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ladyhecate2010
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 Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:50 pm Post subject: Introduction from the Midwest
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I am female and live and work in the Midwest. I work at a small college.
I have always been someone who loves to read. When I purchased a new 30Gig IPOD last year I started downloading several books per month because I found I could clean my house or workout and still enjoy a new book. I used CD and tape players before but with this new technology has made everything easier from purchasing to listening to an entire book. Don’t get me wrong, I still do a fair amount of old fashion hard copy reading. During this past year I found that I didn’t really have anyone to discuss the content of the books I was reading. About a week ago I decided to do a Google search to remedy my problem. So here I am! I have purchase audio books for Atlas Shrugged and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Over the holidays while I travel I am excited about listening to both of these books. I am also looking forward to having lively discussions when I return.
If you are interested in my reading material for the past year, see the eclectic list below:
Hard copy
1. Cradle to Cradle (currently reading a hard copy)
2. A Benjamin Franklin Reader (I have read about 45% of this book but I skipped around because it doesn’t flow sequentially)
3. Guns, Germs, and Steel (have a new view of why civilization evolved in the patterns which it did)
4. Infidel (love the author – can personally relate)
5. Mouse Guard (crazy hard cover comic book)
6. Three Cups of Tea (excellent book)
7. Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (I just couldn’t wade through this book – it makes me sad that I seem to lack the ability or intelligence to finish this book)
8. Cage Virgin (same author as Infidel – love her – yes, I hope to meet her face-to-face on day – if I am every independently wealthy I would support her efforts)
9. Latin Quips at Your Fingertips ( I enjoyed reading but so far to my dismay I haven’t used any for any purpose so it seems to be of no use to me)
10. Deadwood (I watched the HBO series so this book talks about the real life characters and the ones created for the series)
11.. Beowulf (I am only about 1/3 of the way through this book – I hope to finished before the lame movie comes out in Hollywood )
12. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding (I like to work out - even though this summer I did little of it – so why not go to one of the masters of our time for advice – also my brother worships this guy so why not read about him—only read about 85% of this book but it was enough to get the full picture
13. Tonight I purchased the entire works of Shakespeare. I hate the fact that I didn’t know Hecate was a character in one of his literary works. So I have decided to read all of his stuff no matter how long it takes.
14. The Long Walk: The True Story of Trek to Freedom (I loved this book – it was so inspiring – don’t get me started)
15. What Color is Your Parachute? 2007 (had to read this for a course I was teaching – Professional Advancement)
Audio (since Christmas 2006 when I got my IPOD)
I am only going to share the stuff I am proud of having listened too. There are some really silly audio books which I will not acknowledge. Lol
1. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
2. The Greatest Minds and Ideas of Our Times (was ok – I can’t say even why I wasn’t terribly impressed)
3. Secrets of Body Language (interesting)
4. The Dip (only listened to about 10% of this book so far)
5. Friedrich Nietzsche: The Giants of Philosophy (I really like this book – will probably listen to it again)
6. The Secret (I like the overall concept)
7. Girls of Riyadh : A Novel (I like to read about the Muslim world because )
8. Lady Windermere's Fan (I liked this story a lot)
9. Inside the Jihad: My Life With Al Qaeda, a Spy's Story
10. The Prince , Niccolo Machiavelli (I know this book has good political and management advice but I found it a complete bore. I understand the context of when it was but I still can’t be excited about it)
11. The Books of Five Rings (I liked parts of this book but the later part put me to sleep so many times I gave up on trying to finish it in spite of the value the business men put on it)
12. The Four Agreements (haven’t finished listening to it)
13. Native American Wisdom
14. The Good German (I decided to read this book after a movie was made of it – haven’t seen the movie)
15. Persuasion (I love Jane Austin)
16. Classic Irish Short Stories, Volume 1 (I love short stories)
17. Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev ( I decided I need to cut my teeth on this authors controversial work – I did enjoy it although I found it very sad)
18. How to See Yourself As You Really Are (I haven’t been able to finish this – I guess I am not ready to look at myself)
19. The Art of Happiness
20. An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life
21. Fairy Tales -Hans Christian Andersen – I had read some of these stories in my youth so I thought it might be interesting to listen to them again
22. Classic German Short Stories, Volume 1 (Unabridged) (Again, I really liked these short stories)
23. 1984: New Classic Edition (Unabridged) ( I enjoyed this book)
24. Ethan Frome (gosh this story was so sad)
25. Classic Russian Short Stories, Volume 1 (Unabridged) (Again I liked these stories)
26. A Clockwork Orange (Unabridged) (I am glad this version had the last chapter – I have worked with clients who were similar – very scary)
27. The Short Stories of Anton Chekhov, Volume 1 (Unabridged) This was one of the first audio books I downloaded.
28. Dune: the Battle of Corrin (Unabridged) (ok, I have a dorky Sci-Fi side)
29. Dune: the Machine Crusade (Unabridged) (I really like this one)
30. Stumbling on Happiness (enjoyed this book)
31. Wikinomoics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
Thanks for taking the time to read about me.
