Ignatz Oasis
by Monica Youn
When you have left me
the sky drains of color
like the skin of a tightening fist.
The sun begins
its gold prowl
swatting at tinsel streamers
on the electric fan.
Crouching I hide
in the coolness I had stolen
from the brass rods of your bed.
Ooh, I like it.
For more, visit Guerinca.
4.11.2008
4.08.2008
Links and more links
Just links today; still trying to play catch up with life!
Great observations on the writing life here. (via Maud Newton)
News on the Pulitzer Prizes here. Awesome that Bob Dylan and Robert Hass are both winners. Junot Diaz won for fiction. Has anyone read Diaz? Comments?
World Literature Forum -- check it out.
Great observations on the writing life here. (via Maud Newton)
News on the Pulitzer Prizes here. Awesome that Bob Dylan and Robert Hass are both winners. Junot Diaz won for fiction. Has anyone read Diaz? Comments?
World Literature Forum -- check it out.
3.26.2008
Book banning in schools
It seems as if one school decided to hide behind rules and regulations to suspend a teacher who taught a "banned book" to her class.
Suspended, not fired, for a year and a half. No pay. Oh, thank you merciful School Board! (I think the teacher eventually resigned with a settlement.)
The banned book in question? The Freedom Writers' Diary.
The administrators reportedly objected to use of "racial slurs and sexually explicit content." While I understand teachers have to follow some rules and need to be mindful of many social issues, doesn't the positive of the book outweigh the liabilities? The students in question are high schoolars, and are probably painfully aware of violence, racism, and other social ills the book is trying to expose and challenge.
I really think our K-12 teachers are too impeded by rules and regulations. Are we dumbing down education, failing to challenge our students, and cheating them of the benefits of a true education: learning to think for oneself?
Any thoughts? Other than, like me, you'll keep your eye peeled for a copy of this book in the bargain bins.
3.21.2008
Books saved me this week
Hi, everyone,
Just wanted to share how two book-related incidents this week really helped me over a tough patch:
1) Bookmarks magazine. My first copy arrived, and right before bed, at the end of a trying and exhausting day, in lieu of my regular reading, I leafed through the copy. Wow! Where have I been all this time?? And I know I found this from one of the blogs I regularly read. I am not sure whose, but I suspect Iliana at Bookgirl's Nightstand. Whoever the blogger was (or bloggers were), many thanks! I'm addicted. And, for others whose interest is piqued, click here to reach the Bookmarks homepage.
2) Awhile back, when I was undergoing some stress (seems to be a recurring theme, alas), a blogger recommended the book, Full Catastrophe Living. (I believe the blogger in question is the wonderful Litlove.) At any rate, I bought it and looked at it, and somehow, it got buried in the pile by my nightstand. Well, two days ago, I had a "dark night of the soul" kind of experience -- you know, like eating broccoli: you don't like it but it's good for you. I woke up in the middle of the night and needed comfort from a book. Lo and behold, I saw the book's spine at the bottom of a huge pile, winking at me, and I pulled it out. Well, it was the right words at the right time. I heartily recommend this book for anyone who suffers from chronic pain, stress, or is undergoing any stormy period. Even if you don't read it right away, you can always pull it from your shelf when you need it.
Happy Easter and Happy Spring to all! (P.S. Check out Amazon.com -- apparently, they sold out of kindle!)
3.17.2008
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge
Danger: The Uppercrust Factor and the Mini-Series Mystique
Rating: 4.5 dynamite sticks out of 5
Plot in a nutshell: The novel chronicles the journeys of Charles Ryder, an Oxford student, once he is befriended by Sebastian, the younger son of an aristocratic family. Sebastian takes Charles to his family's palatial home, Brideshead Castle, where Charles eventually meets the rest of the Marchmain family.
As the story unfolds, Sebastian becomes more distant, troubled, and even derelict with his retreat into alcoholism. Charles also drifts away from the Marchmains, but also finds himself returning to Brideshead and the Marchmain family over the years. In the second book, Charles even becomes involved with one of the sisters.
According to Wikipedia, Waugh desired that the book should be about the "operation of divine grace on a group of diverse but closely connected characters." While religion (Catholicism in particular) is a motif, it did not speak to me as strongly as the idea of what binds people together or forces them apart. It can be a religion or set of ideologies (including aristocracy) and it can also be character, such as someone suffering from alcoholism, or it can be love.
What I liked: The characters were subtly drawn and very complex. The passages between Charles and his father (and cousin) were witty, cutting, and completely original -- albeit not a major part of the plot. Here's a passage where Charles' cousin dispense advice about survival at Oxford:
". . . You're reading History? A perfectly respectable school. The very worst is English Literature and the next worst is Modern Greats. You want either a first or a fourth. There is no value in anything between. Time spent on a good second is time thrown away. You should go to the best lectures - Arkwright on Demosthenes for instance - irrespective of whether they are in your school or not. . . . Clothes. Dress as you do in a country house. Never wear a tweed coat and flannel trousers - always a suit. And go to a London tailor; you get better cut and longer credit. . . . Clubs. Join the Carlton now and the Grid at the beginning of your second year. If you want to run for the Union - and it's not a bad thing to do - make your reputation outside first, at the Canning or the Chatham, and begin by speaking on the paper. . . . Keep clear of Boar's Hill . . ." The sky over the opposing gables glowed and then darkened; I put more coal on the fire and turned on the light, revealing in their respectability his London-made plus fours and his Leander tie. . . . "Don't treat dons like schoolmasters; treat them as you would the vicar at home. . . . You'll find you spend half your second year shaking off the undesirable friends you made in your first. . . . Beware of the Anglo-Catholics - they're all sodomites with unpleasant accents. In fact, steer clear of all the religious groups; they do nothing but harm. . . ."
