give meaning.

The "Leap" to the Upper Story: Today's people must make an irrational "leap of faith" into the upper story because they are unable to find objective meaning or purpose in the logical lower story. This "leap" need not be religious; it could be into existentialism, a subjective interpretation of faith that is divorced from logic and objective reality, or a manufactured personal meaning.
By analyzing patterns in popular culture, music, literature, and the arts, Schaeffer demonstrates this philosophical evolution and demonstrates how this dichotomy materialized as a widespread feeling of hopelessness and fragmentation in Western society.

Schaeffer argues that the Bible offers a singular, cohesive explanation for all of reality, drawing a comparison between the secular and Christian worldviews. The infinite-personal Creator God of the Bible unifies the lower (objective knowledge) and upper (meaning and value) narratives and serves as the basis for both reason and faith.

Particularly among evangelicals, Escape From Reason is regarded as a highly influential work that shaped a generation's perspective on Christian apologetics and cultural engagement. Schaeffer's observations were incredibly foresighted, foreshadowing themes that would later be linked to relativism, postmodernism, and the preference for emotionalism over objective reality.


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Capitalist Critics

Capitalism and Its Critics: A History: From the Industrial Revolution to AI 

by John Cassidy

"An extra hundred pounds is worth a lot more to a poor person than to a rich one because the poor person’s need is far greater. This idea, which economists today refer to as the diminishing marginal utility of income,”

― John Cassidy, Capitalism and Its Critics: From the East India Company to AI


As a staff writer for The New Yorker, Cassidy profiles dozens of the most vocal and powerful critics of capitalism, documenting its history from the East India Company to the era of artificial intelligence. The fundamental criticisms of capitalism, according to Cassidy, have not changed much over the centuries: it is "soulless, exploitative, inequitable, unstable, and destructive," but it is also "all-conquering and overwhelming."

In addition to well-known figures like Thomas Piketty, John Maynard Keynes, Rosa Luxemburg, and Karl Marx, the story also discusses lesser-known but equally important critics like the Luddites, Irish proto-socialist William Thompson, French unionist Flora Tristan, conservative Thomas Carlyle, and Indian economist J. C. Kumarappa.

Capitalism's "remarkable knack for reinventing itself" and its astounding "powers of self-regeneration and survivability," which have enabled it to weather multiple crises and evade the ultimate collapse that some of its detractors had predicted, are fundamental themes.

Since growing inequality, climate change, and artificial intelligence raise serious concerns about the viability and ethics of the current economic system, the book is positioned as a work that is relevant to the times. According to Cassidy, the prevailing ideologies of free-market neoliberalism and Keynesian social democracy are "running aground," so it is critical to find alternatives.
According to reviews, the book humanizes what is sometimes a dry subject matter by combining a lively examination of economic theories, a comprehensive history, and a rich biography.

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Episodes in a Texan Life

The Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoir 

by Domingo Martinez

“The first was to expect crushing disappointment in life, the second was the absolute reliability of loss, and finally, the utter futility of faith”  ― Domingo Martinez, The Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoir

Martinez's childhood and adolescence in the Brownsville barrio, where poverty is pervasive and cultures frequently clash on the banks of the Rio Grande, are chronicled in the memoir. The prevalence of machismo and the challenge of navigating a challenging life that involves violence, drug abuse, and a lack of economic opportunity are major themes.

Martinez presents a cast of enduring and nuanced family members while exposing his inner and outer worlds. In his early years, he is a bright and sensitive boy who frequently feels like an outsider because of his light skin and intellectual nature, which go against the dominant macho culture.

The "enduring, complex bond" with his severely flawed but fiercely protective older brother is the main focus of the book. Gramma, a strong, gun-wielding former farmhand who occasionally acts as the family's witch doctor, is another member of the family. His older sisters, the Mimis, make an effort to "transform themselves from poor Latina adolescents into upper-class white girls" for a while.
Although the family's life is unvarnished and difficult, the story is told with unwavering honesty and is regularly peppered with wit and humor. When Martinez tells stories, he favors wisdom and humor over tragedy. The book, in my opinion, read less like a chronological narrative and more like a collection of colorful, occasionally tangential short stories.

The memoir follows Martinez through his years of substance abuse and eventually culminates in his move away from Brownsville to Seattle as a young adult, reflecting on how his Texas upbringing continues to impact his life. I found most of the episodes fascinating, making the book hard to put down.

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Abrupt Disappearance

Into the Blue 

by Robert Goddard

“The dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.”  --- Robert Goddard

The protagonist of the story is Harry Barnett, a middle-aged, run-down Englishman who looks after a friend's villa on the Greek island of Rhodes and leads a somewhat unsuccessful life. He is frequently characterized as a flawed but tenacious "underdog" who finds meaning in his pursuit. The abrupt and unexplained disappearance of Heather Mallender, a young visitor to the villa, while out on a mountain hike serves as the plot's impetus. Harry turns into the main suspect.

Harry, who is obsessed with the mystery and determined to clear his name, starts tracking Heather's whereabouts, which brings him back to England and makes him face a previous scandal involving the Mallender family. Heather takes a series of photos that contain clues that help with the investigation.

