Valerie, please, for the sake of children and history hang onto your books! I kept thinking this law would go away, but now I’m worried that an important part of our heritage is genuinely threatened. Many, many children’s books printed before 1985 are now out of print and do not exist still in a form that would make them easy to republish (printing plates are usually destroyed when a book goes out of print and older books did not have electronic versions). Many books, though of enduring value to children and social scientists, may not exist in conditions or simply don’t fall into categories that make them appealing to collectors, the one group besides packrats that I guess is still allowed to own them. Although organizations like the Gutenberg Project have been working to scan and preserve many older children’s books in electronic form, they can only target books that are no longer copyright protected, a very small portion of the children’s books printed since 1985.
"The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." --R. Heinlein
This is an excellent biography for anyone interested in the history of science. I really appreciated Ridley's description of Crick's experiments, and the description of the intellectual world of post-WWII England and America. If you know the basics of molecular biology (particularly, the genetic code and the implications of mutations) then you can understand everything in the book. As a professional biologist, I learned a lot from Ridley's concise description of Crick's experiments...it's always good to think about how we originally learned what we now know, and what science was like before we knew these things.
In my expert opinion, you should do what I tell you to do.
Guy Lawson. What a fascinating, exciting book! The Brotherhoods is about two NYC cops in the NYPD who, hiding behind their badges and the code of honor, the laws they swore to uphold, and the people they swore to protect, are, in reality, these sort of hitmen for the Mafia.
This book not only describes the lives/childhoods of these two particular cops, who'd grown up in the same NYC district and were close friends--like brothers, and points out that one of the cops had served in the Army during the Viet Nam war, and how both of those cops basically fooled and conned a whole generation of NYPD cops, but also the people, from other criminals to ordinary citizens, that they were in contact with, as well.
More to the point, although the disappearances of various people, such as a known Brooklyn jeweler, and another criminal, to the killing of an innocent person who chanced to have the same name as the right person that the two dirty cops were looking for, plus the book "Mafia Cop", which had been written by one of the cops, plus the damning evidence by wiseguys and other people working with the Mafia and the "Brotherhoods" coops, and by competent prosecutors, a competent judge, and the famiies of the victims of the crimes committed by the pair of "brotherhoods" cops made for extremely compelling evidence of the crimes of Eppolito & Caracappa (the two Brotherhoods cops), the verdict that had taken years of evidence to come up with was eventually overturned, I believe, as the result of the work of devious defense lawyers who represented Eppolito and Caracappa.
Although Eppolito and Caracappa had long since retired from the NYPD and moved to Las Vegas, they did end up in prison, where they're still serving. Although the verdict had been overturned, the evidence was clear as the light of day.
Since we have at least two professors here, I thought maybe you would find this version of the backstory to the Epic of Gilgamesh to be interesting. George Smith accomplished quite a lot in four years.
Gilgamesh is long since a favorite of mine. I've read two translations - the more commonly used prose one (the translator's name escapes me at the moment) and the one John Gardner was working on before his sudden, tragic death. That article's a great read - thanks again!
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Cormac McCarthy's The Road? It's a reasonably well-done post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son trekking across a devastated America, and the staccato prose nicely matches the decay of communication in a land that really doesn't need it anymore. Sometimes McCarthy leans poetic, and sometimes it works (but when it doesn't, it's almost laughably bad).
But philosophically speaking, the novel's an extreme right-wing militiaman's wet dream. The heroes are the only good people left in a land of cannibals (thank goodness they have their trusty gun!), and their happiest moment early in the novel is when they find someone's paranoid underground bunker and stockpile - not so paranoid after all, eh? Sheesh.
There are some shades of moral ambiguity here and there - spefically the child's (and maybe the reader's?) inability to process the level of dispassionate cruelty required to live in this world, but (Minor Spoiler) the plot ends up vindicating the father's cold practicality. Oh, and God is apparently necessary to be good, as well.
Eh, well. Like I said, it's a reasonably good book, and there are some seriously horrifying moments throughout. I also like McCarthy's close attention to the details of everyday life, and while there are only so many variations he can spin on "the landscape looked bare", he keeps the spare plot interesting.
Now, on to a copy of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress that I bought for a buck-fifty at a used bookstore. I've got a whole stack of books I've bought just within the last few weeks. I'm not an addict, I can quit anytime I want, seriously.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Is The Road a fairly new novel, and can it be ordered at just any bookstore?
Speaking of bookstores: There used to be a bookstore called Wordsworth in Cambridge's Harvard Square. They gave a 10% discount on books, and they were really, really cool people, and it was a really, really cool store. They went bankrupt and ultimately out of business 2-3 years ago. I've found other bookstores, but Wordsworth really was a special place in a class by itself. I still miss that bookstore.
Not too bad. It's not even that horrifying compared to any decent horror book :) I thought the style it was told in was a bit annoying.
I have to agree about the strangeness of the child, not having any previous point of reference as far as caring for others is concerned, always living in this horrible world, yet acting as if he had that innate morality - which is bogus. He should've adapted father's view from the start.
Reading through it I found myself just waiting and waiting for them to find that food stash, and not caring for much more. I guess the author does a good job putting you into that mode of almost thinking like the characters.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
sometimes it really captured the barrenness of the atmosphere, and the feelings that the language itself was decaying (which makes sense, since there's hardly anyone to speak it). Then sometimes you wonder how many variations he can spin on "the sky was grey".
