This was a rather short chapter in our About Philosophy book. Gottfried Leibniz was the star of the show today. I'm kinda curious why I don't hear people use his metaphysical proof of God's existence in apologetics. His description of monads and composites seems to parallel creation vs. evolution. His Pre-Established Harmony parallels the concept of the chi.
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Now playing: Sara Bareilles - Many The Miles
via FoxyTunes
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Political Philosophy
I thought this section would be difficult, but it was much more interesting than I thought. The early reference to Abelard and Heloise made me smile. This chapter deals with the philosophy of the state. Every state shares two characteristics: the use of force to maintain obedience and claims a right to demand that obedience from you.
So the fundamental question regarding political philosophy is whether or not any group of people has the right to command. Kant and many members of the Enlightenment feared that submitting to any authority was a denial of one’s own autonomy and reason. The standard solution to this became the social contract (eg. our Constitution). The concept of popular sovereignty is one I’ve thought a lot about recently. I hear people argue that we should obey our leaders without question because Jesus told us to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”, while others argue that we should not obey them because they are corrupt. In our country, this is made much simpler by the fact that we, the people, ARE the rulers and leaders. We are the popular sovereigns. It’s time we took responsibility for that instead of griping about “the man” or what the government owes us. Soap box complete.
I agree with philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau on one strong point. “If the state is not kept small enough for everyone to participate in law-making, then so far as he is concerned, tyranny replaces liberty.” The price of freedom is that “all citizens, and not just a few professionals, are going to have to pay attention to public affairs.” Rousseau also believed that people only had a right to make laws if they were genuinely attempting to legislate in the public interest and not their own. One of the conflicts that arises is in this word “freedom”. For some people, freedom equals getting what I want. How do YOU define freedom?
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Now playing: Etta James - A Sunday Kind Of Love
via FoxyTunes
So the fundamental question regarding political philosophy is whether or not any group of people has the right to command. Kant and many members of the Enlightenment feared that submitting to any authority was a denial of one’s own autonomy and reason. The standard solution to this became the social contract (eg. our Constitution). The concept of popular sovereignty is one I’ve thought a lot about recently. I hear people argue that we should obey our leaders without question because Jesus told us to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”, while others argue that we should not obey them because they are corrupt. In our country, this is made much simpler by the fact that we, the people, ARE the rulers and leaders. We are the popular sovereigns. It’s time we took responsibility for that instead of griping about “the man” or what the government owes us. Soap box complete.
I agree with philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau on one strong point. “If the state is not kept small enough for everyone to participate in law-making, then so far as he is concerned, tyranny replaces liberty.” The price of freedom is that “all citizens, and not just a few professionals, are going to have to pay attention to public affairs.” Rousseau also believed that people only had a right to make laws if they were genuinely attempting to legislate in the public interest and not their own. One of the conflicts that arises is in this word “freedom”. For some people, freedom equals getting what I want. How do YOU define freedom?
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Now playing: Etta James - A Sunday Kind Of Love
via FoxyTunes
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Social Philosophy
This chapter's main focus was the differences between capitalism and socialism. Some observations follow.
Jeremy Bentham takes the utilitarian theory even further to say that the ONLY good is pleasure and the ONLY evil is pain. This idea leaves no room for the type of pain that brings pleasure. This idea goes on to say that if we each concern ourselves with our own pleasures, then injustice and inequality will finally disappear. And that it’s the false belief that we have no right to satisfy our desires that inhibits people and brings about the class distinction.
Liberal democracy = psychological theory of individual motivation + moral theory of the good + educational theory of enlightenment.
Unlike Bentham who said that the only thing that matters is the quantity of pleasures, Mill asserted that the quality of pleasures is also important.
Socialism is a topic that runs rampant in the States these days. Wolff makes an interesting distinction between original socialist thought to that of Marx. Socialism’s slogan would have been “From each according to his ability; to each according to his work”, but Marx turned it into “From each according to his ability; to each according to his need.” So close, yet so far away!
