# Bakers Dozen **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [August 4, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173 "2010-08-04T17:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1390
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27784 "2014-07-25T18:56:09Z")
People with the initials “J.S.” 1. Jerry Seinfeld 2. Julia Stiles 3. Captain John Smith of Jamestown 4. Jon Stewart ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27785 "2014-07-25T18:58:17Z")
People with the initials “J.S.” 1. Jerry Seinfeld 2. Julia Stiles 3. Captain John Smith of Jamestown 4. Jon Stewart 5. Jane Seymour (actress or wife of Henry VIII - you decide) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27786 "2014-07-25T19:08:25Z")
People with the initials “J.S.” 1. Jerry Seinfeld 2. Julia Stiles 3. Captain John Smith of Jamestown 4. Jon Stewart 5. Jane Seymour (actress or wife of Henry VIII - you decide) 6. Jimmy Smits ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27787 "2014-07-25T19:09:24Z")
People with the initials “J.S.” 1. Jerry Seinfeld 2. Julia Stiles 3. Captain John Smith of Jamestown 4. Jon Stewart 5. Jane Seymour (actress or wife of Henry VIII - you decide) 6. Jimmy Smits 7. James Stewart ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27788 "2014-07-25T19:16:59Z")
People with the initials “J.S.” 1. Jerry Seinfeld 2. Julia Stiles 3. Captain John Smith of Jamestown 4. Jon Stewart 5. Jane Seymour (actress or wife of Henry VIII - you decide) 6. Jimmy Smits 7. James Stewart 8. Jordan Spieth (Young Phenom Golfer) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27789 "2014-07-25T19:20:07Z")
People with the initials “J.S.” 1. Jerry Seinfeld 2. Julia Stiles 3. Captain John Smith of Jamestown 4. Jon Stewart 5. Jane Seymour (actress or wife of Henry VIII - you decide) 6. Jimmy Smits 7. James Stewart 8. Jordan Spieth (Young Phenom Golfer) 9. Jacqueline Susann ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27790 "2014-07-25T19:42:36Z")
People with the initials “J.S.” 1. Jerry Seinfeld 2. Julia Stiles 3. Captain John Smith of Jamestown 4. Jon Stewart 5. Jane Seymour (actress or wife of Henry VIII - you decide) 6. Jimmy Smits 7. James Stewart 8. Jordan Spieth (Young Phenom Golfer) 9. Jacqueline Susann 10. John Simm ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27791 "2014-07-25T20:03:22Z")
People with the initials “J.S.” 1. Jerry Seinfeld 2. Julia Stiles 3. Captain John Smith of Jamestown 4. Jon Stewart 5. Jane Seymour (actress or wife of Henry VIII - you decide) 6. Jimmy Smits 7. James Stewart 8. Jordan Spieth (Young Phenom Golfer) 9. Jacqueline Susann 10. John Simm 11. Captain Jack Sparrow ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27792 "2014-07-25T20:04:45Z")
People with the initials “J.S.” 1. Jerry Seinfeld 2. Julia Stiles 3. Captain John Smith of Jamestown 4. Jon Stewart 5. Jane Seymour (actress or wife of Henry VIII - you decide) 6. Jimmy Smits 7. James Stewart 8. Jordan Spieth (Young Phenom Golfer) 9. Jacqueline Susann 10. John Simm 11. Captain Jack Sparrow 12. Jaclyn Smith My favorite Angel. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27793 "2014-07-25T20:35:02Z")
People with the initials “J.S.” 1. Jerry Seinfeld 2. Julia Stiles 3. Captain John Smith of Jamestown 4. Jon Stewart 5. Jane Seymour (actress or wife of Henry VIII - you decide) 6. Jimmy Smits 7. James Stewart 8. Jordan Spieth (Young Phenom Golfer) 9. Jacqueline Susann 10. John Simm 11. Captain Jack Sparrow 12. Jaclyn Smith 13. Jean Stapleton New Topic: A “Classic” Book You’ve TRIED To Read More Than Once And Could Never Get Into 1. _ **Finnegans Wake** _ by James Joyce. I’ve tried it 4 times over the span of 40 years. I will not try again. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27794 "2014-07-26T00:59:00Z")
A “Classic” Book You’ve TRIED To Read More Than Once And Could Never Get Into 1. _ **Finnegans Wake** _ by James Joyce. I’ve tried it 4 times over the span of 40 years. I will not try again. 2. Moby-Dick ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27795 "2014-07-26T01:49:14Z")
A “Classic” Book You’ve TRIED To Read More Than Once And Could Never Get Into 1. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I’ve tried it 4 times over the span of 40 years. I will not try again. 2. Moby-Dick 3. War and Peace There’s just tooooo many people in that book. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27796 "2014-07-26T03:10:01Z")
A “Classic” Book You’ve TRIED To Read More Than Once And Could Never Get Into 1. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I’ve tried it 4 times over the span of 40 years. I will not try again. 2. Moby-Dick 3. War and Peace 4. _The Spirit of Laws_ by Montesquieu Okay, it’s a seminal work on legal theory and that’s a subject I’m interested in. But I just can’t get through this book. I can’t even get through chapters. I have a hard time getting through many of the paragraphs. I mean, c’mon: > [@](#): > > These rules are a fixed and invariable relation. In bodies moved, the motion is received, increased, diminished, lost, according to the relations of the quantity of matter and velocity: each diversity is uniformity; each change is constancy. > > Particular intelligent beings may have laws of their own making; but they have some likewise which they never made. Before there were intelligent beings, they were possible; they had therefore possible relations, and consequently possible laws. Before laws were made, there were relations of possible justice. To say that there is nothing just or unjust, but what is commanded or forbidden by positive laws, is the same as saying that, before the describing of a circle, all the radii were not equal. > > We must therefore acknowledge relations of justice antecedent to the positive law by which they are established: as for instance, that, if human societies existed, it would be right to conform to their laws; if there were intelligent beings that had received a benefit of another being, they ought to shew their gratitude; if one intelligent being had created another intelligent being, the latter ought to continue in its original state of dependence; if one intelligent being injures another, it deserves a retaliation; and so on. And this is on the first page. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27797 "2014-07-26T03:13:50Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And this is on the first page. I feel asleep twice just trying to read that excerpt. :eek: A “Classic” Book You’ve TRIED To Read More Than Once And Could Never Get Into 1. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I’ve tried it 4 times over the span of 40 years. I will not try again. 2. Moby-Dick 3. War and Peace 4. _The Spirit of Laws_ by Montesquieu 5. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27798 "2014-07-26T03:17:33Z")
A “Classic” Book You’ve TRIED To Read More Than Once And Could Never Get Into 1. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I’ve tried it 4 times over the span of 40 years. I will not try again. 2. Moby-Dick 3. War and Peace 4. The Spirit of Laws by Montesquieu 5. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks 6. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens I’ve enjoyed other works by Dickens, but this one eludes me. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27799 "2014-07-26T09:42:13Z")
A “Classic” Book You’ve TRIED To Read More Than Once And Could Never Get Into 1. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I’ve tried it 4 times over the span of 40 years. I will not try again. 2. Moby-Dick 3. War and Peace 4. The Spirit of Laws by Montesquieu 5. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks 6. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens 7. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27800 "2014-07-26T10:48:10Z")
A “Classic” Book You’ve TRIED To Read More Than Once And Could Never Get Into 1. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I’ve tried it 4 times over the span of 40 years. I will not try again. 2. Moby-Dick 3. War and Peace 4. The Spirit of Laws by Montesquieu 5. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks 6. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens 7. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan 8. 1984 by George Orwell ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27801 "2014-07-26T14:23:28Z")
A “Classic” Book You’ve TRIED To Read More Than Once And Could Never Get Into 1. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I’ve tried it 4 times over the span of 40 years. I will not try again. 2. Moby-Dick 3. War and Peace 4. The Spirit of Laws by Montesquieu 5. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks 6. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens 7. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan 8. 1984 by George Orwell 9. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27802 "2014-07-26T14:52:06Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > A > 9. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James > > Regards, > Shodan I was sure you’d say \*\*\*The Brothers Karamazov! \*\*\* 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/27803 "2014-07-26T15:59:23Z")
A “Classic” Book You’ve TRIED To Read More Than Once And Could Never Get Into 1. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I’ve tried it 4 times over the span of 40 years. I will not try again. 2. Moby-Dick 3. War and Peace 4. The Spirit of Laws by Montesquieu 5. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks 6. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens 7. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan 8. 1984 by George Orwell 9. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James 10. Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=1389) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=1391)