Category: Books

I’ve recently become a big Daniel Klein fan so I borrowed this book without much thought.

Turns out that it dovetails perfectly into my current kick of learning about the phases of life, especially aging and death.

The book is a meditation on growing old. It makes sense that a countercultural philosophy student from the 60’s would question our current obsession on everlasting youth.

The “Travels” in the title is a stretch — he stays on just one Greek island. But the “Epicurus” part is dead on. Klein is clearly biased towards the gentle hedonism of the philosopher and sees it reflected in world view of the inhabitants on this island.

He shys away from the gnarly parts right before you expire, but the book is otherwise a fulsome exploration of that season of life when one is no longer young but not yet decrepit.

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Seems that I’ve developed a syllabus of self-help books for the arc of one’s life.

• So Good They Can’t Ignore You – top notch advice at the start of a career
• Wild Problems – a framework for thinking about life decisions
• Midlife – contemplations of viewing life from the middle
• From Strength to Strength – encouragement to step into the second half of life
• Travels with Epicurus – embracing the foibles of old age
• Being Mortal – ruminating on the reality of death
• The Five Invitations – thoughts on living fully from the perspective of death

This book is hard (though not as difficult as The Five Invitations).

We’ve entered a new phase in humanity where most of us will suffer an extended period of dying. Medicine most likely won’t let us just keel over on the sidewalk.

We need to plan on navigating a harsh decline as time slowly eats away at our bodies.

The book explores this new phenomena, how we’ve dealt with it in the past century, and proposes better ways for managing our final days.

Ultimately it’s an upbeat book about a dreadful subject.

Though it’s gonna take some hard work to make it happen.

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“A Better Life” (chapter 5) is one of the most inspiring things I’ve read as an architect. It’s a full throated endorsement that small improvements to an environment can improve lives. But as an owner, I am now keenly aware of the operational constraints push against such initiatives. Tellingly, it was a doctor who proposed (and realized) the changes that greatly improved patient outcomes. If we want to stay relevant as an industry, we can’t settle for being as service providers. Effective architecture is not just designing the structure, but challenging the entire system.

Should you do something that will change you forever?

Get married, have kids, become a vampire? Once it’s done, nothing will stay be the same. And you can’t go back.

How can you assess that decision before making the fateful step?

The book is great at laying out the dichotomy between wild problems and tame problems. A simple cost benefit analysis is fine for figuring out the best method to get your stuff to New York.

But should you move to NYC? That’s a wild problem.

Wild problems are challenging because they ask what you want to become. Wild problems probe your dreams.

Unfortunately, defining the question is much easier than finding the answers. Plumb your core values and hold fast to them. View your life within the context of your relationships and community. (In podcasts Roberts admits that he has transitioned from an economic libertarian towards a temperamentally conservative worldview.)

Fundamentally, you just won’t know what your future altered self will judge the results. It can go well — it can go horribly. At some point, you make a leap of faith. But stay flexible and adjust in mid flight.

Fortunately one doesn’t come across many wild problems. Hopefully most of them are in my past…but the kids have all theirs in the future.

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I shouldn’t get too cocky, the gods love to throw wild problems at fools who have settled into comfortable circumstances.

This book explores the question of living fully from the zen perspective of one who has worked closely with death and trauma.

• Don’t Wait
• Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing
• Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience
• Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things
• Cultivate Don’t Know Mind

It’s a long read, but worth the effort. I ought to listen to it again. But it’s heavy.

One day (like it or not) I’ll be back.

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I heard about this book from the excellent episode 204 on Risk Parity Radio.

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Sometimes I imagine writing something that leaves a lasting impact.

A book like this reminds me of the cost.

Nah, I’m good.

As a sucker for collected aphorisms, this is the perfect format — aphorisms with commentary!

A thin thread connects the essays from piece to piece, but there is no overarching narrative to this book as Klein meanders through a variety of philosophers and their thoughts.

I enjoyed having the meaning of life be the driving motive of this book. Though of course, philosophy doesn’t readily grant such a simplistic deliverable.

(But at least he didn’t get mired in the arcane elements of this field.)

In the end, maybe the search is what counts.

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I started relistening to it, but got sucked onto other fare. One day, I should re-read this book, preferably with my eyes.

