Manuscripts Don’t Burn; or, Zwak reads books.

by | Jan 9, 2023 | Books | 253 comments

 

A lite romp through Moscow, with parlor magicians, keystone cops, and a cat as big as a pig that swills vodka. Or, a tale of desperation, chronicling black magic, the disappeared, the beheaded, and a cat as big as a pig waving a Mauser pistol around. A novel within a novel tells of the author’s struggles to write a novel accepted by official society. And contained within is a novel about the doubt of Pilate and the death of Yeshua.

Telling three interlocking stories; of the Devil coming to Moscow, of the crucifixion of Christ, and the love story of The Master and Margarita, this is one of the greatest pieces of 20th-century literature, being an allegory for the reign of Stalin and his purges, and of hope during that period of crushing oppression. It is, at heart, a novel of dissidence.

As these three stories interlock, Satan comes to Moscow and wreaks havoc, Margarita pines for her lover and is all too willing to make a deal with Satan to be reunited, and the Master’s great novel of Pilate is the cause of his being imprisoned, we come to the real heart of the matter, that Soviet Russia has no sense of godliness or its inverse, evil. And thus Satan is able to cause so much damage, Stalin is able to cause so much damage. For this is what the novel is really about. Written during the height of Stalin’s purges; the midnight knock of the NKVD, the Gulag archipelago, the mass unmarked graves.

Bulgakov, a former doctor reduced to writing for the theater, one of the lowest literary jobs, due to his past, wrote the novel in secret, and at one point burned his notes. Indeed, it wasn’t published until the sixties, and even then, in an expurgated form, chopped up by the state decades after his death. The allegories were still too strong, the wounds still too deep. Russia, even during the Soviet era, is a land of novels, its people well read and used to tales that are curated to survive officialdom. They are used to allegory and satire, and when it was finally published in the west many of these traits were lost on the readers there.

No one knows how many versions there are, nor is there an official version. But all of them, well translated or bad, contain in them the marks of a sad genius, who only really gave us this one memorable work. A novel about resilience in the face of your utmost nightmare, on both the immediate level via The Master and on the ultimate level, that of The Christ. It’s funny. It’s not so funny.

So, what are you reading?

About The Author

ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

253 Comments

  1. Don escaped Texas

    quick OT for the record:

    SEC by seven

    • Michael Malaise

      Georgia will destroy TCU. The real title game was last week.

      • Tundra

        This is a boring game so far.

    • Don escaped Texas

      it was rigged!!!!

      rigged! Rigged!1!!11!

  2. Animal

    I’m re-reading Michener’s Hawaii at the moment, whilst also cranking away on another new Glibs series and trying to get some progress on Nova Roma III.

    • CPRM

      cranking away

      Thank G** we aren’t zooming tonight!

    • Tonio

      “trying to get some progress”

      I hope your muse smiles upon you, and winks, etc.

      • R.J.

        I am writing like a beast. Totally hiding a Tonio reference in somewhere.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      Animal,

      I mentioned Alaska by Michener before. Curious what you think. Currently re-reading his The Source.

      Also enjoying a series of books by some guy named Gentry. I enjoyed one so much that I gave it to a friend for his birthday.

  3. Pat

    I’m intrigued. I’ll have to check my “local library.”

    So, what are you reading?

    Been a bit too busy to read much lately, but I was about halfway through Save the Last Bullet for Yourself: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia by Rob Krott when I left off.

  4. Shirley Knott

    Very much enjoyed The Master and Margarita. It’s past time I revisited it.

  5. DEG

    So, what are you reading?

    “The Book of Lost Tales Part Two” – J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by his son.

  6. CPRM

    *Alerts Captain Beatty!*

  7. Tundra

    Someone here turned me on to The Master and Margarita. It was pretty bizarre and amazing.

    Had to set aside The White Pill and Storm of Steel for something less intense. Finished The Name of The Wind and am just about done with The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Not my normal thing, but very good books. Reminds me of UCS’s work.

    • EvilSheldon

      I’m genuinely sorry, Tundra. Both of Patrick Rothfuss’ novels were wonderful, but I don’t think we’re ever going to get a third.

