Monday 24 November 2008

Getting To Grips With Spinoza?


Well I never - it's Spinoza's birthday (born 1632) - just as I'm finally beginning to get some kind of grip on his famously impenetrable system. What grip I have is entirely due to this brilliant book, which I am reading with an increasing sense of having my eyes opened to something very big, wonderful and - yes - life-enhancing. I recommend Betraying Spinoza to all who might be interested - a true guide for the perplexed.
And it's also the birthday of one of my enduring literary heroes, Laurence Sterne - and of Scott Joplin. Which calls for a rag, if only I had the technology (here at NigeCorp) to link to one...
Sagittarians all, of course, like me.

5 comments:

  1. Ooh, looks good Nige. I am always reading these brilliant little quotes by Spinoza, so perhaps it's time to find out more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You might enjoy Patrick Kurp on Rebecca Goldstein on Spinoza in his postings:

    Defending Spinoza

    Defending Spinoza, Part 2

    Defending Spinoza, Part 3

    ReplyDelete
  3. Since my Amazon shopping basket has amassed about £30 in your book recommendations in the last half hour, I'll have to give the Spinoza a miss. Unless, of course, he was a particularly good illustrator/humourist.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Dave - it was Patrick who first led me to this book, as to so many others... And Dick I got my copy very cheap - might have been on AbeBooks...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sagittarian it is then Nige, hmmm, all is revealed, we Cancerians salute you, joking apart, the lady to whom I have been married for the past forty years (what!!!!!) swears she can identify a persons star sign simply by their nature, she is invariably correct, extremely spooky. I doubt Spinoza could do that.
    I have a friend who can knock out Joplin rags like a pro, only when totally stoned. Sober, he's rubbish.

    Dick, since becoming a frequent visitor to this and BAs blog my Amazon wish list is now measured in furlongs.
    However, The Plan is available from Lulu

    ReplyDelete