An Essay A Day: Challenge for 2015

As stated in the 2015 New Year Resolutions thread I make the resolution to read at least one essay, chapter, section, or audio lecture per day for 2015.

Instead of skipping around among different topics I have decided to dedicate my studies to particular themes or great thinkers and immerse myself in that theme or thinker at a time for a while.

So for the next several months or however long it takes I will be re-introducing myself to the ideas and thoughts of the philosopher Martin Heidegger. For 2015 he will be my first topic for reading.

I have the following sources in my book collection which I'll be using in my studies.



My plan is to read at least one chapter, essay or section of a chapter per day for at least 7 readings per week or 365 readings for the year. The ultimate goal is 365 readings. If I read more than one section per day, then it will count as a credit toward a day when I am either unable or unwilling to read a section. If I read more than 365 sections for the year then great, if I read less then I will not achieve the goal and loose the challenge.

Rather than start a whole bunch of different threads regarding different things I read I will just devote this one thread for all my comments, questions, summaries, synopses, and remarks regarding my readings.

Please feel free to join in this thread if you would also like to participate in what I will call the "Essay A Day Challenge". Post your comments to things you read in your endeavors to hit the 365 mark. Also feel free to comment on posts even if you will not be participating in the challenge.

NOTE: Reading each other's forum posts, will not count as "readings" for this challenge. The point of the challenge is to enlighten and educate ourselves and "broaden our horizons" (as the proverbial saying goes). So the goal will be to read at least 365 sections--no shorter than, say, 10 pages per section at the very least (delineated in chapters or subchapters)--for the year. Or alternatively listening to a complete audio lecture of at least 30 minutes would also count as a "chapter" or "essay". The sources should be scholarly or at least considered "great" works of fiction if you choose to read fiction. EDIT: Also religious texts will count as well for those who wish to enlighten themselves on that subject.

Anyone else game for this?

If so let me know and I'll add your name to a list in the OP and we'll each periodically post our progress as we go, as well as occasional short responses to what we read. A response could be your reaction to a reading, such as "I didn't like that chapter because..." It won't be required to post a response to everything we read, just occasionally if we feel like it, however, progress updates at least once per week would be highly recommended.

There won't be any prizes at the end of the year, only the satisfaction that we enriched our understanding of the world around us.

CURRENT PARTICIPANTS IN THE CHALLENGE:

haroon
Owen Glyndwr
Jolly Roger
Quintillus
Gary Childress

Your penultimate goal is 365 readings?

What's your ultimate goal?

Still, yeah, Heidegger.

Good luck!

I would love to join this, now my research are around Ottoman and Aceh, this thread will motivate my study for sure. However the problem is, I read books, papers, journals, essays, articles, and because English is not my native language also Turkish (or Ottoman language) it will be hard for me to read an article per day or ten pages per day (especially Turkish and Ottoman language which is damn hard). However this is a great initiative, I will try according to my limited capacity.

Edit: Despite of that I have also two language course: Arabic and Turkish. These will likely also slow me down. I will try to committed to this thread however I cannot promise I will be able to read 10 pages per day constantly.

haroon said:

I would love to join this, now my research are around Ottoman and Aceh, this thread will motivate my study for sure. However the problem is, I read books, papers, journals, essays, articles, and because English is not my native speaker also Turkish (or Ottoman language) it will be hard for me to read an article per day or ten pages per day (especially Turkish and Ottoman language which is damn hard). However this is a great initiative, I will try according to my limited capacity.

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Sounds great haroon! Since you will be reading in a language that is not native to you I think an exception can be made. I'll create a list in the OP and add your name.

great I will make summary at least weekly on what I read. Now I'm making my own timeline while taking note, I can also post it here. I'm thinking to put that timeline in the appendix. (now the format is still crappy, it just me taking note in order to make me easier to understand the topic well)

Borachio said:

Your penultimate goal is 365 readings?

What's your ultimate goal?

Still, yeah, Heidegger.

Good luck!

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Sorry, I changed it to "ultimate". I was thinking penultimate came after ultimate but after looking up the definition I realize now it's the other way around. Woops.

I'll join, why the hell not.

Already got started. Been reading Die Herren von Winterfell

Owen Glyndwr said:

I'll join, why the hell not.

Already got started. Been reading Die Herren von Winterfell

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Awesome! Added to the OP.

I plan to get a little bit of reading in every day - though not really on a rigid chapter-a-day or essay-a-day pace. Here's my current list for now. I hope to make it through this or more by the end of next year:

Proust – In Search of Lost Time
Montaigne – Essays
Joyce – Ulysses
Frank – Diary of a Young Girl
Marquez – 100 Years of Solitude
Melville – Typee, Omoo, Mardi (Volume 1 of Library of America)

JollyRoger said:

I plan to get a little bit of reading in every day - though not really on a rigid chapter-a-day or essay-a-day pace. Here's my current list for now. I hope to make it through this or more by the end of next year:

Proust – In Search of Lost Time
Montaigne – Essays
Joyce – Ulysses
Frank – Diary of a Young Girl
Marquez – 100 Years of Solitude
Melville – Typee, Omoo, Mardi (Volume 1 of Library of America)

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An essay a day will be difficult for me as well but maybe at the very least I'll get some good reading in regardless or whether I pass the challenge. I suppose it doesn't hurt for me to try.

I may revise my book agenda, though. I'm having second thoughts about studying Heidegger. I may take up studying more of the Ancient Greek philosophers, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, etc. instead. I'll see what I decide on agenda-wise by Thursday.

