Invisible Man

Today I finished Invisible Man. Next up are Children of Dune, Contre Saint-Beuve, and the Count of Monte Cristo.

To be clear, I read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, not The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. The latter is a pretty creepy science fiction story, while the former is a disturbing and, at times, confusing look at the conditions faced by African Americans in the early 20th century. It is only a coincidence, but an appropriate one, that I’m posting about it today, the first day of Black History Month.

The Bully Pulpit

Today I finished The Bully Pulpit. Next up are Invisible Man, Children of Dune, and Contre Saint-Beuve.

The full title of Doris Kearns Goodwin's book is The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism. I generally really enjoyed the book, although I feel like it took me forever to get through. It’s very accessible and easy to read through. The author conveys a large amount of detail, but in a conversational way and almost always makes clear why the details are relevant to the larger narrative. There are a few places where she goes a bit further into details about someone’s parents or grandparents than seems necessary or meaningful, but it’s not something that happens often.

Dune Messiah

I've already finished Dune Messiah. Next up are The Bully Pulpit, Invisible Man, and Children of Dune.

I don't have much to say about this. It's the second book of a trilogy, and pretty much follows what I said about the first one. It wasn't quite as good, but I'm reserving judgment until I finish up the trilogy. I will note that finally getting to read an enjoyable book after Don Quixote, I probably liked it somewhat more than I would have otherwise.

Don Quixote

I finally finished Don Quixote today. Next up are Dune Messiah, The Bully Pulpit, and Invisible Man.

The full original title was El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha which translates to The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha. It was published the early 17th century and is considered one of the earliest novels ever written and a foundational work of modern Western literature. It’s also often ranked as one of the greatest books ever written. I went with the Rutherford translation (mainly based on this writeup).

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

Yesterday I finished Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!. Next books up are Don Quixote (I’ll be using the Rutherford translation), Dune Messiah, and The Bully Pulpit.

Surely You’re Joking was recommended to me by two friends. It is a series of anecdotes from the life of the author, Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman. He is unquestionably a genius. In taking the graduate entrance exam for Princeton, Feynman was the first person to ever receive perfect scores in both mathematics and physics. In a poll of 130 leading physicists worldwide he was ranked as one of the ten greatest physicists of all time. I didn’t learn these things from the book. He never boasts for the sake of boasting. He does mention the Nobel Prize, but, aside from the prize money buying him a beach house, he seems to have viewed it mainly as a nuisance. He loved giving physics talks to students, but once he got the Prize he couldn’t go anywhere to speak without it becoming a large production where most of the audience wouldn’t be able to grasp what he wanted to talk about.