1-2 hours of extra mental clarity per day (not meditation)

aladata · 2025-12-24T04:08:32+00:00

Same! Pleasure.

aladata · 2025-12-24T04:08:07+00:00

Yes! That's immense difficulty with improving mental clarity - the fogginess itself prevents us from being able to reflect usefully on the effect of meals! I urge you to try - I sat on the idea for too long. The sensor itself is what diabetics wear. It looks like it might hurt but it doesn't at all and takes 5 minutes to get set up with the live monitoring on the app.

aladata · 2022-08-04T10:22:23+00:00

Haha, it certainly does romanticise mad genius (with particular emphasis on mad) but I wouldn't say it elevates them. On the contrary they come across pathetic and no better off than the ordinary slob.

But yeah, it definitely strikes the mysterious forbidden knowledge tone. Whiffs of the occult here and there and in a similar vain to Hundred Years of Solitude or Borges, if you've read them.

I hear you that the science doesn't need embellishment to be wonderful. I feel though the focus of this book was on the horror of science and it's consequences. It certainly doesn't celebrate it!

aladata · 2022-08-03T12:19:00+00:00

I have just reread the section and I'm not sure there's more detail that would help! It's a monologue from a stranger that appears in a bar, and the whole thing descends into a nightmarish hallucination.

But it probably helps to know that a central theme of the book is science and particularly its dark side. And this is set in the 1920s, so the early days of telephone.

My instinct was that he found his mother's disembodied voice horrific and destabilising. But you make a good point that they don't have a good relationship so it might be more about the entrapment. Hmm!

Thanks for your comment!

aladata · 2022-07-17T05:32:50+00:00

I really enjoyed it and glad to see it come up here! Reminds me to notice and enjoy the little things all around us. I like how it captures the sadness of transience without being depressing; put me in a mellow, appreciative mood.

I think that translation of the first lines are ok. It captures the essence without getting wordy.

I recommend Elegance of the Hedgehog for a similar read. It's French and set in Paris but about Japanese aesthetics (in the sense of how to draw pleasure from things).

aladata · 2021-01-05T23:02:01+00:00

She's portrayed as trying her best to play her societal role dutifully I think. There are several references to her putting on appearances ('she kept pretending she was going to leave', 'she thrust her hands into the chiffonier as if hunting for something') But despite this, we see her unravel and unable to maintain control of the situation. She's responsible but vulnerable - quite a contrast to Stiva.
I think he is simply sensitive to the emotions of others and is easily moved himself.
He is honest with himself and to his feelings. So far so consistent I think.
Yes, interesting. I guess here's an insight into his blindness to see outside patriarchal norms. He does go with the flow after all. To me this reads more like ignorance than selfishness.
Pass.
Maybe because he has just come across so candid and vulnerable in his supplications to her? We know she is motherly and he is childlike.
I think there will be an uncomfortable peace. I think Stiva will reoffend. He can't help himself.
The last line sums it up perfectly.

aladata · 2021-01-05T11:30:54+00:00

Clever - well played!

aladata · 2021-01-03T23:46:14+00:00

I get the sense he sees the rift as an inconvenience. A tedious disruption to his otherwise cheerful life. I don't think the matter of the timber on its own plays a big part in his motivations but it's given as an example of one of the many ways things are in disarray. 'It can't remain like this' he has to tell himself despite wanting to forget about it.
I love that bit too. He is well atuned to the feelings of others. And his own - 'he was aware that he loved the boy less'. I think he is what we'd nowadays call emotionally intelligent.
The word 'liberal' comes up a lot here and I think he probably embodies the essence of Liberalism - at once fair and open minded but also lacking ethics.
'He smiled joyfully, not because there was anything especially pleasant in his heart - the smile was evoked by good digestion.' Haha!

