Those Terrible Middle Ages! by Regine Pernoud
You’ve likely gathered that the title is tongue-in-cheek. That though we’re often taught the Middle Ages were among the darkest periods in history, this label is not necessarily true. While this is a short book (fewer than 200 pages) that takes a wide view of 500 to 1500 AD, it does a wonderful job of defending the period as well as squashing certain myths about the “Dark” Ages. And despite the wide view, one of the more interesting aspects of the book is its focus on distinguishing between the four periods that occurred within these ~1,000 years: High Middle Ages, approximately 410-750 AD; Imperial Age, 750-950; Feudal Age 950-1300; and simply, the Middle Ages, 1300-1500.
“Hugh of Saint-Victor placed at the beginning of all contemplation that of the beauty of the universe; he assigned movement as the primary element, the source also of aesthetic pleasure: the movement of the winds, waves, stars in the heavens; he presupposed a beauty invisible to our senses. Are conceptions of this kind not closer to the scientific as well as the artistic vision of our time than the one governed by the hope to reduce man and the world to definitions and classifications?
Revolt Against the Modern World by Julius Evola
I was first introduced to Evola while reading The War for Eternity by Ben Teitelbaum, a book that documents the rise of the New Right, specifically in the US, Russia, and Brazil, focusing mainly on three figures in each nation—Steve Bannon, Aleksandr Dugin, and Jair Bolsonaro. All three of these figures have been heavily influenced by Evola’s writings and the title above is his most well-known work. As you can see from the title, Evola is not a fan of modernity, especially as it pertains to materialism, consumerism, and unalloyed individualism. Evola’s thinking, along with rightwing Traditionalist thinking, differs from what has become, though seems to be fading, mainstream rightwing thinking, that of free-flowing economic freedom and “market-place of ideas” atomization. You see this play out with the aforementioned Bannon, who is more willing and effective in reaching out to those crushed by student loan debt than to corporate overlords.
“Nothing is further from the truth than the claim that the American soul is ‘open-minded’ and unbiased; on the contrary, it is ridden with countless taboos of which people are sometimes not even aware.” (Allow me to insert my own opinion on this quote. I both agree with it and endorse; we need act upon some of these “taboos.”)
Caesar, a Sketch by James Anthony Froude and Augustus by John Williams
Reading this newsletter over the past year may have led you to believe that I’m quite interested in Caesarism. You would be right in thinking this. The first book above is a historical account of Julius Caesar. The second is a fictional account of his adopted nephew Octavian, who would become Caesar Agustus. Though differing in genre, reading the two back-to-back probably provided a better picture of the two men, as well as the Roman Republic-leading-into-Empire than what modern history professors could do. I’ll spare you the comparisons between their times and our own (these have been and will continue to be made exhaustively) and will instead direct you to making your conclusions and discoveries through reading the books. I’ll simply say, and I believe this relates to the blurb about the Evola book, if another “Caesar” were to rise, he will be loved and admired by folks on the current Right and Left, though, ultimately, he’s more Red than Blue.
“Fools and knaves are usually the first to fall in civil distractions, as they and their works are the active causes of them.” —Caesar, a Sketch
“He is a man like any other… he will become what he will become, out of the force of his person and the accident of his fate.”—Augustus
Bryan by Louis W. Koenig and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
At first glance, it makes sense that I’d lump the two Caesars together as I did above. But William Jennings Bryan and Theodore Roosevelt? Though both steeped within the Progressive Era and both considered progressives, one was a Democrat and the other Republican. Furthermore, one was a commoner, the other an aristocrat. But what stood out to me reading both of these biographies was how similar the two were, even in their own differences. At a time when our politicians are as fake as can be, and they were fake back then as well, there is a certain genuineness to both of these men that I appreciate. Bryan preached sobriety and modesty while also practicing it. Roosevelt took an elite view of the world, as well as America’s place in it, while also putting in the work to be a natural elite himself. Favorite parts in each book: Bryan’s willingness to put his reputation on the line by fighting against the teaching of evolution in schools (we’d be better off had he succeeded; and Roosevelt’s determination to push through the pain of losing both his wife and mother on the same day while still a young man, a resolve that should be admired by all.
