In Torpor
A Time to Keep Silence, Patrick Leigh Fermor Finished on May 6, 2025
Introspective travel book in which the author visits five different monasteries and evaluates the lessons he learned from them, supplemented with short history lessons about monastic life.
Bericht Uit Het Hiernamaals, Simon Vestdijk Finished on April 23, 2025
Collection of messages from the afterlife, in which the messenger describes the afterlife in purely empirical-scientific terms. It is described as a place where the soul floats through a so-called «space», which however cannot be perceived, because the only thing left of the persons in this «space» are their thoughts, with which they can communicate with each other. This existence is explained by the messenger as a «trouble». The messenger also speaks of the disappearance of extinguished souls, possibly because they cannot cope with the aforementioned «trouble». At the end, there is talk of an impending catastrophe, indicating that the afterlife as our protagonist knows it will likely cease to exist and he will have to die a second death, as has likely happened to others before him. Very special book, unfortunately never translated into English.
Aeneid, Virgil Finished on April 5, 2025
What is there left to say that hasn't already been said? It is probably the most famous Roman propaganda ever put to paper. If you like Homer's poetry, you will like Virgil. My favorite book is book six. Highly recommended.
Platonism, Mauro Bonazzi Finished on March 8, 2025
Short book on the history of Platonism, from Plato's death to the end of classical Neoplatonism. Although it does touch on the philosophical side of things, it is largely just a summary of its history.
The Aleph, Jorge Luis Borges Finished on February 19, 2025
Another collection of short stories. If you are planning to read Jorge Luis Borges, I recommend starting with this one. I prefer The Aleph to Fictions. My favorite story from this collection is Averroes' Search.
Fictions, Jorge Luis Borges Finished on February 7, 2025
Collection of short stories. I have to admit it took me a little while to get into it, but once I did I was hooked. I prefer Part Two to Part One and my favorite story is Funes the Memorious.
Grip, Stephan Enter Finished on January 27, 2025
Phenomenal book, which immediately became one of my favorite books ever. It is about four former mountaineering friends who decide to meet again after decades of absence, although the meeting never takes place in the book. The book consists of the journeys to the meeting, four chapters each written from the perspective of the four friends. The main themes are the passing of time and the changes that people go through because of the passing of time. Unfortunately, it has not yet been translated into English.