wohnjick's reviews
76 reviews

The World and Man by René Descartes

challenging informative slow-paced

3.75

 I went into this book presuming it was a mostly philosophical work... this was incorrect. This is more akin to Descartes' version of a science textbook and contains mostly his breakdowns of physics and anatomy. There are some philosophical underpinnings here (corpuscularianism is a nice word you make you sound smart), but this is not a primarily philosophical work.

That being said, it wasn't a horrible read. Descartes's understandings are obviously out of date and often wrong, but I did find a new respect for him by seeing how dedicated he was as a scientific mind. And it helped that Roger Ariew's was, as Descartes would put it, clear and distinct enough to make such a dense (and surprisingly small) work accessible.

By no means a bad book and it certainly accomplishes the goal it is aiming for (to explain Descartes' understanding of the mechanics of the world and man), but unless you're looking to better understand Descartes' scientific theories it is probably of no interest to you. 

A True Story by Charles Whibley, Francis Hickes, Lucian of Samosata

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Story is fine enough but God this translation was awful and outdated. Certainly has science fiction elements so I can understand why some say it's the first sci-fi work, but to me it seems more fantasy. Worth the read but I'd much prefer a newer translation

Bacchae by Euripides

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Honestly I expected a little bit more out this one given its reputation as one of the pinnacles of Greek drama. While it has a good story, I feel like some elements of the structure dont end up suiting the plot particularly well. That being said it was a good story, and Poochigian's translation read nicely. 

Frogs by Aristophanes

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Probably one of the best plays I've read (coming from someone who generally dislikes plays). Could've lived without the poopoo peepee humor, and while most of Meineck's modern changes to the play do help bridge the massive cultural divide there are some times I think his additions are a bit unnecessary. Overall pretty solid though.

Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature by Richard Rorty

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

 I don't feel sufficiently comfortable rating this book as any adequate appraisal of this book is going to require that one has a backdrop of knowledge I dont posses. Indeed, Rorty is presuming the reader has a (fairly intimate) understanding of philosophy of mind (notably Descartes, Locke, and Kant) and analytic philosophy (Wittgenstein, Sellars, Quine, and others). As I posses, at best, shallow knowledge of these topics I'm in no place to judge Rorty's critiques of them. That being said, Rorty is a good, clear, and at times funny writer and I'm sympathetic to his overall conclusions, albeit not entirely convinced as of yet. Perhaps a revisit when I'm more familiar with who he's responding to would clear things up, but overall if you're at all interested in philosophy of mind, language, or analytic philosophy this would probably be worth reading. 

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Pretty good, my only complaint is that I didn't love Wells' prose. To me Wells' writing was way too formal given the content of the book (he's "fancying" a look at the blood sucking Martians who he's afraid are about to kill him) and he would constantly refer to specific locations that to anyone unfamiliar with England are meaningless abstract markers. But that doesn't detract too much from the plot and I feel like Wells was ahead of his time since the tech he writes about is still futuristic nearly 130yrs later.

Balcony in the Forest by Julien Gracq

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

 Its fine. It's very comparable to Buzzati's The Stronghold (more so than The Opposing Shore imo), but not as good. As with The Opposing Shore Gracq's prose is excellent but he spends too much time describing random details of the scenery instead of developing the plot. Not bad though 

The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster

hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Its just boring. There's practically no plot and we're forced to follow perhaps the least interesting person ever conceived by fiction as he just wanders around Louisiana trying to bang his secretary and find the meaning of life. There's an onslaught of minor characters who basically serve as nothing more than NPCs who provide exposition dumps or fetch quests, with none of them really standing out. On top of it all, Binx Bolling is just kinda weird (lots of observations about Jews and "Negros" and almost always identifying women by their attractiveness first). The only saving grace is that Percy is a good writer formally: his prose is more often than not readable and at times poetic. Overall, one of the weakest existentialist novels I've read (though not as bad as Nausea)

The Midas Plague by Frederik Pohl, Barry N. Malzberg

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

The concept of inverting consumerism is interesting but I just dont think that the world this story sets up for itself is particularly logical and that detracts from the overall enjoyment.