I mean, this is a character we never see again -- yet how much richness is dispensed with this passage about Charles' family, about the milieu he is now operating in having joined Oxford, and about general snobs like the cousin. And the wit is ever-present. (Come on, you did SMILE at the reference about English Lit, didn't you?)
And I adored the prose. Waugh wastes little in terms of characterization and phrasing; he cuts through the bull in the most erudite manner and with fine and layered observation. Here's another early passage, where Charles recounts how he decorated his college rooms -- which the character equates with his own passage of youth. Note how he not only provides clues about this character in the present, but also through that, sheds more light on the character during his youth. Just as in the passage above, the details are all so carefully chosen; however, the prose flows so beautifully in tone and manner that the details never seem overly laden with portent or overdone. And, finally, the last sentence propels the reader neatly into the plot:
It is easy, retrospectively, to endow one's youth with a false precocity or a false innocence; to tamper with the dates marking one's stature on the edge of the door. I should like to think - indeed I sometimes do think - that I decorated those rooms with Morris stuffs and Arundel prints and that my shelves were filled with seventeenth-century folios and French novels of the second empire in Russia-leather and watered-silk. But this was not the truth. On my first afternoon I proudly hung a reproduction of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" over the fire and set up a screen, painted by Roger Fry with a Provençal landscape, which I had bought inexpensively when the Omega workshops were sold up. I displayed also a poster by McKnight Kauffer and Rhyme Sheets from the Poetry Bookshop, and, most painful to recall, a porcelain figure of Polly Peachum which stood between black tapers on the chimney-piece. My books were meagre and commonplace - Roger Fry's Vision and Design; the Medici Press edition of A Shropshire Lad; Eminent Victorians; some volumes of Georgian Poetry; Sinister Street; and South Wind - and my earliest friends fitted well into this background; they were Collins, a Wykehamist, an embryo don, a man of solid reading and childlike humour, and a small circle of college intellectuals, who maintained a middle course of culture between the flamboyant "æsthetes" and the proletarian scholars who scrambled fiercely for facts in the lodging houses of the Iffley Road and Wellington Square. It was by this circle that I found myself adopted during my first term; they provided the kind of company I had enjoyed in the sixth form at school, for which the sixth form had prepared me; but even in the earliest days, when the whole business of living at Oxford, with rooms of my own and my own cheque book, was a source of excitement, I felt at heart that this was not all that Oxford had to offer.
How many authors cover this much territory in so few paragraphs, much less sustain it for an entire novel? Awesome. Never had a word been so apropos.
What I didn't like: Oh, so unfortunately, the second book simply did not hold up to the skill of the first (in my humble opinion). The plot seemed rushed, as if Waugh had to meet a deadline. He didn't spin out the fine and intricate web of character and theme; rather, he seemed to just employ plot devices, one, two, three, as if he was channeling Dickens on a bad day.
Still, I'm so very very glad I blasted through my intimidation of Waugh and tales of aristocrats, which tend to make me feel deflated and petty-bourgeois, and the fact that the book cover was adorned with photos from the miniseries (should I just watch the miniseries, my inner sloth suggests) starring Jeremy Irons (more British upper-crustedness).
Danger: The Uppercrust Factor and the Mini-Series Mystique
Rating: 4.5 dynamite sticks out of 5
Plot in a nutshell: The novel chronicles the journeys of Charles Ryder, an Oxford student, once he is befriended by Sebastian, the younger son of an aristocratic family. Sebastian takes Charles to his family's palatial home, Brideshead Castle, where Charles eventually meets the rest of the Marchmain family.
As the story unfolds, Sebastian becomes more distant, troubled, and even derelict with his retreat into alcoholism. Charles also drifts away from the Marchmains, but also finds himself returning to Brideshead and the Marchmain family over the years. In the second book, Charles even becomes involved with one of the sisters.
According to Wikipedia, Waugh desired that the book should be about the "operation of divine grace on a group of diverse but closely connected characters." While religion (Catholicism in particular) is a motif, it did not speak to me as strongly as the idea of what binds people together or forces them apart. It can be a religion or set of ideologies (including aristocracy) and it can also be character, such as someone suffering from alcoholism, or it can be love.
What I liked: The characters were subtly drawn and very complex. The passages between Charles and his father (and cousin) were witty, cutting, and completely original -- albeit not a major part of the plot. Here's a passage where Charles' cousin dispense advice about survival at Oxford:
". . . You're reading History? A perfectly respectable school. The very worst is English Literature and the next worst is Modern Greats. You want either a first or a fourth. There is no value in anything between. Time spent on a good second is time thrown away. You should go to the best lectures - Arkwright on Demosthenes for instance - irrespective of whether they are in your school or not. . . . Clothes. Dress as you do in a country house. Never wear a tweed coat and flannel trousers - always a suit. And go to a London tailor; you get better cut and longer credit. . . . Clubs. Join the Carlton now and the Grid at the beginning of your second year. If you want to run for the Union - and it's not a bad thing to do - make your reputation outside first, at the Canning or the Chatham, and begin by speaking on the paper. . . . Keep clear of Boar's Hill . . ." The sky over the opposing gables glowed and then darkened; I put more coal on the fire and turned on the light, revealing in their respectability his London-made plus fours and his Leander tie. . . . "Don't treat dons like schoolmasters; treat them as you would the vicar at home. . . . You'll find you spend half your second year shaking off the undesirable friends you made in your first. . . . Beware of the Anglo-Catholics - they're all sodomites with unpleasant accents. In fact, steer clear of all the religious groups; they do nothing but harm. . . ."
I mean, this is a character we never see again -- yet how much richness is dispensed with this passage about Charles' family, about the milieu he is now operating in having joined Oxford, and about general snobs like the cousin. And the wit is ever-present. (Come on, you did SMILE at the reference about English Lit, didn't you?)
