I feel much better having Darwin’s Origin under my belt. It was a challenging but rewarding read. In spots he lost me on account of me lacking sophistication in the realm of biology—I only know so much about flowers (and ants), Charles!—but the overall argument I found clear enough. I always thought water wore away rocks; it turns out it’s the sand and grit in the water that does it. Huh. And I learned some interesting things about beetles. Also, folks should keep in mind that Darwin never said “survival of the fittest.” And he really doesn’t discuss “evolution”—but “evolved” is the very last word in the book; I found this interesting.
Some may find it noteworthy to learn that finches get mentioned on only one page; his work with finches was conducted while the Beagle visited the Galapagos and they, finches, don’t really get discussed in Origin. Another amusing tidbit: Darwin never conquered seasickness and spent those years on the Beagle with his head over the side. He hated boats and the sea. One can see why.
I still have Darwin’s Descent of Man on my nightstand, but I’ll get to that later.
While a friend of mine and I will be rereading Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto soon (I’ve read it a few times to say the least), I have in the meantime jumped into the Autobiography of Malcolm X. I’m only a short way in, but yeah, I needed to get to this.
And I guess I’ll be rereading The Great Gatsby, as I keep bumping into references to it; it’s like I can’t get away from it. I have taken this as a sign that I need to brush up. I don’t really want to reread it, but I’d be remiss to ignore cosmic signals. It’s just that it’s so popular, and I am suspicious of things that are popular—especially literature. Take Frankenstein for example. Or Don Quixote. Or Catcher in the Rye. Or the truly awful Martian Chronicles (a science-fiction classic!) I find these novels tiresome, and I hope Gatsby does not disappoint. It’s been too long, so memory of it is hazy. But I suspect I will do some groaning. Once you’ve read Dostoevsky and Tolstoy … y’know, it’s hard to be impressed. I’m an insufferable snob, I know. I’ve been told.
I also decided on my list of retirement reads. Though I suspect retirement will not be an option, it’s good to have plans.
I shall read the following by the fireside under a blanket:
• Shelby Foote, The Civil War, 3 vols.
• Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 6 vols.
• David Hume, History of England, 6 vols.
• Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time, 6 vols.
That should keep me occupied for a while.
Oh, also, I acquired another skull. The young neighbor fella 3D printed it and it’s a beauty. His name is Rawlins. (The skull that is.)