If I'm not mistaken, his primary genre is the Western, so I'm not sure he was really shooting for horror as much as transferring generic elements of the Western to a semi-sci-fi. But yeah, I'm thinking this is a book that I mostly enjoyed, but it'll otherwise sit on my shelf from now on instead of being obsessively reread, like most of my books tend to be.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
sounds interesting. I might get it as I am at a serious lack of things to read these days... Mostly due to the lack of contiguous time being very discouraging. But I want to get back to reading good things before sleep :)
Thanks for the suggestion.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
I was wandering through the deeper reaches of my library. there are still many books still in boxes as I have never had one big enough, but I did put a few shelves to Science fiction, and I discovered a copy of one OSC's later versions of Enders Game.
As I read it I could see all the buttons being pushed, almost as you could attach numbers from this list to the various paragraphs, but I do think I gained some insight.
As I put it back I noticed another book I had not read in a while, and discovered again an Ocean next to the tide pool.
Barry Longyear could be certainly accused of being curmudgeonly, especially in the bloom after his book was made into a movie that had a very short nova period, and then vanished. That sort of thing can be a whiplash that often goes badly. His humor often has an edge, but it comes at reality from unexpected directions.
Like the character who asked for directions is told the answer outright, but figures that if he wasn't charged for the information, it must have been worthless and wanders off in the opposite direction.
But while that vision of a civilization created from a circus is well worth the searching out all the bits and pieces, it was his other universe that spawned the movie, Enemy Mine and perhaps the cult fan base that finally got all the writings filled out and published as "The Enemy Papers".
Through that vehicle he creates a very deep atheistic religion (and publishes their bible), a totally homosexual (sort of) society (they are all hermaphrodites), a different language and a great many things applicable, though not analogies, except perhaps his solution for Israel.
For those who like their books short and simple, this is not, and even the main story, I have seen many different ways, a few I prefer more than this one, there is even and original short story that the rest blossomed from.Of those who also read it I would be interested in impressions.
The Self Made Man is just not admitting where he got all the parts.
I was wondering what everyone thought about the recent hubbub about the Gay and Lesbian Literature course at CU Boulder? I took a gay lit. course when I was an undergraduate and did not think it was a big deal. I'm sure most English departments have such a course.
I am especially interested in what the conservatives think about the 'controversy'. Should we stifle these classes? Is it a violation of free speech? Are universities teaching on topics that are too liberal?
nor would I care about banning it. Which I doubt anyone is interested in, including that conservative group. Perhaps they think it is useless and antithetical to the purpose of college.
I don't fully agree though I think this quote is right on the money:
He also says the Dirty Dozen courses are part of liberal educators' obsession with dividing people on the basis of race, sexuality and gender - their "holy trinity," as he calls it.
I would run far away from anything in that category but that is my personal preference. I do think that stuff is divisive and usually not helpful due to its Us vs Them structure.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Courses on gay/lesbian literature are divisive? Why? Because it only involves gay/lesbian literature? Why don't we stop courses on Italian literature, too: it encourages dividing the world into Italians and non-Italians.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
courses on gay/lesbian literature are divisive. They could be or they could be fine. I meant it is the general emphasis on "race, sexuality and gender" and the way a lot of the courses are presented, that is divisive.
They are mostly done from a leftist (which is obviously biased) perspective. I dislike all politically biased courses. Which would include almost all on the subject of "race, sexuality and gender".
Obviously it would be easy to make most courses on Italian literature politics neutral.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
of teaching these topics also be reaching out and convincing people to be more tolerant and understanding? By teaching the courses from a left-wing point of view you immediately alienate the people you would want to convince. But if all that you want to do is preach to the choir then whatever, teach them however you wish but don't expect me to like or accept it.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
It's one thing to discuss the politics of the topics, and quite another to just teach them from a left-wing perspective. Why not teach it objectively - explain the issues and let students draw their conclusions.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
and I think I mentioned this on here before - I had my students guess my religious and political affiliations at the end of a course that included the Bible, among other things. They thought I was a moderate, and fell somewhere between spiritual and nondenominational Christian. Ha!
But seriously, it was an experiment to see how their opinions about the class were/weren't shaped by their views of me. One of my colleagues teaching the same course told his students up front that he was an atheist. There was some difference - his students felt he was a little more forceful than I was - but overall it's not like mine turned out well-adjusted and his are all brainwashed. College students aren't kindergardeners: they have a level of impressionability, but they will speak up to defend their beliefs. Which is great. We encourage them to.
Topics like gender studies, ... how do you teach that objectively? What does objectivity mean to you? That's one of the questions we ask our students. And the answer's not really an easy one to pin down.
For example, to move to another field: if we were discussing science, what's an objective way to talk about origins? Is it objective to include all ideas, like creationism? or is that slanted because you're including ideological ideas in the mix? Does objectivity mean "giving everyone equal time to present their ideas" or does it mean "filtering out overly ideological ideas to get to the core concepts"? Or neither?
And that's just science. Getting into loaded social topics is a giant minefield. I think most teachers handle it better than you think. I think it's easy to parade the exceptions in front of a FOX audience to show the deterioration of academia.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
so I will state them again: How do you teach these topics without discussing politics? How would one go about teaching gender studies neutrally and objectively? Give an example if you can.
I'm not trying to prove a point (well, kind of); I seriously want to know.
