I haven't read any of these specific books either, but I'm familiar with a number of them, and read their blurbs in the article. I'd say these aren't books for the time poor. Most of them are...
I haven't read any of these specific books either, but I'm familiar with a number of them, and read their blurbs in the article.
I'd say these aren't books for the time poor. Most of them are going to be dense like you fear, and introduce a bunch of academic ideas that even the well-read will be unfamiliar with.
Any list like this is going to be based on popularity and the subjective judgement of the people making the list. No such list can possibly be definitive, and that you haven't read them (I haven't...
Any list like this is going to be based on popularity and the subjective judgement of the people making the list. No such list can possibly be definitive, and that you haven't read them (I haven't even heard of most of them) does not reflect poorly on you or suggest that you need to read them all, or at all. It's exactly like awards for music, television, and film. It's the subjective opinion of a group of people, and some other group of people will have a different list. Don't worry yourself over what is currently in fashion.
In the post it's acknowledged that people think The Better Angels... is junk (in other words though), but that it may hold a place in the list because it's undoubtedly influential. That's entirely...
In the post it's acknowledged that people think The Better Angels... is junk (in other words though), but that it may hold a place in the list because it's undoubtedly influential. That's entirely fair, and certainly a reason to recommend reading a book.
As an example, I read Goldwater's The Conscience of a Conservative, and it was horridly dumb as I expected, but still worth reading on account of it's apparent influence in Conservative politics.
I haven't read any of these specific books either, but I'm familiar with a number of them, and read their blurbs in the article.
I'd say these aren't books for the time poor. Most of them are going to be dense like you fear, and introduce a bunch of academic ideas that even the well-read will be unfamiliar with.
Any list like this is going to be based on popularity and the subjective judgement of the people making the list. No such list can possibly be definitive, and that you haven't read them (I haven't even heard of most of them) does not reflect poorly on you or suggest that you need to read them all, or at all. It's exactly like awards for music, television, and film. It's the subjective opinion of a group of people, and some other group of people will have a different list. Don't worry yourself over what is currently in fashion.
Anyone have any thoughts on any of these? Nonfiction of this type is right in my reading wheelhouse, but most of these are new to me.
In the post it's acknowledged that people think The Better Angels... is junk (in other words though), but that it may hold a place in the list because it's undoubtedly influential. That's entirely fair, and certainly a reason to recommend reading a book.
As an example, I read Goldwater's The Conscience of a Conservative, and it was horridly dumb as I expected, but still worth reading on account of it's apparent influence in Conservative politics.