THE BEST OF MARCH

RIMBAUD - LES ILLUMINATIONS

"These metaphysical wet dreams will delight sulky teenagers and juveniles of all ages, but adults will agree with Rimbaud's own judgement: 'It's all slop.' ... I found these pieces supremely boring. Perhaps if I cared about the Rimbaud myth I would read these with different eyes-- but I don't, and therefore what I find is faux passion and histrionic hormones ... Not recommended."


KUHN - THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS

"I fear Kuhn and his readers have never tried to do a scientific experiment. They are really very difficult to do and producing accurate measurements often seems impossible. This is why it has taken years for science to develop."

"Kuhn started down this path by looking at Aristotle's physics and asked why something that was so 'obviously' wrong could have been conceived by such a brilliant man and not be questioned for such a long time. The obvious answer to anyone with a grasp of history would be that Aristotle wasn't all that smart"


MELVILLE - MOBY-DICK

"Moby Ick
Moby Ick's more like it. A PIECE-O-TRASH! SENSELESS!"


FREUD - THE EGO AND THE ID

"HONEY,,I THINK,,FREUD,,WAS A NASTY LITTLE MAN,,,N BACK IN HIS DAY WOMEN,,WERE CONCIDERED,,,TO BE SLAVES TO THERE HUBBYS,,AND IF THEY SHOWED,,,ANY BRAINS,,THEY WERE BEAT FOR IT,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,PEACE"


KIERKEGAARD - REPETITION

"Philosophers are people who like to make life seem more meaningful than it is. We live. We die. End of transaction."


NABOKOV - BEND SINISTER

"Pubescent girls have all the features that heterosexual men normally find attractive, including an extra dose of youthfulness. Show me a man, white gentile or otherwise, who does not find them attractive and I will show you a probable homosexual."


BRONTE - WUTHERING HEIGHTS

"Urgh!
Urghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Urghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Urgh! Urgh! Urgh! Urghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Urghhhhh! Urghhhhhh!, Urgh!. Urgh! Urgh! Urgh!, Urgh! Urgh! Urghhhhhhh! Urhhhhhhh! Urghhhhhhhh! Urghhhhhhhhhhh! Urgh, urgh, urgh!"


SOPHOCLES - OEDIPUS AT COLONUS

"too simplistic for me ... I expected to be challenged when reading Sophocles. I'm guessing that this was written at a middle school reading level."


FEYERABEND - AGAINST METHOD

"Philosophers of science nowadays tend to be folk who wanted to be scientists when they were a kid, but then discovered that it's hard work that makes your brain hurt. Scientific relativism is balm to their wounded intellectual pride."


JAMES - THE TURN OF THE SCREW

"Many people will say: 'you can't judge a 19th-century book according to our 21th century standards'. Good point, but yes, I can."