JollyRoger said:

I plan to get a little bit of reading in every day - though not really on a rigid chapter-a-day or essay-a-day pace. Here's my current list for now. I hope to make it through this or more by the end of next year:

Proust – In Search of Lost Time
Montaigne – Essays
Joyce – Ulysses
Frank – Diary of a Young Girl
Marquez – 100 Years of Solitude
Melville – Typee, Omoo, Mardi (Volume 1 of Library of America)

Click to expand...

This is a joke, right?

Proust is really long. It'll take you more than a year just to read one sentence of his.

Montaigne, I really don't know beyond reputation.

Ulysses is virtually unreadable, they say. I got 1/3 of the way through before I realized I hadn't understood a word I'd read.

Frank, I've never read. Diary of a teenage girl in Nazi occupied Netherlands, though? Doesn't bode well. 100 Years of Solitude is a very good novel, imo. Hilarious.

Melville. Why not Moby Dick? There's enough content to keep you going there for a year, by itself. Still, Typee, Omoo, Mard I might take a look at myself one of these days - might be interesting and he does write well anyway.

What a strange book list though. I can't see any rhyme or reason to it.

Gary, I think you forgot to write Jolly Roger name within the list of Current Participants in the Challenge, just reminding

@Borachio. Great reply

haroon said:

Gary, I think you forgot to write Jolly Roger name within the list of Current Participants in the Challenge, just reminding

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Thanks for he "head's up" haroon. I've added him.

@OP, will you ever get around to reading any Heidegger? Would be a shame to 'reintroduce' oneself to a writer and never read him.

Pangur Bán;13618951 said:

@OP, will you ever get around to reading any Heidegger? Would be a shame to 'reintroduce' oneself to a writer and never read him.

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I finished the two chapters in Introduction to Phenomenology by Dermot Moran which deal with Heidegger. So yes I have been reading these past few days. My plan is to read only secondary sources, though. I won't be reading the actual texts of Heidegger anytime soon (though I do possess a couple). I've read his texts before and they are pretty difficult so I like the idea of coming at him from secondary sources first. Maybe if I actually finish Richardson's enormous book I will turn after that to some of H's writings. I have the book "Basic Writings" which is a compilation of 9 essays from Heidegger including the "Letter on Humanism" and "What is Metaphysics".

I have one modification to my reading plan. I think instead of reading the "...Guide for the Perplexed" on H, I will just read Polt's Introduction to H instead. Then from there I will go to Richardson's more advanced text. I'm thinking Cerbone's text may be a bit redundant and I'd rather read Polt's book because it is supposed to be very good and came recommended from the professor who taught me Heidegger in college back in the late 1980s.

Might be unwanted advice here, but from my experience you will get very little benefit from simply reading lots and lots of secondary sources. Even if the text themselves are too long and difficult to be read in full, you are better off starting with some short piece or extract and then reading some secondary material about it, and then re-reading the short piece / extract. Your brain just won't learn as much or allow you to move on if your reading is so disengaged.

And how important might it be to learn German first?

Is it:

(Multichoice quiz.)

Well my plans are drawn. I'll have to do it the "wrong way" I guess. If I were out to win a Nobel prize in Heidegger scholarship then perhaps I would be worried about my approach. However, as a layman I'm more interested in what other scholars have to say about H and in gleaning whatever I can from that.

Borachio said:

This is a joke, right?

Proust is really long. It'll take you more than a year just to read one sentence of his.

Montaigne, I really don't know beyond reputation.

Ulysses is virtually unreadable, they say. I got 1/3 of the way through before I realized I hadn't understood a word I'd read.

Frank, I've never read. Diary of a teenage girl in Nazi occupied Netherlands, though? Doesn't bode well.

Spoiler :

She hides in the attic.

100 Years of Solitude is a very good novel, imo. Hilarious.

Melville. Why not Moby Dick? There's enough content to keep you going there for a year, by itself. Still, Typee, Omoo, Mard I might take a look at myself one of these days - might be interesting and he does write well anyway.

What a strange book list though. I can't see any rhyme or reason to it.

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My Kindle Fire tells me I am about 9% through Proust and I started last week - so it will take a while. He can get quite convoluted.

I haven't looked at how long the collection of Montaigne essays is, but I am hoping it will be a bit easier to read than Proust or Joyce.

I have made it through Ulysses once before - it helps to have a guide.

Once I get past Ulysses, it appears to be fairly smooth sailing.

There is some rhyme and reason to my list. I'm alternating between fiction and nonfiction on a website that has ranked them based on other lists. It breaks them down further by All, post-1900, post-1950, post-1970, post-1980, post 1990, and post-2000. I start with the all list and then move to the next one until I circle around back to the all list. As you can see, Proust and Ulysses are both post-1900, but Proust was at the top of the all list. I also roll 2d6 to determine the number of works I read before hitting the Library of America collection. I rolled 5, so then I ventured off to volume 1 of Library of America which is the Melville set. I'll get to Moby Dick soon enough. If one of the works I reach outside of the Library of America set is included in a Library of America volume, then I will read the entire Library of America volume.

As Cutlass has said, yes, I have overthought this, but I have tinkered quite a bit with it and it meets my criteria for now. There are some problems with the system ahead (what the hell do I do when I hit a dictionary, encyclopedia, or the Hardy Boys), but those problems are years into the future.