Well, I\’m still reading Soren Kierkegaard: A Biography. It’s a beast to get through.
Large chapters dedicated to each year of Kierkegaard’s life. It’s some dense reading, but I’m loving it. I\’ve been learning things things about Soren\’s father, brother & fiancé (subsequently his ex-fiance). It is also interesting that the author notes that Kierkegaard actively cultured an image later in his life in an attempt to present a particular person as Kierkegaard to posterity. For example, he was less-than-devoted as a Christian in his youth. He was by no means “wild,” but he was immature, slothful and spent far too much of his father’s money. Essentially, he was a rich, spoiled brat. I knew/known a few of those.
My “book club” is also in the midst of reading The Tipping Point…well, I should say, I’m in the midst of reading. The rest of the poor group are on pages 0, 25 and 80 respectively. Anyway, it’s a book about the way in which epidemics start. He pulls data from all types of areas from sexually transmitted diseases to the Hush Puppies craze.
It\’s starts out very strong and interesting, identifying types of individuals and the various ways they influence others. For example, some people simply “know” alot of people. These people are great at putting people in touch with others, but generally they don’t often influence these people very effectively because they are “loose” connections. Others influence people heavily, but don\’t know as many people. Still others have a great deal of information, but are typically poor influencers. Anyway, after that, the book drifted into cognitive theory in discussing children\’s shows such as Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues. It kinda lost me at that point. Anyway, I’m going to make myself get through it.
Finally, I’m going to suggest to the book club that we read The White House Mess next. I gather that it’s good stuff. In point of fact, it is set in 1988 and Ronald Reagan sits in his PJs in the Oval Office and refuses to leave the White House. I’ve never read Christopher Buckley before, but I’ve heard a few people tell me he’s great. I’ve, obviously, seen Thank You For Smoking. I thought that one was pretty great. So, I figure another book by the same guy should be alright. Besides, I’ve also heard he’s got a heck of a vocabulary, which should be good for me.
In other news, I’m tired now. I’m going to finish watching The Wendal Baker Story.