Perlkönig

The books I read, the music I listen to, and the games I play

“The Words We Live By” by Linda Monk

  This book is the entire text of the US Constitution and its 27 amendments, annotated line by line with explanations, historical motivations, and ramifications thereof. If you’re a US citizen, or just interested in politics, then understanding the Constitution is essential. This book gives you not just the text but also the tools to [...]

“The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss

I have a general rule that forbids me from starting a series of books that’s not already finished. It can take years for a sequel to make it through production, and by that time I’ve read so many other books that I basically have to start over anyway. When I first picked this book up, [...]

“Metamagical Themas” by Douglas Hofstadter

This book (revised again in 1996) is a collection of the columns Douglas Hofstadter wrote for Scientific American in 1981–83. The columns are grouped by topic and each is followed by a lengthy postscript that expands on the original column. He explores topics from self-referentiality to Rubic’s Cubes, from Lisp atoms to the  nature of cognition. [...]

Anime: A Primer

One genre I enjoy for the most part is anime. I’m not hard core or anything, and there’s plenty I don’t like, but there’s quite a bit that I do. My recent Netflix binge has only stoked this even more as I suddenly have access to so many shows I couldn’t access before. The purpose of this post is to mention my three favourite shows (so far) to set the stage for possible future posts on this topic.

Christopher Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus”

Rating: 2.5/3. Marlowe’s play is the earliest dramatic representation of the Dr. Faustus legend. It’s a short and to-the-point portrayal that is very powerful. It only takes an hour or so to read, and I think it’s very worth the investment.

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  • Who am I?

    My name is Aaron Dalton. See the "About Me" link for more information. The name Perlkönig is a combination of my favourite programming language (Perl) and the title of one of Franz Schubert's most famous lied (Erlkönig).

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