Certainly, among my top 5 books of all time. — Manuel

What are the other 4?

"Unbinding Isaac" by Aaron Koller. The better part of the book critiques Kierkegaard, which I've not gotten to, but he does present an interesting take on the parable. The sacrifice of Isaac symbolizes parental obligations forced upon children, burdening them with the parental failings, and the ram symbolizing pride, which ought be sacrificed instead.

The Vietnam War as an example (mine).. Kids sacrificed for a false belief, when what ought have been sacrificed is the belief. The kids were sacrificed, but the ram of pride survived, violating the lesson of the Akedah.

Novel Explosives by Jim Gauer is no.1, hands down. Should be a philosopher's dream. Criminally unknown, imo.

Then in no order: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño, A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James and Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino (This one is significantly narrower than the others, but its left a very strong impression.)

As for Brothers Karamazov being no.5, well, maybe it still is, its reputation is more than well earned. But I just finished The Magus by John Fowles yesterday and it's vying for the top 5 spot - it's astonishing, still reeling from that experience. I've had a good year with novels. :)

Thanks. I read The Magus back in the 1980's and have no memory of it. I'll have another look.

But I just finished The Magus by John Fowles yesterday and it's vying for the top 5 spot - it's astonishing — Manuel

So is the French Lieutenant's Woman.

Sure, if you forgot then I'd say go for it.



Oh cool! I've heard about it, but have not read it yet, thanks for the recommendation.

Currently:

Adorno: The Recovery of Experience by Roger Foster, which is densely analytical but great.
Open Socrates by Agnes Callard, which is also great.

On the list:

Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon, which will be out in a few days
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming by László Krasznahorkai
The Book Lovers by Steve Aylett
Malarkoi and Waterblack by Alex Pheby
Doggerland by Ben Smith
Capital by Karl Marx, the new translation

Capital by Karl Marx, the new translation — Jamal

I wasn't aware that there's a new translation. How new is it?

Last year.

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691190075/capital?srsltid=AfmBOopk8ce3Zn8JoWI4iPgdxbeUGfwp5DAeuCrhFqZHZ37A36ixS0OB

?

That's the one.

Novel Explosives by Jim Gauer is no.1, hands down. — Manuel

I didn’t have my glasses on when I saw your post and I read that as “Naval Explosives.” I thought that was an interesting choice until I reread it, this time wearing them.

But I just finished The Magus by John Fowles yesterday and it's vying for the top 5 spot - it's astonishing, still reeling from that experience. — Manuel

I gave that to my daughter for Christmas one year. We share a love for it. Have you read “The French Lieutenant’s Woman?”

Doggerland by Ben Smith — Jamal

I was intrigued by this. Doggerland was an area of dry land between what is now Great Britain and France. It was inundated about 8000 years ago by a mega tsunami caused by the collapse of the continental shelf off of Norway.

Alas, that’s not what the book is about.

Yes, and there's still a shallow area around there, a sandbank called Dogger Bank.

Rupture and Reconstruction, the transformation of modern orthodoxy by Haym Soloveitchik.

It tracks how Orthodox Judaism has changed dramatically over that past few decades, pushing towards a rigorous text based culture from one that was mimetic previously, largely gathering cultural values and norms from observations of one's family and community's practice.

Not of general interest I suppose, but it did (IMO) offer insight into whether American ideological divisions occur based upon mimetic/text based distinctions, with conservatives leaning heavily upon textual interpretation (either statutory, Constitutional, or even Scriptural) as opposed to learning values by observation, mimicry and reevaluation of norms over time. This seems a reasonable suggestion given the conservative's brittleness to change, demand for textual support for authentication of truth, and skepticism over responsive modification of values based upon evolving social issues.

Dawn by Nietzsche. Has a lot of interesting insights, but some verifiably false.