Dostoyevsky

 Winamop has published my short story about the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky. This is the description on the website: 'Simon King looks at the lives of famous people from the past and this time it's Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Here we find him at a pivotal moment in his life.'

www.winamop.com/sk2403.htm

Part six from a forthcoming book called Fifteen Characters: Volume Two.

Sibelius

 Winamop has published my short story about Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. This is the description on the website: 'Simon King's subject this time is the famed Finnish composer Sibelius. We meet him in his later years with a long and successful career to look back upon.'

http://www.winamop.com/sk2402.htm

Part five from a forthcoming book called Fifteen Characters: Volume Two.

Bartok

 Winamop has published my short story about Hungarian composer Bela Bartok. This is the description on the website: 'Simon King takes a new foray into the life of a notable figure from the past. This time it's the composer Bela Bartok. Who, it turns out, was an early adopter of some cutting-edge technology.'

Part four from a forthcoming book called Fifteen Characters: Volume Two.

http://www.winamop.com/sk2401.htm

Ahoy Facebook #22

 

New acquisitions. 🙂

Seven CDs: Winterrese by Franz Schubert/Alfred Brendel/Matthias Goerne, The Stooges by The Stooges, Starless and Bible Black by King Crimson, Meet the Residents by The Residents, Merciless by Godflesh, Musick to Play in the Dark vol. 1 by Coil and Musick to Play in the Dark vol. 2 by Coil.

New acquisitions. 👍

Three CDs: Take the A Train by Duke Ellington, Head Hunters by Herbie Hancock and Selfless by Godflesh.

New acquisitions. 🙂

Three toy soldiers: A French Napoleonic era soldier, a Prussian soldier and a Napoleonic era Prussian soldier.

I've been reading some books about European history recently, so I thought that it'd be good to have some artefacts/decorations representing this interest. They are two Prussian soldiers and one French soldier. They are either made out of lead or metal.

New acquisitions. 👍

Two records: Blues in my Bottle by Lightnin' Hopkins and Just Blues by Memphis Slim.

New acquisition. 🙂

One book: Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint by Peter Sarris.

Buying this book was a terrible idea because 1) it cost a lot of money and I hardly earn anything and 2) Christmas shopping is coming up. 

However, I own a book about the Byzantine empire which is only about three hundred pages and covers thousands of years. This book is about five hundred pages and covers a shorter period. It is about the emperor Justinian, who built the Hagia Sophia.

New acquisitions. 🙂

Six DVDs: Sunset Boulevard by Billy Wilder, Laurence of Arabia by David Lean, The Graduate by Mike Nichols, The Conformist by Bernardo Bertolucci, Tabu by Miguel Gomes and Embrace of the Serpent by Ciro Guerra.

New acquisitions.

A DVD box set: Alfred Hitchcock DVD box set.

Four glasses.

I received this Alfred Hitchcock box set as a present from my dad. It is comprised of six films (North by Northwest, The Wrong Man, Dial M for Murder, I Confess, Strangers on a Train and Stage Fright).

My sister came over for Christmas with her partner. She brought me these four nice glasses, which have a Chilean city/region printed on them (Atacama, Valparaíso, Santiago and Chiloe).

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2023/5993530?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2dyWah3trLXx99yDkcMI6fNJHgyAq13NF86bRu1mYrStT5JUTGSG9cRBA_aem_Ae6F6Q-Go9q661y8hbCU5M9j6aOrbbuwmn2ceVBtC1CMksd-sfNOaoiysvTVY5XqW2NSMB10irkxGTQkcOsvYEDz

These are all the books that I read last year (most of them, at least - one of them is missing on here for some reason). 👍

New acquisitions

Six books: a Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein, Political Liberalism by John Rawls, Anarchy, State and Utopia by Robert Nozick, Equality by R. H. Tawney, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes.

In this book, Wittgenstein argues that language and thought represent the world as it is. He argues that the point of philosophy is to clarify problems and that it should not speak on things without sufficient evidence. It was a big influence on the Viennese logical positivists. The book is written as a series of aphorisms. This book is quite obscure and hard to read (I often get lost just reading summaries about it), but I think that it’d be a worthy endeavour to read it even if most of it goes over my head.

