A Syntopicon

en.wikipedia.org

2 pointsharryday2 comments

In the section on critiques should be added Alex Beam's more-general critique of Adler and the GBWW project: A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books.

It is good for a giggle and uses the rhetorical technique of lampooning the other's (Adler's) over-seriousness; although I thought that Beam's pen-nib was a bit too sharp, and I ended up both pitying Adler and cheering him on more than expected.

Worth borrowing from your local library, but probably not worth spending money or valuable shelf space on it.

Was a misstep to set up a slipbox with the ideas first. Mostly accumulated notes in technology and programming, so hard to categorize anyway. Better to let it grow organically, and later link relevant pieces to the original.

For each idea, Syntopicon has an intro and then outlines. Maybe in the new year could at least cover the former in each. Never got past Angel, as if the reading itself was a harder slog than usual.

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