(Edit): I guess I'm having trouble seeing how you can discuss the issues without discussing politics. Also, how do you discuss things like equality and such objectively? Is equality a left-wing idea? If not, how are these classes being taught from a left-wing perspective?
I don't think you understand what happens in college classrooms regarding these issues. You don't 'teach' left ideas. You discuss plots and characters, and sometimes relate those to the outside world. Is that left or right wing? Can you do that objectively?
If you are saying that someone should not be downgraded for disagreeing with the teacher's 'perspective', then I agree with you, but I don't understand what you mean by teach from a left-wing perspective.
if that course were a requirement, but the only major that would list that kind of course as a requirement would be gender studies, or something like that. And if you're studying gender studies, you're probably going to want that class, anyway.
But it's not enough that their own kids (who are adults by then, no less) don't have to take that class - they don't want anyone else taking it, either. Typical.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
I've been holed up in the library most of the week reading memoirs from the early 20th century, so not much exciting there. On the other hand, I've gotten some decent reading done on the bus ride (which is about 1 1/2 hours round trip).
Finally got around to All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, which is both a much better and much worse book than I expected. Pros: excellent prose, compelling main character, deep insight into the human condition. Negs: overdone prose at times, long passages that go nowhere, unsatisfying plot. The first set make the novel worth reading, but I actually laughed out loud at how badly handled one section was.
Tried to read The End of the Affair by Graham Greene, and found that I was so bored by the halfway point that I had to shove it back on my bookshelf for good. The prose can be witty at times, but the long (kill me now) diary by the main female character is about as exciting and flavorful as cardboard. It's too bad, because I've enjoyed movies based on Greene's novels before (most prominently The Quiet American), so I was looking forward to this, even though it's one of his shortest books.
Just started The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, and I'm enjoying it so far.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Kavalier and Clay will turn you into a Chabon nut like me. I've since ripped through his short story collections, "Summerland" (a must for any baseball fan) and I'm working my way up to "Wonder Boys."
By the by, for those out there looking for wonderful authors who never hit the mainstream, take a look at Robertson Davies. Many of you may have heard of him but, if not, he will be a wonderful surprise. Start with the Deptford Trilogy (the first book of which, "Fifth Business" may be among my favorite books ever written) and then keep on rolling.
I'm also considering going back and re-reading all my Vonneguts.
I found the last quarter of Kavalier and Clay to be pretty unbearable, especially since the first three quarters were so good. I've heard great things about Summerland and Wonder Boys, though, so I may add them to the list when I'm done with the stack currently on my table. :)
I've been digging through the poetry of Fernando Pessoa , but of his heteronyms (he wrote as different poets, each with a unique style), the only one who speaks to me is Ricardo Reis , who has a more austere, classical style.
I just finished Thorton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey, but it didn't strike me as much as I'd hoped. It's a fascinating premise, and I love the structure and the occasionally deadpan detachment, but it felt pretty fleeting in the end. It's short enough that I'll probably give it some time to digest, then hit it again.
Currently halfway through Patrick Süskind's Perfume, which is outstanding in every way. Dark, rich, and utterly nihilistic (in an entertaining way).
I'll have to look up Davies - the name's not ringing any bells.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
The Bridge of San Luis Rey when I first read it, but then I like Wilder in general (e.g., Our Town, The Eighth Day, and Theophilus North). I may have to go back myself and see if Bridge has aged well, although I was more taken with the underlying theology/philosophy than the style. I mean, that's kind of the essential question of life, isn't it: why do things happen the way they do.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
One of my favorite books is a book by the late author, J. Anthony Lukas, who wrote a great many other books before and after the book I'm about to mention. Sadly, J. Anthony Lukas committed suicide fairly shortly after his last book, Big Troubles, a mystery about the Labor Movement which was not as successful as most of his other books, came out. This was unfortunate, as J. Anthony Lukas was a very insightful person who clearly trained himself to look at any given issue from all sides, and treat his subjects as whole human beings, regardless of their viewpoint(s).
J. Anthony Lukas's book: Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Life of Three American Families, imo, is an excellent example of that. This book is about three Boston families;( an African-American family from lower Roxbury-South End, a white, workingclass Irish-Catholic family from the Charlestown section, and a Yankee gentry family originally from a suburb of Boston who moved into Boston's south end, in the hopes of improving the lives of the people who resided there), how all three of these families coped with Boston's school busing crisis during the mid-to late 1970's, and the role that the Church, then-Boston-Mayor Kevin H. White, the Media, the Police, the all-white Boston Public School Committee under the auspices of the late Louise Day Hicks, and Judge W. Arthur Garrity, a Federal District Judge from Worcester who crafted the divisive busing plan for Boston, all played in Boston's school crisis.
Although J. Anthony Lukas definitely condemns, rather than excuses racist and/or criminal behaviour, it's also clear that he provides much insight as to where it comes from, that he empathizes with the people in the book, regardless of who they are and what their viewpoint(s) are, and treats them as whole human beings.
This book is still in print, and, imo, is highly recommended for reading.
