Books

The Longest Day

The true story of the largest military operation in history. 

This book was a bad choice for a real time book club because it was so good that I found it impossible to pace myself. It was so good that I immediately started reading the Stephen Ambrose D Day book right after it. 

It’s full of inherently interesting subject matter, and the stories are so well written and well arranged that it’s just completely irresistible. 

You jump from dangling paratroopers to the Nazi party politics of panzer division control to a guy gambling away his $2500 of craps winnings the night before the invasion because he was worried that it’d be bad luck. But it all feels cohesive and not once did I have to work to refresh a story arc in my head. 

If you say stuff like “history is so boring with all those dates and crap” this is for you. It’s dripping with firsthand human experience. 

Highly recommended. Thanks to @joanwestenberg.eth for the recommendation.

The Golden Bough

19th century Scottish anthropologist asserts that human thought evolved from magic to religion to science, accidentally does magic himself. 

I loved this book because of the way it made me feel. I should clarify that I don’t know and don’t care whether any of the academic assertions are true in a strict sense, though incidentally I suspect he’s largely wrong.

On one level, you have this quirky opinionated tour guide who brings some delight of his own to the party. And then there’s the actual subject matter, the stories of primitive magic and superstition, which is intoxicating. 

In the sheer tonnage it’s presented here, it starts to actually take hold in your head. After the hundredth example, you start to think that there might be some real power in sympathetic and imitative magic.

The book had a weirdly strong effect on me. If you like Joseph Campbell, I strongly recommend it. 

I read Frazer’s 1922 single volume version, which is likely plenty for most readers.