Lady Hecate |
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Ophelia 
Embodiment of Reason
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| Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:56 am Post subject:
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Hi Ladyhecate!
I marvel at your reading list, this is eclectic indeed!
Thank you for taking the time to type it all ( I was much lazier in my intro) , I find it challenging and refreshing to be introduced to somebody by hearing what they read.
I haven't read Clockwork Orange, but I saw the film a long time ago. I think this is the only violent movie I have ever watched, so it sticks in my mind.
You say you come across similar people in your job, this sounds unfortunate indeed, can you explain?
Well, welcome (this is a personal welcome, I'm new here too, a senior member will welcome you officially) and I hope to read more from you soon. |
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Ophelia
Embodiment of Reason
Gold Contributor
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Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 1394
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Location: France
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| Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:18 am Post subject: Infidel
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P-S: I had a look at one of the books you recommended in your list, Infidel , by Ayaan Hirsi-ali, which was actually already in my cart at amazon.
The book is in my cart because of the writer herself, but I haven't bought it yet-- somehow the theme of the plight of women in some Muslim communitities is one of the most harrowing things for me to read about.
I have almost finished reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" -- I wouldn't have done so if it hadn't been on the Booktalk reading list-- of course these books must be read and known, but for the moment, the feminist side of me feels defeated and silent-- even though I knew such barbarity existed, this is a lot to take in in one reading. |
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MadArchitect
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| Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:14 pm Post subject: Re: Introduction from the Midwest
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| Lady Hecate wrote: |
| Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (I just couldn’t wade through this book – it makes me sad that I seem to lack the ability or intelligence to finish this book) |
I hope this doesn't come off wrong, but... What made you want to read this book in the first place?
Okay, now let me qualify my question all to hell, so you don't mistake my purpose. Most of us have grown up in an atmosphere that emphasized the value of books. Part of that emphasis involved impressing on us the idea that there are some books that are simply Great, and that if we're at all interested in bettering ourselves, we'll go out and read them, and damn well like it. I know that's the impression I got growing up, and it took me a long time to come to the opinion that the situation is a good deal trickier than that.
For one thing, you usually have to have a better reason for wanting to read a particular book than just that it's supposedly Great. Personally, I think "The Consolation of Philosophy" is the cat's pajamas. And as we all know, feline sleepwear is synonymous with truth and goodness. But all the same, it isn't a book that I'd go around recommending to everyone. As it so happens, I have a good friend who has just recently starting devoting a lot of thought (a more precise word might be "concern") to the questions of moral goodness and personal worth, and since that's the ground covered by "Consolation", I went out of my way to put my copy in his hands. No word yet on what he thinks of it (he probably won't get to the book until after the holidays), but the odds, at least, are better than they would have been had I simply been responding to a request for something good to read.
Now, as it so happens, I'm something of a student of comparative religion, so the Bhagavad Gita is one of those books I'd like to get around to reading. I've even picked it up a few times, but each time I've put it down again, realizing that I'm not ready. Not that, intellectually, I couldn't handle it (though, I'm sure it's one of those books that repeat readings will make more rewarding). It's more that Indian religion is so foreign to me that, without knowing a little more about Hinduism, and without knowing a little more about what the Gita means to it, I'm not sure what I'd get from it. If I weren't looking for something, reading it would be a little like searching for a needle in a haystack -- without knowing what a needle looked like. I might come across something that made reading it worthwhile, but I'd be far more likely to find it if I had some idea of what I was looking for. Eventually, I'll probably have some specific reason to sit down with the Bhagavad Gita, but for the moment, I think it's best to let it alone.
You don't always have to have a specific reason for reading a particular book, of course. Since most of my reading is directed along those lines, I periodically take breaks by reading books that I've picked out more or less on a whim. There's a 50/50 chance those books will be worthwhile, but when they are, the effect is usually much more intense than it would be otherwise. That's more or less the case with one of the books I'm reading right now, Thomas Mann's "The Transposed Heads".
So what I'm asking boils down to, did you have a specific reason for wanting to read the Bhagavad Gita? And if not, do you think that had something to do with your not enjoying it?
| Quote: |
| The Prince , Niccolo Machiavelli (I know this book has good political and management advice but I found it a complete bore. I understand the context of when it was but I still can’t be excited about it) |
Same question here. You mention the appeal the book has had as a primer on management, but I don't get the sense that you were looking for a management book.
