And now we arrive at the ninth story included in the 20 Christmas Stories volume of Everyman’s Pocket Classics, Reginald’s Christmas Revel.
I’ve always been intrigued with Saki but hadn’t read any of his stories. In fact, I lacked even the cursory knowledge that his real name was Hector Hugh Munro and he was British, not Asian as I had thought. So with a lively curiosity, I began this story with relish.
“When the course of civilization takes an unexpected turn — when, instead of the continuous progress which we have come to expect, we find ourselves threatened by evils associated by us with past ages of barbarism — we naturally blame anything but ourselves.”
I suspect that you would call The Road to Serfdom F.A. Hayek’s magnum opus. It was written in 1944 towards the end of the Second World War, when countries had been exposed to various socialist political experiments and the effect they had on the countries that adopted them were very, very evident. But Hayek did not take for granted that people’s common sense would see the dangers. He was well aware of the hazards socialism still posed with its pernicious ideology and promises of a better future where everyone would be equal, the rich would pay their fair share, and all would be secure within the society.
I have no idea what’s going on with these spins. But I keep doing them and if I look back, I think I’ve finished books that I’ve spun, but not necessarily on time. In any case, I’m making my way through my Classics Club list and that’s the point, right?
The question, whether one generation of men has the right to bind another, seems never to have been started …. [I believe] no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence …. The conclusion then, is, that neither the representatives of a nation, nor the whole nation itself assembled, can validly engage debts beyond what they may pay in their own time. ~ Thomas Jefferson
During the 1970s and early 1980s, many western countries experienced double-digit inflation. Even Japan had double-digit inflation. Double-digit inflation means that each year prices are rising at 10% or more. So, for example, if a coffee cost $1.00, it would cost $1.10 the following year. Inflation this serious and far-reaching had not happened in the U.S. since the country had become a nation. However, we have an example from Roman times of where this type of inflation occurred and we can see the trouble it caused.
There is so much talk about money and inflation and recession in the world lately. These important topics affect our daily lives yet it seems that few people actually know how they work, including myself. So with a vague idea that inflation isn’t directly driven by what we’re being told in the news, I decided to learn more. What Ever Happened To Penny Candy by Richard J. Maybury is a simple yet highly educational book on economics that will assist you in your career, business, investments and money strategy. It will also give you tools so you don’t have to blindly rely on what others tell you. Forewarned is forearmed. I’ll be posting chapter by chapter and the first is: Money: Coins and Paper.
“They were not railway children to begin with.”
And they weren’t. To begin with, Roberta, Peter and Phyllis lived with their parents in London in a nice house with servants and virtually anything they desired. But one day there is a knock on the door and the whole family’s life is turned upside down.
Great Expectations: “My fathers’ family name being Pirrup, and my christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip.”
In the mid-19th century, in a marshy area of Kent, Philip Pirrup, or Pip as he was called, lived with his crotchety, abusive sister and her husband, a loveable, yet rather simple blacksmith named Joe. While Pip attempts to avoid his sister’s wrath, a wrath that she appears to happily cultivate, he also forms a deep attachment and friendship with Joe, who equally enjoys Pip’s company.
I haven’t done this challenge from Cathy at 746 Books in a couple of years so it’s time to start it again. I don’t think I’ve ever finished 20 Books but it’s fun to try. I was looking back at previous years and was embarrassed to see the some of the same books appearing year after year but thankfully I’ve finally completed most of them.
Well, here I go. I keep doing these spins and then reading other books. But the books are on my Classics Club list so it’s not all bad. I’ve made it through Ivanhoe and Bleak House so I’m feeling rather pleased.
Time for another spin:
In spite of my silence on my blog, I’m still reading! I managed to read 54 books for 2023 so I’m really happy with that considering previous years hovered around 35 or less. That said, I don’t have the reviews that really go in depth, so there’s a trade-off.