I don't know if it is my ADD or what but I am struggling with this book. I don't even know what is going on half of the time, maybe that is because it is in my car and I only read it at stop lights? I doubt it though, that book is deep. I will keep forging ahead though, just glad we got the band back together! First we get MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice together and now the book club is rolling, what a month.
I am reading at a verocious pace the book, "The Lone Survivor" and it is a page turner. It is all about a Navy Seal guy, his training and then his trip to Afganistan. His unit gets attacked and it is pretty intense. These guys were getting shot 4-5 times before they went down. Almost cried reading it. Highly recommended. You would think our Army friend Smurf would have recommended that instead of that terrible Epicenter book, which he didn't even read. Anyways, anyone else notice that a North Korean that won the silver in Air pistol shooting got caught using roids? How heavy are these air pistols?
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Just The Tip
That's how far in I am, just the tip. 30pgs. Good to be back though, and apologies for the hiatus.
My initial reaction to this book was pure emotion. Every page so far (IMO) is meant to be a slap in the reader's face. Jarring. From the unflattering character descriptions, to the explicit sex scenes to the syntax and story flow (or lack there of), I think Doctorow is really trying to make the reader uncomfortable, and evaluate where they stand in the world with regards to politics, love, family, etc. By highlighting extremes it makes us wonder aloud if we could be pushed to those outer bounds by some uncontrollable circumstance. It's not about being "liberal" or "conservative" or "communist", its about the environment and people and chance that tip us in one direction or another. Obviously, you can choose to react in several different ways once on that path, but once a train has been set in motion its much harder to change its course.
I think Frank was on the right track in his last post to warn of the dangers of extremist behavior, but to call extreme left immature and extreme right bigots is a wild oversimplification. Not only is there an enormous amount of nuance associated with people's belief systems, but the "left" and "right" are merely constructs that couldn't exist without each other. For example, say I waved a magic wand and all the "right wing" people on the planet disappeared. Would conservative views disappear? No. The remaining "liberals" would have to redefine themselves from the other liberals and half of the population would then be "conservatives" again. So if Frank's theory held true, would the previously slightly immature then become the extreme bigots? I would argue no.
I've never read any Doctorow before, but I must say he is one of the most powerful writers I've encountered in a good while. Great choice Benny, I look forward to the journey.
Favorite Quote so far, page 25 of my copy:
"There are no decent settings for joy or suffering. All our environments are wrong. They embarrass our emotions. They make our emotions into the plastic tiger lilies in the window boxes of Howard Johnson restaurants."
Discuss.
My initial reaction to this book was pure emotion. Every page so far (IMO) is meant to be a slap in the reader's face. Jarring. From the unflattering character descriptions, to the explicit sex scenes to the syntax and story flow (or lack there of), I think Doctorow is really trying to make the reader uncomfortable, and evaluate where they stand in the world with regards to politics, love, family, etc. By highlighting extremes it makes us wonder aloud if we could be pushed to those outer bounds by some uncontrollable circumstance. It's not about being "liberal" or "conservative" or "communist", its about the environment and people and chance that tip us in one direction or another. Obviously, you can choose to react in several different ways once on that path, but once a train has been set in motion its much harder to change its course.
I think Frank was on the right track in his last post to warn of the dangers of extremist behavior, but to call extreme left immature and extreme right bigots is a wild oversimplification. Not only is there an enormous amount of nuance associated with people's belief systems, but the "left" and "right" are merely constructs that couldn't exist without each other. For example, say I waved a magic wand and all the "right wing" people on the planet disappeared. Would conservative views disappear? No. The remaining "liberals" would have to redefine themselves from the other liberals and half of the population would then be "conservatives" again. So if Frank's theory held true, would the previously slightly immature then become the extreme bigots? I would argue no.
I've never read any Doctorow before, but I must say he is one of the most powerful writers I've encountered in a good while. Great choice Benny, I look forward to the journey.
Favorite Quote so far, page 25 of my copy:
"There are no decent settings for joy or suffering. All our environments are wrong. They embarrass our emotions. They make our emotions into the plastic tiger lilies in the window boxes of Howard Johnson restaurants."
Discuss.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Out of My League?
Boy, I feel like Ben picked a book that is maybe 10 IQ points higher than my reading level! I'm 80 pages in and I'm only able to follow the main story, but I feel there is a lot of subtlety going over my head. It's an interesting read thus far.
My question is pretty abstract. Do you think the more well adjusted a person is, the more politically moderate they are? Maybe that is an obvious yes. Maybe not. I am just trying to line up Daniel's odd behavior (at times it seems disturbing) with his political outlook. Offensive or not, political radicalism in our day seems juvenile and immature. If you are really on the far left, you are irresponsible. If you are on the far right, you are a bigot. It seems to me as you grow up and experience things, you find the middle ground - where reasonable resides. It seems to me that the extremeness of both Daniel's parents and their political polar opposites are the cause of major conflict in this story and in current events. What do you think?
