Book cover of The Allegory of the Cave

Book description

The Allegory of the Cave, or Plato's Cave, was presented by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work Republic (514a–520a) to compare "the effect of education (παιδεία) and the lack of it on our nature". It is written as a dialogue between Plato's brother Glaucon and his mentor Socrates, narrated…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Allegory of the Cave as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I have read this short section of Plato’s highly influential book, Republic, many times in many different settings over the course of my life and have always found it fresh and thought-provoking.

Are we just dupes staring at the secondhand shadows cast by figures on a wall, or will we escape our cave to find the truth in the light of the sun? Shadows have never been so denigrated! Nevertheless, I feel that Plato’s parable still has the power to make me question what it is I am doing with my life even if it was written over two…

From Erik's list on staring into the shadows.

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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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