And I adored the prose. Waugh wastes little in terms of characterization and phrasing; he cuts through the bull in the most erudite manner and with fine and layered observation. Here's another early passage, where Charles recounts how he decorated his college rooms -- which the character equates with his own passage of youth. Note how he not only provides clues about this character in the present, but also through that, sheds more light on the character during his youth. Just as in the passage above, the details are all so carefully chosen; however, the prose flows so beautifully in tone and manner that the details never seem overly laden with portent or overdone. And, finally, the last sentence propels the reader neatly into the plot:
It is easy, retrospectively, to endow one's youth with a false precocity or a false innocence; to tamper with the dates marking one's stature on the edge of the door. I should like to think - indeed I sometimes do think - that I decorated those rooms with Morris stuffs and Arundel prints and that my shelves were filled with seventeenth-century folios and French novels of the second empire in Russia-leather and watered-silk. But this was not the truth. On my first afternoon I proudly hung a reproduction of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" over the fire and set up a screen, painted by Roger Fry with a Provençal landscape, which I had bought inexpensively when the Omega workshops were sold up. I displayed also a poster by McKnight Kauffer and Rhyme Sheets from the Poetry Bookshop, and, most painful to recall, a porcelain figure of Polly Peachum which stood between black tapers on the chimney-piece. My books were meagre and commonplace - Roger Fry's Vision and Design; the Medici Press edition of A Shropshire Lad; Eminent Victorians; some volumes of Georgian Poetry; Sinister Street; and South Wind - and my earliest friends fitted well into this background; they were Collins, a Wykehamist, an embryo don, a man of solid reading and childlike humour, and a small circle of college intellectuals, who maintained a middle course of culture between the flamboyant "æsthetes" and the proletarian scholars who scrambled fiercely for facts in the lodging houses of the Iffley Road and Wellington Square. It was by this circle that I found myself adopted during my first term; they provided the kind of company I had enjoyed in the sixth form at school, for which the sixth form had prepared me; but even in the earliest days, when the whole business of living at Oxford, with rooms of my own and my own cheque book, was a source of excitement, I felt at heart that this was not all that Oxford had to offer.
How many authors cover this much territory in so few paragraphs, much less sustain it for an entire novel? Awesome. Never had a word been so apropos.
What I didn't like: Oh, so unfortunately, the second book simply did not hold up to the skill of the first (in my humble opinion). The plot seemed rushed, as if Waugh had to meet a deadline. He didn't spin out the fine and intricate web of character and theme; rather, he seemed to just employ plot devices, one, two, three, as if he was channeling Dickens on a bad day.
Still, I'm so very very glad I blasted through my intimidation of Waugh and tales of aristocrats, which tend to make me feel deflated and petty-bourgeois, and the fact that the book cover was adorned with photos from the miniseries (should I just watch the miniseries, my inner sloth suggests) starring Jeremy Irons (more British upper-crustedness).
3.14.2008
Twoferone memes
I got tagged by Minus the Spine and LitLove for two memes, so, without further ado, here they are. Happy Friday!
Five Kind Things Meme
The rules:
1. List five kind things you do for yourself.
2.List five kind things you do for your closest friend, partner or child.
3.List five kind things you have done for a stranger.
4. Have fun!
5. Tag five people.
Five Kind Things I Do For Myself
1. Read. Well, duh. But reading does so many things for me: Entertains, enlightens, informs. And keeps my brain well-oiled.
2. Blog breaks. Okay, I take blog breaks at work. When I'm at my wits' end or otherwise need a breath of fresh air, I post or peruse my blogroll.
3. Hang with my kitties. When my cats sprawl on top of me as I watch TV or read, I think they soak up all angst.
4. Go to Buddhist meditations and lectures. I just started this in earnest, as what I have been going through with my parents finally pried open my completely locked spiritual door. Catholicism hasn't worked for me since second grade, and I want and need some sort of spiritual grounding. Buddhism gives me peace.
5. Call my friends. I am not a big one on reaching out (who wants to bother other people?), but my friends are always there for me. That has been a big comfort.
Five Kind Things I Do For My Good Friends
1. Listen to them. At least, I hope I do. I make every effort, and even that is not enough. Listening to someone is the best you can do, and it's the hardest oftentimes.
2. Encourage them. I am not really great at giving them my time, but I do have lots of energy and ideas for when they hit their walls.
3. Loan them money. I'm not rich, and I'm certainly not philanthropic, but I don't hesitate when my friends need to borrow. And I'm not a nag about payback (I don't keep very good track, but the kind of people who are my friends are very scrupulous about paying back.) I think this is not only because it helps my friends and I'm not a money-grubber, but also because it's a way to give and I'm not good about giving time.
4. Don't hold grudges. If you've ever been close to grudge-holders, well, you know that this is the gift that keeps on giving.
5. Make them laugh. I don't think anyone can do this enough, and I need to work harder at this, but we do have fun and laugh, my friends and I.
Five Kind Things I Have Done For Strangers
1. Give money. That's pretty easy.
2. Give directions and even help them to their destination, if I can. (I'm not great at directions myself, so this is a trick.)
3. Compliment them. Sometimes, if someone looks like they could use a boost or even when they can't, a nice word goes a long way.
4. Give them advice. Sometimes friends have asked me to help their friends, and usually it involves writing or careers.
5. Let them have the seat.
Three things I had to Learn the Hard Way
1. "You can't get crucified for what you don't say." Still learning that one.
2. "Don't sleep with a man on the first date." Still learning that one.
3. "Mud too thick doesn't stick." An old Polish saying, which I think relates to peasants and hut-building. Nevertheless, it means when people get intimate too fast, it usually falls apart or doesn't last. This relates to point #2 very well. Still learning this one.