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Now playing: Lykke Li - This Trumpet In My Head
via FoxyTunes
Jeremy Bentham takes the utilitarian theory even further to say that the ONLY good is pleasure and the ONLY evil is pain. This idea leaves no room for the type of pain that brings pleasure. This idea goes on to say that if we each concern ourselves with our own pleasures, then injustice and inequality will finally disappear. And that it’s the false belief that we have no right to satisfy our desires that inhibits people and brings about the class distinction.
Liberal democracy = psychological theory of individual motivation + moral theory of the good + educational theory of enlightenment.
Unlike Bentham who said that the only thing that matters is the quantity of pleasures, Mill asserted that the quality of pleasures is also important.
Socialism is a topic that runs rampant in the States these days. Wolff makes an interesting distinction between original socialist thought to that of Marx. Socialism’s slogan would have been “From each according to his ability; to each according to his work”, but Marx turned it into “From each according to his ability; to each according to his need.” So close, yet so far away!
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Now playing: Lykke Li - This Trumpet In My Head
via FoxyTunes
Friday, October 23, 2009
"And then there's Lesbian Ethics"
Chapter two of About Philosophy and we're already talking about abortion. I feel at a bit of a loss, cuz it seems that so many others know more about Immanuel Kant than I. Although Kant was a Pietist, he believed that morality is founded by rationality, not religion. Chapter two is all about Ethics.
Three main concerns were covered in the chapter.
1. The search for absolutely certain universally valid first principles of conduct that can stand against the challenges of the skeptic and the relativist
2. The search for a method or process of reasoning to help us in deciding hard cases and other real-world moral choices
3. The search for the good life, the life that combines virtue and happiness in true human fulfillment.
I'm sure we've all run across people who believe in ethical relativism. Namely, the belief that whether an act is right or wrong depends on the society in which one lives. Kant, however, believed in a categorical imperative which says "Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end."
Then there's utilitarianism which says we should seek to make as many people as happy as possible. Been there, done that. It doesn't work.
And then there’s lesbian ethics. Yep…an entire book dedicated to lesbian ethics, written by none other than Sarah Lucia Hoagland for the Institute of Lesbian Studies. This is turning out to be a rather fun book.
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Now playing: Misty Edwards - Garden
via FoxyTunes
Three main concerns were covered in the chapter.
1. The search for absolutely certain universally valid first principles of conduct that can stand against the challenges of the skeptic and the relativist
2. The search for a method or process of reasoning to help us in deciding hard cases and other real-world moral choices
3. The search for the good life, the life that combines virtue and happiness in true human fulfillment.
I'm sure we've all run across people who believe in ethical relativism. Namely, the belief that whether an act is right or wrong depends on the society in which one lives. Kant, however, believed in a categorical imperative which says "Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end."
Then there's utilitarianism which says we should seek to make as many people as happy as possible. Been there, done that. It doesn't work.
And then there’s lesbian ethics. Yep…an entire book dedicated to lesbian ethics, written by none other than Sarah Lucia Hoagland for the Institute of Lesbian Studies. This is turning out to be a rather fun book.
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Now playing: Misty Edwards - Garden
via FoxyTunes
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
About Philosophy What is philosophy?
I am a nerd. I just happen to be an ignorant nerd. So when I started reading this textbook About Philosphy, I just had to take some serious notes. You've been warned. I've never taken a philosophy course in my life, so this is all fresh for me.
First thing I noticed from reading this book, is that the author/professor writes in a very conversational manner. Philosophy is defined as "the love of wisdom. Philosophy is the systematic, critical examination of the way in which we judge, evaluate, and act, with the aim of making ourselves wiser, more self-reflective, and therefore better men and women." Socrates believe that the main hindrance to wisdom is the unwillingness to admit that we still have more to learn.