The narrative delves into themes of identity, confronting the past, hypocrisy, and how long-forgotten events can still impact the present. The plot involves a web of betrayal, political connections, and long-buried secrets. I would recommend this novel as an excellent, literate, and engrossing mystery/thriller that highlights a character study of a flawed hero with its expertly constructed, twisting plot

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Hard Blows

Headshot 

by Rita Bullwinkel

"It's a hard blow that the judges call a hit immediately. The score is yelled loud enough so everyone can hear it. This is a point hitting game after all." - Rita Bullwinkel, Headshot

The absence of dialogue in this book is noteworthy. The "omniscient narrator" of the story immerses the reader in the thoughts of the competitors, their coaches, and onlookers. The story alternates between elegant depictions of the physical combat and in-depth examinations of the characters' motivations, histories, and even prospective futures throughout the book. In keeping with the fast-paced, exhilarating nature of the boxing matches themselves, the writing is frequently muscular and sharp. The boxing ring serves as the setting for nearly the whole book, which creates a tense, enclosed atmosphere.

Although the book is about boxing, the eight young women's inner lives are its main focus. It looks at their traumas, desires, and fears as well as why they chose this cruel and private sport. The author's ability to highlight the notable psychological distinctions among the competitors—all of whom were pursuing the same objective—impressed me. The book explores themes of self-discovery, sacrifice, and the fight for acceptance in a world dominated by men as it explains what it means to be a female athlete.

Each character is driven by a different purpose, such as dealing with a personal tragedy, proving themselves to family, or just trying to fit in. The "madness and sheer physical pleasure" that can spur young women to fight are examined in the book. Overall, the book offers a "dignified and critical treatment" of boxing while addressing its brutality in a novel way, emphasizing its "artistry, strategy, and brutality."

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An Unfinished Life

Weir of Hermiston 

by Robert Louis Stevenson

"and he went on through life with a mechanical movement, as of the unconscious, that was almost august." - Robert Louis Stevenson, Weir of Hermiston

The book's plot revolves around the long-standing conflict between a sensitive, idealistic son and his strict, unforgiving father. Because of his brutal application of the law, the father, Lord Justice-Clerk Adam Weir, is infamously known as the "hanging judge" or "Weir of Hermiston." Young law student Archibald "Archie" Weir, his son, is appalled by his father's ruthlessness, especially when he finds a man guilty and sentences him to death.

Archie is banished to the family's Hermiston estate in the moorland after openly denouncing his father's actions. In this isolated location, Archie finds comfort and develops feelings for Christina "Kirstie" Elliott, a local. Although their growing bond is essential to the story, the fragment ends suddenly.

The psychological study, Weir of Hermiston, is different from Stevenson's adventure novels. It is a foray into a more realistic style of writing that influenced later authors like Joseph Conrad. The novel, as I read it, presented strong characterization and a nuanced portrayal of the moral and social landscape of 19th-century Scotland.


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Modernist Gothic

Light in August 

by William Faulkner

“a fellow is more afraid of the trouble he might have than he ever is of the trouble he's already got. He'll cling to trouble he's used to before he'll risk a change. Yes. A man will talk about how he'd like to escape from living folks. But it's the dead folks that do him the damage. It's the dead ones that lay quiet in one place and dont try to hold him, that he cant escape from.”   ― William Faulkner, Light in August

Light in August, written by William Faulkner in 1932, is a difficult yet important piece of Southern Gothic and modernist literature. Faulkner's writing is characterized by a disjointed structure and an intricate prose style, which address weighty subjects like racism, identity, and the lasting effects of the American South.

Through the character of Joe Christmas, a man of ambiguous racial heritage who is shunned because of what others believe to be his Black ancestry, the book examines the terrible effects of racism. It also delves into themes of identity, the struggle between fate and free will, religious fanaticism, and the past's persistent influence on the present. A key point is made by contrasting Lena Grove's unwavering, nearly transcendent journey for her child's father with Joe Christmas's tragic journey.

Faulkner's writing is frequently characterized as dense and challenging, with lengthy, convoluted sentences and a non-linear narrative. Using a technique known as stream-of-consciousness, he alternates between the viewpoints of various characters and time periods. The reader must gradually piece together the story's mosaic of events, which are told in multiple voices and through flashbacks. If you succeed in this process, the rewards from reading and rereading Faulkner are immense.


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Freshness was Gone

The Dry Heart 

by Natalia Ginzburg

“How easy life is,” I thought, “for women who are not afraid of a man. I stared for a long time at my face in the mirror. It had never been very pretty, and now it seemed to me that every trace of youth and freshness was gone.” 

 ― Natalia Ginzburg, The Dry Heart







Natalia Ginzburg's brief, impactful novella, The Dry Heart, which explores themes of loneliness, desperation, and the intricate dynamics of unhappy relationships, is acclaimed for its spare, straightforward, and eerie prose. It was a prose style that demanded my attention with its flat directness. The narrator tells the story of a loveless marriage that ends in murder. The narrator's carefree admission that "I shot him between the eyes" sets the stage for a taut examination of marriage's realities, turning an ordinary, uninteresting story into a psychological thriller. I appreciated the work's psychological depth, unexpected power, and feminist undertones. Throughout, the writing is white-hot, unmannered, elegant, and masterfully understated, with a deceptive simplicity.

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