Some of your title suggestions I have not read. I will try and seek them out but first I must make inroads to the pile of books sitting on my desk table -- they have been sitting there for a while; non fiction and fiction.
The trouble is I am all eager to read and as you know the ebbs and flows of the creative life kind of dampens the energy so they remain unread, but I feel I could read 4 to 6 books a month when there is an uptick or surge in interest and energy or season is right. I plan to read more this year too.
The Classics heal and offer collective wisdom on a platter. I prefer reading the primary sources anyway. Going to derivative; secondary sources or spin-offs are essentially saying the same thing and you realize modern works are subsequently flogged to death with no new message to tell. For example there are so many book spin-offs to the craft of writing fiction. "Aristotle: On Poetics", expounded on the craft millennia ago - that is all you need with his three Act Story Structure: beginning, middle ( Acts I, II, III) and is the basic requirement what commercial publishers ( gate keepers) and Hollywood (screenwriters) want on a first few page reading before assessing the work for publication.
Also perplexities of life for me usually means things are seen from one rigid point of view only . There are other points of view that makes things clear as viewing through perspex; a multi dimensional to thinking and seeing; other worlds are possible. These days we have two lives if we desire: the physical and the digital. Some will say holding a hand of a friend or relative that needs care and comfort can not be replicated digitally ? Perhaps not and therefore the physical world has limitations. Then you have the digital that amplifies possibilities. This is were anything is possible like enduring friendships that last forever beyond the physical. Love lasts forever. So the question what does one want? physical or digital? or does one hedge their bets for both ?
Thank you for the interesting reading list.
Some of your title suggestions I have not read. I will try and seek them out but first I must make inroads to the pile of books sitting on my desk table -- they have been sitting there for a while; non fiction and fiction.
The trouble is I am all eager to read and as you know the ebbs and flows of the creative life kind of dampens the energy so they remain unread, but I feel I could read 4 to 6 books a month when there is an uptick or surge in interest and energy or season is right. I plan to read more this year too.
Enjoy your reading in 2025 CY.
The Classics heal and offer collective wisdom on a platter. I prefer reading the primary sources anyway. Going to derivative; secondary sources or spin-offs are essentially saying the same thing and you realize modern works are subsequently flogged to death with no new message to tell. For example there are so many book spin-offs to the craft of writing fiction. "Aristotle: On Poetics", expounded on the craft millennia ago - that is all you need with his three Act Story Structure: beginning, middle ( Acts I, II, III) and is the basic requirement what commercial publishers ( gate keepers) and Hollywood (screenwriters) want on a first few page reading before assessing the work for publication.
Also perplexities of life for me usually means things are seen from one rigid point of view only . There are other points of view that makes things clear as viewing through perspex; a multi dimensional to thinking and seeing; other worlds are possible. These days we have two lives if we desire: the physical and the digital. Some will say holding a hand of a friend or relative that needs care and comfort can not be replicated digitally ? Perhaps not and therefore the physical world has limitations. Then you have the digital that amplifies possibilities. This is were anything is possible like enduring friendships that last forever beyond the physical. Love lasts forever. So the question what does one want? physical or digital? or does one hedge their bets for both ?