Common Ground, is not the only book that I've read on the Boston school busing crisis. Other books I've read on the subject are as follows: Boston Against Busing by Ron Formisano, Liberty's Chosen Home: The Politics of Violence in Boston, by Alan Lupo, a Boston journalist-turned-historian, which is now out of print, Jonathan Kozol's very first book, Death At an Early Age, which is a real indictment of Boston's Public School system and was written 40 years ago, and another book called Southie Won't Go, by Ilona Malloy, who taught at South Boston High school before and during that time, who chronicled her book on what she experienced and saw during that tiime, in the form of a diary. Two other books, The Boston Irish, and Southie: My Home Town, both by Thomas O'Connor, and Michael Patrick MacDonald's book, All Souls: A Family Story from Southie, which is an autobiography of the author's childhood growing up in a South Boston Housing project, are also excellent books on the subject.
I also came to know many people who were either students and ended up being caught in the middle of the busing conflict in Boston at that time, or people whose kids were caught up in the situation. Not wanting to be influenced by a single point of view, I was determined to learn as much about the situation as possible, and have gathered enough info and done enough research on the subject to form an opinion.
he's a good guy, bringing sadly-needed attention to disparities in our education system. I don't agree with all of his solutions but he's been among the most vocal and effective at drawing attention to the problems.
Lots of useful info here for digging into the busing conflict, thanks. When I finally have more spare time I'd like to read up on that.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
Although I should be reviewing the literary canon for when I retake the GREs this fall for my Ph.D application, I have decided to undertake a project which I consider my main interest, reviewing the entire history of literary criticism and literary theory.
At the moment I am reading Classical Literary Criticism: Aristotle, Horace, and Longinus, skipping ahead to Frye's Anatomy of Criticism, and also (skipping way ahead) Hutcheon's Politics of Postmodernism. I really need to organize my plan better.
For fiction, I am finishing Kundera's Immortality which I started a few months ago, but left unfinished due to other obligations and capricious interests of the moment. Due to our conversations, I bought Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow earlier this week, and decided that will probably be my next novel.
I also have to keep up with the reading I am teaching (although I've read most of these texts numerous times, I always see new stuff to discuss when I reread), so I am also reading "Oedipus Rex" and "Death of a Salesman" for next week.
The reading is going fairly well. I finished all but my fiction books on the above list, but now I'm trying to get a summer reading list together that involved my riginal plan for studying for the GRE Lit. subject test. I took it after I got my BA, but I think I could raise my score a bit now. That thing is so hit or miss, and if you are not familiar with one passage, you have a good chance of missing the next four or five questions. Did you ever take it? Any advice?
I had to put my theory readings (after I finished the above) on hold. I just don't have the time to read that at the moment, but I always pick a book up in my home office/library in passing and flip through it.
I'm a bit nervous about teaching next year. I just found out today that I will have another full load. I was excited to notice the notification heavily implied that I am picking up another lit. course. Unfortunately, they will not tell me what it is until July, so that gives me about three weeks to re/read a course worth of books and create a lesson plan. Sounds fun, especially with everything else going on.
a Lit. subject area test. I just took the basic one, but it was before the changeover in the last couple years. We had the three section (verbal, math, logic) format.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Bet that got your attention, huh? No, not that Treason , rather this novel by Orson Scott Card. I realize that OSC is a polarizing figure because of his strong political beliefs but (with a handful of lamentable exceptions) I don't see that distort his writing, which I find to be quite compelling. The book is SF/fantasy, I guess, but as usual with OSC that's only a shell (although richly conceived and smoothly executed) for the moral issues he explores. The book does have some similarities to Ender's Game but from a very different perspective; I'd certainly recommend it if you enjoyed the Ender series. I hadn't read a book for a while (busy with work) but after buying this yesterday I couldn't put it down until I finished it.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
can trump bad politics, any day of the week. Take someone like Dostoevsky: horribly xenophobic, reactionary, and bigoted. Believed that the West was doomed and only the Orthodox Christians worthy/capable of God's mission. Mean spirited drunk, gambling addict, petty SOB (you want brutal? His depiction of Turgenev in The Demons makes the worst mudslinging of Coulter and Savage look like fluff).
Great writer.
I haven't read OSC (except his awful nonfiction essays), but if he can pull it off, he can pull it off: successful science fiction doesn't depend on the political orientations of the author. I still reserve the right to criticize him as a horrible person, though. :)
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
along with the other new book by Orson Scott Card "Empire" where the liberals try to take over US and there is a civil war. But since Empire hasn't come out yet, I won't receive either until sometime in December.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Comments :
1984....errr, 1985
You know what they say about good intentions. This hurts to read.
This is from one of the comments:
"The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." --R. Heinlein
You touched on a point
That I was planning on bringing up with respect to copyright in the future.
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
Lead Ink?
Jeez, I'd hate to be the kid of someone in printing industry before 1985, oh wait. Good thing he wasn't in the press room
or bindery.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code (Eminent Lives) (r
Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code (Eminent Lives)
by Matt Ridley.
This is an excellent biography for anyone interested in the history of science. I really appreciated Ridley's description of Crick's experiments, and the description of the intellectual world of post-WWII England and America. If you know the basics of molecular biology (particularly, the genetic code and the implications of mutations) then you can understand everything in the book. As a professional biologist, I learned a lot from Ridley's concise description of Crick's experiments...it's always good to think about how we originally learned what we now know, and what science was like before we knew these things.
In my expert opinion, you should do what I tell you to do.
Just got through reading THE BROTHERHOODS, by Wm. Oldham and
Guy Lawson. What a fascinating, exciting book! The Brotherhoods is about two NYC cops in the NYPD who, hiding behind their badges and the code of honor, the laws they swore to uphold, and the people they swore to protect, are, in reality, these sort of hitmen for the Mafia.