      • Tundra

        I read these two years ago and I’m shocked at how little I remember.

      • Lackadaisical

        Yup, they’re masterpieces imo.

        Almost better to leave it unfinished at this point, I don’t think it will come out right.

      • Not Adahn

        Meh. To me they read like self-insert fanfic.

  8. Tonio

    I am reading Aristillus: Powers of the Earth by Travis Effing Corcoran, libertarian (sorta), badass, goat farmer, and NH state legislator.

    Highly recommend. It’s like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress meets Atlas Shrugged.

    • Pat

      goat farmer

      Like goat farmer, or like GOAT farmer?

      • Tonio

        Like actual genus Capra (from the same root as Capricorn and Capricious) goats.

      • MikeS

        TIL

        Capra (from the same root as Capricorn and Capricious)

      • Pat

        Same

      • rhywun

        genus Capra

        I learned that from a video game.

      • MikeS

        If that cost waaaay closer to $0 than $10, I’d get it.

      • Pat

        3 bucks on CDKeys. Well worth it.

  9. R C Dean

    Not really reading anything at the moment. There are some series I’m accumulating, but I’ve learned my lesson about reading installments as they come out. I’ve got more time now (or will soon), so I should get something going.

  10. Not an Economist

    I’m expecting arrests any day now. I’ve been told by reliable sources this is treason.

    Right?

    • MikeS

      It is unknown what the classified documents are about or what their level of classification is, but CBS reported that the papers did not contain nuclear secrets.

      a. how does CBS know if it is “unknown what the classified documents are about”?
      2. why single out “nuclear secrets”?

      • Gustave Lytton

        2. So that can claim it’s different vs Trump

      • Pat

        2. why single out “nuclear secrets”?

        To differentiate Biden from Drumpf, of course. Everybody knows Drumpf stole nukular sekrets to sell to Putin, so the feebs sniffing Melania’s underwear at Mar-a-Lago was totally justified!

      • Tonio

        Also, whose nuclear secrets? Ours, or those of random shithole countries (*cough* Pakistan, North Korea *cough*) which have managed to assemble primitive fission weapons such as we used on the Japanese like eighty years ago?

    • R C Dean

      If they don’t send the doorkickers, then its yet another example of our weaponized legal/law enforcement system

      Also, if the contents are unknown, then how do they know there are no nuclear secrets?

      • Lackadaisical

        If they say no cc m nuclear secrets at this point I have to assume there are some. Also it’s probably a ton of docs. Anyone find it ‘interesting’ this happened before the election, but only being reported now?

        Weird coincidence that it didn’t leak any sooner, like when it happened.

    • Brochettaward

      This is the problem when the media and clowns in power go after Trump over things that are completely normal behavior. Suddenly, people realize that you did the same shit and that causes problems.

    • Not Adahn

      Both Clintons already demonstrated that Dems can do whatever they want with classified docs.

  11. MikeS

    So, what are you reading?

    Travel books and learning German books because I’m going Germany this spring!

    *insert excited scream gif

    • Gustave Lytton

      *celebratory goosesteps and Bellamy salutes*

    • Don escaped Texas

      sehr gut

    • rhywun

      Na so was!

    • pistoffnick

      You know who else went to Germany?

      • R C Dean

        Zhukov?

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        David Hasselhoff?

      • Lackadaisical

        Lenin?

      • pistoffnick

        Jesse Owens?

      • MikeS

        Tiberius?

      • creech

        Sally Bowles?

    • The Hyperbole

      If you get near Reichenbach Odenwald say hi to my cousin Helmut, He’ll have a fridge full of hefeweizen.

      • MikeS

        a fridge full of hefeweizen

        /adds Helmut to “Must Visit” list

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        Does Helmut get a Bole haircut?

    • CPRM

      Better not be when you’re supposed to be here!

      • MikeS

        I know….I did think of that.

      • MikeS

        It’s a timing thing…my step-daughter is there for work so I’d have a free place to stay and a semi-local tour guide.

      • CPRM

        my step-daughter

        Say no more, this is the internet. Don’t leave any bread crumbs.

