Milo and the Calf

Category: Books

  • Review: Raymond’s Cairo

    Cairo Andre Raymond Its amazing to me that a city with a history so rich, that spans such important events in history of the world, can be turned into such a boring book. I think Raymond is aping Braudel in this book with his focus on the economics and geographical changes that happened in Cairo’s…

  • Review: Mahfouz’s Sugar Street

    Sugar Street: The Cairo Trilogy, Volume 3 Nahgib Mahfouz Maybe I read it all too fast and got spoiled by all the excellent character development and believable dialogue, but Sugar Street, the third volume of the Cairo Trilogy was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps Mahfouz was just running out of steam, but I was…

  • Review: Mahfouz’s Palace of Desire

    One of many posts originally written for a now long dead livejournal account. Palace of Desire: The Cairo Trilogy, Volume 2 Nagib Mafouz Palace of Desire is slower than the Palace Walk. The chapters are longer, as if the pace of the novel reflected the pace of mid-life. Major event continue to sneak up on…

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    Review: Mafouz’s The Palace Walk

    One among many reviews originally posted to livejournal. Palace Walk: The Cairo Trilogy, Volume 1 Nagib Mafouz The Palace Walk is wonderful novel.  In the translation published by the Everyman Library it is funny, biting and tragic with precise descriptions and deeply thought out characters. Though I haven’t read much of the great western popular…

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    Random Thoughts On Nicolas Nassim Taleb

    Been thinking a lot about unpredictability, and more specifically Nassim Taleb‘s work on markets and “the black swan”.* Nassim Taleb was a pretty successful hedge fund manager, now he styles himself a philosopher. I haven’t read Taleb’s book yet, but from what I can gather, his theory is basically this: In options trading, the conventional…

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    Review: Baldacci’s The Camel Club

    The Camel Club (Camel Club Series) David Baldacci This is absolute garbage. Possibly the worst book I have ever read. Poorly plotted, poorly written, filled with absurd scenarios and characters I didn’t care about. Total waste of my time and the prime example of why I should give up my rule to finish every book…

  • Review: Fichte’s Vocation of Man

    The Vocation of Man (Hackett Classics) Johann Gottlieb Fichte A standard text in the world of undergraduate classes in European philosophy*, Fichte is a bridge of sorts between Kant and Hegel. If memory serves, we read this book not for its thoughts on the nature of faith, but for its use of the dialectic. My…

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    Review: Poundstone’s Fortune’s Formula

    Fortune’s Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street William Poundstone A book about the mathematical aspects of gambling, whether it be on Wall Street, or in the casino, this is a smart, playful book full of an eccentric mix of gangsters, MIT professors and business people…

  • Review: Vollmann’s Expelled from Eden

    One of the many reviews archived here from livejournal. Expelled from Eden: A William T. Vollmann Reader William T. Vollman I got a soft spot for this gun wielding, prostitute loving, million page book writing nutso-nerdo. I think sometimes if I was smarter, and crazier, and got beat up more in high school, I might…

  • Review: Pear’s Instance of the Fingerpost

    Orginally written in 2007 for a now defunct livejournal account. An Instance of the Fingerpost Iain Pears A literary thriller in the vein of the In the Name of the Rose, but not as good, nor as full of hidden philosophical ideas. Set in the time of the reformation, it’s a mystery inside a mystery.…