My question is pretty abstract. Do you think the more well adjusted a person is, the more politically moderate they are? Maybe that is an obvious yes. Maybe not. I am just trying to line up Daniel's odd behavior (at times it seems disturbing) with his political outlook. Offensive or not, political radicalism in our day seems juvenile and immature. If you are really on the far left, you are irresponsible. If you are on the far right, you are a bigot. It seems to me as you grow up and experience things, you find the middle ground - where reasonable resides. It seems to me that the extremeness of both Daniel's parents and their political polar opposites are the cause of major conflict in this story and in current events. What do you think?
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Is the Cold War Over???
Great book thus far by Ben. I'm only about fifty pages into it, but I don't think we could have chosen a book more relevant to today's political environment. It's the fascist, extreme Right vs. the radical communist Left. I haven't quite figured out Doctorow's agenda here. I initially thought he would be fighting against all the conservative "red-scared" nut jobs that sent their neighbors to the electrical chair at the height of the Cold War, but he has been critical of BOTH sides in his novel. How is this anything like today? Well, while John McCain may not be seen as a right-wing extremist, Obama has CERTAINLY (and with some justification at times) been called a radical, Marxist, left-wing communist. We've sort of tip-toed around politics at times on this blog, but I think this book won't allow that. Perhaps that's why Doctorow has had just about every one of his books on banned-book lists all over the country--he brings to the forefront topics that make people uncomfortable, scared, and angry. I'm looking forward to the rest of the book. And even if you aren't reading it, take some time to think about the politics that are happening right now. It would be interesting to hear everyone's point of view, even at the expense of things getting heated and people disagreeing.
As an aside for Ben--midterms are in the summer because 2nd-year med students in the UTMB curriculum have class for 11 months. I had an 8-week "summer" during which time I did research in plastic surgery. Have you (or anyone) seen The Onion movie? I haven't seen it or heard anything...is it worth renting?
As an aside for Ben--midterms are in the summer because 2nd-year med students in the UTMB curriculum have class for 11 months. I had an 8-week "summer" during which time I did research in plastic surgery. Have you (or anyone) seen The Onion movie? I haven't seen it or heard anything...is it worth renting?
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Hurricanes and Midterms...
I'm glad people enjoyed The Alchemist. It's an easy read that seems to bring things into focus. A little self-meditation is good for everyone.
For those of you who were worried about me surviving Tropical Storm Eduardo...scratch that, did any of you even know that Eduardo was a big deal down here? I even called Dave when his entire state was underwater, but does he make any attempt at checking up on me when the hurricane is about to hit? Actually, the whole thing was way overblown. We were worried for awhile...gas stations were out of gas, people were fist-fighting over water bottles and beer at the grocery store, and in the end it was just a bad rain storm.
As if the possibility of a hurricane wasn't enough, I have been dealing with midterms all week. I'm heading out now to buy The Book of Daniel and I'm putting all studying behind me this week, so I can read what I want!
Congrats to Ben on the move to Colorado...maybe Hillary and I will see more of you now (her family is there). From what I understand, the further south you get, the better lawyer you are. Soon enough, you'll be down here by us!
I'm also gearing up for the olympics...
The Beijing Olympics: Are They A Trap?
...notice my favorite guy from the Sonic commercials! "What else did your body tell you to do? Did your body tell you to wear that sweater today?"
For those of you who were worried about me surviving Tropical Storm Eduardo...scratch that, did any of you even know that Eduardo was a big deal down here? I even called Dave when his entire state was underwater, but does he make any attempt at checking up on me when the hurricane is about to hit? Actually, the whole thing was way overblown. We were worried for awhile...gas stations were out of gas, people were fist-fighting over water bottles and beer at the grocery store, and in the end it was just a bad rain storm.
As if the possibility of a hurricane wasn't enough, I have been dealing with midterms all week. I'm heading out now to buy The Book of Daniel and I'm putting all studying behind me this week, so I can read what I want!
Congrats to Ben on the move to Colorado...maybe Hillary and I will see more of you now (her family is there). From what I understand, the further south you get, the better lawyer you are. Soon enough, you'll be down here by us!
I'm also gearing up for the olympics...
The Beijing Olympics: Are They A Trap?
...notice my favorite guy from the Sonic commercials! "What else did your body tell you to do? Did your body tell you to wear that sweater today?"
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Good Book
I enjoyed The Alchemist. I think the thing that I liked the most was the character Santiago. I thought he was extremely intelligent and thoughtful. Throughout the book I liked how he was so perceptive and caught onto things. I especially liked how he picked up on unspoken cues, the language of the universe, and acted on them.
To me the whole book seemed to symbolize life for most people. Santiago thought he had it all planned out but then another opportunity came up and he was wise enough to follow through with it. Most people aren't. I'm not sure if my life is following my personal legend or that I believe such things have been concretely ordained. I guess I need to watch the omens a bit more carefully! In the end though, his life became much more than he imagined it to be.
