Great Reads for August
Ahoy,
I guess I missed a month. It happens. I’m in Poland for the month of August so if you’re around let’s meet up.
In fact, we are currently in an apartment in the heart of Krakow’s Old Town, right next to the Kościół Mariacki, St. Mary’s Church, in the old town square. It’s a lovely old basilica, massive and imposing, and there are two towers on the front. From the tallest tower, every hour, a hornblower plays the hejnal, a short tune originally played to mark the ends of the day and to signal the opening or closing of the old city gates. The hejnal, which dates back to at least 1392, has been played without fail for centuries. Only recently has it become an hourly occurrence, something that’s nice if you’re drinking an Aperol Spritz in the square and not so nice if you’re trying to sleep at 2am.
I’ve been thinking a lot about human focus on tradition and the hejnal is one of those traditions: completely ridiculous on its face but vital in practice. Humans have memory and we write things down for a simple reason: so that the centuries don’t obliterate us. These past few decades have given us so much to read, see, and experience that we rarely think anymore. We’re destroying the planet, fighting each other over a virus, and shooting each other up for kicks. While the life of the hornblower in 1392 was probably nasty, brutish, and short, the fact that her original song still flies over the tile rooftops of Krakow is a testament to memory. We’ve known failure before and it stings. We’ve known success before and it is fleeting. And we’ve sung out against twilight again and again and again and it would behoove us to remember the songs that worked against the coming darkness.
Best,
JB
My friend Ryan Holiday opened a bookshop in Bastrop. Please buy books from him.
I’ve built a few things I’d like to share. First, my friends and I built Rare.Market. It’s a physical art gallery that is digital-first and gives you the actual art alongside an NFT. It’s one of the most interesting of its kind and we even have a Banksy! I think NFTs as a fad is stupid but I’m all in when it comes to the melding of digital and physical art.
Second, I’m going to be offering startup advice and offer pitch coaching. It’s something I love to do and it’s something I’ve missed. I think a lot of startup coverage is saccharine and useless so I’ll try to change that. You can subscribe here.
Ok. Onto the books.
12 Seconds of Silence: How a Team of Inventors, Tinkerers, and Spies Took Down a Nazi Superweapon
by Jamie Holmes
This is one of those WWII history books that focuses on one thing - in this case, the terrible object-sensing fuses created by a group of scientists in Washington DC - that turned the tide of the war. The fuses were designed to sense objects nearby and because they were built in 1940, the technology was primitive at best. The fuses helped destroy thousands of German V-1 rockets as they came over the English Channel into London and, when programmed to blow up over open ground, reversed the Battle of the Bulge by literally chewing the German Army to bits. It’s a great story well told about a weapon that should have never been created.
by Vergil trans. Shadi Bartsch
Like most fancy-brained people, I like to pretend I read a lot of Classics. This is one of those times that I actually read the damn book. This is an excellent translation of Vergil’s Aeneid and the story really comes to life. Obviously, it’s a slog — epic poetry doesn’t quite cut it in a world full of reality TV — but if you’re thinking of reading Vergil then give this one a try.
by Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis does really nice pop journalism. He’s covered a load of stuff already, from sports to the financial crisis, and his book on the Covid-19 pandemic is sprightly, readable, and full of frustrating detail that you’ll want to read. It’s not the best book on the pandemic but it will be one of the definitive ones.
As always, I welcome recommendations. Just email me at john@biggs.cc.