I'm reading Moby Dick, which is actually incredible even though the kind of woke racism is hard to parse and interpret.
I'm also reading "Red Revolution, Green Revolution" about agriculture and science in the early days of the Mao's China. It's also really fucking good.
I've been reading At the Existentialist Café. It's a survey of the Existentialist thinkers from kierkegaard to Sartre and De Beauvoir. It's more about their lives and history than necessarily explaining their specific ideas. So it's been good for understanding them in a historical context, but it has me excited to actually dig into their work because I want to learn more about their actual philosophy.
I've been meaning to read Moby Dick for a while! Tbh everyone I've heard talk about it likes it, so I should really get around to it.
It's a really incredible book. I've never had a book that evoked visceral responses from me like this has before. There are profound chapters that give you chills, then there are chapters where they murder whales and the description makes you nauseous. And then chapters where they kill whales that make you incredibly sad. And yet, I would never recommend it to anyone because I know most people would not be able to stomach reading it. It's arduous despite all it's merit.
That sounds so enticing yet also disturbing.... I'd probably like it lol
Yeah I have heard it's not the kinda book to just sit down and read thru. Best consumed in smaller chucks it sounds like.