      • MikeS

        Well yeah, if anything I just said was even true!

      • slumbrew

        Ah, got it – all just code for “whoring in Thailand”

      • slumbrew

        I love that insane song.

        “Let’s make a musical about chess!” *does huge rail of coke*

        The late 70s, man.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, total classic.

      • CPRM

        Make sure you get Eloquently Wasted before you try autoerotic asphyxiation.

      • rhywun

        Where in Germany?

        I’ve heard that life isn’t easy.

      • CPRM

        Looks Metal AF [I don’t read Germain]

      • rhywun

        Nice!

        I know Eisbrecher and Die Krupps.

        Maybe it was you who pointed out Eisbrecher.

        Köln is *magnificent*. One of my favorite towns there.

      • MikeS

        I’ve heard of Die Krupps, don’t think I’ve heard much from them. And yes, I’ve been been pushing Eisbrecher for a while. 🧐

        The river cruise is 12 hours. 2/3 sightseeing, 1/3 party. It looks like such a fun day.

        Köln looks sehr schone. The cathedral alone is enough to get me there. I can’t wait to experience as much as I can of the area.

        I know it’s been years, but if you want to talk offline, I’m all ears about your insights of Germany.

      • slumbrew

        “ I’m all ears about your insights of Germany”

        Don’t believe them when they want to show you some ‘sexy’ videos

      • CPRM

        Slumbrew, that is some shitty advice.

      • slumbrew

        Indeed.

      • DEG

        I’ve been to Köln twice.

        The Cathedral is great. The Roman-German Museum next door is interesting.

        Watch out for pickpockets.

    • DEG

      🙂

    • MikeS

      Preach!

      Finvaara
      Are you actively suggesting that Russian intelligence is more trustworthy than the CIA? IS that what you’re saying?

      Edward Snowden
      Are you high? The lesson isn’t to pick a different charlatan to worship, it is to stop worshipping charlatans.

      • Pat

        Based Snowden. It’s been hilarious watching the people who snickered about Romney calling out Russia as a geopolitical foe in 2012 and spent the previous 50 years running cover for actual Russian communists by screeching “McCarthyism!” regardless of the facts or evidence suddenly turn into HUAC nutriders.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Dev Geek
      @stacksacker
      ·
      11h
      Replying to
      @Snowden
      Maybe the CIA has changed since you left?

      Edward Snowden
      @Snowden
      ·
      10h
      Replying to
      @stacksacker
      Yeah they’re probably just one big kitten shelter now.

    • rhywun

      Snowden is now less than a stone’s throw away from blaming them on George Soros.

      That’s just crazy-talk.

  12. Not an Economist

    If this happens it will be cool.

    • MikeS

      Imma start my own spy agency.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        Using a whiskey distillery as a front?

      • Michael Malaise

        Just give it 3 letters and take some kind of government money and you don’t need a front.

      • MikeS

        I like you. I’ll spy on you last.

  13. UnCivilServant

    So, what are you reading?

    A bunch of my half-finished stories to see if any can be turned into something Glibs-worthy.

    • MikeS

      If any of them have anything to do with vampires, start there.

    • Tonio

      Thanks for recognizing that we have values here. We are not Femifisting, or Daily Femsplaining, after all.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Tonio,

        To my knowledge you never published my “towing the bike through the blizzard story.” It’s not my best but if you are needing content, have at it.

      • slumbrew

        Aye, there seemed to be some confusion when you mentioned it last(?) week.

        I’d like to read it.

      • Tonio

        I could have sworn that we did. Let me get back to you tomorrow about that.

  14. Gustave Lytton

    Rereading Out of the Silent Planet.

  15. Michael Malaise

    The book in question sounds super interesting. Might check it out. I am in the middle of several audiobooks:

    1. People Like Us (about Margaret Thatcher)
    2. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
    3. Free Women, Free Men by Camille Paglia

    Just finished Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino and Zero to One by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters.

  16. Rat on a train

    I still have my Russian copy I had to read at DLI. For some reason the Russian instructor thought the tram severing the guy’s head was hilarious. “He didn’t use his head in life, now it’s gone.”

    • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

      Well, at least one person in Monterey has a sense of humor.

  17. Timeloose

    I’m reading “Range, why generalists triumph in a specialized world” by David Epstein.

    I’m just at the intro and first chapter. Pretty good so far. I’m basically reading it to justify my own career and approach to life.

    I learn a skill or gain knowledge and become good enough before moving on to the next thing.

    • pistoffnick

      A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

      -Robert A. Heinlein

      • Timeloose

        That was one of my earliest inspirations. Along with just liking new things and experiences.

      • pistoffnick

        When we get put in the camps, I want the generalists, the jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none, the barnyard engineers, and the MacGyvers in my barracks. We going Hogan’s Heroes style!

      • slumbrew

        Jackoff-of-all-trades reporting for duty!

      • Gustave Lytton

        Master of none, present!

      • R C Dean

        I would say there are 4 I can’t do. I suspect program a computer doesn’t belong on that list any more. I live in the desert, so conning a ship is unlikely to come up. I could hack a hog into bloody chunks, but I wouldn’t say I could competently butcher one. I could write a sonnet, if I could be arsed.

      • pistoffnick

        It’s pretty hard to practice dying gallantly as you only get one shot at it.

    • Pat

      I’m kind of the same way, and I wish I’d specialized. Should have listened to my dad and become an accountant.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        If I had listened to my dad I would be a college professor, waiting to blow my brains out.

    • Lackadaisical

      Tell me more…

    • DrOtto

      Spoiler alert: Epstein didn’t kill himself.

    • R C Dean

      Write up a book review.

    • Timeloose

      Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you’ll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world’s top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule.

      David Epstein examined the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists. He discovered that in most fields—especially those that are complex and unpredictable—generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, and they juggle many interests rather than focusing on one. They’re also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can’t see

      • Timeloose

        I’ll see what can be done to review it. I need to read it first.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        They are primed to jump in at the appropriate time for success.

        Which is what luck really is. Placing yourself in the way of things and being set up to take advantage of them when the time comes.

      • rhywun

        Finding it hard to discount the endless athlete or super-genius “human interest” stories where they start playing or geniusing at like 3 years old.

        Not to discount “generalism” – I find that more appealing. Just not convinced.

      • Pat

        I’m intrigued again. Back to my “local library.”

        Late Bloomers by Rich Karlgaard makes kind of the same case.

      • EvilSheldon

        Yup, this is something I need to read.

  18. Sensei

    Virtues must be signaled.

    WASH­ING­TON—The new Re­pub­li­can-con­trolled House is poised to vote as soon as Mon­day to re­peal tens of bil­lions of dol­lars in In­ter­nal Rev­enue Ser­vice fund­ing, tak­ing up a bill that is un­likely to be­come law but that pre-views com­ing bat­tles with De­moc­rats over the tax agency’s ex­pan­sion.

  19. Q Continuum

    I just finished The Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq. It’s quite a dichotomy being downright pornographic while being one of the most brutal takedowns of the Sexual Revolution I’ve ever seen. Houellebecq seems like the literary equivalent of Mencius Moldbug but, if it’s even possible, more extreme. Basically he’s a reactionary of such magnitude that the only way back to happiness and meaning for humanity is to fundamentally change. I once wrote on these very pages that the advent of the Pill was the most Earth-shattering development in human history and there is no putting the toothpaste back in the tube. Houellebecq agrees but his way of putting the toothpaste back in the tube is for humanity to alter itself in a drastic way that I won’t discuss for the sake of spoilers.

    Fascinating writer; I will definitely read more of his stuff.

    • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

      SUBMISSION has been on my list for a while, and I absolutely agree with you on The Elementary Particles. He is quite the Catholic, apparently, and it plays into his works.

    • rhywun

      Intriguing, and agree about the Pill.

  20. Ayn Random Variation

    Thought police. Surprised. Confused. What? Try harder.

    • rhywun

      I haven’t seen that kitty in a while!

      Reminds me of my Betty RIP.

  21. CPRM

    I some malted Fizzy drinks before I started in on the Hamms, feeling pretty alright alright alright.