I can't deny the fact that I find Socrates to be a pretentious d-bag. Socrates’ line of questioning is deceptive, rude, and self-elevating. He starts off with false-humility and uses it to corner his opponent. How then can he pretend to impart wisdom when he himself has so little? He claims to be benefiting others by forcing them to think more about their own beliefs, but in fact, HE is the one benefiting by puffing himself up at the other person’s expense. If he does in fact have wisdom and yet refuses to impart that to others, is he not withholding good? He says that every man must find truth for himself, but it is Socrates’ assumed truth. What is so beneficial in deflating the egos of others?
Wolff claims that “philosophers are, above all else, seekers after unity.” How can this be so, when we see the discord Socrates brought about? Even if his purpose was to reach unity only after tearing down the assumptions and building togetherness through critical questioning, this presupposes that he himself was willing to be torn down and rebuilt. Unless I’m missing some crucial evidence, I don’t see him ever allowing himself to be the victim of his system. If this was his goal, he ultimately failed. If they’re seeking an “underlying oneness”, it must be ignorance. Because according to them, this seems to be the only thing we all have in common.
According to the stoic philosophy, logos is the power of reason. Logos is also identified as God (or as Biblical scholars might say, the “word of God”). How then would God embody the “power of reason”? Logos is also identified as the power of reason within all human beings. Could this then (according to stoic philosophy) be what God meant when He said “let us make man in our image”? Is this power to reason, the godly part of us? Emperor Marcus Aurelius seems to believe this, although his concept of God certainly did not coincide with Judeo-Christian tradition.
For there is one universe made up of all things, and one God who pervades all things, and one substance, and one law, one common reason in all intelligent animals, and one truth…
What role then did the tree of the knowledge of good and evil play?
Although each chapter contains study questions, I'll spare you all the misery of seeing the inner workings of my mind. More to come.
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Now playing: Billie Holiday - I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
via FoxyTunes
First thing I noticed from reading this book, is that the author/professor writes in a very conversational manner. Philosophy is defined as "the love of wisdom. Philosophy is the systematic, critical examination of the way in which we judge, evaluate, and act, with the aim of making ourselves wiser, more self-reflective, and therefore better men and women." Socrates believe that the main hindrance to wisdom is the unwillingness to admit that we still have more to learn.
I can't deny the fact that I find Socrates to be a pretentious d-bag. Socrates’ line of questioning is deceptive, rude, and self-elevating. He starts off with false-humility and uses it to corner his opponent. How then can he pretend to impart wisdom when he himself has so little? He claims to be benefiting others by forcing them to think more about their own beliefs, but in fact, HE is the one benefiting by puffing himself up at the other person’s expense. If he does in fact have wisdom and yet refuses to impart that to others, is he not withholding good? He says that every man must find truth for himself, but it is Socrates’ assumed truth. What is so beneficial in deflating the egos of others?
Wolff claims that “philosophers are, above all else, seekers after unity.” How can this be so, when we see the discord Socrates brought about? Even if his purpose was to reach unity only after tearing down the assumptions and building togetherness through critical questioning, this presupposes that he himself was willing to be torn down and rebuilt. Unless I’m missing some crucial evidence, I don’t see him ever allowing himself to be the victim of his system. If this was his goal, he ultimately failed. If they’re seeking an “underlying oneness”, it must be ignorance. Because according to them, this seems to be the only thing we all have in common.
According to the stoic philosophy, logos is the power of reason. Logos is also identified as God (or as Biblical scholars might say, the “word of God”). How then would God embody the “power of reason”? Logos is also identified as the power of reason within all human beings. Could this then (according to stoic philosophy) be what God meant when He said “let us make man in our image”? Is this power to reason, the godly part of us? Emperor Marcus Aurelius seems to believe this, although his concept of God certainly did not coincide with Judeo-Christian tradition.
For there is one universe made up of all things, and one God who pervades all things, and one substance, and one law, one common reason in all intelligent animals, and one truth…
What role then did the tree of the knowledge of good and evil play?
Although each chapter contains study questions, I'll spare you all the misery of seeing the inner workings of my mind. More to come.