Tag (take your pick of the meme): Dorothy W., Iliana, Verbivore, Minus Spine (for the 5 Things), and Dark Orpheus.
Five Kind Things Meme
The rules:
1. List five kind things you do for yourself.
2.List five kind things you do for your closest friend, partner or child.
3.List five kind things you have done for a stranger.
4. Have fun!
5. Tag five people.
Five Kind Things I Do For Myself
1. Read. Well, duh. But reading does so many things for me: Entertains, enlightens, informs. And keeps my brain well-oiled.
2. Blog breaks. Okay, I take blog breaks at work. When I'm at my wits' end or otherwise need a breath of fresh air, I post or peruse my blogroll.
3. Hang with my kitties. When my cats sprawl on top of me as I watch TV or read, I think they soak up all angst.
4. Go to Buddhist meditations and lectures. I just started this in earnest, as what I have been going through with my parents finally pried open my completely locked spiritual door. Catholicism hasn't worked for me since second grade, and I want and need some sort of spiritual grounding. Buddhism gives me peace.
5. Call my friends. I am not a big one on reaching out (who wants to bother other people?), but my friends are always there for me. That has been a big comfort.
Five Kind Things I Do For My Good Friends
1. Listen to them. At least, I hope I do. I make every effort, and even that is not enough. Listening to someone is the best you can do, and it's the hardest oftentimes.
2. Encourage them. I am not really great at giving them my time, but I do have lots of energy and ideas for when they hit their walls.
3. Loan them money. I'm not rich, and I'm certainly not philanthropic, but I don't hesitate when my friends need to borrow. And I'm not a nag about payback (I don't keep very good track, but the kind of people who are my friends are very scrupulous about paying back.) I think this is not only because it helps my friends and I'm not a money-grubber, but also because it's a way to give and I'm not good about giving time.
4. Don't hold grudges. If you've ever been close to grudge-holders, well, you know that this is the gift that keeps on giving.
5. Make them laugh. I don't think anyone can do this enough, and I need to work harder at this, but we do have fun and laugh, my friends and I.
Five Kind Things I Have Done For Strangers
1. Give money. That's pretty easy.
2. Give directions and even help them to their destination, if I can. (I'm not great at directions myself, so this is a trick.)
3. Compliment them. Sometimes, if someone looks like they could use a boost or even when they can't, a nice word goes a long way.
4. Give them advice. Sometimes friends have asked me to help their friends, and usually it involves writing or careers.
5. Let them have the seat.
Three things I had to Learn the Hard Way
1. "You can't get crucified for what you don't say." Still learning that one.
2. "Don't sleep with a man on the first date." Still learning that one.
3. "Mud too thick doesn't stick." An old Polish saying, which I think relates to peasants and hut-building. Nevertheless, it means when people get intimate too fast, it usually falls apart or doesn't last. This relates to point #2 very well. Still learning this one.
Tag (take your pick of the meme): Dorothy W., Iliana, Verbivore, Minus Spine (for the 5 Things), and Dark Orpheus.
3.12.2008
Wednesday odds and ends
Book news: Finished Fred Vargas' Seeking Whom He May Devour. Sigh. Not as great as I'd expected...the characters weren't terribly interesting, and the author (who is a woman) kept making very sexist type of comments, in lieu of characterization. (i.e. One of the main characters kept referring to a murder victim as "the old bag.") I'm very hard to please when it comes to mysteries. I also suspect I read the wrong Vargas book. (Check out Smithereens' views on Vargas for a more balanced account of Vargas. Check out Smithereens' views for much good reading, if you haven't visited there!) I shall move on to Jacqueline Winspear's Birds of a Feather and start scrabbling around for Agatha Christie and PD James (is there a contemporary equivalent to these writers?). I'm really trying to bone up on mystery writing, as I'd like to dash one off under a pseudonym. "She says cheerily, her positive tones belying her delusions...."
On a more positive note, LOVED Sylvia Beach's memoir Shakespeare & Co., all about her literary bookstore. It's very light, full of anecdotes that never get too revealing (about her or the people she's informing us about) versus gossip or true revelations. I get the feeling she was trying to be discreet and diplomatic versus being a tell-all. Still, if you are a modern lit lover, this is a great read. She mentions several authors I would like to look up: Valery Larbaud, Mina Loy, Djuna Barnes, Bryher, and Mary Butts, among others.
Library travails: I finally got my library card! This is what happened: I returned the books to the outside deposit, which apparently was a mistake, since they were returned to the stacks without any record. I actually hunted two of them down, to prove I did indeed return the books (the librarian was looking at me askance. I don't think he believed someone who had books checked out from 11 years prior would a) find them and b) return them.) At this point, it was more about restoring credibility than getting a library card. Happily, the librarian appreciated my efforts, charged me $11 for a back fine and for a new card (a bargain, if you ask me), and issued me my new license. Which I will use very judiciously, I assure you.
For anyone dealing with seniors: As some of you bloggers may have issues with your elderly parents, here's a link to Jitterbug, a phone service especially for seniors. I am sending one to my mom and dad. My dad is going home, but he is not well enough to care for himself, and my mom (I fear) is in early Alzheimers or dementia. Her behavior has gone beyond mere stress from my dad's situation, unfortunately. This phone may be a literal lifeline. Hope it may help some of you, if you need it.
On a more positive note, LOVED Sylvia Beach's memoir Shakespeare & Co., all about her literary bookstore. It's very light, full of anecdotes that never get too revealing (about her or the people she's informing us about) versus gossip or true revelations. I get the feeling she was trying to be discreet and diplomatic versus being a tell-all. Still, if you are a modern lit lover, this is a great read. She mentions several authors I would like to look up: Valery Larbaud, Mina Loy, Djuna Barnes, Bryher, and Mary Butts, among others.
Library travails: I finally got my library card! This is what happened: I returned the books to the outside deposit, which apparently was a mistake, since they were returned to the stacks without any record. I actually hunted two of them down, to prove I did indeed return the books (the librarian was looking at me askance. I don't think he believed someone who had books checked out from 11 years prior would a) find them and b) return them.) At this point, it was more about restoring credibility than getting a library card. Happily, the librarian appreciated my efforts, charged me $11 for a back fine and for a new card (a bargain, if you ask me), and issued me my new license. Which I will use very judiciously, I assure you.
For anyone dealing with seniors: As some of you bloggers may have issues with your elderly parents, here's a link to Jitterbug, a phone service especially for seniors. I am sending one to my mom and dad. My dad is going home, but he is not well enough to care for himself, and my mom (I fear) is in early Alzheimers or dementia. Her behavior has gone beyond mere stress from my dad's situation, unfortunately. This phone may be a literal lifeline. Hope it may help some of you, if you need it.
3.07.2008
Friday notes
Just a note to say my dad is being released home next week. This is good news, of course, although there is a long road ahead for him, my mom, and my whole family.
Breathing hopeful breaths and staying positive. Thanks again to everyone who sent their good wishes!
3.06.2008
Thoughts for Thursday - What your books say about you ... and a link
Following up on yesterday's post...what does your big pile of books say about you? Pay attention to not only how they are ordered or displayed, but how many do you have? What are the titles? Which titles do you read and which do you buy (maybe guiltily) with the best of intentions but somehow never manage to crack open?
These are the questions that can reveal what your books have to say about you.
I took a brief look around, and this is what I discovered: My books, once arranged by broad subject (nonfiction, history, biography, writing and reference, fiction, short stories) are a bit more in disarray since I moved five years ago. I never quite recovered! I didn't really think about that until now. Five years, and I only moved from the bottom floor to the top floor, but I just haven't regained my footing - guess I need to devote a few solid vacation days to serious household organization.
Judging from the sheer number and how much space I devote to them, my books say that reading is very important to me. Not only "reading" in general, but literature in particular: My fiction titles include many classics, a wide breadth of short stories, great geographical representations from Russia and Spain to America and England, and a smattering of contemporary fiction of generally the highest caliber. Combined with my series of "how-to-write" books, I'd say this makes me a writer, dammit.
I also am a person very interested in current events and history. I may be reincarnated from Tudor England or Revolutionary Russia. I dip in and out of the spiritual realm (particulary Buddhism) and have shunted the few relationship books (even a Dr. Phil book, heaven help me) into the darkest recesses of my closets. (I don't think I like what my books have to say about me in THAT regard.)
Generally, I like what my books have to say about me. I'm endlessly curious and a perpetual student. And that's okay in my book.
Looking for that special gift?
A friend of mine offers lovely, personalized messages (perfect for sharing your favorite literary quote with a special someone)...check out her website.
3.05.2008
Your books and what they may say about you
Borrowing a page from Dorothy W., I read this article debating the etiquette of having unread books on your shelves.
The author cites Ezra Klein from the American Prospect as saying:
"Bookshelves are not for displaying books you’ve read. Those books go in your office, or near your bed, or on your Facebook profile. Rather, the books on your shelves are there to convey the type of person you would like to be."
Now, I think it's a bit pompous to purposely dislay books you've read in your office (uh, don't have much room in a cubicle for THAT) or bedstand (isn't that where you keep books you are reading?) -- and I don't much care for boasting via Facebook or on a blog as much as I do recording it for yourself and for the possible reading pleasure of other bookworms.
But I do like the idea that books on your shelves convey the type of person you would like to be. Take a look at your own stacks tonight -- what kind of person do you want to be? I will do the same and report tomorrow.
Oh, and here's a takeaway from that article for you, a quote from Francis Bacon, which beautifully encapsulates my feelings about owning and hording hundreds of books:
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”
The author cites Ezra Klein from the American Prospect as saying:
"Bookshelves are not for displaying books you’ve read. Those books go in your office, or near your bed, or on your Facebook profile. Rather, the books on your shelves are there to convey the type of person you would like to be."
Now, I think it's a bit pompous to purposely dislay books you've read in your office (uh, don't have much room in a cubicle for THAT) or bedstand (isn't that where you keep books you are reading?) -- and I don't much care for boasting via Facebook or on a blog as much as I do recording it for yourself and for the possible reading pleasure of other bookworms.
But I do like the idea that books on your shelves convey the type of person you would like to be. Take a look at your own stacks tonight -- what kind of person do you want to be? I will do the same and report tomorrow.
Oh, and here's a takeaway from that article for you, a quote from Francis Bacon, which beautifully encapsulates my feelings about owning and hording hundreds of books:
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”
3.03.2008
Brideshead Revisted (and Library Revisited)
Heading into a very busy time at work -- and before I do, wanted to mention that I finished Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. The only other Waugh book I've read was The Loved One (very long ago), but this book seemed intimidating to me, and I thought it would be a good choice for My Year of Reading Dangerously. I really enjoyed it! I want to post some passages later this week, but for now, I will say the descriptions, characterizations, plot, theme -- all subtle, beautifully observed, and complex. The second book fell apart a little for me: Seemed too hurried and unbelievable, and didn't hold up as well against the first book which was stunning.
About the library book snafu: Well, although I turned the books in, they don't have a record of them! So, I still can't get my library card. I must admit, I feel like I deserve this one! I am supposed to call the Library Supervisors. I feel like I'm being sent to the prinicpal's office! (Bloglily, you indeed have all my sympathies!)
Now, off to big-time web updates...Cheerio!
About the library book snafu: Well, although I turned the books in, they don't have a record of them! So, I still can't get my library card. I must admit, I feel like I deserve this one! I am supposed to call the Library Supervisors. I feel like I'm being sent to the prinicpal's office! (Bloglily, you indeed have all my sympathies!)
Now, off to big-time web updates...Cheerio!
2.28.2008
2.27.2008
Mitford Letters, Book Sale & A Borrower's Tale
I am a little frantic today. No time to write the hilarious post that came to me at about 3 in the morning about the "Three Thangs I Learned the Hard Way" challenge that Snacky Wombat tagged me on.
So, I share some fun stuff:
The Mitfords: Letters between Six Sisters. Doesn't that sound like a fabulous collection? BoldType has links to myriad reviews. (Oh, and if you haven't already done so, sign up for BoldType. It's a nifty little e-newsletter.)
NYRB Moving Sale. It's your chance to get a huge discount on some great titles.
"How A Recovering Bookaholic Recovered Borrowed Books: A Tale of Literary Redemption," by LK: Once upon a time, depending on how you look at it, a Recovering Bookaholic Kitten took the first step in giving up to a Higher Power: She marched virtuously to her local library, intent on getting a library card just in time to close up Library Lovers Month. She presented her neatly printed application and proper ID, only to be told by the librarian that she had four books outstanding...since 1997! Ms. Kitten didn't even remember setting foot in the library in 1997, much less checking out (and not returning) four books. She ducked her head, and disguising her tucked-tail between the legs as a daring fashion accessory, slinked out with great consternation and even sheepishness (which is difficult for a kitten to pull off). As soon as she returned to her lair, the kitten somehow managed to locate the outlaw books. Within 10 minutes. It was like she had a homing radar. This kitten has about 600 books all told), on six bookshelves, in absolutely no order. Our heroine triumphantly deposited the quad and tonight will return to the scene of the crime to get her library card. After all, she is a taxpayer. And it is amnesty week. (In reparation, she plans to donate a slew of books. This may divert some of the bad book karma to Barnes & Noble.) We hope she and future borrowed books may co-exist happily together. The end.
So, I share some fun stuff:
The Mitfords: Letters between Six Sisters. Doesn't that sound like a fabulous collection? BoldType has links to myriad reviews. (Oh, and if you haven't already done so, sign up for BoldType. It's a nifty little e-newsletter.)
NYRB Moving Sale. It's your chance to get a huge discount on some great titles.
"How A Recovering Bookaholic Recovered Borrowed Books: A Tale of Literary Redemption," by LK: Once upon a time, depending on how you look at it, a Recovering Bookaholic Kitten took the first step in giving up to a Higher Power: She marched virtuously to her local library, intent on getting a library card just in time to close up Library Lovers Month. She presented her neatly printed application and proper ID, only to be told by the librarian that she had four books outstanding...since 1997! Ms. Kitten didn't even remember setting foot in the library in 1997, much less checking out (and not returning) four books. She ducked her head, and disguising her tucked-tail between the legs as a daring fashion accessory, slinked out with great consternation and even sheepishness (which is difficult for a kitten to pull off). As soon as she returned to her lair, the kitten somehow managed to locate the outlaw books. Within 10 minutes. It was like she had a homing radar. This kitten has about 600 books all told), on six bookshelves, in absolutely no order. Our heroine triumphantly deposited the quad and tonight will return to the scene of the crime to get her library card. After all, she is a taxpayer. And it is amnesty week. (In reparation, she plans to donate a slew of books. This may divert some of the bad book karma to Barnes & Noble.) We hope she and future borrowed books may co-exist happily together. The end.
2.25.2008
Blogger belched
I think Blogger had indigestion this weekend; my 3 most recent posts seem to have been passed.
Ah, well. Nothing lasts.
Ah, well. Nothing lasts.
2.16.2008
Your brain on books
From Laura Miller, in a Salon book review of Susan Jacoby's new book, The Age of American Unreason:
"I believe that reading fosters a particular mental stamina, discipline, creativity and flexibility that can't be acquired from other media. In a future dominated by complex social systems, technology and science, only people who can think in this fashion will have enough understanding of how the world works to actually run it. And to remain truly democratic, America should be made up of citizens who are able to think that way."
and
"As Jacoby astutely points out, reading does not "constitute a continuous invasion of individual thought and consciousness ... printed works do not take up mental space simply by virtue of being there; attention must be paid or their content, whether simple or complex, can never be truly assimilated." Unless you make a point of turning off the TV and putting the computer to sleep, they can easily fill up your day and mind, gradually atrophying the mental muscles uniquely exercised by reading. Abstaining, for many people, turns out to be as easy as bypassing a cupboard stocked with chips and cookies and snacking on carrot sticks instead. To hope that the American public will pick the nutritious but difficult over the easy and tasty is to bet on a losing horse."
Related links:
Twilight of the Books, New Yorker
Staying Awake: Notes on the alleged decline of reading, Harpers (by Ursula K. LeGuin; subscription required)
How Reading is Being Reimagined, Chronicle of Higher Eduation
"I believe that reading fosters a particular mental stamina, discipline, creativity and flexibility that can't be acquired from other media. In a future dominated by complex social systems, technology and science, only people who can think in this fashion will have enough understanding of how the world works to actually run it. And to remain truly democratic, America should be made up of citizens who are able to think that way."
and
"As Jacoby astutely points out, reading does not "constitute a continuous invasion of individual thought and consciousness ... printed works do not take up mental space simply by virtue of being there; attention must be paid or their content, whether simple or complex, can never be truly assimilated." Unless you make a point of turning off the TV and putting the computer to sleep, they can easily fill up your day and mind, gradually atrophying the mental muscles uniquely exercised by reading. Abstaining, for many people, turns out to be as easy as bypassing a cupboard stocked with chips and cookies and snacking on carrot sticks instead. To hope that the American public will pick the nutritious but difficult over the easy and tasty is to bet on a losing horse."
