“The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries.” — René Descartes
Since reading Soren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, the philosophical school of existentialism has had a growing influence on my thinking. While my understanding of existentialism is far from adequate to speak on it broadly, I can humbly attempt to convince the casual reader why this masterpiece of Kierkegaard’s is worth a week of your time... Continue Reading →
As most of you know from my brief and flattering bio post by Cal Wilkerson, I am an avid listener of podcasts. Podcasts are a much needed break from music and at times far more satisfying than silence in the car and a complement to physical training. They offer insight to an endless range of... Continue Reading →
I was familiar with Sebastian Junger's documentary Restrepo and I saw that he was speaking about his book Tribe at a university near where I live. I made arrangements to attend and I read the book in one sitting, granted it was only 167 pages. The talk was just as insightful as the book and being able to... Continue Reading →
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is a book I keep coming back to ever since I first read it. This book contains the private reflections of fascinating emperor. Stoic philosophy is like black coffee for the soul or at least to me it is. There are a lot of myths that surround Marcus Aurelius but this book... Continue Reading →
"The Wild Man's qualities, among them love of spontaneity, association with wilderness, honoring of grief, and respect for riskiness, frightens many people."
Alfred Lansing's "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage", is a fascinating true story of adventure, failure, friendship, determination and triumph against the odds. Antarctica the cold remote continent was a forge that refined the 28 man Trans-Antarctic Expedition in the early 1900s that faced almost no chance of survival as they watched their ship crushed by sheet... Continue Reading →
"Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy is the American epic in its' truest form. McCarthy's prose style has been called biblical by many critics. He is an author that must be read by young men, especially his book Blood Meridian. No words are wasted in this powerful yet poignant novel about mankind. I find McCarthy's direct... Continue Reading →
The line between eccentricity and genius seems to be walked with the utmost ironic frivolity by those we so deem the true movers of our society. I use the phrase “ironic frivolity” here because it seems whenever one makes the leap from philosophy to a specific science or field, we tend to think that that... Continue Reading →
Of all works of literature I have been tasked with writing on, The Brothers Karamazov is far and away the most difficult. Even a cursory attempt to capture the magnificence of this book is tantamount to sacrilege. This magnum opus of Dostoevsky will strike even the casual reader as just short of divine inspiration. Nevertheless,... Continue Reading →
I have not read many science books in my life but Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" is a book that has been on my list for a while. Once I started, I finished it within a week. The topics in the book range from broad scientific historical thought to specifics about black holes.... Continue Reading →