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Now playing: Billie Holiday - I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
via FoxyTunes
More Variety
Just got back from the library with four more books. I should be done with the "Abouts" by the end of the year. And I should be done with the A's by the end of my life. Continuing with the About Pets books, I'm moving on to the rodent series. This time, the library only had one, and that's about mice. The format is the same as the dog series, even describing how to show mice. I feel privileged to discover that there is a Rat and Mouse Fanciers for Excellence (RMFE). Best name for an association ever!
This book has ruined mice for me. I neither want to own one or kill one now. However, I do see its usefulness for people seeking to buy a pet mouse. This one gets a 2 as well.
The other books I got are:
About Philosophy by Robert Paul Wolff
About Schmidt by Louis Begley
About the Author by John Colapinto
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Now playing: Andrew Bird - Banking On A Myth
via FoxyTunes
This book has ruined mice for me. I neither want to own one or kill one now. However, I do see its usefulness for people seeking to buy a pet mouse. This one gets a 2 as well.
The other books I got are:
About Philosophy by Robert Paul Wolff
About Schmidt by Louis Begley
About the Author by John Colapinto
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Now playing: Andrew Bird - Banking On A Myth
via FoxyTunes
About Pets
It's true that this series about dogs is actually 5 books, but they're so small I thought I'd knock them out all at once.
Apart from a few introductory pages on the individual breeds, these book all follow the same format and, for the most part, the same words. At around 60 pages each, the books talk about everything you need to know before you purchase your dog: Beagle, Border Collie, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Jack Russel Terrier, or West Highland Terrier. This includes nutrition, care, behavior, travel, breeding, etc. These books, though fun, are meant to be read more as manuals than for leisure, so I wouldn't exactly recommend them unless you're wanting to buy a dog.
It's gonna have to be a 2 for this series.
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Now playing: Radiohead - Pyramid Song
via FoxyTunes
Apart from a few introductory pages on the individual breeds, these book all follow the same format and, for the most part, the same words. At around 60 pages each, the books talk about everything you need to know before you purchase your dog: Beagle, Border Collie, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Jack Russel Terrier, or West Highland Terrier. This includes nutrition, care, behavior, travel, breeding, etc. These books, though fun, are meant to be read more as manuals than for leisure, so I wouldn't exactly recommend them unless you're wanting to buy a dog.
It's gonna have to be a 2 for this series.
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Now playing: Radiohead - Pyramid Song
via FoxyTunes
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
About My Sisters conclusion
I made it! I finished Debra Ginsberg's memoirs without becoming entirely disgusted. I still can't say I'd recommend them to anyone. I don't feel enlightened or enriched by reading the book. As a matter of fact, I'm rather excited to be reading another book about dogs next.
This gets a 2.
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Now playing: Third Day - My Hope Is You
via FoxyTunes
This gets a 2.
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Now playing: Third Day - My Hope Is You
via FoxyTunes
Friday, October 16, 2009
Memoirabilia
I haven’t gotten disgusted by this book yet. Despite the occasional sexual reference, there is nothing explicit about it. I have even taken a fondness to her brother because, like me, he enjoys giving cards that are inappropriate to the occasion (Bar Mitzvah for a birthday). I’m even gaining a slight appreciation for the author because she refers to exercise as her “daily constitutional”.
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Now playing: Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
via FoxyTunes
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Now playing: Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
via FoxyTunes
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
About My Sisters 1
Debra Ginsberg has written two other books…both memoirs. And here we have…another memoir. This woman must be difficult in a room. I imagine her taking charge of the conversation and doing nothing but talk about herself. But maybe I’m too harsh. Other than the fact that she’s a vegetarian who loves astrology, reality is that I know nothing about her. All I can say so far is that Lavender and Deja are just about the dumbest names I’ve ever heard of. I just want to slap her whole family.
Oh! And while I’m venting here, what’s up with books always starting at page 4 or 7 or 12? Why not start at page 1 for crying out loud?
I insist on sticking this one out. I’ve had too many worthless books I couldn’t finish, so I’m gonna do my best, even if it hurts. So far, her writing style is nice and smooth, so that’ll help.
