It's odd to see his transition from mysticism and philosophy in the 70s (Jung, Gurdjieff, Watts, Proust, Plato), to Republicanism today (Scarborough, O'Reilly, Rand). I don't want to generalize too much (he also read RBG's autobiography) but there's definitely a move towards politics.
Art Garfunkel's Library
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Re: Art Garfunkel's Library
#72I don’t care to find it but a journal entry from Art Garfunkel’s web site crossed my radar many years ago. I recall thinking “wow, this is some next-level narcissism here.” This list (and the royal we!) produce a similar reaction.
Too often "narcissism" is used to describe a quality of someone we don't like or admire who seems to like and admire themselves.
Skimming this library, Garfunkel is certainly not lacking in intellectual confidence! It implies to me that he wants to understand the world, from many angles at a deep level, and yeah to do that you need confidence that might create unpleasant feelings in an observer. The discomfort is caused by envy, also regret and loss, because we all start out with boundless confidence, and only lose it over time, mainly to avoid being called out by our cool friends who discovered the social value of giving up on hard problems and difficult achievements.
Re: Art Garfunkel's Library
#73It's odd to see his transition from mysticism and philosophy in the 70s (Jung, Gurdjieff, Watts, Proust, Plato), to Republicanism today (Scarborough, O'Reilly, Rand). I don't want to generalize too much (he also read RBG's autobiography) but there's definitely a move towards politics.
One of the best things I did was read a memoir from a US president who I didn't vote for (and generally didn't approve of.)
Nothing "changed my mind," but it was very useful to understand the his point of view. Turns out this politician cared very deeply about issues that I really care about, and if the side that I normally support was willing to cooperate, we could have moved more quickly on these issues.
Re: Art Garfunkel's Library
#74I used to keep a list like this (more modest though) but I stopped once I realized it's demeaning both to me and the books. The problem was that the list had no other purpose except as a kind of trophy case. I felt proud about my list, as if finishing a book is an achievement, as if reading is a sport, as if reading a lot makes you better than those who read less. I was disgusted by my own vanity, and moreover, consi…
Does keeping a record of things necessarily imply vanity?
It seems to me that your problem was with your own feeling toward the list - “I felt proud about my list” - and not the list itself. Where does that feeling come from? It might be worth exploring.
Re: Art Garfunkel's Library
#75It's odd to see his transition from mysticism and philosophy in the 70s (Jung, Gurdjieff, Watts, Proust, Plato), to Republicanism today (Scarborough, O'Reilly, Rand). I don't want to generalize too much (he also read RBG's autobiography) but there's definitely a move towards politics.
I was a bit confused too but the book by O'Reilly is about hunting Nazis after WW2 (apparently he has a whole series), Scarborough's is about the Truman Doctrine and how it shaped US foreign policy (problematic but hardly Republican propaganda), and Rand, well he reads a fuck ton of classics.
Not really saying he isn't political, but he's not over here reading Rush Limbaugh' autobiography
Re: Art Garfunkel's Library
#76I used to keep a list like this (more modest though) but I stopped once I realized it's demeaning both to me and the books. The problem was that the list had no other purpose except as a kind of trophy case. I felt proud about my list, as if finishing a book is an achievement, as if reading is a sport, as if reading a lot makes you better than those who read less. I was disgusted by my own vanity, and moreover, consi…
Does keeping a record of things necessarily imply vanity? It seems to me that your problem was with your own feeling toward the list - “I felt proud about my list” - and not the list itself. Where does that feeling come from? It might be worth exploring.
I agree. I think it comes from school and parents instilling the notion that reading books is virtuous. The idea of being "well-read"
Re: Art Garfunkel's Library
#77It's odd to see his transition from mysticism and philosophy in the 70s (Jung, Gurdjieff, Watts, Proust, Plato), to Republicanism today (Scarborough, O'Reilly, Rand). I don't want to generalize too much (he also read RBG's autobiography) but there's definitely a move towards politics.
It's also odd for a person who performed a benefit concert for George McGovern to have three favorite books written by Henry Kissinger. Paul Simon apparently befriended Kissinger though, which is even more bizarre.
Re: Art Garfunkel's Library
#78I don’t care to find it but a journal entry from Art Garfunkel’s web site crossed my radar many years ago. I recall thinking “wow, this is some next-level narcissism here.” This list (and the royal we!) produce a similar reaction.
Too often "narcissism" is used to describe a quality of someone we don't like or admire who seems to like and admire themselves. Skimming this library, Garfunkel is certainly not lacking in intellectual confidence! It implies to me that he wants to understand the world, from many angles at a deep level, and yeah to do that you need confidence that might create unpleasant feelings in an observer. The discomfort is cau…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_mentality
This could be one of the many variables that holds humanity at an artificially low local maxima.
Re: Art Garfunkel's Library
#79Interesting. Number of the 100 of his favorite books written before year X: 1500 6 1900 29 1950 24 1990 41 2022 0 → it's all pretty recent, which is surprising for a Taleb reader → but 0 was written in the last 30y! Also, 0 of the books he read in the last 30y made it to his 100 favorites list. When I did the same exercise, 50% of my favorite books were readings from early adulthood. It scared me: am I not learning a…
It's possible you read the best first. We collectively seem to have anointed plenty of books as "best" — perhaps that's where you began.
Re: Art Garfunkel's Library
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does keeping a record of things necessarily imply vanity? It seems to me that your problem was with your own feeling toward the list - “I felt proud about my list” - and not the list itself. Where does that feeling come from? It might be worth exploring.
I agree. I think it comes from school and parents instilling the notion that reading books is virtuous. The idea of being "well-read"
I actually think being well-read is virtuous. Feeling superior about it is what isn't. I think in your position I might have continued keeping the list but under no circumstances let anyone else know I'm keeping it.