The Queue
Leviathan is proving, in Donald Rumsfeld's immortal words, "a long, hard slog." I am a hundred pages into a six hundred-page work, & am advancing at a snail's pace. This is due in part to the near-impenetrability of Hobbes's prose. Sure, the archaic spellings & meanings of words pose a challenge in & of themselves, but the impenetrable aspect is Hobbes's tone & style. I am in yet in the first of the four parts, "Of Man," & found the early going the hardest reading I've ever done, as Hobbes discussed at mind-numbing length the most seemingly basic of ideas & definitions. (I forgive him this, as I suspect he was striving simply to be as clear as possible, to forestall any misconstruing of his ideas, but that didn't make that pedantic drivel any easier to read.) He rails at length against "Metaphor," always capitalized, & yet employs metaphors throughout the text; so, I assume he's railing against some archaic, now obsolete & discarded definition of metaphor. "Of Man" is gathering pace, but progress is still to be had only at a premium. If the next part, "Of Common-wealth," doesn't offer significant change, the endeavour might well be abandoned.

I renewed my lease of Leviathan today, & doubt I'll finish the book, if I finish the book, by this time in December. To reach the finish, if I reach the finish, I might have to take a break or two, & take a vacation to Barsoom.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Fratellis, "Henrietta" from Costello Music (T.L.A.M.)