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| Persuasion (I love Jane Austin) |
As a red-blooded American male, I probably shouldn't cop to this, but lately I've been wanting to read some Jane Austen. I've read a lot of criticism to the effect that she's one of the best moralist and miniaturist writers in the English language, and recently I read a book that suggested that those compliments were practically slights for not having recognized her greater strengths as a novelist. Plus, I've recently rediscovered a fondness for Thomas Hardy, and her style strikes me as related to his. Let me know if you'd like to read and discuss an Austen novel in the "Additional Fiction Discussion" forum, and we can talk about which might be best. Just don't tell the other guys, m'kay?
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| Classic Irish Short Stories, Volume 1 (I love short stories) |
Is this the Penguin edition? If so, I gave a copy of that to a girl I was dating years ago. She was also a fan of short stories. I read some of the earlier stories (like the one where the peasant cheats death), but we broke up before I could get into the more modern periods.
If you like short stories, I would suggest that you look into the short work of Bernard Malamud, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Graham Greene, Joseph Conrad, D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield... the list goes on and on.
And incidentally, what's your interest in Hecate? I did some reading on her for a short story I was (er, am) writing, and found that, of all the figures in the Greek pantheon, she's probably the least written about. Which is fitting, I suppose, but frustrating. Such a visceral, compelling figure. |
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ladyhecate2010
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| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:19 am Post subject:
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Dear Ophelia:
Do you know the history behind Clockwork Orange? This book contains two endings one for the American audience and one for the UK or rest of the world. I am not sure which ending was used for the movie but I believe it was based on the American ending.
In an article called A Prophetic and Violent Masterpiece, Theodore Dalrymple gives the following review of the ending:"In the final chapter of the book’s British version, Alex again rejects violence, this time because he discovers within himself, spontaneously, a source of human tenderness that makes him want to settle down and have a baby. In the American edition—which Stanley Kubrick used—this last chapter is missing: Alex is not redeemed a second time, but returns, apparently once and for all, to the enjoyment of arbitrary and antisocial violence. In this instance, it is the British who were the optimists and the Americans the pessimists: Burgess’s American publisher, wanting the book to end unhappily, omitted the last chapter (http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_1_oh_to_be.html)".
About 10 years ago I worked as a case manager and counselor at a psychiatric hospital and group home for severely emotionally disturbed adolescent boys. This is where I met teenagers with Clockwork Orange mentality.
Thanks for your interest.
Lady Hecate
| Ophelia wrote: |
Hi Ladyhecate!
I marvel at your reading list, this is eclectic indeed!
Thank you for taking the time to type it all ( I was much lazier in my intro) , I find it challenging and refreshing to be introduced to somebody by hearing what they read.
I haven't read Clockwork Orange, but I saw the film a long time ago. I think this is the only violent movie I have ever watched, so it sticks in my mind.
You say you come across similar people in your job, this sounds unfortunate indeed, can you explain?
Well, welcome (this is a personal welcome, I'm new here too, a senior member will welcome you officially) and I hope to read more from you soon. |
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ladyhecate2010
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| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:27 am Post subject: Re: Infidel
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I really liked the book Infidel because of its honest straightforward story. I have the greatest respect for the author. I am amazed how the author tells her story without flinching. Writing this book had to bring up very painful memories. There are times when she does tend to ramble a bit, but this doesn't distract from the overall value of her story. I will be excited to get your opinion once you have read this gripping story.
Lady Hecate
| Ophelia wrote: |
P-S: I had a look at one of the books you recommended in your list, Infidel , by Ayaan Hirsi-ali, which was actually already in my cart at amazon.
The book is in my cart because of the writer herself, but I haven't bought it yet-- somehow the theme of the plight of women in some Muslim communitities is one of the most harrowing things for me to read about.
I have almost finished reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" -- I wouldn't have done so if it hadn't been on the Booktalk reading list-- of course these books must be read and known, but for the moment, the feminist side of me feels defeated and silent-- even though I knew such barbarity existed, this is a lot to take in in one reading. |
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MadArchitect
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| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:56 am Post subject:
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In particular, Kubrick's decision to use the truncated American version for his adaptation of the movie is interesting because Kubrick was, by that time, living and shooting films in England. He almost certainly had access to the full British version, and it actually would have been a great deal more natural for him to have chosen the 21 chapter version.
My take on why he didn't is that, from the standpoint that "A Clockwork Orange" is about the injustice of interfering with a person's free choice, it's immaterial whether or not Alex will turn out good in the end. Free will is to be preserved regardless. If you champion free will only on the condition that people will ultimately choose moral behavior, then how it it really free? Kubrick's film is uncompromising on that point. |
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