Books

Day four: Master and Commander

One of the all time heavyweight champions of historical fiction. Bill Bryson calls it his favorite escapist reading. Keith Richards shouts it out at the end of his book Life.

There are a bunch of red flags on this book for me:
- this book is the first in a series of 20
- it’s a historical seafaring adventure
- it was written in the 60s but uses period language
- it’s laden with esoteric jargon

Given the red flags, I expected a cheap swashbuckling novel hiding its poor writing behind unfamiliar language. But the exact opposite is the case. The whole series is outstanding.

The prose is excellent, once you get your head into it. The character development is first rate and continues throughout the series. The stories are subtle and nuanced in a way you’d never expect from historical military fiction.

O’Brian is the John Williams of his niche. You’d never mention them in the same breath as confirmed masters like Beethoven or Jane Austen, but we should.

Five stars easy

Day five: The Masks of God

You cannot go wrong with Joseph Campbell. If you liked any of his other stuff, you’ll like this. 

Reading this is like being on vacation to a far distant time. 

Primitive Mythology and Occidental Mythology were stronger than Oriental Mythology and Creative Mythology. The last verges on literary criticism, and a lot of it is just singing the praises of Joyce and Mann. 

These aren’t as pithy as Hero with a Thousand Faces or The Power of Myth, and they’re not quite as magical as The Golden Bough, but they’re very good nonetheless.

The division of religious traditions into shamanic (hunting cultures) and priestly (planting cultures) was intellectually interesting, but these books are more about feeling than thinking. And they certainly succeed in giving you a visceral sense of how god archetypes echo each other across time and place.

Four stars for their type, and it’s one of my favorite types. Firmly but not aggressively recommended. Prioritize The Golden Bough instead.

totally feel ya! campbell's like a time travel guide. his deep dives into myths are always a win. 📚✨