Reading Material and Future Plans

I have recently bought a number of books for the benefit of some quality self-improvement. I hope to start writing frequent blog posts on multiple subjects about things that spring to mind, books I have read, current issues or even music I have listened to. I want to write more freely without the restraints of looking back over what I have wrote for half a day before posting it, and I have come to the conclusion the best way to do this is just to write in more of a diary format than that of a news article.

So as I started by saying. I have purchased a number of books. Too many books as it happens. They are sitting next to me on the desk right now, and there is a great amount of frustration thinking over how many months it will take to absorb all of this. The problem being I read rather slowly. Or maybe I do not; it might just be my instinctive conservative pessimism weaving its dark magic. Alternatively it could also be the excitement and anticipation of enriching myself with all this knowledge that I know is a long way off finding its way into my head. It could also be that I have recently being accepted to do a distant learning master’s degree in Quantity Surveying and the knowing that leisure reading will have to take a back seat.

So here is the list of books I have recently acquired:

The Abolition of Britain, by Peter Hitchens

The Rage Against God, by Peter Hitchens

Monday Morning Blues, by Peter Hitchens

Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell, by Simon Heffer

Vaughan Williams, by Simon Heffer

Modern Philosophy, by Roger Scruton

The Meaning of Conservatism, by Roger Scruton

Kant, by Roger Scruton

I have also bought 3 books about the English language and Grammar for reasons I will come to later. There is one more book which I have acquired as well which I think is worth mentioning. Occasionally I pop into Poundland to see what is on the shelf as there is an occasional gem. I once managed to get a hard back copy of Ken Livingstone’s autobiography and a book about the Kings and Queens of Britain. This time however I found a lonesome copy of a book entitled ‘A More Perfect Heaven’ by Dava Sobel which is about Nicolaus Copernicus who was a Polish cleric that theorised the Sun was at the centre of the universe; as opposed to the Earth.

Anyhow, I had to start by reading one of these books and every time I looked over them I was drawn towards the biography of Enoch Powell. When the book arrived through the post I initially exhaled at the 1,000 page epic, but as the days went by the size of the book became part of the attraction. And so I decided to stop procrastinating and got strapped in for some reading.

From watching the two available documentaries about Enoch Powell which exist on youtube I was already aware of his praised intellect. However I really did not know just how intellectual he was until I started reading. At present I have reached the part in which Powell won his first parliamentary seat in the constituency of Wolverhampton and so I am going to share some of the more interesting facts I have learned hitherto.

• Powell came from a relatively humble background, tracing back to coal miners
• Was reading Herodotus and Thucydides by the age of 6
• He attended sixth form at the age of 13
• Got almost every scholarship going, making a confortable £400 a year
• Was tutored by A E Housman
• Fluent in 6 languages
• Wrote some of his exams out in 2 languages and left 90 minutes before the test was due to finish
• Became a professor of Greek at the age of 25. At the time making him the 2^nd youngest person to become professor in history. 2^nd to Friedrich Nietzche
• Powell was one of only 2 people in the Second World War to rise from private to Brigadier over the course of the conflict
• For two weeks was the youngest Brigadier in the army

There is much more to comment on in this book, and it has rapidly become the best biography I have ever read. To that I must thank Simon Heffer immensely. One thing that is worth noting is that occasionally Powell is guilty of showing extreme logic with a lacking for empathy. This fits the title of the book, as he does appear to me as a stoic Roman senator type. This might explain why personally I favour the Hitchens brand of economics.

There was one specific thing that I have picked up so far that is having an impact on me. For as long as I can remember I have not been very confident with my writing skills, which has been holding me back for a long time. When I went to university I chose to study a media degree which was heavy on practical work and had no exams because of this. When really I should have aimed at studying politics or history. Powell remarked that learning another language shows up the weaknesses in your first language, and as I have a book on the language of Latin it might well be the time to start leaning it. Once I have finished this biography of Powell I will read the 3 books I purchased on English and Grammar as well as starting on Latin before I read anymore politics.

I have many more things to talk about as allot of thoughts have built up between now and the last time I wrote something, but I wouldn’t want to exhaust it all in this one blog entry.

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A paragraph in 'Like the Roman' that brought a smile to my face