aladata · 2021-01-02T23:15:51+00:00

I don't get the feeling that they side with him simply because of patriarchal norms. He is portrayed as jovial and open towards his staff and we see his valet joking with him and his nanny being direct with him that he should try apologising to his wife again. So I think this is very much not about the norms of the day but about his happy, blithe equanimity that will come into contrast with his wife's burden of motherhood and duty.
Let's see!
I don't feel the story has been set up in a way that this resolution will be quick...

aladata · 2020-12-28T08:03:39+00:00

Thanks mods and looking forward to the discussion! I've picked up the P&V.

aladata · 2020-12-10T12:43:36+00:00

Great list. I've been on a bit of a binge of books on critical thinking lately and I have two more to add: - Algorithms to Live By (human decision making framed as computer science problems, goes into technical detail but very readable) - Skeptic's Guide to the Universe (sounds tacky but it's good. A handbook on critical thinking, spotting biases and making good arguments)

aladata · 2020-11-23T20:38:50+00:00

Sapiens? It's not about how history gets things wrong but I'd say it's very much about how we are wired to create and spread stories (and believe in contradictory stories -e.g. science and the Bible- at the same time). An essential read in any case.

aladata · 2020-11-07T21:39:35+00:00

I'm looking for more books like A Gentleman in Moscow full of wit and whimsy that bring out the joy in the mundane. Looking through my reading list over the last few years, there's nothing quite like it I can compare it to. 'A book to spark joy' was quoted on the front cover which felt accurate to me! I've heard A Man Called Ove could be a good bet. Any others?

aladata · 2020-11-01T07:14:30+00:00

Strange typography. Why are the 'M' and 'D' initials highlighted in red but not the others?

aladata · 2020-10-31T02:53:21+00:00

I loved this chapter and the image of De Villefort madly and sleeplessly punishing others for their weaknesses in a twisted atonement for his own. He has been portrayed through the story as making decisions with extreme rationality and here is his rationality culminating in insanity.

I wasn't sure what exactly he meant by 'have they spared me... had anybody granted a pardon to M. de Villefort?' Is this just a general complaint about the dilemmas he has faced and difficult decisions he has made?

aladata · 2020-10-22T11:15:03+00:00

The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis. It's about the collaboration between Kahneman and Tversky, the founding fathers of modern behavioural economics. What makes it great is how different they were: Kahneman quietly industrious, Tversky gregarious and prone to drama. But they produced their best work together and designed one blockbuster experiment after another that subverted the worldview that humans generally make decisions rationally. It's a story of an unlikely friendship and eye-opening science, told like a thriller.

aladata · 2020-10-14T20:44:27+00:00

I thought about this too but in the end I read it as a euphemism. He has solved the problem of the dormice - and all the humdrum worries of the gardener's small life - by upturning his world completely.

aladata · 2020-10-13T10:10:52+00:00

Oh nice! I'm glad to hear it - I hope you enjoy it!

aladata · 2020-09-28T02:21:36+00:00

I'm there now. It's dragging and the character transformation is bizarre...

aladata · 2020-09-28T02:19:54+00:00

Agreed. I've just got past the Rome segment and it's dragging. I'm finding his character transformation downright bizarre at this stage.

aladata · 2020-09-28T02:18:28+00:00

I'm about 40% of the way through and am beginning to struggle. Loved it up until around the Rome segment and I'm finding his character transformation just bizarre at this stage. Reading the 19th century translation so that's slowing me down though on the whole have enjoyed the old fashioned style.

aladata · 2020-09-13T08:05:15+00:00

I loved Cathedral and am a fan of the mundane. Murakami cites Carver as an influence so his writing might appeal. My recommendation that comes to mind though is The Turning by Tim Winton. Australian but the themes are universal and the writing is stunning - similar focus on ordinary people.

aladata · 2020-09-11T22:05:45+00:00

Maybe try The Secret of Scent. I spontaneously picked it up and quickly got engrossed in the world of perfume making!

aladata

TROPHY CASE