Conservative Reading List

Qurmudjin · #11 (**permalink**) 12-04-2006, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dom1

Qurmudjin,

I read a post earlier by you which commented ont he fact that your reading list did not have very many posts after it and it indicated that people on here didn't read very much. While that may be true, you didn't really ask for any responses. You asked for people to add some titles, but I am not sure what you are looking for. I have read several of the titles on your list, including all the Ayn Rand you had plus titles of the Enlightenment authors such as Hobbes, Mill, and Locke. There are others on your list such as Mona Charen on your list which I have read and I am sure that I have read more than a few that were not on your list which you would enjoy. Maybe you are just looking for a list, but I would want to know why they enjoyed the book or thought someone else would find it valuable.

Well, there were a couple of reasons why I made that comment, not just because there were so few responses to the reading list. One major reason is that I almost never see people reference or quote books, but see many posts referencing internet blogs, news articles and TV news.
I suppose I was hoping that people would add titles that were not on the list and titles that are more modern, as many of the titles I listed are quite old.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dom1

What exactly do you want? Is it just a book title or something like people telling you what a book is about and why is it good? I think that The World is Flat is a good book for recent political/social/economic history, and that is one that I would add. Tell us what you want and then you may see some responses. I think just a generic list may have been the reason why you received so little responses. Plus, if you asked for someone to tell you why they recommended it, it would mean more. Anyone can search for some political/philosophical books on the net and give a blurb - it doesn't prove anything. Perhaps if you ask people to tell why they recommend the book you would get more responses.

You're right, I was pretty vague. I had thought it unfair to ask people to add commentary to any titles that they recommended, as I did not do the same myself (given that there were so many titles in the list). BTW, who is the author of "The World is Flat"?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dom1

By the way, I think The City of God took me longer to read than any other book ever did.

Yeah, but it was worth it, right? I find Augustine a helluva lot easier to read than St. Anselm or St. Aquinas. How about "Atlas Shrugged"? Hell, I had trouble just lifting the book, and it was a paperback!

Dom1 · #12 (**permalink**) 12-04-2006, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qurmudjin

Well, there were a couple of reasons why I made that comment, not just because there were so few responses to the reading list. One major reason is that I almost never see people reference or quote books, but see many posts referencing internet blogs, news articles and TV news.
I suppose I was hoping that people would add titles that were not on the list and titles that are more modern, as many of the titles I listed are quite old.

You're right, I was pretty vague. I had thought it unfair to ask people to add commentary to any titles that they recommended, as I did not do the same myself (given that there were so many titles in the list). BTW, who is the author of "The World is Flat"?

Yeah, but it was worth it, right? I find Augustine a helluva lot easier to read than St. Anselm or St. Aquinas. How about "Atlas Shrugged"? Hell, I had trouble just lifting the book, and it was a paperback!

Thomas Friedman is the author of The World is Flat, I think it was phenomenal. The premise is that the world basically became "flatter" or maybe smaller in the past fifteen or so years. It discusses outsourcing in detail - including our tax forms which I had no idea about.

The City of God was great. I liked the historical aspects and the rationale of Augustine's on why Rome was sacked. It is one thing which leads me to believe that one of the biggest, if not the biggest reason for the downfall of Rome was the spread of Christianity. I don't think that the Romans thought state first any longer, but rather religion over state - which wasn't there before. If anything, the religion supported the state with the pantheon which was basically Greek.

I really did not have a tough time with Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead, although I could have done without a 70 page speech by Galt.

The ones that I have the toughest time with are the Greeks. I think Livy, Seutonius, and Polybius are rather easy, but Herodotus is almost painful at times. Maybe it is the translation.

Qurmudjin · #13 (**permalink**) 12-05-2006, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dom1

Thomas Friedman is the author of The World is Flat, I think it was phenomenal. The premise is that the world basically became "flatter" or maybe smaller in the past fifteen or so years. It discusses outsourcing in detail - including our tax forms which I had no idea about.

Great. That's a subject I have been wanting to learn more about. My library not only has a few copies, but they also have a downloadable audio version that is "updated and expanded."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dom1

The City of God was great. I liked the historical aspects and the rationale of Augustine's on why Rome was sacked. It is one thing which leads me to believe that one of the biggest, if not the biggest reason for the downfall of Rome was the spread of Christianity. I don't think that the Romans thought state first any longer, but rather religion over state - which wasn't there before. If anything, the religion supported the state with the pantheon which was basically Greek.

Interesting take on it. I may have to re-read it with that in mind...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dom1

I really did not have a tough time with Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead, although I could have done without a 70 page speech by Galt.

How about the "love story" that is so obviously Ayn's sexual fantasy? Grooooaaaannnnn...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dom1

The ones that I have the toughest time with are the Greeks. I think Livy, Seutonius, and Polybius are rather easy, but Herodotus is almost painful at times. Maybe it is the translation.

Were you a history major? Most of my familiarity with the ancient Greeks & Romans was from philosophy. In history, I read many references to the Romans Livy & Seutonius (not to be confused with the general) but not their original "histories." I think we pretty much ignored Herodotus because he was not reliable, and I don't recall Polybius at all. Pretty esoteric stuff there, Dom...

BTW, my favorite book on the Peloponnesian War is Steven Pressfield's novel "The Tides of War," which I found more accurate than many of the texts I read in school. The same goes for his previous novel about the Battle of Thermopylæ, "Gates of Fire" (which actually made me cry).