  22. R.J.

    “Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.” It’s been hard to concentrate so it is taking forever to get through. Also reading “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator “ with my daughter, the lesser known sequel to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

  23. The Hyperbole

    I’m reading my post from last night where I ask people to send it their “what are we reading” reports for an end of the month post, so thanks for stepping all over that, Zwak.

    I kid, I kid…it’s not yout fault. I blame Tonio and Swiss for poor scheduling.

    Also there’s still plenty of month left.

    • slumbrew

      We get our collective asses in gear, we can tell you about the next books we start reading.

    • rhywun

      LOL there it is.

    • MikeS

      I did feel a bit bad for you. But I got over it.

      • CPRM

        I felt so bad for him I started drinking before this even posted. +5 Empathy

      • MikeS

        Power up achieved!

    • Tundra

      I specifically omitted a few. I’ll be ready!

    • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

      We should totally team up! It would be like Starkey and Hutch.

      • The Hyperbole

        Who’s gonna be Huggy Bear?

      • MikeS

        I will. Ya dig?

      • slumbrew

        Tonio, obvs.

        Word on the street is…

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        Winning.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Jesus not all of us are bookworms. I mean it takes me a day or so to read Cat in the Hat.

      • CPRM

        I could never finish that one, the plot seemed too outlandish and the prose were not well constructed.

    • R.J.

      Oh lord. I will make some ridiculous list of fakery to make up for blathering about my books here. Sorry.

  24. slumbrew

    Nice HypnoToad call-out during the game.

    Futurama is almost 25 years old.

    WTF.

    • CPRM

      Elvis died like 20 years ago…in a nursing home after being attacked by a mummy; but yet people still talk about him.

      • slumbrew

        A mummy? That was some sorta Bubba Ho-Tep

    • rhywun

      “What is this ‘the game’?”

      • slumbrew

        College football championship. It’s a blow-out.

      • The Hyperbole

        It’s just sad at this point.

      • slumbrew

        Speaking of blow-outs, the Bruins won 7-1 last night; they are trying to get me to watch every game despite the stupidly-long season. 32-4-4 so far.

      • MikeS

        Right now? Holy fuck. What happened to New Year’s Day?

        Oh yeah…💲🤑💸💰💲🤑💸💰

      • CPRM

        No, THIS is ‘The Game’

      • slumbrew

        I think I saw that in the theater.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        I love that movie.

      • rhywun

        dittoes

        An early addition to my modest DVD collection.

      • MikeS

        I never did see that. I should rectify that. It looks cool as hell.

      • CPRM

        If you think about the logic it’s terrible, but it is a fun ride, and it’s David Fincher, so it’s well crafted.

      • Pat

        In my youth I was interested in stunt performing to the point I was considering it as a career choice. I watched that movie entirely on the strength of the finale stunt work that I caught on a documentary. Wasn’t disappointed.

      • CPRM

        Yeah, some dude actually did fall through that glass ceiling, CGI can suck his cock.

      • Pat

        Well, I was trying not to spoil it for MikeS…

        Corridor Crew does a series called “Stuntmen React” on their YouTube channel, which is fun to watch, although they’ve taken to featuring like 90% stuntwomen now, because of course they have.

      • slumbrew

        Stunning and brave

      • CPRM

        Corridor Crew are a bunch of posers though. Most of their shit is ‘We can do this now with our tech!’ and then they try to recreate something and it looks terrible.

      • Pat

        Corridor Crew are a bunch of posers though.

        Agreed, generally. I hate-watch their VFX Artists React series from time to time just to piss myself off, I guess. Inevitably they end up dick riding some PS4-looking big budget capeshit or disaster flick while I’m yelling “WTF are you talking about?! This looks like shit!”

      • rhywun

        Do it.

        It’s hella fun.

      • Pat

        No no, THIS is ‘The Game’

      • CPRM

        Lame Game. Am I right1? *Slow-mo High-five with the jock next to me*

  25. hayeksplosives

    The Strange Death of Europe, by Douglas Murray.

    A cautionary tale.

    • Michael Malaise

      Trying to get The Abolition of Britain by Peter Hitchens on audiobook. Not on Audible.

