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<h1>Books</h1>
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<div class="header-meta">
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<span class="tags" style="--totalTags: 11"></span>
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</div>
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</header>
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<main data-pagefind-body="data-pagefind-body">
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<p>These books had a big influence on my thinking and taste.</p>
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</style>
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<h3
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id="g%C3%B6del%2C-escher%2C-bach%3A-an-eternal-golden-braid---douglas-hofstadter"
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tabindex="-1"
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>
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<a
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class="header-anchor"
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href="#g%C3%B6del%2C-escher%2C-bach%3A-an-eternal-golden-braid---douglas-hofstadter"
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aria-hidden="true"
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></a>
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<a href="https://amzn.to/44Nvcuf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
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><img
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src="/books/0465026567.jpg?v=a808037c6297"
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alt="book cover, showing a pair of carved shapes which cast shadows forming the letters G, E, and B"
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/>
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Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid
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<small>- Douglas Hofstadter</small></a
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>
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</h3>
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<p>
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I read this heady tome in college. I think I’ve completed it three
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times? It alternates between whimsical stories and theory, building a
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case that thought and meaning are emergent properties of the brain. It
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deals heavily with the idea of self-reference, which is the main theme
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uniting the three people in the title. Although he discounts the
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possibility of the immaterial aspect of reality as unknowable,
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Hofstadter introduced me to many interesting ideas and his book is a
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delightful journey, if you are prepared for it.
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</p>
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<h3
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id="the-space-trilogy%3A-out-of-the-silent-planet%2C-perelandra%2C-and-that-hideous-strength---c.-s.-lewis"
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tabindex="-1"
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>
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<a
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class="header-anchor"
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href="#the-space-trilogy%3A-out-of-the-silent-planet%2C-perelandra%2C-and-that-hideous-strength---c.-s.-lewis"
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aria-hidden="true"
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></a>
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<a href="https://amzn.to/3SfO7Xc" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
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><img
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src="/books/0007528418.jpg?v=803840053bf3"
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alt="book cover, abstract space illustration showing three planets"
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/>
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The Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That
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Hideous Strength <small>- C. S. Lewis</small></a
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>
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</h3>
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<p>
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These stories contain so much richness. One theme that stuck with me
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emerges in <em>Out of the Silent Planet</em> and is repeated in
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<em>Perelandra</em>: that good things can be spoiled by overconsumption.
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Something that is pleasant or satisfying stands by itself, and doesn’t
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need to be repeated or hoarded. In fact, the drive to capture,
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concentrate, and control pleasant things can cheapen them, and could be
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at the root of many of our troubles.
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</p>
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<h3
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id="leadership-and-self-deception---the-arbinger-institute"
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tabindex="-1"
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>
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<a
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class="header-anchor"
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href="#leadership-and-self-deception---the-arbinger-institute"
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aria-hidden="true"
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></a>
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<a href="https://amzn.to/3GNsFGs" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
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><img
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src="/books/1523006560.jpg?v=a89d0e479bdf"
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alt='book cover, a tromp-l'oeil torn segment reveals in bold letters "SELF-DECEPTION"'
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/>
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Leadership and Self-Deception
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<small>- The Arbinger Institute</small></a
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>
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</h3>
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<p>
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This book painted for me a vivid picture of the mechanics of selfish and
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self-centered thinking. It describes in detail the ways that we blind
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ourselves, especially in interpersonal communication. The result of
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internalizing the concepts in this book is a sort of secular elaboration
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of “Love your neighbor”, but even though it misses (or omits?
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subtracts?) the spiritual core of things, it still rings quite true and
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the tools found in this book and others from the Arbinger Instutute are
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fantastically valuable.<br />
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If this is of interest, you may also enjoy
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<a href="https://amzn.to/3SmSQqi" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
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>Marshall Rosenberg’s “Non-violent communication”</a
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>
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or
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<a href="/posts/needs-based-communication/"
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>my article on needs-based communication</a
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>.
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</p>
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<h3
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id="orthodoxy-and-the-religion-of-the-future---fr.-seraphim-rose"
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tabindex="-1"
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>
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<a
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class="header-anchor"
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href="#orthodoxy-and-the-religion-of-the-future---fr.-seraphim-rose"
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aria-hidden="true"
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></a>
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<a href="https://amzn.to/4jVqE9F" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
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><img
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src="/books/188790400X.jpg?v=a3156620e0dd"
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alt='book cover, a byzantine icon "The triumph of the Archangel Michael over the antichrist, who is shown falling into the abyss together with the cities of this world at the end of time"'
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/>
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Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future
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<small>- Fr. Seraphim Rose</small></a
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>
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</h3>
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<p>
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This book synthesizes many pieces of the zeitgeist as I have seen it
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develop in my life. It touches on nihilism, the charismatic movement,
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yoga, eastern and new-age spirituality, and the UFO phenomenon. All
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these things are contextualized into a movement towards an upcoming
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religious synthesis, and contrasted with eastern Orthodoxy. Fr. Seraphim
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has a clear, academic writing style which I found easy to read, and this
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book answered many questions I had not even thought to ask. I also
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recommend his book/pamphlet
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<a href="https://amzn.to/4jYlRnX" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
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>Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age</a
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>, which is slightly drier than this but sets a good foundation for it,
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and
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<a href="https://amzn.to/4iDaAIv" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
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>The Soul After Death</a
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>
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for its sober and thorough approach to understanding things most people
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have not witnessed directly.
