Obviously, I'd need more evidence than the book in your hand to come to any reliable conclusions about your intelligence. But you'd be off to a much better start if I noticed you reading Jordan Peterson than The Guardian.
P.S. Full disclosure: I'm a retired reference librarian with over 8000 books in my home library (on all subjects, thou…
Obviously, I'd need more evidence than the book in your hand to come to any reliable conclusions about your intelligence. But you'd be off to a much better start if I noticed you reading Jordan Peterson than The Guardian.
P.S. Full disclosure: I'm a retired reference librarian with over 8000 books in my home library (on all subjects, though heavily weighted to literature, philosophy and intellectual history)--yet I've never selected something for subway or waiting room reading for the purpose of making a public statement. If you see me reading Husserl's Logical Investigations, it's because I'm in the middle of the thing. Admittedly, though, I'm the same person who, on getting off a train in Paris in the 1970s and finding myself beside a young lady wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt, asked her in all innocence, "How are the Buckeyes doing this year?" Informed by her blank look that she had no idea what I was talking about, I followed up with, "You don't really go to Ohio State, do you?" "No," she said, looking at me as if I'd just dropped in from outer space, "it's just a cool sweatshirt." In retrospect, she was well ahead of the same curve that I'm still trailing.
P.P.S. Though there's no photo evidence, yes, I have read Ulysses. It's not all that difficult; in fact, it's a wonderful experience. It also has the most exhilarating last line in all literature, well worth the journey to get there.
Obviously, I'd need more evidence than the book in your hand to come to any reliable conclusions about your intelligence. But you'd be off to a much better start if I noticed you reading Jordan Peterson than The Guardian.
P.S. Full disclosure: I'm a retired reference librarian with over 8000 books in my home library (on all subjects, though heavily weighted to literature, philosophy and intellectual history)--yet I've never selected something for subway or waiting room reading for the purpose of making a public statement. If you see me reading Husserl's Logical Investigations, it's because I'm in the middle of the thing. Admittedly, though, I'm the same person who, on getting off a train in Paris in the 1970s and finding myself beside a young lady wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt, asked her in all innocence, "How are the Buckeyes doing this year?" Informed by her blank look that she had no idea what I was talking about, I followed up with, "You don't really go to Ohio State, do you?" "No," she said, looking at me as if I'd just dropped in from outer space, "it's just a cool sweatshirt." In retrospect, she was well ahead of the same curve that I'm still trailing.
P.P.S. Though there's no photo evidence, yes, I have read Ulysses. It's not all that difficult; in fact, it's a wonderful experience. It also has the most exhilarating last line in all literature, well worth the journey to get there.