“If evolution wins in Dayton, Christianity goes—not suddenly of course, but gradually—for the two cannot stand together.” —Bryan
“‘Doctor,’ came the reply, ‘I’m going to do all the things you tell me not to do. If I’ve got to live the sort of life you have described, I don’t care how short it is.’”—The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
Submission by Michel Houellebecq
French author Houellebecq is the closest thing we’ve got to a mainstream(-ish) novelist on the Right. Thus far, the title above is the only book of his I’ve read, and I was not disappointed. Though fiction, real-life characters play a role in the novel, including right-wing French politician Marine Le Pen. In fact, in the book she’s about to win the French presidency, but in a last-ditch effort, the moderate and Socialist parties of France join forces, throwing the presidency to the head of the Socialists, a man who happens to be Muslim. This alliance backfires on the moderates, because what results from the new government is a more socially conservative France that what the rightwing party would’ve brought in. Amongst the changes, women are banned from the workplace and are no longer allowed to dress suggestibly in public. Also, the public university system is only able to employ Muslims. Read it to get a glimpse of how such a world might look.
“It may well be impossible for people who have lived and prospered under a given social system to imagine the point of view of those who feel it offers them nothing, and who can contemplate its destruction without any particular dismay.”
The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz
Before reading this book, I’d been aware of the dangers of seed oils as well the lies regarding red meat and dairy. But most of my knowledge to that point came from threads on twitter, though that is in no way a knock on the creators of those threads. This book does a good job documenting how in cooking, frying, and baking seed oils overcame butter and animal fats around the 1950s. Per usual, it was largely the combination of Congress acquiescing to corporate lobbying interests. Interestingly enough, take a look at when obesity rates in the US began to escalate; there might be a connection. The science behind what makes seed oils bad for you is also in the book, but that’s not really my forte; if a “cooking” oil is only one or two ingredients removed from vehicle oil, that’s good enough evidence for me.
“The food world is particularly prey to corruption, because so much money is made on food and so much depends on talk and especially the opinions of experts.”
Zero To One by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters and Wanting by Luke Burgis
I lumped these two books together because Wanting is a book expounding upon Rene Girard’s Memetic Theory, and Girard was a professor of Thiel’s, a man he claims had the greatest influence on his own thinking. The former passed away in 2015, the latter is a major player in both American tech and politics, while Blake Masters is also following in Thiel’s footsteps as first a tech entrepreneur and then most recently as a candidate for the US Senate, an election he likely won but the “official results” show otherwise (Check out Kari Lake’s ongoing election appeal in Arizona). Zero to One is dissimilar to Wanting in that it is practical, though often unorthodox advice for those who want to build something from the ground up. Whereas Wanting builds upon the idea that humans are not rational beings, that our desires, especially as it pertains to modeling those who we wish to be like, drive us more so than rationality. So on the surface, other than the philosophy of one book relating to the author of the other it may not look like the two books go together. However, even in practicality, it’s important to look beneath the surface.
“What important truth do very few people agree with you on?” —Zero To One
“Human beings fight not because they are different, but because they are the same, and in their attempts to distinguish themselves have made themselves into enemy twins, human doubles in reciprocal violence.” —Wanting
Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter
It’s probably obvious to the consistent reader here that I’m at least intrigued by short stories. I’m constantly looking for good ones and trying to learn from them, stylistically, story-wise, structure, etc. Now, the ones I publish on here would mostly be of the flash-fiction variety as they don’t often reach one thousand words. The title above is of the longer form, a true short story. Based at the time of World War One as well as the Spanish Flu, it’s a romance involving a woman working in a newspaper office and an American soldier in camp waiting to be deployed. Neither are very content with their lives, though the man believes his going to die in war might be his solution. The only spoilers I’ll provide are that both of them come down with the Flu but only one dies. My favorite part of the book is when one of the characters is close to dying and the author’s portrayal of that verge being reached but not crossed.
“The road to death is a long march beset with all evils, and the heart fails little by little at each new terror, the bones rebel at each step, the mind sets up its own bitter resistance and to what end? The barriers sink one by one, and no covering of the eyes shuts out the landscape of disaster, nor the sight of crimes committed there.”
Happy reading, and Happy New Year!