      • Chafed

        Both sound interesting.

      • hayeksplosives

        Purchased! Thank you.

  26. creech

    “In the Footsteps of Lewis and Clark.”. Corps of Discovery was full of some serious badasses

    • Ownbestenemy

      Why you celebrate those racist!

      • creech

        How many humans in 1803 weren’t real racists?

  27. rhywun

    “Abbadon’s Gate”

    2½ down, 6½ to go!

  28. slumbrew

    The beating is finished.

    I feel kinda bad for Bennett – great underdog college career but his size will hold him back.

    Doug Flutie redux.

    • CPRM

      The thing is, even with the 12 game play-offs the college game is fucking stupid, unless it’s only the winners of the conferences that get in. Why would a 5 Star go to a Mountain West team when they have no chance at winning a championship even if they go undefeated? Even if they went undefeated for all 4 years of that player’s career they probably couldn’t get in, because ‘strength of schedule’, even though if they were actually good those top schools wouldn’t play them, because then they might loose, so they’ll pay some shitty school to play them instead.

      • Michael Malaise

        The BIG10 and SEC should break away and just have a 32-team organization with its own playoffs.

      • MikeS

        Every damn one of them should break away from their taxpayer funded schools and make the NFL actually pay for their minor league.

  29. CPRM

    Piggy backing on my comment earlier in the day that I do want more Comic Book movies, but the current crop hasn’t interested me: I am looking forward to Ant Man 3. M.O.D.O.C. Bitches!

    • Brochettaward

      You are looking forward to the Anti-Man movie where they are almost definitely going to kill off Ant-Man and most of the movie will be based around his daughter who is going to take his place?

      • CPRM

        Well, Scott Lang isn’t even Ant-Man, so they killed off skipped Ant-Man before they started the series. And yes, I am looking forward to it, for the first time since End Game Marvel has produced a movie that looks interesting. It may suck in the end, but at least it looks interesting. That’s the best I can say.

      • Michael Malaise

        Frankly, it looks like another CGI shit show. Maybe we should get an actual Hank Pym story at some point.

      • CPRM

        What ultimately makes CGI look like ass is that film lenses, and the human eye, have focal distances. Things close to us are out of focus, things far away are out of focus, then there is the sweet spot where things are in focus. When CGI looks like shit part of it is because EVERYTHING is in focus. I haven’t seen that in the trailers yet, but given Disney+Marvel- track record most of it will probably look like that, but at least I have hope.

  30. Bob Boberson

    I’m finishing up Scottish Covenanter Stories about the jolly old days in the 1600s when you could jailed, tortured and/or summarily executed for the heinous crime of saying Jesus Christ was the head of the Kirk rather than the British monarch.

    We have it to easy these days……

    Incidentally I argued a couple times with one of our former glibs about the merits of the Glorious Revolution and it’s bothering me that I can’t remember his handle….he was a prolific commenter, very well versed in history, pretty aggressively catholic…..not sure when/why he left

    • MikeS

      “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”? I’ve had a beer or two too many to remember his “real” handle before he went into the “_________ apologist” shtcik. I really liked him. One of many good ones gone.

      • Bob Boberson

        That was it! I still can’t remember what he was before it changed

      • Gustave Lytton

        I guess that’s Eddie. Thought it was something Chesterton related. Maybe that was just the avatar. Menken?

    • Pat

      Sounds like Eddie, who was going by Notorious GKC when he left, IIRC.

      • MikeS

        I also liked Eddie very much, but he was goaded into running afoul of the authorities.

      • slumbrew

        I should trawl through the archives and make a visualization of commentators over time…

      • Bob Boberson

        Definitely not Eddie. He left in one hell of a huff….TGA I think just sort of wandered away but I’m not sure. I know he ran afoul of Swiss a few times because he liked to jab at Protestants and could take it a little too far. Still he was a good intellect to have around

      • MikeS

        Yeah. TGA, someone else, and I, got cow-butted and scolded by Swiss about a very minor inter-Christian-sect religious joke once. Crazy shit.