Rawls here defends a liberal conception of the good life, in which he argues that government should be neutral about competing conceptions of the good life. He writes as to how people with different political and religious values can peacefully co-exist in a society.

Nozick defends a ‘minimal state’ in this book, in which ‘it is limited to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts.’ Each time the state does more than this, it violates rights. Any expansion of state power beyond these functions is unjustified for Nozick. He wrote it as a counterargument to Rawls’ ‘A Theory of Justice.’ He is a ‘libertarian’ in the American sense, but he is a lot more respected in academic circles than someone like Ayn Rand (he was a university professor, for one thing).

In this book, Tawney argues against excessive inequalities in class and wealth. He makes the case for public health and education and for the redistribution of wealth. Reading British socialists feels like being lectured by a moralising priest at times (the movement had a lot of links with methodism), but it’s still good to read a classic defence of egalitarianism.

In this classic book, Weber argued that capitalism in northern Europe arose alongside Protestantism. The Protestant work ethic, argues Weber, created the wealth and prosperity in Europe. 

Robert Hughes was chiefly an art critic, but this is a history book. It is about the colonisation of Australia by Britain. It explores how convicts were transported from Britain to Australia. 

I like to look at ideas from across the political spectrum and find value in all of them. If anything, I’m quite indecisive about politics and a I’m bit of an ambiguity. I prefer to be like that than to be rigidly doctrinaire.

New acquisitions. 😊

Four mugs: A mug of The Fall, a John Coltrane-themed mug, a mug Juan Rulfo-themed mug and a James Joyce-themed mug.

Two postcards: Two James Joyce-themed postcards.

I bought a lot of mugs. I bought a mug of The Fall, one of my favourite ‘rock’ groups. It has lyrics from the song ‘Totally Wired’ – ‘I drank a jar of coffee and then I took some of these…’ I bought a John Coltrane-themed mug, which has the album cover ‘Giant Steps’ on it, a marvellous album. I was surprised to find this Juan Rulfo mug online, a great Mexican writer, so I thought that I’d buy it. His novel ‘Pedro Páramo’ is one of my favourite books ever.

I went to Dublin for New Year’s Eve, so I went to two James Joyce museums. One of them was in the centre of Dublin, but the other one was in a town in the outskirts. It is located in a tower which was constructed during the Napoleonic era and used as a defence base. Joyce spent six days living there and the first chapter of ‘Ulysses’ is set there.

New acquisitions. 😊

Six books: The Destruction of the European Jews by Raul Hilberg, Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell, Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt and Taking Rights Seriously by Ronald Dworkin.

This book, written in 1961, is considered to be the first scholarly account of the Holocaust. The original book is 1,388 pages long, but this is an abridged version. Hilberg considers the holocaust a unique event in history with no comparable precedent.

Orwell went to fight in Spanish civil war on the side of the republican army and this book is an account of that experience. This book helped him to define his politics, which were in favour of ‘democratic socialism’ and against ‘totalitarianism.’

Orwell here provides an account of the squalid conditions in which many ‘working class’ people lived in the north of England during the early 20th century.

Eichmann was involved in shipping Jews to concentration camps during WWII. He later fled and hid in Argentina. The Mossad, the Israeli secret police, tracked him down, took him to Jerusalem, trialled him and executed him. Arendt witnessed the trial and wrote a series of articles for The New York Times. She argued that Eichmann was not a monstruous or evil man, that he was an unremarkable bureaucrat who followed orders. She called this ‘the banality of evil,’ which was controversial at the time.

In this classic book, Arendt examines Nazism and Stalinism. She examines how these ideologies took hold in Germany and Russia and how they differed from previous forms of tyranny. 

In this book, Dworkin offers a defence of the rights of the individual and how they can be protected from being crushed by a tyrannical majority.

