I've been slow with reading through the Daxue. I've been pretty lazy and brain dead lately but meaning to post here. I'll start with the fiction.
Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima
This book is often billed as an autobiographical novel where Mishima explores the difficulty of being a homosexual in a heteronormative society. That seems like a serious misreading to me. Mishima's preoccupation in this book are masks, the facades we put up in public, and the disconnect, alienation, and self destruction they can lead to. It feels like a very immature work. Mishima was only 24 when he wrote it so these themes aren't as fleshed out as they could be. The social media age has made the problems of avatars and inauthenticity much worse. Mishima has may immature fanboys and while I find his ethno nationalism distasteful, he does seem to be badly caricatured in the West.
Unintended Revolution by Brad S. Gregory
This 500 page behemoth is a forensic breakdown of how Protestant theology paved the way for secular liberalism, the common ideological framework for liberal democracy, capitalism, and state socialism. The real strength is that Gregory doesn't see Western secular modernity as necessary, inevitable or even good. Sadly, he seems to be throwing Protestants under the bus here, ignoring how medieval Catholic theologians also contributed to secularization.Gregory recognizes that modernity is failing, but the sheer dominance of secular liberalism has killed off or placated alternative worldviews.
>>6040Are you learning Chinese? I had no idea about the Sanzijing so I'll go ahead and read it at some point soon.
>>6040