This book not only describes the lives/childhoods of these two particular cops, who'd grown up in the same NYC district and were close friends--like brothers, and points out that one of the cops had served in the Army during the Viet Nam war, and how both of those cops basically fooled and conned a whole generation of NYPD cops, but also the people, from other criminals to ordinary citizens, that they were in contact with, as well.
More to the point, although the disappearances of various people, such as a known Brooklyn jeweler, and another criminal, to the killing of an innocent person who chanced to have the same name as the right person that the two dirty cops were looking for, plus the book "Mafia Cop", which had been written by one of the cops, plus the damning evidence by wiseguys and other people working with the Mafia and the "Brotherhoods" coops, and by competent prosecutors, a competent judge, and the famiies of the victims of the crimes committed by the pair of "brotherhoods" cops made for extremely compelling evidence of the crimes of Eppolito & Caracappa (the two Brotherhoods cops), the verdict that had taken years of evidence to come up with was eventually overturned, I believe, as the result of the work of devious defense lawyers who represented Eppolito and Caracappa.
Although Eppolito and Caracappa had long since retired from the NYPD and moved to Las Vegas, they did end up in prison, where they're still serving. Although the verdict had been overturned, the evidence was clear as the light of day.
IMHO, this was a gross miscarriage of justice.
There are a couple of books that I recently bought that
I haven't gotten around to reading, but plan to: The Killing Moon, by Chuck Hogan, and The Brotherhoods, by Guy Lawson & William Oldham.
If you teach Gilgamesh
Since we have at least two professors here, I thought maybe you would find this version of the backstory to the Epic of Gilgamesh to be interesting. George Smith accomplished quite a lot in four years.
http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2007/may/gilgamesh.php?page=1
"The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." --R. Heinlein
Excellent link, thanks -
Gilgamesh is long since a favorite of mine. I've read two translations - the more commonly used prose one (the translator's name escapes me at the moment) and the one John Gardner was working on before his sudden, tragic death. That article's a great read - thanks again!
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Has anyone here read
Cormac McCarthy's The Road? It's a reasonably well-done post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son trekking across a devastated America, and the staccato prose nicely matches the decay of communication in a land that really doesn't need it anymore. Sometimes McCarthy leans poetic, and sometimes it works (but when it doesn't, it's almost laughably bad).
But philosophically speaking, the novel's an extreme right-wing militiaman's wet dream. The heroes are the only good people left in a land of cannibals (thank goodness they have their trusty gun!), and their happiest moment early in the novel is when they find someone's paranoid underground bunker and stockpile - not so paranoid after all, eh? Sheesh.
There are some shades of moral ambiguity here and there - spefically the child's (and maybe the reader's?) inability to process the level of dispassionate cruelty required to live in this world, but (Minor Spoiler) the plot ends up vindicating the father's cold practicality. Oh, and God is apparently necessary to be good, as well.
Eh, well. Like I said, it's a reasonably good book, and there are some seriously horrifying moments throughout. I also like McCarthy's close attention to the details of everyday life, and while there are only so many variations he can spin on "the landscape looked bare", he keeps the spare plot interesting.
Now, on to a copy of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress that I bought for a buck-fifty at a used bookstore. I've got a whole stack of books I've bought just within the last few weeks. I'm not an addict, I can quit anytime I want, seriously.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Hmmmmm.....Sounds like an interesting book.
Is The Road a fairly new novel, and can it be ordered at just any bookstore?
Speaking of bookstores: There used to be a bookstore called Wordsworth in Cambridge's Harvard Square. They gave a 10% discount on books, and they were really, really cool people, and it was a really, really cool store. They went bankrupt and ultimately out of business 2-3 years ago. I've found other bookstores, but Wordsworth really was a special place in a class by itself. I still miss that bookstore.
I read it
Not too bad. It's not even that horrifying compared to any decent horror book :) I thought the style it was told in was a bit annoying.
I have to agree about the strangeness of the child, not having any previous point of reference as far as caring for others is concerned, always living in this horrible world, yet acting as if he had that innate morality - which is bogus. He should've adapted father's view from the start.
Reading through it I found myself just waiting and waiting for them to find that food stash, and not caring for much more. I guess the author does a good job putting you into that mode of almost thinking like the characters.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
I had mixed feelings on the style -
sometimes it really captured the barrenness of the atmosphere, and the feelings that the language itself was decaying (which makes sense, since there's hardly anyone to speak it). Then sometimes you wonder how many variations he can spin on "the sky was grey".
If I'm not mistaken, his primary genre is the Western, so I'm not sure he was really shooting for horror as much as transferring generic elements of the Western to a semi-sci-fi. But yeah, I'm thinking this is a book that I mostly enjoyed, but it'll otherwise sit on my shelf from now on instead of being obsessively reread, like most of my books tend to be.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
The Road
sounds interesting. I might get it as I am at a serious lack of things to read these days... Mostly due to the lack of contiguous time being very discouraging. But I want to get back to reading good things before sleep :)
Thanks for the suggestion.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Let me know what you think -
the book got rave reviews, but I haven't met anyone else who's read it, so I haven't been able to talk it through at all.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
ehh Oprah's book club...
