2025 Readings 3

 Previously I said that I was going to include any Great Courses that I made my way through in 2025, because, well, they're often lengthy, but more importantly they're usually dense and very thought-provoking. Since I have an hour commute each way from Calais into Burlington I listen to a lot of books of tape, and also Great Courses. The first of the latter that I listened this year was Robert Garland's "God Against the Gods," which was an overview of the relationship between monotheism and polytheism. I liked it, although I didn't love it. In some ways that is an unfair critique simply because after teaching classes on world civilization and religion for decades the strengths of the series, and there were many, were artificially limited while the weaknesses, and there were some, were artificially exaggerated. I thought his discussion of Islam was pretty simplistic and one-sided, and at times simply incorrect. Plus, he had that casual and elegant racism/Islamophobia that the British effortlessly slip into. Still, I still learned some things, mainly in regards to the similarities between monotheism and polytheism that I hadn't considered before, so I don't think it was a waste of time. That said, while I sometimes repeat Great Courses, this is not one that I would consider giving a second listen.