At the moment, I'm in the middle of three, count 'em three, books. I'm the type of guy who will start reading a bunch of books all at once, alternate between them, and finish some infintisemally small percentage of the one's he starts--not because he necessarily dislikes the books he leaves by the wayside, just out of laziness. So, the question I pose to TDL readers: Which book am I most likely to finish first?
The Candidates
The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity, by Eric L. Goldstein (239 pages, not including end notes).
PROS:
-Book hits at least three academic interests of mine: Race, Judaism, and the intersection between race and Judaism
-It was the first book I got of all of these--I've had it since May or so
CONS:
-Because it relates to academic interests, I only read it when I have time to take notes on particular passage I like
-Of the three, I haven't picked it up in the longest time
The Good Fight: Why Liberals--And Only Liberals--Can Win The War on Terror And Make America Great Again by Peter Beinart (208 pages, not including footnotes)
PROS:
-It's written by a New Republic writer
-I've blogged on the book, so I feel compelled to actually, you know, read it
CONS:
-The blogosphere's moved on, so it really doesn't matter if I read it or not
-Will it hold my interest and still seem fresh after all the coverage I've read of it?
Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn (262 pages)
PROS:
-It's a break from what I normally read
-Any book that refers to a "desire to save the world" has got my attention
CONS
-It's "a break" because I almost never read or enjoy fiction
-It's the longest of the three candidates
Any bets?
I'm betting that you finish the Beinart book first, the Goldstein book second, and the Quinn book last.
ReplyDeleteI got that Quinn book as a present actually, but left it at home. Shame, for once we could have had a non-legal book club.
Then again, I'm more partial to Austen and Henry James, don't read race theory books as much anymore, and so....maybe there will never be a book club. Quinn is a good start though. Fiction is a great and noble genre. Be adventurous.
Ishmael isn't quite fiction. It uses a bit of story to frame a lot of philosophical argumentation -- sort of like Atlas Shrugged, albeit with a completely opposite philosophy.
ReplyDeleteI'm still betting on the CRT book. "The Good Fight" sounds like most non-academic political analysis books ("current events" lit?) which is, in a word, bad. And Ishmael is just really boring.
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