Does that mean all those women read it too? ;) Ok I ordered it from Amazon.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
A long walk to get more than your feet wet
I was wandering through the deeper reaches of my library. there are still many books still in boxes as I have never had one big enough, but I did put a few shelves to Science fiction, and I discovered a copy of one OSC's later versions of Enders Game.
As I read it I could see all the buttons being pushed, almost as you could attach numbers from this list to the various paragraphs, but I do think I gained some insight.
As I put it back I noticed another book I had not read in a while, and discovered again an Ocean next to the tide pool.
Barry Longyear could be certainly accused of being curmudgeonly, especially in the bloom after his book was made into a movie that had a very short nova period, and then vanished. That sort of thing can be a whiplash that often goes badly. His humor often has an edge, but it comes at reality from unexpected directions.
Like the character who asked for directions is told the answer outright, but figures that if he wasn't charged for the information, it must have been worthless and wanders off in the opposite direction.
But while that vision of a civilization created from a circus is well worth the searching out all the bits and pieces, it was his other universe that spawned the movie, Enemy Mine and perhaps the cult fan base that finally got all the writings filled out and published as "The Enemy Papers".
Through that vehicle he creates a very deep atheistic religion (and publishes their bible), a totally homosexual (sort of) society (they are all hermaphrodites), a different language and a great many things applicable, though not analogies, except perhaps his solution for Israel.
For those who like their books short and simple, this is not, and even the main story, I have seen many different ways, a few I prefer more than this one, there is even and original short story that the rest blossomed from.Of those who also read it I would be interested in impressions.
The Self Made Man is just not admitting where he got all the parts.
Books and Politics
I was wondering what everyone thought about the recent hubbub about the Gay and Lesbian Literature course
at CU Boulder? I took a gay lit. course when I was an undergraduate and did not think it was a big deal. I'm sure most English departments have such a course.
I am especially interested in what the conservatives think about the 'controversy'. Should we stifle these classes? Is it a violation of free speech? Are universities teaching on topics that are too liberal?
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
nothing that I'd care about
nor would I care about banning it. Which I doubt anyone is interested in, including that conservative group. Perhaps they think it is useless and antithetical to the purpose of college.
I don't fully agree though I think this quote is right on the money:
I would run far away from anything in that category but that is my personal preference. I do think that stuff is divisive and usually not helpful due to its Us vs Them structure.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Total nonsense.
Courses on gay/lesbian literature are divisive? Why? Because it only involves gay/lesbian literature? Why don't we stop courses on Italian literature, too: it encourages dividing the world into Italians and non-Italians.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
I didn't specifically say
courses on gay/lesbian literature are divisive. They could be or they could be fine. I meant it is the general emphasis on "race, sexuality and gender" and the way a lot of the courses are presented, that is divisive.
They are mostly done from a leftist (which is obviously biased) perspective. I dislike all politically biased courses. Which would include almost all on the subject of "race, sexuality and gender".
Obviously it would be easy to make most courses on Italian literature politics neutral.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Emphasis on race sexuality and gender.
You forgot to mention redheads?
Why do they always teach classes about redheads from a leftist perspective, when the right wing perspective is so much better?
Just asking the question creates division which seems to be the point. Why must there always be left v right. That is silly on its face.
We should talk about the civil war from a businesman's perspective. If the businessmen had their way, the slaves would still be picking cotton.
I'm only half stupid
How would you
teach a course on "race, sexuality, and gender" without discussing the politics of these topics? Or should we just not discuss them at all?
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
wouldn't the potential goal
of teaching these topics also be reaching out and convincing people to be more tolerant and understanding? By teaching the courses from a left-wing point of view you immediately alienate the people you would want to convince. But if all that you want to do is preach to the choir then whatever, teach them however you wish but don't expect me to like or accept it.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
How do
you teach 'gender' from a right-wing perspective? Oh yeah, that's called home economics. How about gay studies?
BTW, you did not answer my questions.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
hmmm
It's one thing to discuss the politics of the topics, and quite another to just teach them from a left-wing perspective. Why not teach it objectively - explain the issues and let students draw their conclusions.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
For the record,
and I think I mentioned this on here before - I had my students guess my religious and political affiliations at the end of a course that included the Bible, among other things. They thought I was a moderate, and fell somewhere between spiritual and nondenominational Christian. Ha!
But seriously, it was an experiment to see how their opinions about the class were/weren't shaped by their views of me. One of my colleagues teaching the same course told his students up front that he was an atheist. There was some difference - his students felt he was a little more forceful than I was - but overall it's not like mine turned out well-adjusted and his are all brainwashed. College students aren't kindergardeners: they have a level of impressionability, but they will speak up to defend their beliefs. Which is great. We encourage them to.
Topics like gender studies, ... how do you teach that objectively? What does objectivity mean to you? That's one of the questions we ask our students. And the answer's not really an easy one to pin down.
For example, to move to another field: if we were discussing science, what's an objective way to talk about origins? Is it objective to include all ideas, like creationism? or is that slanted because you're including ideological ideas in the mix? Does objectivity mean "giving everyone equal time to present their ideas" or does it mean "filtering out overly ideological ideas to get to the core concepts"? Or neither?
And that's just science. Getting into loaded social topics is a giant minefield. I think most teachers handle it better than you think. I think it's easy to parade the exceptions in front of a FOX audience to show the deterioration of academia.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
I guess you are not reading my questions
so I will state them again: How do you teach these topics without discussing politics? How would one go about teaching gender studies neutrally and objectively? Give an example if you can.
