Episode · EconTalk · 2022-06-20
Books mentioned on Roosevelt Montás on Rescuing Socrates
How do books change our lives? Educator and author Roosevelt Montás of Columbia University talks about his book Rescuing Socrates with EconTalk host Russ Roberts.
Russ Roberts recommended Errata by George Steiner, After Babel by George Steiner, How Much Land Does a Man Need? by Leo Tolstoy, Master and Man and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy, and A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders, and discussed Rescuing Socrates by Roosevelt Montás.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Rescuing Socrates
Discussed“and the reason your book is so powerful and um we're not going to have any spoilers i don't think on the stories you tell in the book”
Where to get it
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Errata
Errata by George Steiner is a reflective memoir filled with compelling ideas and personal recollections from a distinguished literary critic and thinker.
Recommended“george steiner who's not well known wrote two books that i really enjoyed one i read completely that i'm in the middle of i've alluded to one of them before he wrote a book called errata e-r-r-a-t-a meaning like mistakes”
Where to get it
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After Babel
After Babel by George Steiner is a profound scholarly exploration of language, meaning, and the inherent communicative challenges of translation.
Recommended“but he's another book called after babel where he talked about the tower of babel where he defends he defends multiplicity of languages which is a crazy idea”
Where to get it
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How Much Land Does a Man Need?
Leo Tolstoy's classic short story examines human greed, desire, and the ultimate measure of mortality through the journey of a peasant who pushes himself to acquire more and more land.
Recommended“you know i did an episode with richard gunderman on tolstoy's master and man which is i think one of the one of my five favorite short stories of all time a mind-blowing story”
Where to get it
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Master and Man and Other Stories
This collection of powerful short fiction by Leo Tolstoy explores morality, human nature, and the spiritual cost of greed.
Recommended“you know i did an episode with richard gunderman on tolstoy's master and man which is i think one of the one of my five favorite short stories of all time a mind-blowing story”
Where to get it
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A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders is a masterclass of literary criticism where the acclaimed author and professor analyzes classic Russian short stories by masters like Chekhov and Tolstoy to reveal how great fiction works on the human mind.
Recommended“but i found it in a book by george sanders which is a masterpiece the book his book is called a swim in a pond in the rain where he takes different russian short stories chekhov tolstoy other and others and he riffs on them”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“he is the author of great title the author of rescuing socrates how the great books changed my life and why they matter for a new generation which is our subject for today”
“my guest today has been roosevelt montas his book is rescuing socrates roosevelt thanks for being part of econ talk”