If I were to create a 5 point scale for books it would be

1. Didn’t bother to finish
2. No plans on rereading it
3. Should reread it one day
4. Read this book twice
5. Have reread this multiple times

3/5

I stumbled into the midst of a forty year old debate.

I enjoyed his puzzle books and his book on Taoism.

The Tao is Silent dipped its toes into polemics, but 5000 BC waded into the melee.

Smullyan tackles a variety of philosophical topics.

Most of it was over my head.

I enjoyed his chapter of short “Miscellaneous Fragments” (I’m a sucker for aphorisms), and I understood just enough to persevere to the end of the book.

From my dim perspective, he seems to be taking on the logical positivists and moralists on their terms and arguing for a fuzzier more Eastern view of the world.

In that vein, it may be a less personal and more rigorous extension of The Tao is Silent.

But I’m not surprised that it hasn’t been reprinted and I won’t be surprised if I don’t revisit this book — unless I stay on this philosophy kick.

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pushing upward has supreme success
one must see the great man
fear not

It’s time for GEB.

My boy was curious about the book, so I read it to him, as Seth recommended in the postscript of his introduction.

Per the subtitle, it’s an “ABC for grownups”.

This book is distilled Seth.

If you follow his work, it’s nothing new — a collection of his key maxims, with colorful illustrations by Hugh MacLeod.

It embodies the “simple not easy” model, discarding the customary fluff that self-help authors use to make the “simple” feel less “not easy”.

I like Seth, but I’m not an tech-gig artist-entrepreneur so much of his work isn’t for me. I appreciate his gracious demeanor though I fear I’m overlooking a catastrophic deficiency in his optimistic worldview.

Oh well. Until I figure out the source of my nagging discomfort, I’ll keep saying that Seth is the great self-help artist of this era.

My two Godin favorites are the Dip and Linchpin. This book comes close to that top pairing.

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I should write a book of 26 maxims.
But of what subject?
One day.

These books present a most appealing version of Christianity.
Especially the ascetic version of this religion.

I never groked the appeal of monastic life.
Now I do.

It’s not an intellectual appeal.

It’s a “wow, that’s wild” appeal (YMMV).

Not something I want for myself.
But I can respect it.
Their harshness is reserved themselves, to quash sin in their own hearts.
Their own pride and their own failings.

It’s impressive to read stories of those who actually try to live up to the high demands of Christ.
Even to the point of selling one’s copy of the gospels so the money could be given to the poor.
To avoid judging others, brothers and outsiders.

Ward’s book is a translation of the Verba Seniorium, a categorized collection of stories about these monks.
The stories are well written and enjoyable and the chapters give it structure.
After a while, you feel familiar with the characters who reappear in each chapter.
However, some of the stories are touch awful (in both positive and negative senses) with their extreme pursuit of holiness.

Merton’s careful selection create a devotional for modern sensibilities.
His style is a touch more fluid and airy.
And he skips the stories that display their worst phobias of lust and women.
(There’s a reason he’s so popular.)

Ward presents a fuller picture of these mystics in the deserts.
Merton’s devotional might be bowdlerized version of their story, but I suspect I’ll return to this book whenever I need a mental readjustment.

Two overlapping collections.
Both worth reading.

This is a delightful survey of western philosophical thought.
It starts with big questions and ends with esoteric problems.
Even though it’s not explicitly chronological, it acts like it.

As I get older, I’m realizing that there are subjects where I won’t be going deeper than a surface level acquaintance.

Time has become more of a zero sum game.
I’ve got fewer “one days” in my future.

I make choices.
Or take a shortcut and let other people pre-digest knowledge for me.
Such as a book filled with philosophical jokes.

Maybe I’ll get deeper into some of the source material.
Or maybe I won’t.

By the way, Johnny Heller was an excellent narrator.
The audiobook may be better than the hardcopy.

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If I had to guess, I’ll be listening to more summary books before diving into the source material…or maybe I’ll be distracted by some other shiny subject.

And if I ever get into the source material, I’ll start with the ancient ones — they wrestled with the immediate philosophical issues that apply to our daily lives.

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the prince shoots at a hawk on a high wall.