New acquisitions. 🙂

Six CDs: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 by Charles Ives/The Ambrosian Singers/New Philharmonia Orchestra/Harold Faberman, This is the Blues by Charley Patton, Duke Ellington & John Coltrane by Duke Ellington & John Coltrane, Takin' Off by Herbie Hancock, Red by King Crimson and Diamond Dogs by David Bowie.

New acquisitions. 🙂

Three CDs: Adventures in Jazz by Stan Kenton, Trio Live: Copenhagen 1965 by Ornette Coleman and Japan 86 by Ornette Coleman.

New acquisitions. 🙂

Six CDs: Portrait in Jazz by Bill Evans, After the Gold Rush by Neil Young, Soundtrack of The Double Life of Veronique by Zbigniew Preisner, Soundtrack of Three Colours Trilogy by Zbigniew Preisner, Grand Guignol by John Zorn/Naked City and Radio by John Zorn/Naked City.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/may/01/paul-auster-dies-aged-77-death-american-author-new-york-trilogy

Oh no!!!! ☹️

Einstein

 Winamop has published my short story about Albert Einstein. This is the description on the website: 'Simon King writes about the daily lives of famous people from history. It's the year 1919 and we find Albert Einstein in the library with his assistant Walther Mayer.'

Part three from Fifteen Characters: Volume Two.

www.winamop.com/sk2400.htm

Schopenhauer

 Winamop has published my short story 'Schopenhauer,' which is about German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. This is the description on the website: 'Simon King. writes stories based on the lives of famous historical figures. This time he visits the life of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) who appears to be slightly irascible.'

Part two from Fifteen Characters: Volume Two.

http://www.winamop.com/sk2300.htm

Ahoy Facebook #21

 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/20/martin-amis-dead-age-73-esophageal-cancer/?fbclid=IwAR2dYpRI-Wcbpj7E_bKky9hBN9KlyeScd9-NceMSItCubZzicC8giMN01y0

Oh!

New acquisitions. 

Two t-shirts: A t-shirt of The Fall and a t-shirt of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band.

The Fall and Captain Beefheart are my two favourite rock groups, so I thought that I'd buy their t-shirts. The Fall-themed t-shirt has the album 'Perverted by Language' printed on it and the Beefheart one has the album 'Safe as Milk' printed on it. 👍

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65898867.amp?fbclid=IwAR1JMJfg4JQ3bh_P5C3_BCoulfQySYNXUtarBtqX8FtCi5hm8snQuEpXWfg

Oh!

New acquisitions. 1/2 🙂

Three books: Timaeus and Critias by Plato, The Symposium by Plato and Einstein: His Life and Universe.

Two CDs: Symphony No. 6: Pathetique and Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Piano Concerto No. 2 by Johannes Brahms.

One record: High and Low Down by Lightnin'Slim.

I've read some Plato dialogues in the past, but I thought that I could do with reading more.

Einstein was an interesting figure because, unlike many other scientists, he was not collaborative. He would spend most of his time on his own thinking about the details about general relativity or whatever. I bought a biography so as to find out more about his colourful life.

I've looked into classical music a lot in the past. Tchaikovsky and Brahms are very big names... I've not really heard much of their music before, so I bought these CDs.

Lightnin' Slim was one of the performers of rhythm and blues back in the 50s. He's not as remembered as Howlin' Wolf or Muddy Waters, but he's just as good.

New acquisitions. 2/2 🙂

Seven DVDs: Brief Encounter by David Lean, Dr. Zhivago by David Lean, Wild Strawberries by Ingmar Bergman, Persona by Ingmar Bergman, Tales of the Four Seasons by Eric Rohmer, Hannah and her Sisters by Woody Allen and Fargo by Coen Brothers.

Fifteen Characters: Volume Two.

This is one of two books that I'm working on at the moment. The other one is a novel - the cover is not ready for that one yet...

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Adolf Hitler

Arthur Schopenhauer

Albert Einstein

Bela Bartok

Jean Sibelius

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Honore de Balzac

Blind Willie Johnson 

Phidias

Peter Cook

Arius

Klemens von Metternich

Gavrilo Princip

Ted Kaczynski

I do not condone genocide or terrorism.