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Now playing: David Crowder Band - Sing Like The Saved
via FoxyTunes
Oh! And while I’m venting here, what’s up with books always starting at page 4 or 7 or 12? Why not start at page 1 for crying out loud?
I insist on sticking this one out. I’ve had too many worthless books I couldn’t finish, so I’m gonna do my best, even if it hurts. So far, her writing style is nice and smooth, so that’ll help.
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Now playing: David Crowder Band - Sing Like The Saved
via FoxyTunes
About My Life...
I don't know if I'm getting lazier or if the books are just getting worse, but I had to put this down. I got through 15 chapters, but every other chapter talks about Rechy's sexual encounters. I mean...this is his memoirs and I understand the need to talk about certain life experiences, but I really don't need to read it. Write a journal, man. I don't need your smutty memoirs.
Big fat 0
Big fat 0
Monday, October 12, 2009
Back to the Library
I set a personal record and checked out 7 books today. The first two are biographical and the last five are all tiny and all part of the same collection, so I figured I'd be able to take it. Here's what to expect. Consider it a "coming soon to a blog near you!"
About My Life and the Kept Woman by John Rechy
About My Sisters by Debra Ginsberg
About Pets: Beagle
About Pets: Border Collie
About Pets: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
About Pets: Jack Russel Terrier
About Pets: West Highland Terrier
I've started the first book, which is sort of a memoir, and I'm enjoying it so far. More to come...
About My Life and the Kept Woman by John Rechy
About My Sisters by Debra Ginsberg
About Pets: Beagle
About Pets: Border Collie
About Pets: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
About Pets: Jack Russel Terrier
About Pets: West Highland Terrier
I've started the first book, which is sort of a memoir, and I'm enjoying it so far. More to come...
Sunday, October 11, 2009
About Grace
I've gotta admit, I was skeptical about this novel from the start. It begins with our main character who has psychic dreams. The first few chapters are confusing because I couldn't tell what time-frame I was supposed to be based in. I had a hard time taking pity on the protagonist until halfway through the book cuz he was sleeping around and running away with a married woman.
BUT our author, Patrick DeWitt, did enchant me toward the end of the book and I was hooked. It becomes a story about forgiveness and missed chances. As with many of the novels I've read so far, it ends oddly and a bit too abruptly, but this is one I'd recommend to others and might even find myself reading it again. I give it a good 4 on the scale.
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Now playing: MST3K - 0912 - The Screaming Skull Part 6/9
via FoxyTunes
BUT our author, Patrick DeWitt, did enchant me toward the end of the book and I was hooked. It becomes a story about forgiveness and missed chances. As with many of the novels I've read so far, it ends oddly and a bit too abruptly, but this is one I'd recommend to others and might even find myself reading it again. I give it a good 4 on the scale.
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Now playing: MST3K - 0912 - The Screaming Skull Part 6/9
via FoxyTunes
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Art: The masters
I tell ya. Without pictures in front of you, this book is rather dull. Thank God for internet! Here's a few more artists and works for your perusal.
Claude Monet: a liberating force in the rejection of cubism
http://www.monetalia.com/paintings/large/monet-irises-monets-garden.jpg
http://img2.allposters.com/images/HAD/5608.jpg
Wassily Kandinsky: a member of the Blaue Reiter painters. More of an illustrator than abstract artist. The third painting here always makes me think of Scategories.
http://s8635.gridserver.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/kandinsky.jpg
http://s8635.gridserver.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/kandinsky2.jpg
http://users.fmg.uva.nl/rgrasman/images/kandinsky.jpg
Pablo Picasso:
Acrobat on a ball
Meninas
Guernica
Still life with Skull
Juan Gris: One of the masters of cubism
http://www.artsmia.org/mia/e_images/00/mia_95e.jpg
http://cfs7.tistory.com/image/22/tistory/2008/08/16/00/26/48a5a024918d6
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Now playing: MST3K - Favorite Moments - Jack Frost
via FoxyTunes
Claude Monet: a liberating force in the rejection of cubism
http://www.monetalia.com/paintings/large/monet-irises-monets-garden.jpg
http://img2.allposters.com/images/HAD/5608.jpg
Wassily Kandinsky: a member of the Blaue Reiter painters. More of an illustrator than abstract artist. The third painting here always makes me think of Scategories.