I'm not trying to prove a point (well, kind of); I seriously want to know.
(Edit): I guess I'm having trouble seeing how you can discuss the issues without discussing politics. Also, how do you discuss things like equality and such objectively? Is equality a left-wing idea? If not, how are these classes being taught from a left-wing perspective?
I don't think you understand what happens in college classrooms regarding these issues. You don't 'teach' left ideas. You discuss plots and characters, and sometimes relate those to the outside world. Is that left or right wing? Can you do that objectively?
If you are saying that someone should not be downgraded for disagreeing with the teacher's 'perspective', then I agree with you, but I don't understand what you mean by teach from a left-wing perspective.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
The question is, what is a left wing perspective?
Is this a left wing perspective what would a right wing perspective on it sound like?
The Self Made Man is just not admitting where he got all the parts.
I could understand
if that course were a requirement, but the only major that would list that kind of course as a requirement would be gender studies, or something like that. And if you're studying gender studies, you're probably going to want that class, anyway.
But it's not enough that their own kids (who are adults by then, no less) don't have to take that class - they don't want anyone else taking it, either. Typical.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Reading anything interesting?
I've been holed up in the library most of the week reading memoirs from the early 20th century, so not much exciting there. On the other hand, I've gotten some decent reading done on the bus ride (which is about 1 1/2 hours round trip).
Finally got around to All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, which is both a much better and much worse book than I expected. Pros: excellent prose, compelling main character, deep insight into the human condition. Negs: overdone prose at times, long passages that go nowhere, unsatisfying plot. The first set make the novel worth reading, but I actually laughed out loud at how badly handled one section was.
Tried to read The End of the Affair by Graham Greene, and found that I was so bored by the halfway point that I had to shove it back on my bookshelf for good. The prose can be witty at times, but the long (kill me now) diary by the main female character is about as exciting and flavorful as cardboard. It's too bad, because I've enjoyed movies based on Greene's novels before (most prominently The Quiet American), so I was looking forward to this, even though it's one of his shortest books.
Just started The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, and I'm enjoying it so far.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Chabon! C'est bon!
Kavalier and Clay will turn you into a Chabon nut like me. I've since ripped through his short story collections, "Summerland" (a must for any baseball fan) and I'm working my way up to "Wonder Boys."
By the by, for those out there looking for wonderful authors who never hit the mainstream, take a look at Robertson Davies. Many of you may have heard of him but, if not, he will be a wonderful surprise. Start with the Deptford Trilogy (the first book of which, "Fifth Business" may be among my favorite books ever written) and then keep on rolling.
I'm also considering going back and re-reading all my Vonneguts.
Cyberactor
Honestly,
I found the last quarter of Kavalier and Clay to be pretty unbearable, especially since the first three quarters were so good. I've heard great things about Summerland and Wonder Boys, though, so I may add them to the list when I'm done with the stack currently on my table. :)
I've been digging through the poetry of Fernando Pessoa
, but of his heteronyms (he wrote as different poets, each with a unique style), the only one who speaks to me is Ricardo Reis 
, who has a more austere, classical style.
I just finished Thorton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey
, but it didn't strike me as much as I'd hoped. It's a fascinating premise, and I love the structure and the occasionally deadpan detachment, but it felt pretty fleeting in the end. It's short enough that I'll probably give it some time to digest, then hit it again.
Currently halfway through Patrick Süskind's Perfume
, which is outstanding in every way. Dark, rich, and utterly nihilistic (in an entertaining way).
I'll have to look up Davies - the name's not ringing any bells.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
I absolutely loved
The Bridge of San Luis Rey when I first read it, but then I like Wilder in general (e.g., Our Town, The Eighth Day, and Theophilus North). I may have to go back myself and see if Bridge has aged well, although I was more taken with the underlying theology/philosophy than the style. I mean, that's kind of the essential question of life, isn't it: why do things happen the way they do.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
Here's one of my favorite books, which I've read many times.
One of my favorite books is a book by the late author, J. Anthony Lukas, who wrote a great many other books before and after the book I'm about to mention. Sadly, J. Anthony Lukas committed suicide fairly shortly after his last book,
Big Troubles, a mystery about the Labor Movement which was not as successful as most of his other books, came out. This was unfortunate, as J. Anthony Lukas was a very insightful person who clearly trained himself to look at any given issue from all sides, and treat his subjects as whole human beings, regardless of their viewpoint(s).
J. Anthony Lukas's book: Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Life of Three American Families, imo, is an excellent example of that. This book is about three Boston families;( an African-American family from lower Roxbury-South End, a white, workingclass Irish-Catholic family from the Charlestown section, and a Yankee gentry family originally from a suburb of Boston who moved into Boston's south end, in the hopes of improving the lives of the people who resided there), how all three of these families coped with Boston's school busing crisis during the mid-to late 1970's, and the role that the Church, then-Boston-Mayor Kevin H. White, the Media, the Police, the all-white Boston Public School Committee under the auspices of the late Louise Day Hicks, and Judge W. Arthur Garrity, a Federal District Judge from Worcester who crafted the divisive busing plan for Boston, all played in Boston's school crisis.
