Well -- I will do that, because that is principle 2 of my field, poetics. You'd be surprised how different most great prose works look if you read that way, treating form itself as meaningful, just as you would in a poem, instead of pulling out one-liners or running on summaries. (Actually, I suspect you personally wouldn't be surprised, but I'm writing fast here.)

But then principle 1 of poetics is to be honoured above all: "Thought is free" -- Ariel says that in The Tempest, so it must be true.

All that said, Yes! I'm keen. I'd be interested in doing Smith just because I think he's in the running for writer whose name is most often dropped by people who've never read his book.

It would motivate me to read the darn thing. Skdadl and Trisha are up for it too, so's Earthmother and c'mon Jared I KNOW you can do it... just do like me, throw those magazines out in a fit. You'll never miss 'em. Bunch of old rubbish.

I am open to other suggestions but Sean S. let's be realistic Deleuze is going to be unreadable to most people. I'm not insulting him in an underhanded fashion here, I think that's just realistic. Nietzsche could be fun and very controversial. Also good reading is David Hume's *very short* Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. Hume is a brilliant writer, his work reads like a dream. And he's interesting.

Fiction's not impossible, but getting a structured discussion out of it is MUCH harder IMHO.

Rasmus

p.s. If most people would rather read Adam Smith first, that's fine with me

1) The Wealth of Nations

It's long, complete it's 1146 pages, but there are cheap abridged versions out there like the Oxford paperback. It's a book much talked about and little read. I'm partial to this choice. Partly to "know thine enemy", partly because I think Smith is subtler and more of a social democrat than most right-wingers realize.

(2) Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by Hume. This is a very well written dialogue about theological questions, including the existence of God. Hume presents the arguments for both sides masterfully.

(3) A work of Nietzsche. I would suggest Zarathustra because it's literary, but that's also a reason to avoid it. Beyond Good and Evil?

(4) Democracy in America by Tocqueville. A classic of political thinking about the nature of democracy, also much talked of, little read.

(5) The Lives of Animals. Short and very provocative (I've read it), the problem is it's not widely available.

(6) Eichmann in Jerusalem or some other book by Hannah Arendt. Certainly EJ affected me deeply, by the same token, I've already read it, no incentive to do so again.

(7) A dialogue of Plato -- say, the Symposium, which is short and entertaining.

(8) Some history? Economics? Feminist work?

Votes? Suggestions?

I don't want to encourage a free-for-all, however. If people are happy with Adam Smith, let's do that.

I started reading it last night. I propose starting slowly, then we can skip stuff/move quickly according to our interests. How is that?

Once a couple of more people commit, shall we set down a schedule?

Shall we round up some copies during this week? It's available complete and free on the internet if you want to destroy your eyesight (or print it out, which will cost more than a book), or there are some very cheap abridged versions. I think the Oxford paperback is the cheapest and most representative selection. It's available in two volumes from Penguin, but please don't pay full price for these, it's a rip-off. The others mostly leave out Books 4 and 5, because in Book 5 Smith says some quite reasonable things about taxation. On the other hand I would think that most any public library in any but the smallest town will have a copy of the Wealth of Nations.

So I'll start reading tonight and make some preliminary suggestions for how much we can reasonably read by the end of next week/beginning of the following.

Who is she anyhow? Backgwound?

Allan Bloom... I'd be more interested in his conservative mentor, Leo Strauss. Or in Philip Roth's book about Bloom, Ravelstein. As you know Bloom was raving, and an interesting man. I'm not totally unsympathetic to his views. I wouldn't lump him with neoconservatives in general, I'd just call him a Straussian.

But I still vote for Smith...

What do you mean by "circular" btw Noah?

Perhaps shorter works might be more practicle for future consideration. Gore Vidal has writen some very good essays over the years, and if they are available in London's libraries, they should be everywhere else in Canada.

Media boy: Had to skim a few parts myself. still seeing this girlfriend? If not, got a phone number?

(kidding, don't answer either)

quote:

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*typing fiendishly with one foot out the door* Dr C, was it the main Georgia St library where the Smith was lent out? Because that's where I was planning on going but if I know the book's gone, I'll try a different branch.

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Still, what motivates me to reply is that a review of all of the discussion brought up by the original proposal is an observation. It seems to me we could discuss topics forever and not find a true consensus. I suggest the way to a reading project is to have someone start by reading a section and commenting on it and ask for a response. Just do it!