      • Brochettaward

        Don’t you dare suggest that Christianity and its seconding god was an off-shoot of Firsting.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Talking smack about Methodists?

      • CPRM

        Yeah, folx be weird about religion. I believe you were there on the zooms when Hyak was trying to send me an audio book of on of the scriptures. Because I thought my Catholic parish was too protistanty…so of course I’d be open to protistant ideals…

      • MikeS

        It was all very low key until it wasn’t. TGA made a crack about Protestantism. Me being a Lutheran made some crack about that being the only “true” religion and then the Swiss Shit hit the fan. Sense a pattern?

      • Pat

        That must have been during my hiatus. Quite frankly, I’m astonished to have learned how many closet Christians there were at Reason after they moved over here. Until pretty recently I never really broached the subject here because I figured it was a predominantly atheist crowd and it would go over like a lead balloon. Although it sounds like maybe I was better off keeping my mouth shut anyway.

        I still don’t think Christianity and libertarianism mesh very well, the efforts of Norm Horn and his crew at their facile best notwithstanding. Ironic, since I spent my youth trying to evangelize libertarian politics to my few remaining Christian friends.

      • Mojeaux

        I still don’t think Christianity and libertarianism mesh very well

        I’m going to have to think about this before I open my yap.

        Also, I don’t think objectivism and parenthood go well together.

      • CPRM

        According to the 700 Club Catholics and Mormons aren’t Christian, so we don’t have to worry about this shit.

      • Pat

        Also, I don’t think objectivism and parenthood go well together.

        There’s a reason Ayn Rand never had children, and it certainly wasn’t any lack of interest in sex. Individualist egoism is nearly the antithesis of parenthood.

      • Mojeaux

        @CPRM, you’re not wrong. My mind. She is relieved.

        @Pat, boy howdy, is it ever.

      • Pat

        According to the 700 Club Catholics and Mormons aren’t Christian, so we don’t have to worry about this shit.

        Technically the Catholics started it. The orthodox were considered schismatics, and the protestants heretics. The churches I’ve attended have all been protestant, but fairly ecumenical I guess. A red-letter soteriology would seem to be pretty straightforward, but the actual teachings of Jesus have almost nothing to do with church doctrine, so.

    • Bob Boberson

      He has a pic of JK Chesterton as his avatar…

      • MikeS

        Yup.

      • Michael Malaise

        Now I have a mashup of JK Rowling and GK Chesterton in my head.

        Now, that’s a trans exemplary radical faith-er!

    • Brochettaward

      You might have been executed for blasphemy, but at least the rules for what constituted blasphemy were clearly defined.

      You can run afoul of the left for things that weren’t considered sins at the time they were done, or simply not being perfectly up to date on the latest good think.

      • Bob Boberson

        Eh, it wasn’t so different in the 1600s. The Covenanters were supporters of the Stewart dynasty and fought for him before they fought against him. And he granted them religious freedom, until he didn’t. Turns out there is nothing new under the sun.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        “We groped painfully in our minds, not only to find justifications for the line laid down, but also to find traces of former thoughts which would prove to ourselves that we had always held the required opinion.”

        -Arthur Koestler. Darkness at Noon.

  31. Mojeaux

    Had a friend who recommended Master and Margarita as the anti-Atlas Shrugged after he read my book.

  32. Mojeaux

    I am reading a scholarly work my publishing partner is getting ready to put in print, about eros in Mormon literature. I, natch, am heavily featured, which means I don’t have to read a good 200 pages of it since I wrote it.

    • Tres Cool

      “Cods, Cuntes, and Temple Garments from Frederick’s of Hollywood”

      • hayeksplosives

        LOL

  33. DEG

    Mornin’ all.

    Up early for the gym.

    I have to get my car in the shop, and then head into the office. Work starts today.

    • hayeksplosives

      Hey, DEG.

      Have a great day. Knock ‘em dead.

      I am halfway through the night; woke up for no reason and need to get more sleep. Have to drive over the Icy/rainy/snowy mountain pass between Pahrump and Las Vegas. Oh, and the company (DoE contractor) issued a high wind warning for tomorrow.

