Most of December was spent resting, allowing more time for reading, watching, and researching. During this time, I finished reading some hefty books and watched several series of movies and TV shows. The only regret was that the Dunhuang exhibition I had been looking forward to for a month was delayed in opening, and when it finally did, the person I planned to go with was diagnosed, leading to another postponement...
A lot of time this year was devoted to books on social sciences, history, and the like, mainly due to their relevance to my surroundings, forcing me to think and explore the reasons behind them. At one point, I found myself falling into a deep abyss of powerlessness.
In the future, my reading direction may temporarily shift to other areas.
- "Introduction to Logic·Distinguishing Right from Wrong": Finished reading. It explains what logic is through dialogues and then elaborates on how to distinguish right from wrong, serving as an introductory book. However, some of the terminology in it is a bit outdated, making it somewhat difficult to read.
- "2010: Space Odyssey": Finished reading. Recently, after finishing the Alien series, I found that the "Alien Universe" it created has intriguing aspects whether delving into the past or future. Unfortunately, the movies had too many flaws, affecting the overall viewing experience. While watching, I noticed some similarities between certain settings and Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey," so I continued to look for its sequels to read, and the quality was quite good.
- "Exiting Imperialism": Finished reading. This was a book I had wanted to read for a long time, but unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations. Many chapters' explanations even felt somewhat "inarticulate." Perhaps it was my own issue.
- "Reading Primer on American Civilization": Finished reading. The interesting aspect of this book lies in selecting important historical documents from hundreds of years of American history, thereby illustrating how this country became what it is today. After reading, one will discover that many things were established at the founding of the nation and continuously improved upon. Despite some setbacks, the overall trend is gradually converging towards those established principles.
- "The Gambler": Finished reading. Dostoevsky's book is often praised for vividly portraying the psyche of a real gambler, and it indeed does so. At the time, Dostoevsky was in a hurry to repay debts, so he dictated the book, resulting in multiple books being published simultaneously; otherwise, the quality of this book could have been better.
- "The Long Road to Hard Truth": Finished reading. It serves as a good overview when viewed as a brief history. Different choices stem from answering different questions at different stages, such as how to industrialize rapidly, what socialism is, and how to build socialism. Additionally, the quality of the several articles in the book's appendix is very high.
- "The Institutional Logic of China's National Governance: An Organizational Study": Finished reading. Although this book is not a systematic exposition of a single theme, each topic in each chapter is written extremely well, and reading any topic of interest will be rewarding.