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My general notes on this book . . .

#44: Feb. - Mar. 2008 (Fiction)
WildCityWoman
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Section II Part 1

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The narrator overhears the uncle and nephew talking together - about Kurtz - for heavens' sake! I thought the uncle was 'Kurtz'. Well it shows ta' go ya', what I know.

The ivory . . .

"Anything since then?" asked the other hoarsely.

"Ivory," jerked the nephew; "lots of it -- prime sort -- lots -- most annoying, from him."

What do they mean by that - I thought they were getting ivory there - or are they saying Kurtz has 'found' ivory?

Did they 'receive' ivory at the camp? I'm not sure.

......................................
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Sect II Part I

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Page 7

I like this bit of sarcasm . . .

In a few days the Eldorado Expedition went into the patient wilderness, that closed upon it as the sea closes over a diver. Long afterwards the news came that all the donkeys were dead. I know nothing as to the fate of the less valuable animals.

Guess the 'less valuable animals' were the humans.

I was then rather excited at the prospect of meeting Kurtz very soon.

OK - I see . . . Kurtz isn't there yet. I'm curious to meet this guy too.
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Sectr 2 Part 1

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Page 13

It was unearthly, and the men were -- No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that was the worst of it -- this suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity -- like yours -- the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar.

Ahhhhhhh! I'm glad he said that.
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Yes, that is how this book got me.....didn't know whether I loved it or hated it but had to read on.

Shows that all books are not just for entertainment.....

I think the way they treat the black people, is how we treat battery hens now (in England anyway). We know it is cruel and wrong - but we do it and keep buying the bloody chickens. I can't swallow it after I've been lazy and bought it and cooked it. No, it's free range for me in future.

Kurtz - now what to make of him. Mad....well to me it is mad to suffer and spend your life searching for such god awful stuff as Ivory. Useless as well as cruel. I got so mad at Conrad - for it being Ivory that I felt he deserved what he suffered......and yet...and yet...I liked him, because I could empathise with his bewilderment. At least he seemed to be asking why ......he was asking why we treat our fellow-man in that way. I was asking why go for the bloody Ivory in the first place. Sorry about the bad-language.....I don't say it in real life.....but that is the effect the book had on me.
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Thanks, Penelope . . .

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I never think about chickens and hens - guess I should, but I like to believe that the rules set down by our society here in Canada, are obeyed and our meat comes from animals which are killed in a humane painless fashion.

I study Buddhism, love meditating and listening to dharma talks, but could never become a true Buddhist or a member of Hari Krishna - I like my meat, especially chicken.

My other vices - I smoke and drink lotsa' coffee (decaf, as ordered by the heart doc).
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Section II - Part 2

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Page 12

Don't you know the devilry of lingering starvation, its exasperating torment, its black thoughts, its sombre and brooding ferocity? Well, I do. It takes a man all his inborn strength to fight hunger properly. It's really easier to face bereavement, dishonour, and the perdition of one's soul -- than this kind of prolonged hunger. Sad, but true.

Guess it would depend on how much they were eating before they were faced with a lack of food.

If they were eating a lot, at one time - three meals a day, plus snacks, like we do in 'western' culture, then they'd be hungry.

If they were used to eating a half bowl of rice a day, they might not be actually aware of being undernourished.

It beats me how anybody can be hungry, living in that vast amount of forest and jungle - many things that grow wild are edible; surely the people knew what could be eaten.

They would have known the forest/jungle much better than their white visitors.

Just a thought . . .
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Sun still comes up in the east?

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Goes down in the west - they'd know when it got dark, or when the sun rose in the morning - they'd know which bank it was.
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How great to contact you WildcityWoman!

I also have a lot of Budhist philosophy in me. We have a Budhist Meditation Group here in our little town. Sometimes I go and listen to the Budhist 'Nuns' give us a talk, then let us ask questions. Then they lead a meditation. You can watch people change over the weeks. I go when it is a 'Nun' and not a 'Monk'. Although I don't know why.

Somehow, since I have been practising....when I go to the supermarket, I don't just see a nice clean piece of chicken breast in a nice clean pack. I see the whole bird. And so it concerns me whether that bird has been treated like a cabbage instead of as a sentient being.