Although J. Anthony Lukas definitely condemns, rather than excuses racist and/or criminal behaviour, it's also clear that he provides much insight as to where it comes from, that he empathizes with the people in the book, regardless of who they are and what their viewpoint(s) are, and treats them as whole human beings.
This book is still in print, and, imo, is highly recommended for reading.
Common Ground, is not the only book that I've read on the Boston school busing crisis. Other books I've read on the subject are as follows:
Boston Against Busing by Ron Formisano, Liberty's Chosen Home: The Politics of Violence in Boston, by Alan Lupo, a Boston journalist-turned-historian, which is now out of print, Jonathan Kozol's very first book, Death At an Early Age, which is a real indictment of Boston's Public School system and was written 40 years ago, and another book called Southie Won't Go, by Ilona Malloy, who taught at South Boston High school before and during that time, who chronicled her book on what she experienced and saw during that tiime, in the form of a diary. Two other books, The Boston Irish, and Southie: My Home Town, both by Thomas O'Connor, and Michael Patrick MacDonald's book, All Souls: A Family Story from Southie, which is an autobiography of the author's childhood growing up in a South Boston Housing project, are also excellent books on the subject.
I also came to know many people who were either students and ended up being caught in the middle of the busing conflict in Boston at that time, or people whose kids were caught up in the situation. Not wanting to be influenced by a single point of view, I was determined to learn as much about the situation as possible, and have gathered enough info and done enough research on the subject to form an opinion.
I've read most of Kozol's books
he's a good guy, bringing sadly-needed attention to disparities in our education system. I don't agree with all of his solutions but he's been among the most vocal and effective at drawing attention to the problems.
Lots of useful info here for digging into the busing conflict, thanks. When I finally have more spare time I'd like to read up on that.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
What I am reading
Although I should be reviewing the literary canon for when I retake the GREs this fall for my Ph.D application, I have decided to undertake a project which I consider my main interest, reviewing the entire history of literary criticism and literary theory.
At the moment I am reading Classical Literary Criticism: Aristotle, Horace, and Longinus, skipping ahead to Frye's Anatomy of Criticism, and also (skipping way ahead) Hutcheon's Politics of Postmodernism. I really need to organize my plan better.
For fiction, I am finishing Kundera's Immortality which I started a few months ago, but left unfinished due to other obligations and capricious interests of the moment. Due to our conversations, I bought Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow earlier this week, and decided that will probably be my next novel.
I also have to keep up with the reading I am teaching (although I've read most of these texts numerous times, I always see new stuff to discuss when I reread), so I am also reading "Oedipus Rex" and "Death of a Salesman" for next week.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
How's the reading going?
You seem to have a lot on your plate.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Sleep is overrated
The reading is going fairly well. I finished all but my fiction books on the above list, but now I'm trying to get a summer reading list together that involved my riginal plan for studying for the GRE Lit. subject test. I took it after I got my BA, but I think I could raise my score a bit now. That thing is so hit or miss, and if you are not familiar with one passage, you have a good chance of missing the next four or five questions. Did you ever take it? Any advice?
I had to put my theory readings (after I finished the above) on hold. I just don't have the time to read that at the moment, but I always pick a book up in my home office/library in passing and flip through it.
I'm a bit nervous about teaching next year. I just found out today that I will have another full load. I was excited to notice the notification heavily implied that I am picking up another lit. course. Unfortunately, they will not tell me what it is until July, so that gives me about three weeks to re/read a course worth of books and create a lesson plan. Sounds fun, especially with everything else going on.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
I don't even remember
a Lit. subject area test. I just took the basic one, but it was before the changeover in the last couple years. We had the three section (verbal, math, logic) format.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
It is a separate
test altogether from the basic test.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
Almost time, yes?
I think you said June, so you should be about six weeks out from the big day, yes? I hope it all goes well.
"The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." --R. Heinlein
Yeah
June 28th is the big day. Less prep time this time around, but still a whole new batch of responsibilities. I'm looking forward to it though.
We are all mediators, translators. - Derrida
http://signicide.blogspot.com/
Just finished reading Treason
Bet that got your attention, huh? No, not that Treason
, rather this novel 
by Orson Scott Card. I realize that OSC is a polarizing figure because of his strong political beliefs but (with a handful of lamentable exceptions) I don't see that distort his writing, which I find to be quite compelling. The book is SF/fantasy, I guess, but as usual with OSC that's only a shell (although richly conceived and smoothly executed) for the moral issues he explores. The book does have some similarities to Ender's Game but from a very different perspective; I'd certainly recommend it if you enjoyed the Ender series. I hadn't read a book for a while (busy with work) but after buying this yesterday I couldn't put it down until I finished it.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
A good writer
can trump bad politics, any day of the week. Take someone like Dostoevsky: horribly xenophobic, reactionary, and bigoted. Believed that the West was doomed and only the Orthodox Christians worthy/capable of God's mission. Mean spirited drunk, gambling addict, petty SOB (you want brutal? His depiction of Turgenev in The Demons makes the worst mudslinging of Coulter and Savage look like fluff).
Great writer.
I haven't read OSC (except his awful nonfiction essays), but if he can pull it off, he can pull it off: successful science fiction doesn't depend on the political orientations of the author. I still reserve the right to criticize him as a horrible person, though. :)
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
I ordered it
along with the other new book by Orson Scott Card "Empire" where the liberals try to take over US and there is a civil war. But since Empire hasn't come out yet, I won't receive either until sometime in December.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR