The Gap Year — Change of Plans
In which we pivot our readings to something more manageable for summer
Hey everyone,
Hope all of your summers are off to a great start! In my last email, I announced that we’ll be reading Ovid’s Metamorphoses as our next book for The Gap Year. However, after some thought and discussion, I’ve decided that we should all have more than a couple of months to read it. It’s an exciting tome, but a tome nonetheless! Given the business of summer, I think it’s best if we have some breathing room to finish the book. The plan right now is to meet for discussion in November.
HOWEVER!
We will still meet this August, but we will be reading something a bit more manageable. I’ve been digging into the essays of Michel de Montaigne (pictured above), and think a couple of them would be great reading material for the summer. The ones I’ve chosen can all be read in about an hour. You can read them online for free here, or buy a complete collection here if you’re so inclined. Specifically, we will read chapters 18 and 19. Both of these deal with the “big questions” of death, happiness, and why we do philosophy more generally.
Shameless plug, but I also wrote an essay reflecting on my reading of Montaigne over at my personal newsletter. I try to write weekly over there and engage with things I’m reading more generally, if you’d like to subscribe.
As far as a specific meeting date goes, reply to this email and let me know if Friday, August 4th, or Saturday, August 5th work at all for you. Also open to scheduling another weekend if needed.
Happy reading!
Robbie