New acquisitions. 1/2

Two books: The Art of Happiness by Epicurus and John Stuart Mill: Victorian Firebrand by Richard Reeves.

Not many of Epicurus' writings survive, as many ancient libraries containing thousands of goodies were burned down. This book gathers what remains of his writings. Epicurus emphasised the pursuit of happiness, unlike the Stoics and Cynics who emphasised virtue and citizenship. In many ways, he was a prototypical liberal. Also, Karl Marx wrote his doctoral dissertation about him (because they were both materialists...)

'On Liberty' is one of my favourite books... It's a gripping read, possibly because he wrote it for a general audience, not academia... Mill was a fascinating thinker, so I thought that I should read this biography about him... Plus, there's a lot of 19th century history in this book, which is also good. 👍

New acquisitions. 2/2

Five CDs: Images/Nocturnes by Claude Debussy/Orchestra Symphonique de Montreal, Chamber Music by Maurice Ravel, Chamber Music by Iannis Xenakis/Arditti String Quartet/Claude Helffer, Spillane by John Zorn and Paris 1919 by John Cale.

New acquisitions. 🙂

Six CDs: String Quartets Nos. 10, 11 and 12 by Dmitry Shostakovich/Eder Quartet, Symphony No. 4 by Dmitry Shostakovich/Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Etudes: Books 1 and 2 by Gyorgy Ligeti/Idol Biret, Brown Rice by Don Cherry, Orient by Don Cherry and Live in Sevilla: 2000 by John Zorn/Masada.

New acquisitions. :)

Two books: Why I am a Liberal by William Beveridge and The Constitution of Liberty by Friederich Hayek.

William Beveridge published the ‘Beveridge Report’ in 1942, which sold thousands of copies. It was essential in helping to build the welfare state in the UK after WWII. He wanted the state to help address ‘want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness.’ It formed the basis for the expansion of the welfare state and the creation of the national health service. 

Many people assumed that Beveridge was a socialist, but he identified as a liberal. John Maynard Keynes, a big influence on Labour’s policies on ‘demand management’ and ‘full employment,’ also identified as a liberal. In this book, Beveridge explains why he is a liberal. This is a rare book and I struggled to find a copy. I found a copy for £22. It is from 1945, the date in which it was published, and this copy was a library book.

Friedrich Hayek published ‘On the Road to Serfdom’ in 1944 and, like the Beveridge Report, also sold a lot of copies. Hayek was a strident critic of economic planning. He argued that central planners can never have allocate resources efficiently because they do not have knowledge of what consumers want or desire. The price system, which carries information throughout the economy, involves individuals freely making choices. Central planning involves a collective body imposing its values on society whilst the market is made up of individuals, with different values, making choices. Hayek argued that central planning is inefficient, but he also thought that it is also morally reprehensible because it undermines individual human dignity.

Anyway, this book, ‘The Constitution of Liberty,’ has a postscript called ‘Why I am not a Conservative.’ Many people assumed that Hayek was a conservative, but he identified as a liberal. He thought that conservativism encroached on innovation, progress and change. 

Anyway, I thought that it would be interesting to see two liberals give reasons as to why they are liberals. Beveridge is closer to the left of the spectrum (‘social liberalism’) and Hayek is on the right (‘classical liberalism’), but I am sure they agreed on many things.

New acquisitions. 🙂

Three postcards: A postcard of Fyodor Dostoevsky, a postcard of Franz Kafka and a postcard of William Faulkner.

I've bought some postcards of some of my favourite writers. I devoured their books when I was a teenager (best time to read them, really).

New acquisitions. 🙂

Six DVDs: Nosferatu by F. W. Murnau, Faust by F. W. Murnau, Paths of Glory by Stanley Kubrick, Barry Lyndon by Stanley Kubrick, The Piano Teacher by Michael Haneke and The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke.

A picture of my flat.

New acquisitions.

10 bricks

3 boards

I had a whole pile of unread books lying in the living room. A lot of of them were inaccessible because they were buried at the bottom. I thought that I could arrange them in a better way. I asked my dad if he had bricks and boards, so I've put them to good use. They look way better now.