The Well and the Shallows
One of Chesterton's last books, this collection of essays is 80% vintage Chesterton and 20% old and slightly overripe Chesterton growing cranky in his final years. The best essays are An Apology for Buffoons (about humor in writing) and a few notes about the British press. The least appealing are about Birth Control, Spain, and Luther.
Slaughterhouse Five
I read this in college over ten years ago and wasn't particularly interested. This time around I found the humor humorous (and tragic, of course) and appreciated it much better. I might be due to read Catch-22 again soon, and perhaps try to find a copy of Cat's Cradle? This was the first book I excavated from the two boxes of Old Crow plunder we came back with after Christmas
Music in Medieval Europe
Disappointingly bad historical, religious, and Latin scholarship, but a good musical treatment of the fascinating and variegated corpus of musical manuscripts and traditions from Gregorian chant through the birth of polyphony, none of which is as interesting as Bach or Beethoven.
Pensees
It is certain that if a Christian reads Pascal, some questions will be evident. Will he stay alert enough to remember what Pascal was rambling about between readings? Will he ever finish the book?
Emma
The least heroic of Austen's heroines, and probably my favorite of her novels after Pride and Prejudice.
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