09/11/2025
I’m currently reading through The Immortal Books by 200 authors, a project I estimate will take 15 years. But I keep getting sidetracked with a desire to deviate or add to my reading list. For example, I initially planned to just read a few plays by the Greek tragedy playwrights, but as I got going, I enjoyed them so much that I decided to read all of the plays (33 in total). I had initially planned to just read a few dialogues by Plato but shifted course to read his entire collected works. And now, as I’m reading Plato, I’m realizing that he’s responding to the philosophers who came before him and I don’t know anything about them. So I purchased these three books and come to the big question about the scope of this reading project. Do I stick closely to the list of 200 authors and a few works by each author or do I open myself up to these delightful diversions? It really comes down to a question of time. I think the first option would take 15 years and the second 40 years. So, 15 or 40 years. That’s what I’m considering at the moment and the choice is embodied in whether or not I pause Plato to read these three books. Having initiated The Immortal Books reading at 43 years of age, a 40 year reading project becomes a remainder of life reading project.