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</p>
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<h3
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id="the-gurus%2C-the-young-man%2C-and-elder-paisios---dionysios-farasiotis"
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tabindex="-1"
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>
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<a
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class="header-anchor"
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href="#the-gurus%2C-the-young-man%2C-and-elder-paisios---dionysios-farasiotis"
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aria-hidden="true"
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></a>
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<a href="https://amzn.to/3GzsoXJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
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><img
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src="/books/1887904166.jpg?v=0c96e7e6d001"
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alt="book cover, a mountainside monastery with a body of water in the background"
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/>
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The Gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios
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<small>- Dionysios Farasiotis</small></a
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>
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</h3>
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<p>
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This is the fascinating true story of a young man’s experiences with
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occult eastern gurus, the amazing adventures and troubles he had, and
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his conversations and visits with Elder Paisios of Mount Athos. He tells
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the story without embellishment, speaking plainly about the fantastic
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things that he saw and his thoughts and feelings as he struggled to find
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peace.
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</p>
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<h3 id="little-brother---cory-doctorow" tabindex="-1">
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<a
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class="header-anchor"
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href="#little-brother---cory-doctorow"
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||
aria-hidden="true"
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||
></a>
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<a
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href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30142"
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target="_blank"
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rel="noopener"
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><img
|
||
src="/books/0765319853.jpg?v=d34004ad2ec0"
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alt="book cover, three shadowed figures in a dramatic pose in front of a looming red X"
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/>
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Little Brother <small>- Cory Doctorow</small></a
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>
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</h3>
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<p>
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This book functions not only as an engaging story, but a primer for
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digital security as a whole. If it doesn’t make you an outright
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cypherpunk, you will at least understand the movement better.
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</p>
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<h3 id="snow-crash---neal-stephenson" tabindex="-1">
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<a
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class="header-anchor"
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href="#snow-crash---neal-stephenson"
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||
aria-hidden="true"
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||
></a>
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||
<a href="https://amzn.to/3SfPIMG" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
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><img
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||
src="/books/0553380958.jpg?v=8290cd12094e"
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alt="book cover, a red katana in front of a blue field of circuits"
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/>
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Snow Crash <small>- Neal Stephenson</small></a
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>
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</h3>
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<p>
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A sympathetic main character, heaps of style, a hacker aesthetic, an
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evocative and lived-in setting, and non-stop action. This book magnified
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||
my love of the written word as a literal creative force. Digital reality
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and baseline reality are both shaped by language, but in different ways,
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and this story explores that distinction vigorously and memorably.
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</p>
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<h3 id="the-stranger---chris-van-allsburg" tabindex="-1">
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<a
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||
class="header-anchor"
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href="#the-stranger---chris-van-allsburg"
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||
aria-hidden="true"
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||
></a>
|
||
<a href="https://amzn.to/3SeBz2k" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
|
||
><img
|
||
src="/books/0395423317.jpg?v=c4e7e11fde46"
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||
alt="book cover, a softly lit man in overalls stares as he is served a bowl of soup"
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||
/>
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The Stranger <small>- Chris Van Allsburg</small></a
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>
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</h3>
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<p>
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||
The illustrations in this surreal children’s book stuck with me my whole
|
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life. I like all this author’s illustrations, but this book especially
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captured my imagination.
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||
</p>
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<h3
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id="getting-started-on-the-pc-2---harvard-pennington%2C-gary-camp%2C-ralph-burris"
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tabindex="-1"
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||
>
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||
<a
|
||
class="header-anchor"
|
||
href="#getting-started-on-the-pc-2---harvard-pennington%2C-gary-camp%2C-ralph-burris"
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||
aria-hidden="true"
|
||
></a>
|
||
<a
|
||
href="https://archive.org/details/gettingstartedon00harv"
|
||
target="_blank"
|
||
rel="noopener"
|
||
><img
|
||
src="/books/0936200111.jpg?v=ea503c655abb"
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||
alt="book cover, large text above a photo of a PC-2 computer, with a one-row LCD display and a tiny but complete QWERTY keyboard"
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||
/>
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Getting Started on the PC-2
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<small>- Harvard Pennington, Gary Camp, Ralph Burris</small></a
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>
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</h3>
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<p>
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This was my first programming book. My grandfather Clarence gave it to
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me along with a Radio Shack PC-2 handheld computer. That evening I
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||
managed to make a program that produced “music”, a random sequence of
|
||
tones. I was hooked.
|
||
</p>
|
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© Joshua Seigler 2025. -
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