Tag Archives: philosophy

The Revolt of the Angels (1914) by Anatole France | Book Review

Posted on February 5, 2026 by Jeroen Admiraal

The Revolt of the Angels is a 1914 French “fantasy” novel. I put “fantasy” between quotation marks because the modern concept of the fantasy genre didn’t exist in France at the time and by the same token we could mark … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Fantasy | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Daniel C. Dennett – From Bacteria To Bach and Back; The Evolution of Minds (2017) Review

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Jeroen Admiraal

Alright, this is going to be long. Daniel Dennett talks in this work about the things that he has always talked about, namely, about the nature of consciousness. And for him the word nature has a strong meaning. It means … Continue reading →

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Yuval Noah Harari – Homo Deus (2015) Review

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Jeroen Admiraal

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow is marketed as the sequel to Harari’s earlier popular non-fiction book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. And in a sense, it is. Sapiens started off with explaining the biological baseline of our … Continue reading →

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David Lindsay – A Voyage to Arcturus (1920) Review & interpretation

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Jeroen Admiraal

9.5/10 – review and interpretation One of my 10 favorite books of all time. In an alien version of Dante’s purgatory, the man Maskull traverses an alien planet in a spiritual journey of enlightenment and personal growth. This is one … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Fantasy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

R. Scott Bakker – The Judging Eye (2009) Review

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Jeroen Admiraal

8,5/10 With the upcoming and long-awaited publication of The Great Ordeal getting near, it is time to reread the first and second books of the Aspect-Emperor series before embarking on the third one soon. It has been so long since … Continue reading →

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Oscar Wilde – The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)

Posted on May 14, 2016 by Jeroen Admiraal

8.5/10 Gothic literature Oscar Wilde the wordsmith is a powerful force of creation. The way he conjures up witticisms and stimulating little insights with a turn of a phrase is still like a bright ray of light a century after … Continue reading →

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Arthur Koestler – The Act of Creation (1964)

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Jeroen Admiraal

Science, history, art and humanity. Perhaps the clearest book ever written on anything. I found this most extraordinary book in the bowels of a university library. The library was being cleaned up, and dusty books were distributed to scientists, whoever … Continue reading →

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Alan W. Watts – The Wisdom of Insecurity (1951)

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Jeroen Admiraal

150 p. About philosophy, religion and science. I am not often a consumer of esoteric, metaphysical or religious writing, but this book was whole-heartedly recommended to me and I decided to take a look. I googled the author Alan Watts … Continue reading →

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Gene Wolfe – The Books of the Long & Short Sun (review)

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Jeroen Admiraal

Comprising: The Book of the Long Sun: Nightside of the Long Sun (1993) Lake of the Long Sun (1994) Calde of the Long Sun (1994) Exodus from the Long Sun (1996) The Book of the Short Sun: On Blue’s Waters … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Science fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Benjamin Hoff – The Tao of Pooh (1982)

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Jeroen Admiraal

This book either explains Taoism through Winnie-the-Pooh, or it explains Winnie-the-Pooh through Taoism. If you’d ask the author, Benjamin Hoff, he would probably say: “same thing.” The book is short – you could read it in an afternoon. I liked … Continue reading →

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