Welcome to my Website.

This is the Scriptorium, a collection of books with the aim of collecting many classic texts so people can discover new ones, and access familiar material in consistent, high-quality formatting. For now there are just a few important texts, but more will be added in time.

Where to start?

The King James Bible

This is by far the most important book you will ever read. It doesn't matter if you're not a Christian, because virtually all of European literature has been influenced by it in some way. If you haven't read this at least once, a good proportion of the plot and themes of later books will fly right over your head.

The King James Bible (pdf).

• The Four Greats

Arthur Schopenhauer called these four books the greatest, and I believe he was correct. Presented in alphabetical order of the author's first name; they are:

• Jean-Jacques Rosseau, Julie; or, The New Heloise, volume 1 volume 2 volume 3 volume 4
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
• Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy
• Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote

• The Rest:

Here are the other book's I've read which come close to the standard set by ol' Schopesy:

• Henry David-Thoreau, Walden (html)

A reflection on simple living in natural surroundings.

• A note on Shakespeare

In England, after the Bible, most people point to the works of William Shakespeare as the defining literary achievement of man. This is for good reason; his work is some of the best ever written. However, he was primarily a playwright, and if you want to take in a play, you really should see it, not read it. Given it's Shakespeare we're talking about, you should quite easily find a recording of whichever play you want. His poetry, of course, can be read, but this guide does not yet cover that particular form of literature.

Non-Fiction

• Plato, Timaeus (html)

One of the most important works by the most important author in history. It is extraordinarily influential as it was the only Platonic dialogue available for much of European history, and serves as an addendum to the Bible. Ancient scholars all interpreted Christian theology through the lens of this Greek writer, and it was this book with which they worked. It is doubly important today, because the primary goal of modern leftism is to defeat the idea of an ordered world, and Timaeus provides the best and most ancient defence of this idea.

• Theodore Kaczynski, Industrial Society and its Future (pdf)

A true classic. Kaczynski describes the harmful effects of widespread technology and the ideology of the people who use it and advocate for it.

• Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Foundations of the Nineteenth Century (pdf)
• Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Foundations of the Nineteenth Century (html)

A very influential book about anthropology and history. It got positive reviews from both the conservative Spectator and George Bernard Shaw, and even US President Theodore Roosevelt reviewed it. I haven't yet found a high-quality pdf of this, so two links are provided.

• Soren Kierkegaard, Either/Or (pdf)

The first of Kierkegaard's three great works. Kierkegaard's achievement was to reconcile Christianity with the developments of 19th-century German philosophy.

• Soren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling (html)

The second of Kierkegaard's three great works. A somewhat autobiographical work based on the Biblical narrative of the Binding of Isaac.

• Soren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death (html)

The third of Kierkegaard's three great works. Kierkegaard is notoriously dense, so I'll probably have to revisit how I've presented his works here at some point.

• Arthur Schopenhauer, A Few Words on Pantheism (html)

The best criticism of pantheism I've read. Schopenhauer is a great philosopher and an even better writer, so I'll have to add some more of his works when I get the chance.

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