tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post6591609267509350515..comments2024-03-28T22:33:29.066-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: WHAT TO DO AFTER YOU SWEAR OFF POLITICSRobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-82021908669855027322016-09-13T07:32:37.159-04:002016-09-13T07:32:37.159-04:00How about reading Hegel or Derrida?How about reading Hegel or Derrida?Andrew Lionel Blaishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01976034095806583387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-24384827859163226192016-09-12T16:18:01.038-04:002016-09-12T16:18:01.038-04:00I thought writing was your hobby. I thought writing was your hobby. Amarnathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10045911629669056107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-85311140800361046302016-09-12T09:53:21.759-04:002016-09-12T09:53:21.759-04:00Thanks for the suggestion. I have read many of th...Thanks for the suggestion. I have read many of the John Le carre novels, so yesterday I ordered from Amazon the latest John Sandford novel about his character Lucas Davenport. Now that I have sworn off politics, I am appalled to discover how much free time I have! I can only go over my next lecture in my head so many times. Maybe I should take up a hobby.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-81496525139501381682016-09-12T09:01:00.257-04:002016-09-12T09:01:00.257-04:00From distraction from being over involved in polit...From distraction from being over involved in politics and the media, I recommend John Le Carré's novels.<br /><br />I've read almost all of them over the last 35 years or so. For those who have never read Le Carré, start with The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, but since lots of people have read The Spy and no other Le Carré novel, try Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. That starts slow, as do many Le Carré novels: you read the first 50 or 60 pages and you wonder where this guy is going and suddenly, you're hooked and you have to find out not so much who done it as who is who.<br /><br />One of the reasons why Le Carré distracts from being obsessed by politics is that Le Carré is a very political spy novelist (he is not Ian Fleming), but he views politics as a spectator from an almost Thucydidean distance: there are no good guys, no party or side which embodies the Good or Reason or Utopia, but there are personal virtues: loyalty, commitment, friendship, love, courage (generally not physical courage in Le Carré by the way).s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-52072645103232335572016-09-11T23:21:21.793-04:002016-09-11T23:21:21.793-04:00It is true I have checked out of politics too. Bu...It is true I have checked out of politics too. But I am always optimistic of the future when they have the Senate Youth C-Span video. When high schoolers criticize the political elite for bickering, it warms my heart.<br /><br />https://www.c-span.org/video/?406058-1/qa-us-senate-youth-programAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-63075588533210564132016-09-11T21:03:18.798-04:002016-09-11T21:03:18.798-04:00Thank you for your thoughts on withdrawal from the...Thank you for your thoughts on withdrawal from the political madness. I am trying too. Even NPR has become unbearable. Don't wake me when it's over. Keithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17352604426264031302noreply@blogger.com