Related links:
Twilight of the Books, New Yorker
Staying Awake: Notes on the alleged decline of reading, Harpers (by Ursula K. LeGuin; subscription required)
How Reading is Being Reimagined, Chronicle of Higher Eduation
2.15.2008
From "Living Without Regret"
Happy Friday, everyone! Thanks again for all of your good thoughts and energy -- it means a lot. My dad is now out of the hospital and back into a rehab center. I think it will be more of the same for a while. Meantime, my mom is pretty much in meltdown. She is not visiting my dad, she lashes out verbally at everyone, and she is sinking into paranoia. Very difficult situation.
In the midst of all the struggle, there is reading. I am so grateful to have it in my life! (And you too, dear bloggers!) I am so grateful that people who have gone before me were courageous and strong and generous enough to put their words on paper.
Here are some excerpts from a painful yet helpful book, Living Without Regret: Growing Old in Light of Tibetan Buddhism by Arnaud Maitland. What makes this painful is the book's genesis: Maitland wrote it as a way to come to terms with his beloved mother's descent into Alzheimer's. He offers the wisdom of his own Buddhist practice as a way to readers to cope with the aging process (and life in general).
We can foster an attentive and interested mind by asking ourselves neutral questions, free from hidden prejudices or emotions: “How can I do my work better?” “Is there something we still need?” “What would benefit (the situation/person)?” Neutral questions like “what,” “why not,” and “how else” awaken awareness.
*****
The capacity for compassion is inherent in every human being, but it lies beyond the domain of the I. In the same way as egocentrism is a feature of the small mind, compassion is characteristic of the great mind. When we practice compassion, the boundary between self and others begins to dissolve, and the grip of I relaxes. We feel clear and at ease.
******
Change is the dominant flavor of reality. What if we could take taste change as if it were a delicacy? No longer would be have to cling to the illusion that ignoring time lets us hold it at bay. We could let go of the need for control, knowing that it serves only to mask fear of the uncertainty inherent in change. Instead, rejoicing in the fact that nothing is fixed, we could allow ourselves to yield to transformation. Change offers wonderment and vitality. Since everything is open, things can always improve: we can take refuge in that knowledge. Time is our partner and our teacher.
In the midst of all the struggle, there is reading. I am so grateful to have it in my life! (And you too, dear bloggers!) I am so grateful that people who have gone before me were courageous and strong and generous enough to put their words on paper.
Here are some excerpts from a painful yet helpful book, Living Without Regret: Growing Old in Light of Tibetan Buddhism by Arnaud Maitland. What makes this painful is the book's genesis: Maitland wrote it as a way to come to terms with his beloved mother's descent into Alzheimer's. He offers the wisdom of his own Buddhist practice as a way to readers to cope with the aging process (and life in general).
We can foster an attentive and interested mind by asking ourselves neutral questions, free from hidden prejudices or emotions: “How can I do my work better?” “Is there something we still need?” “What would benefit (the situation/person)?” Neutral questions like “what,” “why not,” and “how else” awaken awareness.
*****
The capacity for compassion is inherent in every human being, but it lies beyond the domain of the I. In the same way as egocentrism is a feature of the small mind, compassion is characteristic of the great mind. When we practice compassion, the boundary between self and others begins to dissolve, and the grip of I relaxes. We feel clear and at ease.
******
Change is the dominant flavor of reality. What if we could take taste change as if it were a delicacy? No longer would be have to cling to the illusion that ignoring time lets us hold it at bay. We could let go of the need for control, knowing that it serves only to mask fear of the uncertainty inherent in change. Instead, rejoicing in the fact that nothing is fixed, we could allow ourselves to yield to transformation. Change offers wonderment and vitality. Since everything is open, things can always improve: we can take refuge in that knowledge. Time is our partner and our teacher.
2.14.2008
Happy Valentine's Day!
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me
Emily Dickinson
2.07.2008
Thoughts for Thursday - It's Thursday?
Oh, my, February is lurching by, and I'm struggling. Earlier this week, my father was readmitted to the hospital; he is weak and in ICU but most likely will go back to the skilled nursing facility in a few days. My poor dad! He must feel like a punching bag, what with all the moving and PT and tests and IVs.
This, plus the latest learning cycle on my relatively new job, has rendered my brain matter into kibble.
With a mind of mush, I'm in the pick-up-put-down mode of reading. Having picked up and put down several other books, including Chabon's Yiddish Policement's Union (fantastic writing, but too difficult for kibble-head), I decided to focus on books that I can read in chunks. And I'm trying to find books to make myself understand or come to terms with old age. Happily, there are books just made for that purpose! I'm delving into:
At Seventy: A Journal by May Sarton. She gives a special spin to the mundane and makes 70 look enviable.
Living Without Regret: Growing Old in the Light of Tibetan Buddhism by Arnaud Maitland. I'm 3/4 of the way through. This is great stuff. I will share some pearls of wisdom soon.
The Gentleman from San Francisco by Ivan Bunin. Short stories are great for short spurts of reading. I have been meaning to dip my toes into this one. Will also focus on the reading at A Curious Singularity.
Was it only last year I read my second volume of Proust, plus Henry James and Cervantes and Hugo? Wistful sigh.
This, plus the latest learning cycle on my relatively new job, has rendered my brain matter into kibble.
With a mind of mush, I'm in the pick-up-put-down mode of reading. Having picked up and put down several other books, including Chabon's Yiddish Policement's Union (fantastic writing, but too difficult for kibble-head), I decided to focus on books that I can read in chunks. And I'm trying to find books to make myself understand or come to terms with old age. Happily, there are books just made for that purpose! I'm delving into:
At Seventy: A Journal by May Sarton. She gives a special spin to the mundane and makes 70 look enviable.
