March is when the new year has settled in. The promise of new years resolutions has faded and we’re back with our old ways and habits. This year, while a bit behind in my reading and exercise goals I feel better about them, and, frankly, everything else in my life, than I have in a long time. Didn’t read quite as much as I’d have liked this month, but hey, it’s fine. Here’s what I got up to.
Books
I’m the early days of a reading project so absurdly ambitious, multi-year, and likely to fail that I’m hesitant to even talk about it publicly. But I will say it lead me to read the Epic of Gilgamesh for the first time and… dude. Have you read this? The flood narrative? I was aware that it is often cited for its similarities with the Noah flood story from Genesis, but until I read its telling here, I had no idea exactly how similar they were. My understanding is that modern scholars tend to think both the flood story in Genesis and the flood story in the Gilgamesh epic have an even older shared antecedent. That may be true, either way, it's remarkable how close these stories are and make the relatively slim epic worth you time. Recommended.
I’ve turned into a big David McCloskey fan this year reading Damascus Station in February and finishing Moscow X in early March. High quality dad lit of the espionage thriller variety. Very well done and addictive. I’ll definitely read whatever he does next. Recommended for the enthusiast.
Speaking of well done dad lit, S.A. Cosby has become the go-to writer in dad-lit crime novel subgenre. He even got a shout out from President Obama. All The Sinners Bleed does what a good crime novel should. Give a real sense of place. Here the place is the semi-rural south with all its racial and political complexities. Plus a trouble hero just trying to do the right thing beset by forces out to keep a good man down. Not high literature, but it had me reading well into the night to find out what happened. Recommended for the enthusiast.
Also breezed through the collected edition of the French graphic novel The Killer on which the David Fincher film is based. First half was great, propulsive and compelling, second half lagged. They should have killed the protagonist about half way through the plot arch. Not recommended.
Articles, Podcasts, etc.
Though its gotten a bit of a bad rap lately, and is ripe for parody, I think the rationalist / effective altruism community that has grown up around sites like Less Wrong and blogs like Astral Codex Ten is one of the most interesting things happening in the world of the interview. This month it got the New Yorker treatment in the form of a profile of sorts of Katja Grace, a leader in the “movement”. Basic for those who follow this stuff closely, and perhaps a bit too gossipy, but certainly interesting throughout.
Speaking of effective altruism one of the leading intellectuals of the movement, Will MacAskill, who received enormous support from the now disgraced Sam Bankman Fried has spoken for what I think is the first time about the whole situation on Sam Harris’s podcast. I find Harris’s speech patterns hard to handle (TALK FASTER) but still found this absolutely fascinating. MacAskill is a professional ethicist and hearing him struggle with real world ethics involved is worth a listen.
Finally a quick note that long time readers know I’m a huge admirer of Tyler Cowen, and absolutely adored his interview with Marilynn Robinson, one of America’s greatest living writers. This is ostensibly about her new book on Genesis (which yes I will absolutely read) but because it’s a Cowen interview, it ranges widely. Super interesting.