ryanpendell

ryanpendell, 7 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon "In a way, both sides of the debate were directly and indirectly responding to World War II. The absurdity of wartime led many to the view that all this talk of principles, ideals, and values was bullshit. At the same time, the horrors of Nazism stirred many toward an even stronger moral sense. Evil was real. And any attempt to turn it into mere personal preference couldn’t last a minute outside the walls of academia."
https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/where-our-values-come-from

#books #bookston #history #philosophy

ryanpendell, 7 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon "We look back at wars and revolutions of the past, times that must have felt evil, in which evil was done under the banner of righteousness, and we see what good came out of them, good for us. We pick over the remains, the detritus the past has left for us, collecting what gold we can find, forgetting the cost for others, as the wind picks up again."

Read "The hurricane of history": https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/the-hurricane-of-history

#bookstodon #books #history #fiction #mexico

ryanpendell, 8 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon "Most people are aware that Halloween has pagan roots. But what I found most fascinating about Rogers’ book is that between the druidic era and today there was a really long stretch—about 500 years or more—when Halloween was mostly known as a night when adolescent boys roamed around in packs and terrorized everybody."

Read "When boys ruled Halloween":

https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/when-boys-ruled-halloween

#bookstodon #books #history #halloween

ryanpendell, 8 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon "In his introduction to the Tao Te Ching, translator Stephen Mitchell calls it “among other things, a treatise on the art of government.” It is a book for leaders about how to wield authentic authority and power, power which is always flowing and changing... And read with this mindset, it’s a book that ought to unsettle us more than it does."

Read "The Tao Te Ching is a political document":

https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/the-tao-te-ching-is-a-political-document

#bookstodon #books #philosophy #literature #history

ryanpendell, 8 months ago to bookstodon

“If your biggest fear as a parent is that your kids will be exposed to sexual material at school that doesn’t fit your Christian values, it seems strange that your solution is to introduce them to the Great Books of Western Civilization.” @bookstodon
#bookstodon #books
https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/the-classics-arent-safe

ryanpendell, 8 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon "I want to find the hidden connections. I want to find the differences in the familiar and the familiar in the differences. Whenever I hear a little voice inside me go 'Oh, that’s not really my thing,' I know I’m destined for it eventually. Because I want to go on an adventure—and books are how I go. Because I want to become a different person—and books are how I change."

#bookstodon #books #africa #history

Read "This time for Africa":

https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/this-time-for-africa

Africa book recs?

ryanpendell, 8 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon On Deck:

ryanpendell, 8 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon #amreading #Books #bookstodon

ryanpendell, 9 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon

"One of the most interesting parts of the book was the section on Emerson, in which West places Emerson in the larger historical context of thinkers like Marx and Nietzsche. I had not realized before how similar Emerson’s outlook is to Nietzsche, and it made me wonder how many Nietzscheans are unwitting Emersonians."

Read "Whatever happened to American pragmatism?":

#bookstodon #books #philosophy #politics #marxism

https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/what-happened-to-american-pragmatism

ryanpendell, 9 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon

I finished Ovid's Metamorphoses last night. (McCarter translation)

I expected mythology but I was surprised by the amount of magic. Like, woman with wild hair in the woods at night with a wand and cauldron, mixing herbs and casting spells.

I guess I had associated that with more Germanic (Grimm fairy tales) literature. Apparently a lot of that imagery comes from Rome.

#books #bookstodon #magic #history #rome #poetry

ryanpendell, 9 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon

"The goal is not perfection but a little bit better than before. Tarnished but not rotten. And that little bit had to be protected and nurtured and watched. The title Night Watch suggests this duty: The work of preserving the good of humanity during evil times is the night watch."

#bookstodon #books #fantasy #fiction

Read "My first Terry Pratchett novel":

https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/my-first-terry-pratchett-novel

ryanpendell, 9 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon

"There are recorded accounts of generosity and charity during famines, but these are rare. The hard truth is that humans change psychologically during famine. 'Famine lays bare sentiments and instincts that are, fortunately, hidden and even unimaginable to most of us today,' writes Ó Gráda."

Read "What happens during a famine":

#books #history #bookstodon #climate

https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/what-happens-during-a-famine

ryanpendell, 9 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon

"In 415 AD the pagan mathematician and philosopher Hypatia was murdered by a mob of Christian conspiracy theorists on the streets of Alexandria, who tore her body apart and burned it outside the city. The event shocked the Greek-speaking Mediterranean world."

#bookstodon #books #philosophy #history

https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/hypatia-of-alexandria-philosopher

ryanpendell, 9 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon

"In a world vastly beyond our ability to comprehend, we smash the 'VOTE' button, smash the 'BUY' button, smash the 'UPGRADE' button whenever we feel uncomfortable. And, like a child, we are very proud of our efforts. We are tickled at how well we’ve done."

#bookstodon #books #philosophy #climate #fascism #capitalism #technology

https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/the-mass-man-lives

ryanpendell, 10 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon

"Instead of unifying humanity, consciousness fractures it. Some build rockets for Mars, others die in a cult for a UFO hidden behind a comet. Both are thinking about the future of humanity, but they have wildly different views about what that future ought to be and how to get there."

#bookstodon #books #philosophy #musk #atheism #elonmusk

https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/does-humanity-exist

ryanpendell, 11 months ago (edited 11 months ago) to bookstodon

@bookstodon

"Video games are ultimately about experiences. Not simply watching or hearing, but interacting with an environment. Dante wants to give you the medieval equivalent of virtual reality. Although it is highly structured, Dante’s universe has an openness to it. And that seems to be the point."

Read "Dante's Inferno is a video game":

https://www.letustalkbooks.com/p/dantes-inferno-is-a-video-game

#bookstodon #books #dante #videogames #medieval #religion #literature