http://s8635.gridserver.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/kandinsky.jpg
http://s8635.gridserver.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/kandinsky2.jpg
http://users.fmg.uva.nl/rgrasman/images/kandinsky.jpg
Pablo Picasso:
Acrobat on a ball
Meninas
Guernica
Still life with Skull
Juan Gris: One of the masters of cubism
http://www.artsmia.org/mia/e_images/00/mia_95e.jpg
http://cfs7.tistory.com/image/22/tistory/2008/08/16/00/26/48a5a024918d6
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Now playing: MST3K - Favorite Moments - Jack Frost
via FoxyTunes
Monday, October 5, 2009
More Post-War Art
Today's modern art reading went deeper into the works of some post-war artists.
Giacometti:Known for his long, slender figures
#1 #2
Francis Bacon: Dark. Incorporates the scream in many of his works.
#1 #2
Dubuffet: Seemingly childish, his art is like an elaborate joke.
#1 #2 #3
Jackson Pollock: The legend
#1 #2
Mark Rothko: Using hushed, serene colors to depict violence
#1 #2
Philip Guston: Lush and luxurious compared to his contemporaries.
#1 #2 #3
Ad Reinhardt: Perhaps symbolic, but definitely a denial of what art is supposed to be. Very subtle.
#1 #2 #3
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Now playing: Relient K - Failure To Excommunicate
via FoxyTunes
Giacometti:Known for his long, slender figures
#1 #2
Francis Bacon: Dark. Incorporates the scream in many of his works.
#1 #2
Dubuffet: Seemingly childish, his art is like an elaborate joke.
#1 #2 #3
Jackson Pollock: The legend
#1 #2
Mark Rothko: Using hushed, serene colors to depict violence
#1 #2
Philip Guston: Lush and luxurious compared to his contemporaries.
#1 #2 #3
Ad Reinhardt: Perhaps symbolic, but definitely a denial of what art is supposed to be. Very subtle.
#1 #2 #3
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Now playing: Relient K - Failure To Excommunicate
via FoxyTunes
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Today’s reading was about smooth surfaced art in the inter-war period vs. the roughness of paintings in the post-war era.
INTER-WAR
Salvador Dali
Fernand Léger
Constantin Brancusi
Henry Moore
POST WAR
Paul Cézanne
Francis Bacon
Mondrian
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Now playing: Andrew Bird - MX Missiles
via FoxyTunes
INTER-WAR
Salvador Dali
Fernand Léger
Constantin Brancusi
Henry Moore
POST WAR
Paul Cézanne
Francis Bacon
Mondrian
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Now playing: Andrew Bird - MX Missiles
via FoxyTunes
Saturday, October 3, 2009
About Modern Art
I'm going a bit out of order again with this one. This 476 page work by David Sylvester has ZERO illustrations in it, and because my knowledge of modern art is very small I'm taking this book in smaller chunks and reading it simultaneously with my next novel.
The book is a collection of articles Sylvester wrote over the course of his lifetime. Today's reading was about Paul Klee. I thought it'd be nice to include some visuals in my blog as a reference point for everyone else. Lucky me. This doubles as a Christmas list. :D
Intention, 1938
Harmonized Combat
Ancient Sound
Dream City
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Now playing: Collection: Worship Together: Platinum - Forever (peformed by Chris Tomlin
via FoxyTunes
The book is a collection of articles Sylvester wrote over the course of his lifetime. Today's reading was about Paul Klee. I thought it'd be nice to include some visuals in my blog as a reference point for everyone else. Lucky me. This doubles as a Christmas list. :D
Intention, 1938
Harmonized Combat
Ancient Sound
Dream City
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Now playing: Collection: Worship Together: Platinum - Forever (peformed by Chris Tomlin
via FoxyTunes
"A" is for Ablutions
I'm taking a break from the "About"s to go back to a book I was waiting to be returned to the library. Ablutions is the first novel from new author, Patrick DeWitt.
