October 2013 archive

Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders by Aaron Beck

The central idea of cognitive therapy is that mood disorders are caused by internal delusions or self-deceptions, and that it you can correct the delusional perception, you will correct the the disorder. Beck argues in effect that people can be talked out of their mental illnesses, and as naive as this idea sounds in the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/10/20/cognitive-therapy-and-the-emotional-disorders-by-aaron-beck/

With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge

Reading this gut-wrenching memoir has definitely cured me of any desire to be a hero. E.B. Sledge writes graphically but unaffectedly of war and its horrors, and of the heroic young men who fought against the Japanese in the Second World War. The account is inspiring, of admiration if not exactly emulation. Particularly gruesome is …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/10/19/with-the-old-breed-by-e-b-sledge/

The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus

Tacitus is the greatest of the Roman historians. He is also the most prejudiced. Modern historians have called into question his portrayal of Tiberius as a cruel and depraved tyrant, and indeed Tacitus’ own narrative reveals him for the most part a capable ruler. Tacitus is always insinuating that while Tiberius said and did one …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/10/16/the-annals-of-imperial-rome-by-tacitus/

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I had a hard time getting into this story, but halfway into it I couldn’t put it down. The main problem for me was the protagonist, who isn’t very likeable and isn’t someone I felt like rooting for. But once the Games begin the pages begin to turn very quickly. This is a gut-wrenching story …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/10/10/the-hunger-games-by-suzanne-collins/