The February Reading (+ Streaming) List
It's March? Whoops.
Ok, it’s March. I prioritized writing The Last Mile part I and part II, so please forgive the tardiness.
—Last December, I told you all about my favorite books, movies, documentaries, and podcasts of 2021. People really seemed to like it so I’m doing one per month this year. People enjoyed the January Reading List Post and now we’re back in action.
The February Recommendation List:
Four books
Two movies
One podcast
Away we go 💸
Another Country by James Baldwin
In short: I was floored by this New York City novel.Though many people have read or heard of Go Tell It On the Mountain and If Beale Street Could Talk , this was the first book I’ve read by James Baldwin. My friend Dan Breyer suggested reading and discussing Another Country for our forthcoming podcast (Dan’s substack also has a nice write up about it if you are curious.) The novel is rich and vivid and stylistically like nothing i’ve ever seen before. It is a novel of passions—sexual, racial, political, artistic, and takes place between Greenwich Village, Harlem, and France. It is not a fast read, but my does it pack a punch.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
If there were a shortlist of authors who inspired me to write fiction, Haruki Murakami would be on it. I listened to The Wind Up Bird Chronicle (per a friend’s suggestion) while studying abroad in Spain and could not fathom the creativity that book required. From there I read Hard Boiled Wonderland and many of his short story collections. To summarize: Murakami is a surrealist Japanese novelist who twists together dreams, fantasy, and reality in a way that stokes the imagination like few others alive. What few know is that Murakami is also an avid runner. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a memoir detailing a few of the 30+ marathons (and an ultra-marathon) he has run. It’s much simpler than his fiction but I found it refreshing and finished it the day before I ran the Austin Marathon last month. I have Mr. Murakami to thank for some timely running wisdom there.1
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Politics aside, the Russians write a freaking great novel. George Saunders’ recent book was what finally convinced me to take the leap into the Russian canon. 2 I’ve always wanted to get in but it’s a little daunting. Notes From Underground is a nice way in. It’s only 120 pages and split in two parts: A) an internal monologue which reads more like a philosophical treatise B) a long novella. The first half takes place in the mind of the main character “the underground man.” Part one discusses the character’s interesting (though somewhat warped) philosophical musings on rational self-interest, free will, the state, love, individuality, purpose, and so on. Part two is a short narrative about the Underground man in his younger years, and it shows those philosophies in action. The end is brutal and brilliant and tragic and tells you all you need to know about Dostoevsky’s view of life and humanity nature.3
What I Believe by Bertrand Russell
My first experience with Bertrand Russell was his History of Western Philosophy which came highly recommended.4 It’s a tome, but does an excellent job of distilling several thousand years of history into a single fairly unbiased book. What I Believe is very different. It’s a compilation of Russell’s essays, lectures, and various writings which are riddled with hot takes and truth bombs. For example:
It must be one of the chief concerns of the scientific moralist to combat fear. This can be done in two ways: by increasing security, and by cultivating courage. I am speaking of fear as an irrational passion, not of the rational prevision of possible misfortune. Europe since 1914 has been like a panicstricken audience in a theatre on fire; what is needed is calm authoritative directions as to how to escape without trampling each other to pieces in the process. The Victorian Age, for all its humbug, was a period of rapid progress, because men were dominated by hope rather than fear. If we are again to have progress, we must again be dominated by hope (Basic Writings, 362).
What I Believe was short and palatable and akin to Will/Ariel Durant’s Lessons From History if you are a fan of that style.5
Movie time!
Munich: The Edge of War — Directed by Christian Schwochow
Set in the fall of 1938 on the brink of WWII. Hitler prepares to invade. The British travel to Munich to discuss peace. (Shoutout to Greg Bacus for this rec!!)
Being the Ricardos — Directed by Aaron Sorkin
In 1952, the star of I Love Lucy (played by Nicole Kidman) is accused Communist sympathy and is bailed out by her husband and co-star (Javier Bardem).
—Academy Award Best Picture nominee.
Podcast
Michael Schur on the Tim Ferris Show.
If you are a fan of The Office, Parks & Rec, or Infinite Jest this episode will get you going. 6
A long time ago
I came to realize that I even if I read non-stop from birth until death I would still not come close to reading all the greatest books ever written. Surprisingly, it took the pressure off trying to read only the greats. Now I read whatever interests me at a given time. And this relationship has led me to view reading as a privilege and a practice. So I’ll leave the February letter there. I hope at least one of these books has intrigued you enough to pick up a copy or have a listen on Audible. To me, it doesn’t matter if you take the physical copy or download it on audible. What matters is that you are reading!
As always, I appreciate you supporting this newsletter, and my writing at large. I’m going to keep testing different types of content here and always love to hear your feedback. You’re also encouraged to email me questions or raise issues for discussion and i’ll try to tackle them here or in another medium.
Even better, I’d love for you to pass along any books/movies/podcasts/docs you found particularly good.
As always, reach out if there is anything you need
Take care,
Jeremy
It’s pretty incredible when you think about how such a small fraction of authors (the Russians, The Beats, etc…) account for such an outside portion of the best novels/short stories of all time.
Dan and I have a podcast coming on this one as well.
History of Western Philosophy is extremely interesting (though’I haven’t finished and am treating it as a sort of tasting plate to pickup here and there
There’s a special place in my bookshelf for philosophers/intellectuals of that time. It was turbulent and chaotic and created in a few writers a sense of vastness and breadth and scope that is rare and lasting.
I haven’t listened to as much Tim Ferriss in recent years, but this conversation was stellar