Missive #303 Published 3 July 2024
As the promo says this book is a good reference. It also gave the author a stump where he could criticize the 'West'. I have the feeling that he believed in the communist ideology and has found a home in China.
2024
Missive #302 Published 30 June 2024
Continuing The Federalist Papers.
Federalist No. 24
The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered
Author: Alexander Hamilton
To the People of the State of New York:
Missive #301 Published 28 June 2024
41. NASRUDDIN IS PERPLEXED…
This is another very good history book, a genre that Dos Passos began writing in 1954 when he wrote The Head and Heart of Thomas Jefferson. I did not like his earlier novels but his history nonfiction has been very good.
Missive #300 Published 25 June 2024
I don't want to write this because I'm a fan of McCarthy's work, and Suttree is technically a good book. The prose is superb, the characters are complex, and the situations that arise are often creative and interesting. So whats the issue? The issue is that the books has basically no plot and Suttree is an utterly unlikable protagonist. The book is literally watching a person waste away their life doing nothing for 500 or so pages.
Suttree spends most of the novel getting drunk, and whining about how awful his life is while being totally aware that it's his choice. He is deliberately making his life terrible and then bemoans his situation. Self loathing at its finest.
The one shining light in the novel is his friend Harrogate's numerous misadventures. These are some great distractions that populate an otherwise bleak portrait. In the end, Harrogate's character never realizes his full potential. Like the rest of the novel, he too just becomes another piece of Suttree's miserable existence. — Customer Reveiew @ goodreads.com
Missive #299 Published 23 June 2024
Continuing The Anti-Federalist Papers
Brutus IV
by Robert Yates
To the Citizens of the State of New-York
Missive #298 Published 21 June 2024
40. NASRUDDIN’S BURIED TREASURE
One of Nasruddin’s neighbors noticed him in the yard digging a hole. When he went to find out just what Nasruddin was doing, he saw that Nasruddin had dug many holes here and there.
“Why are you digging all these holes?” the neighbor asked.
Nasruddin stared at him wild-eyed. “I’m trying to find the money I buried here last year! Now I really need the money, but I can’t find the spot where I buried it.”
“Didn’t you use something to mark the spot?”
Missive #297 Published 18 June 2024
“Fraser’s rousing historical novel tracks the rise and fall of the real-life boxer Tom Molineaux, a Virginia slave who fought his way to freedom and then to celebrity in England in the early 1800s.”–New York Times Book Review Bringing historical fact spiritedly to life, Fraser tells the rollicking tale of how “the Black Ajax” became as famous a figure in England as Napoleon — and just as much a threat to its establishment — before he passed into boxing legend and created a precedent for modern black prizefighters. — Book promo @ Da Capo Press
Missive #296 Published 16 June 2024
Continuing The Federalist Papers.
Federalist No. 23
The Necessity of a Government as Energetic as the One Proposed to the Preservation of the Union
Author: Alexander Hamilton
To the People of the State of New York:
Missive #295 Published 15 June 2024
This may have been promoted as the final installment to the Saxon Tales but there was another book published. I'll get around to reading it soon but it is promoted as "completes his epic Last Kingdom series with this companion book featuring three exclusive short stories and sixty recipes that bring Uhtred’s world to life as never before."
Missive #294 Published 14 June 2024
39. DIFFERENT PEOPLE, DIFFERENT PATHS
Over time, Nasruddin had become famous for his wisdom and learning. As a result people came from near and far to ask him questions.“I have a question, Nasruddin!” one visitor said. “Why is it that people choose to follow so many different paths in life instead of following the one true path?”
“It’s actually for the good of the world that everyone follows their own path,” Nasruddin replied. “Just imagine: if everyone followed the same path and ended up at the same destination, the world would lose its balance, tip over, and we would all plunge into the abyss.”