america adrift

Without really knowing why, my reading these days consists primarily of philosophy-as-literature instead of straight-up fiction. Thinking about this it sounds kind of stupid, since all literature can in some sense be deemed philosophy. But still, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which I have been sneaking off to read every chance I’ve gotten at work, is very much philosophy. The narrator and his son drive from Minnesota to California, and along the way it is revealed that the narrator has a history of mental illness, and that the son is showing signs of developing the same condition. The narrator’s past self, Phaedrus (Greek for “wolf”, named after Phaedrus from Socrates via Plato) is presented in stories told by the narrator of how he came to see the modern university teachings with disdain, and of how he happened upon the concept of Quality. Along with the Subject and the Object, Quality, according to Phaedrus, is that which everything stems from. What’s interesting in the way this story is presented is how the narrator can be more or less objective about ideas he has developed himself. The clarity with which classical themes of modern philosophy are presented is admirable, and the book comes highly recommended for people who would like to gain some basic insights into the thinking of the likes of David Hume, Kant, Socrates, Aristotle and others, and they way they interrelate and merge at certain critical junctures of thought.

Moving straight on to Murakami, and his What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, I find that, though partially a sort of memoir, it is still very much a book of philosophy. Murakami runs. A lot. And when he does he thinks about things, so to him running is not about running, but what his mind works on while running. This, he says, is the sole reason why he has been able to run a marathon every year for the past twenty years. I am still not through with the book, but I plan on being done in a couple of days.

When done with that one, my guess is I’ll move on to Joseph O’neill’s Netherland, which I’ve been looking forward to. Now, if only my friend would remember the book next time. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book set in NYC, a city I’ll hopefully be seeing a lot more of next year.

At the New York Times, there is a review of a new book by Tristram Hunt. Marx’s General: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels seeks to show the importance of Engels in relation to Marx. This may be the right time for a book on Engels, in these times where many people are thinking about capitalism’s murkier sides.

The television series Mad Men is in the early stages of its third season, and still not very hyped here in Denmark. The show has been theme-material for many men’s magazines, incl. GQ and Details. This is how I’ve heard of the show, because of its style and attention to period detail. Following a New York City advertising company through the 60s, and probably onwards, the show is a stylized look into what went on in yuppie circles during that period. As I prefer to watch this kind of show at my own leisure I’m going to watch it on DVD when I can afford it. Looking the show up, I came across an old piece by Mark Greif for the London Review of Books, which makes me want to watch it even more. These days, though, I’m catching up on Weeds and following the boys on Entourage. Both shows come highly recommended; Weeds is typical “suburbia and conformism is bad” while Entourage is Sex and The City for guys. Yeah.

Newsweek has an article on Quentin Tarantino’s “rewriting” history with his latest, Inglourious Basterds (spelling is intentional). I may have had a chance to see the film, which may be original and striking filmmaking, with certain narrative flaws. No doubt, the movie will divide people; I don’t see any problems with what Tarantino has done here. I like it, and I very much like the beautiful Mélanie Laurent. She, not Brad Pitt, plays the main character in this movie, insofar as there is one. And she does a great job. The movie’s villain, “The Jew Hunter” Col. Hans Landa as played by Cristoph Waltz, is equally great.

In other, somewhat cultural news, it turns out that 90 % off all American Dollar bills have been in contact with cocaine. That’s some impressive statistics, or maybe it’s just me. I must admit I did a double take when a friend sent me the link to that one. It’s in Danish, but I’m sure it’s old news in the English-speaking world.

Good night, and good luck.