1509 ratings (3.56 avg)
1448 reviews
Goodreads librarian

Fred Kohn

Fred’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (197)
currently-reading‎ (16)
read‎ (1510)
did-not-finish‎ (0)
christian-nonfiction‎ (398)
political‎ (143)
young-people‎ (139)
religious-non-fiction-misc‎ (137)
fiction-miscellaneous‎ (129)
non-fiction-miscellaneous‎ (97)
religious-fiction‎ (79)

science‎ (70)
historical-fiction‎ (65)
book-of-revelation‎ (64)
philosophy‎ (56)
read-more-than-once‎ (55)
book-group‎ (52)
judaism-non-fiction‎ (45)
american-presidents-series‎ (42)
economics‎ (42)
ronald-reagan‎ (36)
newbery-medal‎ (33)

poetry‎ (33)
books-i-own‎ (31)
islam-nonfiction‎ (27)
short-stories‎ (20)
picture-books‎ (19)
ayn-rand‎ (15)
theater‎ (15)
juvenile-nonfiction‎ (14)
nietzsche‎ (12)
classic-fiction‎ (10)
graphic-novels‎ (10)

elements-series-juvenile‎ (9)
chess‎ (7)
fiction-librarians‎ (6)
very-short-introductions‎ (6)
wagner‎ (6)
american-presidency-series‎ (5)
cookbooks‎ (4)
polish-literature‎ (4)
preterism‎ (3)

Stats | More…

Fred is Currently Reading

Fred Kohn is currently reading

The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict: Eighth Revised and Updated Edition

by Walter Laqueur

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Mar 21, 2026 12:53PM

Fred Kohn is currently reading

Capital: A Critique of Political Economy Volume 1

by Karl Marx

bookshelves: currently-reading, economics, political

Reading for the 3rd time

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Fred Kohn said: " I have already reviewed a different edition of this work, so here I will limit my comments to the introduction by Ernest Mandel. In the Sound of Music, Captain von Trapp tells Herr Zeller, "If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herr Zeller I have already reviewed a different edition of this work, so here I will limit my comments to the introduction by Ernest Mandel. In the Sound of Music, Captain von Trapp tells Herr Zeller, "If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herr Zeller, that you would be the entire trumpet section." A similar point could be made about Mandel and his enthusiasm for Marx. He says, "Marx's Capital appears as a giant compared to any subsequent or contemporary work of economic analysis." I doubt many, if any mainstream economists of the present day would agree.

Mandel's statement that Marx is much more an economist of the twentieth century than the nineteenth is more debatable. I do think that Marx was ahead of his time in many ways. On the other hand, Mandel's historical predictions seem to have fallen through. Mandel spoke triumphantly of the overthrow of capitalism in Russia and China, and wrote in 1976 that it is unlikely that capitalism will survive another half century of crises. Now, in 2026 it seems that capitalism is alive and well, and the socialist systems of Russia and China have collapsed.

There wasn’t much in the introduction that pertained directly to Capital Volume 1 except for section 4 of the introduction: "The Plan of Volume 1". But, of course, other sections touched tangentially on Volume 1, like this plan from 1865-6 for the layout of the four volumes:

Vol 1: process of production of capital
Vol 2: process of circulation of capital
Vol 3: forms of the process in its totality
Vol 4: history of the theory

This was before they were all published. I think Engels kept to the plan pretty well. I haven’t read Volume 4, but from what I can gather, it does indeed cover the history of the theory.

A nice feature of Mandel's introductions to Volumes 1, 2, and 3 is that they frequently reference other Marxist economists and critics of Marx, so if you want to do a deep dive into Marxism, this three volume Penguin edition set might be a good investment. I don’t think I’m so into Marx that I would personally make that investment. However, I do think I will read Mandel's book Late Capitalism. I am hoping that book covers Marx's political ideas as well as his economic ideas. Mandel was a revolutionary. He wrote, "Any theory of the collapse of capitalism can only be described as Marxist if it involves socialist revolution." He said three of Marx's most gifted followers were Lenin, Trotsky, and Rosa Luxemburg. ...more "

Mar 08, 2026 04:13PM · see review

Fred Kohn is currently reading

A Reader's Greek New Testament

by Richard J. Goodrich (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: christian-nonfiction, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in October 2023

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Fred Kohn said: " I acquired a used copy of this book many years ago but was unable to read it until approximately 2018 when I began to study Greek. My course of study was Classical Greek at Ohio State University. There is a lot of overlap between the vocabulary of Cl ...more "

progress:

(page 417 of 592)
— May 06, 2019 03:18PM

Feb 27, 2026 04:21PM · see review

See all 16 books that Fred is reading…

Fred’s Quotes

“Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

3027 likes

“The shield of the scholar is, ‘I do not know’, so if he leaves it down, his attacker will strike him.”
― Imam Malik

6 likes

“Nobody who really thinks about history can take politics altogether seriously.”
― Susan Sontag

0 likes

“Primitive societies are largely free of cardiovascular disease, cancer, dental cavities, economic theories, lounge music, and other modern ailments.”
― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

33 likes

“I never debated with a knowledgeable person except that I won the debate, and I have never debated with an ignorant person except that I lost.”
― Abu Abdullah al-Shafi'i

1 likes

More of Fred’s quotes…