I thought it was clever that he ended up back in Andalusia. The story is obviously showing that the journey was just as important as the destination. It's good to be reminded about such eternal truths.
I can get behind Ben's suggestion and Nick's vote of The Book of Daniel despite Nick's obvious bias! As if we haven't had enough Russian themes in the previous books we've read (Epicenter and Asher Lev)! Just kidding. I read a small summary and it does sound good. I'll look forward to it!
Alchemy
I enjoyed the Alchemist. Thanks Nick. The subject matter (following your dreams/destiny) and the way it was presented (third-person omniscient narrator) really force introspective thought - something I like doing anyway.
The story invites us to find and pursue our personal legend. It glorifies those that pursue their dreams saying that the universe conspires to help them, that God is with them, that they will know the soul and language of the world, etc. etc. At the same time, it treats those that choose local, safe and secure paths as cowards who are no more than sheep only seeking food and water. You'll recall the crystal shop owner who won't go to Mecca and the Baker who wanted to travel that didn't as examples.
The only problem I had with the story is that I felt it didn't give the reader any credit. In the story, the boy was asked to 'read the omens' by paying attention to subtle signals that the desert/nature was presenting. He would come to know the language and soul of the world through this process. Yet, the author didn't give the reader omens to follow, we were herded along like the sheep. Instead of being asked to read subtle signals, we were beaten over the head with plain, repetitious statements of his thesis (following heart/legend =good, being a sheep/settling = cowardly).
It was entertaining to read and as I wrote previously, it forced me to look at my life decisions critically. I enjoyed the idea that things were continually evolving--lead to copper to gold. The idea that everything has a personal legend to improve, at which point the personal legend changes so that the evolution continues.
When I was younger I just knew (you could say it was in my heart) that I was going to be a baseball player and that I was going to be a good one. My commitment to my dream was challenged continually by the lack of stability in my legs. I pushed toward my dream only to have it fail spectacularly. I thought that harder work and more fervent prayers could make up the difference but they didn't or couldn't. I don't know if it was stubbornness or if I just needed to learn lessons from the fruitless struggling but I kept pursuing it despite the pain. Nowadays, I like to think that baseball had nothing left to teach me and that's why I was sent in a new direction, toward new legends. Perhaps I had already become copper or something. Perhaps I quit right before I was about to break through. Maybe if I had tried to come back from the back surgery and accepted the independent league offers for scraps... Who knows, right?
Anyway, I'd like to hear other opinions on the book and/or some of your personal legends. I would also like to invite Cameron back to the blog once again. Cam, I am formally apologizing for calling you pseudo-open-minded or something like that a while ago. I was joking but after re-reading my post, I'm not sure it came across that way.
Ben
The story invites us to find and pursue our personal legend. It glorifies those that pursue their dreams saying that the universe conspires to help them, that God is with them, that they will know the soul and language of the world, etc. etc. At the same time, it treats those that choose local, safe and secure paths as cowards who are no more than sheep only seeking food and water. You'll recall the crystal shop owner who won't go to Mecca and the Baker who wanted to travel that didn't as examples.
The only problem I had with the story is that I felt it didn't give the reader any credit. In the story, the boy was asked to 'read the omens' by paying attention to subtle signals that the desert/nature was presenting. He would come to know the language and soul of the world through this process. Yet, the author didn't give the reader omens to follow, we were herded along like the sheep. Instead of being asked to read subtle signals, we were beaten over the head with plain, repetitious statements of his thesis (following heart/legend =good, being a sheep/settling = cowardly).
It was entertaining to read and as I wrote previously, it forced me to look at my life decisions critically. I enjoyed the idea that things were continually evolving--lead to copper to gold. The idea that everything has a personal legend to improve, at which point the personal legend changes so that the evolution continues.
When I was younger I just knew (you could say it was in my heart) that I was going to be a baseball player and that I was going to be a good one. My commitment to my dream was challenged continually by the lack of stability in my legs. I pushed toward my dream only to have it fail spectacularly. I thought that harder work and more fervent prayers could make up the difference but they didn't or couldn't. I don't know if it was stubbornness or if I just needed to learn lessons from the fruitless struggling but I kept pursuing it despite the pain. Nowadays, I like to think that baseball had nothing left to teach me and that's why I was sent in a new direction, toward new legends. Perhaps I had already become copper or something. Perhaps I quit right before I was about to break through. Maybe if I had tried to come back from the back surgery and accepted the independent league offers for scraps... Who knows, right?
Anyway, I'd like to hear other opinions on the book and/or some of your personal legends. I would also like to invite Cameron back to the blog once again. Cam, I am formally apologizing for calling you pseudo-open-minded or something like that a while ago. I was joking but after re-reading my post, I'm not sure it came across that way.
Ben
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