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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   3346 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 16, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, what are you reading?

I'm starting The Historical Construction of National Consciousness, selected writings of Jenő Szűcs. The actual writings seem to be, as the title suggests, scholarly writings on the formation of the sense of nationhood, but my main interest is in Hungarian thought during the communist years. I don't know how much I'll get out of it on that front. Nevertheless it looks like a worthy and recent volume which may deserve more attention. The book is open access.

I finished The Foreigner Group by Carolus Löfroos. My impression of it is pretty much unchanged from my last post. There's basically nothing that would render it even plausibly cancel-worthy IMO. One person is said to make a roman salute at one point, but there's no indication of exactly what he means by it. That's probably the most controversial thing I found. Otherwise, it's not that great I guess. Some of the battle stories are good, but more of them get rather confused about exactly what is going on. There doesn't seem to be much broadly insightful about the forces powering the Russians and Ukrainians in their war.

Now reading The Corner by David Simon, which is supposed to be an in-depth account of drug corner life in urban Baltimore. It seems somewhat interesting, but I've been finding it a bit hard to get through, I think because I find it much harder to relate to any of these characters. I have some sympathy for the kids born into a shitty situation, but I still find it pretty hard to conceive of anyone, kids or adults, living like that.

The Corner

You've seen the shows?

The TV show The Corner based on the book? No. From what I can tell with a few quick searches, it's only available on mail-order DVD and not streaming anywhere.

The Corner, but more particularly, The Wire, which is the fully flourished version. Without overstatement, one of the best television shows ever made.

EDIT: Looks like The Corner is on YouTube, free. https://youtube.com/watch?v=iMJMOoW8y6o

Nice find, thanks!

Yeah I've watched The Wire multiple times. IMO it's on the list of the greatest TV series ever made. I think I could make a case that they soft-pedaled a few things though, because nobody would want to watch a show about how bad certain things are.

Been reading John Feinstein's A Good Walk Spoiled. Just follows a group of tour pros on the 1993 PGA tour. Classic sportswriting.

Do you golf?

I just got a set of old clubs from a guy who's giving up the game. Going to a driving range with a coworker this weekend to try and figure it all out. Just hoping to make contact with the ball, really.

I'm reading The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution and I'll probably end up writing about it. Very fascinating history book in that it gives rather scant attention to the narrative history of the revolution (it kind of assumes you know the story) in order to focus mostly on the emotions of people during the Revolution. It's something I've idly thought might be an interesting approach before so to find it in the library and see it actually work is cool.

That sounds interesting! One of my favorite things to think about is comparing current events to the events leading up to the French Revolution. I'd love to hear if you find any similarities in the emotions illustrated in that book between those times and today.

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