Skip to main content

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke [review short]

Quite a mournful, beautiful book. Draws the reader in slowly, and gradually becomes increasingly compelling. Thematically an interesting rumination on modernity, as well as humility vs arrogance in the face of a (dream)world you don't understand.

"I realized that the search for the Knowledge has encouraged us to think of the House as if it were a sort of riddle to be unraveled, a text to be interpreted, and that if ever we discover the Knowledge, then it will be as if the Value has been wrested from the House and all that remains will be mere scenery."

[A quick affiliate link to readers to the book here. You can support my work here by buying all your Amazon products via any affiliate link from this site, or my sister site Casual Kitchen. Thank you!]


More Posts

Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter

A wonderful, beautiful work. Ask me about it, and I'll start nattering at you about sphex wasps, fugues, isomorphisms and "jumping out of the system." And my voice will trail off and you'll see me get a faraway look in my eyes. It's actually quite difficult to describe what this book is about--at least, impossible to describe in a few short sentences. [1] But there are so many ways to read Godel, Escher, Bach , and such a wide range of ideas and insights one can get out of it, that it becomes a different book for every reader. And let me confess, if you haven't read GEB  yet, I am jealous of you. [A quick  affiliate link to Amazon  for those readers who would like to support my work here: if you purchase your Amazon products via any affiliate link from this site, or from my sister site  Casual Kitchen , I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!] First of all this book can be understood on many levels. You can read it a...
Read more

Understanding Human Nature by Alfred Adler

A difficult book, in part because Adler isn't all that good at expressing his ideas: he's a practitioner, not a writer, and it shows. Further, I believe Understanding Human Nature has more in direct value than direct value: the reader has to move from what the book teaches to a layer of second-order insights. I'll explain what I mean in a moment. First a quick summary of the book's core themes and ideas. According to Adler, we all have a psyche, formed and largely fixed in childhood, and that psyche has an ulterior psychological goal. For most of us, unfortunately, that goal takes the form of striving for power, control, attention, or superiority. Throughout the book Adler gives examples where peoples' psyche-driven strivings cause suffering, both for themselves as well as everyone else in their blast radius. Most of us will likely resist Adler's claim that to understand other people and their motivations you must first understand their psyches' "ulter...
Read more

Kroll on Futures Trading Strategy by Stanley Kroll

A simple and direct book, written in plain language, but the ideas here are the result of years of thought, practice and genuine mastery.  In fact, to a novice (or even intermediate) investor, some of author Stanley Kroll's trading advice may appear obvious, even tautological. I recommend instead to read them as koans: ruminate and chew them over, think of analogous situations you've been in yourself, and then think of ways to apply the idea. See for example, when the author discusses how long he holds a "long-term" position, he says, "You hold a position for as long as the market continues going your way." A novice investor would see this as inane; the advanced investor sees it for the wisdom it is, and knows he needs the reminder. [A quick  affiliate link to readers to the book here . You can support my work here by buying all your Amazon products via any affiliate link from this site, or my sister site  Casual Kitchen . Thank you!] The author counsels rea...
Read more