The full title is Ablutions: Notes for a Novel. The name is confusing at first, but I was quickly put to understanding after the first “note.” This book is written in second person singular (you) and doesn’t exactly have chapters. Instead the reader becomes the main character as he is taken through a diary-like look from the eyes of a bartender who is taking notes about his experiences for a novel he will write someday. The author seems to like the phrase “platonically fall in love with” and I plan on working this into conversation sometime this week.
This book is far too depressing and just confirms the fact that I hate California and alcoholics. The fact that the author is forcefully including me in the story makes me uncomfortable, but I dealt with it.
This book is off the new fiction shelf, but already most of the pages are covered in smashed up fruit flies. weird
The full title is Ablutions: Notes for a Novel. The name is confusing at first, but I was quickly put to understanding after the first “note.” This book is written in second person singular (you) and doesn’t exactly have chapters. Instead the reader becomes the main character as he is taken through a diary-like look from the eyes of a bartender who is taking notes about his experiences for a novel he will write someday. The author seems to like the phrase “platonically fall in love with” and I plan on working this into conversation sometime this week.
This book is far too depressing and just confirms the fact that I hate California and alcoholics. The fact that the author is forcefully including me in the story makes me uncomfortable, but I dealt with it.
This book is off the new fiction shelf, but already most of the pages are covered in smashed up fruit flies. weird
Friday, October 2, 2009
About Looking
This odd title by John Berger ended up to be an odd book indeed. This book arrived at the library in December of ’08, but looks like I’m the first to check it out. Page 4 and I’m already hearing about cows again. Some of the same information nonetheless. And on page 14 Berger starts talking about Behaviorism.
The first section left me confused as to the purpose of the author. He seems to be weaving a overly descriptive rant about zoos and the marginalization of animals, but the point is lost somewhere in the 30 pages. The jacket describes this as "art criticism." I finally understood by the middle of the book that this disjunct feeling is because the book is actually a collection of essays all written by Berger all which have something or other to do with looking. I now understand why I'm the first to borrow this book.
This barely gets rated as a 1.
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Now playing: Harry Connick, Jr. - Don't Get Around Much Anymore
via FoxyTunes
The first section left me confused as to the purpose of the author. He seems to be weaving a overly descriptive rant about zoos and the marginalization of animals, but the point is lost somewhere in the 30 pages. The jacket describes this as "art criticism." I finally understood by the middle of the book that this disjunct feeling is because the book is actually a collection of essays all written by Berger all which have something or other to do with looking. I now understand why I'm the first to borrow this book.
This barely gets rated as a 1.
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Now playing: Harry Connick, Jr. - Don't Get Around Much Anymore
via FoxyTunes
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Avoiding Moo jokes
Well it turns out our author Sara Rath is the granddaughter of the man who is considered the greatest cheesemaker in the world...according to Wisconsin at least. My only complaint about this book is that the penultimate chapter, "Cows in the Arts", contained all sorts of cow references from music, art, poetry, etc., but it failed to include the ever important "It's a Cow Christmas". Now THAT's artistry!
I give this book a solid 3
I give this book a solid 3
About Cows
It's actually MUCH more interesting than you might think. Sara Rath's book About Cows isn't just for the ag-minded individual. This book is a witty, entertaining glance at...cows. For instance, did you know that the average cow produces 30 pounds of urine and 65 pounds of feces daily?! And to think I would have never known that if I weren't reading the library alphabetically.
I have a couple chapters left before I give my official rating
Now I want ice cream
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Now playing: Falling Up - Drago Or The Dragons
via FoxyTunes
I have a couple chapters left before I give my official rating
Now I want ice cream
----------------
Now playing: Falling Up - Drago Or The Dragons
via FoxyTunes
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