Chapter XI The Criminals Chase the Police
Upon discovering that the Marquis is actually a member of the police, the four policemen flee from the Secretary and his horde of anarchists.
Chapter XII The Earth in Anarchy
Syme and company find themselves the last fighters for decency and order in a world that has been handed over to chaos. They repeatedly find those who should be allies turned against them, and they are forced to make a lonely last stand, backs to the sea.
Not much to say this week. It looks like we'll go with Corporate Cancer next. Whether you're getting an electronic or paper copy, go ahead and order it soon if you'd like to join in. I look forward to your comments.
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Chapter IX The Man in Spectacles and Chapter X The Duel
Chapter IX The Man in Spectacles
In which Syme and De Worms go to confront Dr. Bull and learn from him the plan for the assassination, in hopes of preventing it.
Chapter X The Duel
In which Syme offers to pull the Marquis's nose, and eventually does.
So, two questions and a personal note.
Question 1: For those who have not read this book before, would you care to make any predictions as to the ending?
If you have read it before, or are reading ahead (no objection, just no spoilers please), neither confirm nor deny these please. I'm just curious, at this point in the book, what newcomers expect.
Question 2: Does anyone especially not want Corporate Cancer by Vox Day as our next book?
Personal note: My wife is recovering pretty well. I suppose it's theoretically possible that things could go wrong at this point, but there's no real reason to expect so.
My knee.
I got the call from my doctor's office Thursday morning. I have a torn meniscus as well as a couple of other things which are probably complications from that. I have an appointment with a specialist . . . a month from now. Treatments range from physical therapy to surgery. I have no idea how we'll afford either, especially given that the complete papier-mache castle that is our economy appears to be collapsing. I also have no idea, assuming we can get the necessary treatment, what kind of function I can expect to get back. Will it be full function? Will this just be walking without pain? Will I ever be able to run again? Don't know.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
In which Syme and De Worms go to confront Dr. Bull and learn from him the plan for the assassination, in hopes of preventing it.
Chapter X The Duel
In which Syme offers to pull the Marquis's nose, and eventually does.
So, two questions and a personal note.
Question 1: For those who have not read this book before, would you care to make any predictions as to the ending?
If you have read it before, or are reading ahead (no objection, just no spoilers please), neither confirm nor deny these please. I'm just curious, at this point in the book, what newcomers expect.
Question 2: Does anyone especially not want Corporate Cancer by Vox Day as our next book?
Personal note: My wife is recovering pretty well. I suppose it's theoretically possible that things could go wrong at this point, but there's no real reason to expect so.
My knee.
I got the call from my doctor's office Thursday morning. I have a torn meniscus as well as a couple of other things which are probably complications from that. I have an appointment with a specialist . . . a month from now. Treatments range from physical therapy to surgery. I have no idea how we'll afford either, especially given that the complete papier-mache castle that is our economy appears to be collapsing. I also have no idea, assuming we can get the necessary treatment, what kind of function I can expect to get back. Will it be full function? Will this just be walking without pain? Will I ever be able to run again? Don't know.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Saturday, March 14, 2020
Chapter VII The Conduct of Professor De Worms and Chapter VIII The Professor Explains
Chapter VII The Conduct of Professor De Worms
In which Gabriel Syme, leaving the anarchists' meeting, is pursued with inexplicable vigor and persistence by the crippled, elderly Professor De Worms.
Chapter VIII The Professor Explains
In which we find out who the professor is, or, rather, who he is not.
First, relevant to the book discussion, we still need to decide on what is our next book. If you haven't yet, please check out the previous post and offer your input.
Second, not relevant to the book discussion. This blog is not about me personally, so I don't usually mention my own life, but I'm anxious about something coming up, and could use some support & prayers.
I like to go running. The last few months of last year, I was running something like 20-30 miles a week . . . up until late November, when something went wrong with my knee. I'm wearing a knee brace regularly now, and most days, it's hurting by the end of the day anyway. I went to see a doctor and he said it looked like simple inflammation and prescribed an anti-inflammatory. Well, that didn't fix it. Called the doc again, and they scheduled an X-ray and MRI for this Monday morning.
Maybe it's almost nothing. Maybe it will require surgery to fix. Maybe it can't be fixed and I can't really ever resume running, which would be quite painful for me. So if you can pray for me, I'd appreciate it.
Heck, for that matter, my wife has a minor surgery this week too. It's routine, but prayers for a quick recovery would also be appreciated.
Like I said, this blog isn't really about me, and I don't intend to let my personal life intrude, but this is weighing on my mind.
In which Gabriel Syme, leaving the anarchists' meeting, is pursued with inexplicable vigor and persistence by the crippled, elderly Professor De Worms.
Chapter VIII The Professor Explains
In which we find out who the professor is, or, rather, who he is not.
First, relevant to the book discussion, we still need to decide on what is our next book. If you haven't yet, please check out the previous post and offer your input.
Second, not relevant to the book discussion. This blog is not about me personally, so I don't usually mention my own life, but I'm anxious about something coming up, and could use some support & prayers.
I like to go running. The last few months of last year, I was running something like 20-30 miles a week . . . up until late November, when something went wrong with my knee. I'm wearing a knee brace regularly now, and most days, it's hurting by the end of the day anyway. I went to see a doctor and he said it looked like simple inflammation and prescribed an anti-inflammatory. Well, that didn't fix it. Called the doc again, and they scheduled an X-ray and MRI for this Monday morning.
Maybe it's almost nothing. Maybe it will require surgery to fix. Maybe it can't be fixed and I can't really ever resume running, which would be quite painful for me. So if you can pray for me, I'd appreciate it.
Heck, for that matter, my wife has a minor surgery this week too. It's routine, but prayers for a quick recovery would also be appreciated.
