Ben > Recent Status Updates

War is the ultimate desecration

Green continues to excel in both prose and presentation. The picture gains more depth and continues to fill my understanding of history. I had no idea of the political history of Aristotle nor of his tutoring of Alexander until recently. It’s interesting to see Athens as a state in decline, desperate for an old empire, while its subjects become disillusioned

“Of what use are possessions if I achieve nothing?”

“The polis, the city state, had run its course: a new era was dawning.”

Upon listening to HH’s episode about Alexander the Great I have fallen under a bout of fascination with this time period. Green’s presentation is spectacular—excellent storytelling, a mixture of academic and irreverent prose, makes it simultaneously incredibly entertaining and educational. Some moments sent shudders through me

Holy fuck

Chapter 2. So far, a surprisingly shrewd portrait of America. So much more depthful than I remember

I will finish this book this week

I promise to finish this book by the end of the week

the way of the transgressor is hard. Assimilation creates soldiers if bloodlust doesn’t.

Goddamn

The reading slump of February and mid March is coming to an end

“Things happened, things came to an end. There was no sense of developing drama. All that remained was debris, four smoldering holes in the dirt, a few fires that would burn themselves out.”

“No reason to hurry, no reason to move. The day would be yesterday.“

What the fuck

Really excited to see how this plays out. My theory is perhaps some sort of subliminal commands direct people to unconsciously commit heinous acts

A lot can happen in one day

WPB really knows how to write books, huh

“Even amongst the disciples of Christ there was found a Judas.”

Finished part one. Razumov continues to fascinate. Can’t wait to see where the story goes

An insane second chapter. I’m totally engrossed. The mad Razumov, regenerated as an autocrat through violence, desiring the advent of the Leviathan to lead a weary and beleaguered mankind, comprised of drunks and mad revolutionaries, into a stable future. A man with no home, no heart which to call upon or set himself against, attaches himself to a historical and geographic immensity and becomes its servant.

“Words… are the foes of truth.”

Amazing first chapter. Conrad might be the best writer the English language has seen

Finished chapter two. Many parallels make themselves present and compel me, mainly the parallels between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union: two industrial super powers with a dominant party structure which was able to subordinate the military and focused on territorial annexation. The space-obsessed Stalin expanded the Soviet frontline, making it more vulnerable, and considered himself the gravedigger for capitalism

Finished the first chapter. Concise and very well-written, explains Hitler’s domination of the army, the German victories in the west, and its eastward ambitions, but also the internal divisions present before the war began, as well as Hitler’s mistakes, which would come back to bite them in the ass later.

Now it’s getting really interesting. Intergalactic mental battles and invasions, Intergenerational breeding, schemes within schemes.

Smith is obviously of conservative sympathies, but I’m enjoying it nonetheless.

“The Author’s League, of course, was affected more than any other organization of its size, because of its relatively large content of strong and intensely opinionated minds. Instead of becoming one radical group they split into a dozen.”

Read the introduction and the first chapter. Really interesting, heavy-handed world-building but I’m nonetheless really intrigued. This book came out of nowhere for me and I’m really interested to finally read some classic sci-fi.

Hints of Dune (selective breeding schemes, the Level 3 Lensman as the KH). Civilization is built upon a series of foundational lies.