Book Blogging

Just finished The Consolations of Philosophy, and while it took me a while to read a 250-odd page paperback, it was enjoyable stuff throughout. De Botton picks 6 philosophers and 6 predicaments, one for each philosopher to console us. It’s attempt to make philosophy practical, then. The philosophers in questions are: Socrates – Unpopularity Epicurus … Keep reading

Am currently three-quarters of the way through Alain de Botton’s The Consolations of Philosophy. It’s good stuff so far. It dicusses a particular aspect of six philosophers’ work: Socrates, Epicurus, Seneca, Montaigne, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Having looked up a couple of the texts covered in the book on Gutenberg I am happy to admit to … Keep reading

A Good Day to Die is Kernick‘s fourth book, and it brings back the anti-hero of the first, disgraced ex-copper Dennis Milne. (Clicking the book cover takes you to Amazon – the commission helps fund Palimpsest) Kernick’s books are a real strange mix, and I haven’t come across anything quite like them before. On one … Keep reading

After The Wasp Factory, which shouldn’t last much longer than this evening, I am going to have a crack at this: Some good Palimthoughts from the ever reliable Self here.

10.15 Am now on page 132 of The Wasp Factory now, roughly the half-way point. It isn’t getting any more normal! Banks’ writing, though, is superb. He keeps it full of dark suspense, and the black humour is hilarious and horrific. I wanted to read this partly because I knew it to be somewhat macabre … Keep reading