Like I said, this blog isn't really about me, and I don't intend to let my personal life intrude, but this is weighing on my mind.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Options for our next book
So I mentioned this on Saturday. If we are to continue this, we should pick a new book fairly soon. I arbitrarily decided a while ago that we should alternate between fiction and non-fiction. As I said, I'm open to suggestions. Let's see what comes up.
My own suggestions for our next book:
The Two-Income Trap by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi
Nope, I'm not kidding at all. Apparently, 16 years ago, Warren actually had something useful to say and wasn't whining about wah-men all the time. Having lived with this up close for the past eight years, I'm curious what she says. If it helps, Tucker Carlson appears to think well of this book.
The Irrational Atheist
Vox Day systematically destroys the new atheists piece by bloody piece. I read this a few years back and have been wanting to re-read it recently. Also, in case you're unaware, online atheists are a pack of whiny, oversensitive pricks, almost as bad as transsexuals.
Suggestions from others (I'll leave it to the commenter who suggested it to make the argument):
The Great Heresies by Hillaire Belloc
The first one we did by Belloc was good. I don't object on principle.
Suicide of a the West by James Burnham
We're all liberals here. No, I'm not really joking. We kind of are. If we choose this one, be sure you don't pick up Goldberg's by mistake. I really wouldn't want to give that guy any more money.
Corporate Cancer by Vox Day
I'd be fine with this one. His books I've read so far have been well-argued.
So, what do you guys think? Which would you be in or out for? Any other suggestions? Any arguments for or against any of these?
My own suggestions for our next book:
The Two-Income Trap by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi
Nope, I'm not kidding at all. Apparently, 16 years ago, Warren actually had something useful to say and wasn't whining about wah-men all the time. Having lived with this up close for the past eight years, I'm curious what she says. If it helps, Tucker Carlson appears to think well of this book.
The Irrational Atheist
Vox Day systematically destroys the new atheists piece by bloody piece. I read this a few years back and have been wanting to re-read it recently. Also, in case you're unaware, online atheists are a pack of whiny, oversensitive pricks, almost as bad as transsexuals.
Suggestions from others (I'll leave it to the commenter who suggested it to make the argument):
The Great Heresies by Hillaire Belloc
The first one we did by Belloc was good. I don't object on principle.
Suicide of a the West by James Burnham
We're all liberals here. No, I'm not really joking. We kind of are. If we choose this one, be sure you don't pick up Goldberg's by mistake. I really wouldn't want to give that guy any more money.
Corporate Cancer by Vox Day
I'd be fine with this one. His books I've read so far have been well-argued.
So, what do you guys think? Which would you be in or out for? Any other suggestions? Any arguments for or against any of these?
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Chapter V The Feast of Fear and Chapter VI The Exposure
Chapter V The Feast of Fear
In which the philosophical detective, Gabriel Syme, meets the high council of anarchists who plot to destroy civilization. In particular, he is almost struck senseless by the great and terrible Sunday.
Chapter VI The Exposure
In which Sunday reveals that the council has been infiltrated and the spy is exposed.
Again, we will continue with chapters VII and VIII next Saturday. Since we're doing 2 chapters at a time, it will soon be time to choose another book. I plan to make that part of a midweek post. If you have any suggestions, feel free to mention them here.
I know Wiffiely has suggested Corporate Cancer by Vox Day. I have a couple of other possibilities in mind as well.
EDIT: The astute WanderingWonderer has pointed out that it might be good to lay out some parameters for the next book. So when I picked this one, I thought it might be interesting to alternate between fiction and non-fiction. Since we're currently doing a fictional work by G.K. Chesterton, I think a non-fiction book would be good next. Nationalist is good, but not a necessity. As I said, I have one suggestion which I think will take people aback at first, but we'll see.
In which the philosophical detective, Gabriel Syme, meets the high council of anarchists who plot to destroy civilization. In particular, he is almost struck senseless by the great and terrible Sunday.
Chapter VI The Exposure
In which Sunday reveals that the council has been infiltrated and the spy is exposed.
Again, we will continue with chapters VII and VIII next Saturday. Since we're doing 2 chapters at a time, it will soon be time to choose another book. I plan to make that part of a midweek post. If you have any suggestions, feel free to mention them here.
I know Wiffiely has suggested Corporate Cancer by Vox Day. I have a couple of other possibilities in mind as well.
EDIT: The astute WanderingWonderer has pointed out that it might be good to lay out some parameters for the next book. So when I picked this one, I thought it might be interesting to alternate between fiction and non-fiction. Since we're currently doing a fictional work by G.K. Chesterton, I think a non-fiction book would be good next. Nationalist is good, but not a necessity. As I said, I have one suggestion which I think will take people aback at first, but we'll see.
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Another bright moment of the Crusades
So Syme has been enlisted in "The Last Crusade". Now, as I've said before, Chesterton's poetry is shamefully unknown. One of his best, which I memorized about 3 years ago, and still can recite mostly from memory, is a story of the Crusades, specifically, the Battle of Lepanto. I present my own recitation of Chesterton's Lepanto.
Now, while this is a stunning poetic recounting of the events, it is also nice to have a bit more sober historical analysis as well. For that, I present a video by Real Crusades History.
We'll continue with chapters V and VI on Saturday. See you then, and I look forward to continued discussion of chapters III and IV.
Now, while this is a stunning poetic recounting of the events, it is also nice to have a bit more sober historical analysis as well. For that, I present a video by Real Crusades History.
For that matter, if you've had the displeasure of dealing with aggressive atheists who insist on nonsense like "religion poisons everything," I present Lt. Col. Tom Kratman's essay on the subject Where Was Secular Humanism at Lepanto?
We'll continue with chapters V and VI on Saturday. See you then, and I look forward to continued discussion of chapters III and IV.
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