Dorothea Brande's "Becoming a Writer" is a classic guide to the craft of writing, offering practical advice and insightful observations on the creative process. The book emphasizes the importance of self-discovery and the development of a unique writing voice. Brande encourages writers to overcome self-doubt and embrace their individual perspectives. She provides techniques for generating ideas, overcoming writer's block, and refining one's writing style. The book's enduring popularity speaks to its timeless wisdom and its ability to inspire aspiring writers.
A Man in Love, the second book in Karl Ove Knausgård's autobiographical series 'My Struggle,' delves into the complexities of his relationship with his wife, Linda. The novel explores themes of love, intimacy, and the challenges of maintaining a long-term relationship. Knausgård's unflinching honesty and detailed descriptions of his personal life make the book both compelling and unsettling. The book's exploration of the emotional landscape of a marriage is both raw and deeply personal. It offers a unique perspective on the complexities of human relationships and the challenges of self-discovery.
This book is a monumental biography of Robert Moses, who was the single most powerful man in New York City and State during his time. It explores how Moses accumulated and wielded power, shaping the city through his public works projects, including highways, bridges, and parks. The book delves into Moses's early life, his idealistic beginnings, and his transformation into a powerful figure who dominated New York's politics without ever being elected. It also highlights the social and environmental impacts of his projects and his eventual fall from power. The biography is renowned for its detailed and nuanced portrayal of power dynamics in urban politics[2][4][5].
This graphic adaptation of Marcel Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time' presents the first volume, 'Swann's Way', in a compressed and visually engaging format. The adaptation, likened to a 'piano reduction of an orchestral score', retains the fundamental architecture and themes of Proust’s work, including time, art, and the elusiveness of memory. Stéphane Heuet's detailed illustrations bring to life the narrator Marcel's childhood memories in Combray, capturing the humor, wit, and memorable characters of Proust's original text. This adaptation is designed to make Proust's work more accessible while maintaining its essence and beauty[3][5][4].
In 'Digital Barbarism', Mark Helprin argues against the abolition of copyright and critiques the digital revolution's impact on literature and culture. He defends the value of traditional publishing and intellectual property rights in the face of digital media's transformative power.
This book, written by Christopher Alexander and his colleagues, introduces the concept of a 'pattern language' consisting of 253 patterns that address various design problems in architecture, urban planning, and community design. Each pattern describes a recurring problem and its solution, allowing readers to adapt these solutions to their specific needs and local conditions. The book is structured to help ordinary people, as well as professionals, design and improve their homes, streets, and communities. It has had significant influence on fields beyond architecture, including software engineering and urban planning[3][4][5].
Note: if you’re in the UK, pick up a copy of today’s Sunday Times. The magazine is running an extract from the first chapter of John & Paul. You can also read it online FOR FREE if you click today (Sunday). (The Times website has taken its entire paywall down for the weekend, not just in my honour I hasten to add.) And don’t forget to pre-order!
I’m delighted to share with you this conversation with Nabeel Qureshi, a software engineer, entrepreneur, and writer. It’s all about his principles for living, which he laid out in a recent blog post.
Nabeel grew up in England. He studied PPE at Oxford where he specialised in philosophy, particularly Wittgenstein and Parfit. In his twenties he founded a fintech company, worked for Palantir, lived in San Francisco, and France. He's been a visiting scholar in AI and economics at the Mercatus Center in Virginia. He’s currently running a startup based in New York.
Nabeel has not only done a lot, he has one of the widest intellectual ranges of anyone I know, able to talk fluently and knowledgeably on machine learning and bioscience and finance and also on literature, music, film and art. He does all this without a hint of showing off or pretension. He's just a deeply curious guy who has read and watched and processed an incredible amount of good stuff, and has interesting things to say about all of it.
He recently posted a list of 63 principles for living, from the philosophical to the practical. It's proven very popular online. When I linked to it from the Ruffian, many of you said how much you enjoyed it. So I thought I'd invite Nabeel on the podcast to talk through some of his principles. The result is a fascinating conversation that covers everything from how to make the most of your talents, to how to think more clearly, to the best way to take notes.
I strongly recommend checking this out; if nothing else it will get you thinking about some pretty important questions. In fact we had so much to talk about that this episode is in two parts. The second, coming soon, will be available to paid subscribers only.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
www.ian-leslie.com/subscribe
The Ruffian 