  34. Tres Cool

    suh’ fam
    Im off to take Tres Ver 2.0 to school, and drop by my friendly VA to beg for a prescription refill that THEIR contractor hasn’t managed to get done for me.

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, Sean, U, Roat, homey (wherever you are,) and hayek (if you’re still awake.)

      I’m to the point with work stuff where it’s not quite time to finish up one Big Thing yet, I’ve done a little preliminary prep work but don’t really need to dive into Other Big Thing yet, and I keep asking myself, “OK, what Yet Another Huge Thing am I forgetting about?”

      • Shirley Knott

        Good morning GT. Woke up far too early again, so I’m now conscious enough to de-lurk 😉

      • Gender Traitor

        Good morning, SK! I notice by your revised handle that you’ve had a recent attitude adjustment. 😁

      • Shirley Knott

        Yeah, I’m trying to be a little more positive. Life’s fighting back a bit, but so it goes.

    • Gender Traitor

      theft by unlawful taking

      Isn’t that kinda the definition of theft?

      Oh – wait. I think the state (or at least quite a few agents of the state) also recognize “theft by not giving.”

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        There’s multiple types of theft.

        “Theft by conversion” is a common one. That’s when you abscond with an asset that you have rented or leased.

    • R C Dean

      Fuzzy Iguanas – surf punk, or ironic cool lounge?

    • Rat on a train

      Will they beat joro spiders to Virginia?

    • Grosspatzer

      Somewhere, Mr. Lizard is cackling maniacally.

  35. Rat on a train

    As more dogs get sick, Montgomery Co. urges dog owners to consider skipping dog parks

    More dogs in the D.C. region are getting sick, and the Montgomery County Office of Animal Services in Maryland is encouraging pet owners to consider skipping dog parks until the spike in canine influenza begins to come down.

    “The signs range in severity between no signs at all and severe illness, sometimes resulting in death,” the animal services office said.

    The county’s animal services office urged dog owners to ask their veterinarians about the canine influenza vaccine.

    “While the vaccine may not stop a dog from contracting the virus completely, it will lessen the severity and help reduce the spread,” the office said.

    Vax, mask, and distance people or we will lockdown.

    • Brochettaward

      “While the vaccine may not stop a dog from contracting the virus completely, it will lessen the severity and help reduce the spread,” the office said.

      I’m curious if this line of argument was ever used to convince people to take a vaccine before covid…

      • Rat on a train

        I recall flu vaccines were educated guess Before Covid as cold and flu viruses mutate quickly.

      • Grosspatzer

        “If you think this drought is bad, imagine what it would be like had we not sacrificed 20 virgins!”

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        While the vaccine may not stop a dog from contracting the virus completely

        Vaccines never stop infection. They interrupt the replication phase, or they’re supposed to at least.

  36. Grosspatzer

    Mornin’, reprobates!

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, ‘patzie!

  37. UnCivilServant

    Flowcharting a process so that the windows guy of [Current Supervisor] can follow is incredibly boring.

    • Fourscore

      No one questioned why a 13 YO was roaming the streets at 4 AM?

      He did love fashion and football but didn’t like respecting the property of others. As a 13 YO I was out of the house at about 5 AM, starting my paper route, wouldn’t have begun to think of breaking/entering/stealing other than a couple apples off Mr Hoivig’s tree in the fall.

      I didn’t love fashion/football but I was a Laker fan when they were in Mps.

    • R C Dean

      Sounds like the accountability already happened.

    • Sean

      I want the parents accountable.

    • Brochettaward

      I noticed he glossed over explaining how Iraq II was a just war.

      • Brochettaward

        Also, a similar cry for war could have been written by a few gubers around here.

        Putin has been far, far less aggressive than his American counterparts. Can’t repeat that enough.

      • R C Dean

        I might go with less aggressive. I mean, he does have a couple, maybe three, invasions under his belt, and some foreign adventuring via the Wagner Group. Probably not quite as bad as the American government, but not too shabby either.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Still waiting for Putin to bomb training safe havens in Poland or Germany, target US personnel in Ukraine, or assassinate US general officers anywhere.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Or sticking our dick in the Middle East led to Gulf I, too.