Living Without Regret: Growing Old in the Light of Tibetan Buddhism by Arnaud Maitland. I'm 3/4 of the way through. This is great stuff. I will share some pearls of wisdom soon.
The Gentleman from San Francisco by Ivan Bunin. Short stories are great for short spurts of reading. I have been meaning to dip my toes into this one. Will also focus on the reading at A Curious Singularity.
Was it only last year I read my second volume of Proust, plus Henry James and Cervantes and Hugo? Wistful sigh.
2.04.2008
Voting
Tomorrow is Super Duper mcWhopper Tuesday in California and the states. And I don't know who I'm voting for in the presidential primary. I formerly was an Edwards supporter -- I can't resist those populist messages. Now that he has dropped out, I don't know which Democrat to support (it goes without saying that I've never voted Republican, and I would never vote for John "Stay in Iraq for 100 Years" McCain). But between Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton -- geez I don't know.
But, I will get out the vote. I have 24 hours to figure it out!
But, I will get out the vote. I have 24 hours to figure it out!
1.31.2008
Thoughts for Thursday - none!
I have been wanting to post here, but find my mind is not cooperating. This is usually when I go for the "tried and true" :: A List.
This time, I am listing my top "survivor" story categories. I like stories of people overcoming hardships, disasters, war. It gives me courage to face my own troubles, and it gives me great faith of the human spirit in the face of adversity. I tend to revisit these types of books when I'm dangerously close to feeling sorry for myself.
So, here's my list, definitely not definitive -- add your own! I'm always looking for new survivor stories!
LK'S TOP SURVIVOR CATEGORIES
1. WAR STORIES: The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank, Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, This Way for the Gas Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski, and Kolyma Tales by Varlam Shalamov. I probably have more of these kinds of books than any -- could there have been any more suffering than what people went through during the two World Wars? Man's inhumanity to man, especially in light of technological developments, is disturbing and horrifying and depressing. But, as these books show, some men truly rise above it. The abilities of these writers to overcome the unthinkable, through their lives and through their writing, are neverending lessons in courage.
2.DISASTERS AT SEA: Titanic by Wyn Craig Wade and The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger. I guess it's one of the most terrifying scenarios humans can imagine: Being stranded at sea. Titanic is endlessly interesting, because it is so unbelievable. Unsinkable ship strikes iceberg, sinks in less than 2 hours and kills thousands, including many captains of industry. The Perfect Storm is compelling because of the way Junger tells the story; swordfishing never was so fascinating.
3. TRIAL BY ICE (3-way tie) Ordeal by Hunger, George R. Stewart, Alive!by Piers Paul Read, and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. I guess the moral of these tales is don't get caught in the snow. Seriously, the first two books, which I've read multiple times, are harrowing but really amaze me in terms of what humans are capable of when it comes to survival. Into Thin Air is more of a cautionary tale rather than a survival story, but it has its elements of heroism and endurance as well.
4. FAMILY MATTERS: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, A Shot in the Heart by Mikhail Gilmore, The Roosevelt Women by Betty Boyd Caroli, Nicholoas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie, Cheaper by the Dozen by Ernestine Gilbreth, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I'm sure there's more, but I'll stop here. These tales range from tales of complete dysfunction (Shot in the Heart) to healthy families pulling together in times of trouble (Cheaper by the Dozen)to crumbling dynasties (Nicholas and Alexandra. Nothing like reading about another family's dysfunctions to make you feel all smug inside! (Just kidding.)
This time, I am listing my top "survivor" story categories. I like stories of people overcoming hardships, disasters, war. It gives me courage to face my own troubles, and it gives me great faith of the human spirit in the face of adversity. I tend to revisit these types of books when I'm dangerously close to feeling sorry for myself.
So, here's my list, definitely not definitive -- add your own! I'm always looking for new survivor stories!
LK'S TOP SURVIVOR CATEGORIES
1. WAR STORIES: The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank, Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, This Way for the Gas Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski, and Kolyma Tales by Varlam Shalamov. I probably have more of these kinds of books than any -- could there have been any more suffering than what people went through during the two World Wars? Man's inhumanity to man, especially in light of technological developments, is disturbing and horrifying and depressing. But, as these books show, some men truly rise above it. The abilities of these writers to overcome the unthinkable, through their lives and through their writing, are neverending lessons in courage.
2.DISASTERS AT SEA: Titanic by Wyn Craig Wade and The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger. I guess it's one of the most terrifying scenarios humans can imagine: Being stranded at sea. Titanic is endlessly interesting, because it is so unbelievable. Unsinkable ship strikes iceberg, sinks in less than 2 hours and kills thousands, including many captains of industry. The Perfect Storm is compelling because of the way Junger tells the story; swordfishing never was so fascinating.
3. TRIAL BY ICE (3-way tie) Ordeal by Hunger, George R. Stewart, Alive!by Piers Paul Read, and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. I guess the moral of these tales is don't get caught in the snow. Seriously, the first two books, which I've read multiple times, are harrowing but really amaze me in terms of what humans are capable of when it comes to survival. Into Thin Air is more of a cautionary tale rather than a survival story, but it has its elements of heroism and endurance as well.
4. FAMILY MATTERS: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, A Shot in the Heart by Mikhail Gilmore, The Roosevelt Women by Betty Boyd Caroli, Nicholoas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie, Cheaper by the Dozen by Ernestine Gilbreth, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I'm sure there's more, but I'll stop here. These tales range from tales of complete dysfunction (Shot in the Heart) to healthy families pulling together in times of trouble (Cheaper by the Dozen)to crumbling dynasties (Nicholas and Alexandra. Nothing like reading about another family's dysfunctions to make you feel all smug inside! (Just kidding.)
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