I smoke too. Is it OK smoke while I pray - I asked. No, she said, but it OK to pray while you smoke!!!

I drink coffee and alcohol - everything in moderation...Boring innit?

In the same way as the chicken in the polystyrene tray - strikes me as the whole bird. Then it occurs to me what I am working toward, at basics, and why. Hence - my abhorence at the suffering for such a useless thing as Ivory.

I think Budhism has made me more aware of life's principles. So although it is socially acceptable in this part of the world today to keep some animals in unspeakable cruelty - ie grow them like cabbages - I find that unacceptable. Budhism has disturbed my complacency - Hallelujah!
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Penelope wrote:How great to contact you WildcityWoman!

I also have a lot of Budhist philosophy in me. We have a Budhist Meditation Group here in our little town. Sometimes I go and listen to the Budhist 'Nuns' give us a talk, then let us ask questions. Then they lead a meditation. You can watch people change over the weeks. I go when it is a 'Nun' and not a 'Monk'. Although I don't know why.

We have places you can go but I never get around to it. My daughter goes to a Vipassana retreat centre in a town north of here.

I'd like to go, but the first time you go, it can't be for just a weekend - you have to do a whole 10 days!

Geesh!

Here's the site where I listen to my dharma talks . . .

http://www.audiodharma.org/talks-gil.html

Yes, Penelope, it's good to meet you to - it's good to have somebody you can compare notes with.


Somehow, since I have been practising....when I go to the supermarket, I don't just see a nice clean piece of chicken breast in a nice clean pack. I see the whole bird. And so it concerns me whether that bird has been treated like a cabbage instead of as a sentient being.

Ha ha! I know - I did a chicken on Saturday - right now chicken is available at a decent price here in Toronto - it's probably 'in season', or maybe there's a glut of them right now, and they're chopping heads to keep the population down.

I smoke too. Is it OK smoke while I pray - I asked. No, she said, but it OK to pray while you smoke!!!

Yes - I've heard that story told by the dharma teachers many times - the way Gil Fronsdal (on the site I gave the link to) puts it is to say that a couple of monks went to the Abbot - one of them asked 'can I smoke while I'm meditating'. The Abbot said 'certainly not!'

The guy's buddy said 'hey! you put the question to him wrong - let me do it tomorrow.'

So they went in to see the Abbot and the guy said 'Is it ok to meditate while smoking.'

And the Abbot was pleased as punch - oh yes, he said - always meditate - no matter what you are doing.

I don't think the Buddha ever said anything about tobacco. He just said no intoxicating chemicals.


I drink coffee and alcohol - everything in moderation...Boring innit?

I don't drink alcohol - had a problem with it and had to quit. I haven't drank since Jan 1988 - I quit on Robbie Burns birthday.

In the same way as the chicken in the polystyrene tray - strikes me as the whole bird. Then it occurs to me what I am working toward, at basics, and why. Hence - my abhorence at the suffering for such a useless thing as Ivory.

Now, something like ivory - or wearing the fur of animals in a climate where you don't really need it - that, I don't like. When I was a young woman in my late teens and early twenties, I liked having a suede coat with a fur collar. I thought nothing of it.

Then when I was about 34 there was a group at a shopping mall who brought in a real live baby ocelot - they talked about their plight to save animals like that from being trapped or raised just for that purpose. I never wore fur after that. I even threw out the few rabbit skins we'd collected from one of trading posts when we went up north.

Coincidentally, right after I saw the ocelot demonstration, my boss got a new fur coat - she was an uppity bitch who flaunted her wealth in such a way that it was just plain vulgar - she came into the office with her new coat and it just happened it was 'ocelot'.

She asked how I liked it - I told her it would look better on the cat. She never wore it into work again.


I think Budhism has made me more aware of life's principles. So although it is socially acceptable in this part of the world today to keep some animals in unspeakable cruelty - ie grow them like cabbages - I find that unacceptable. Budhism has disturbed my complacency - Hallelujah!
Yes, I know what you mean.

Buddhism has done a lot for me - I was studying Krishna for a while, then went looking around for meditation instruction - that's how I got interested in dharma talks.

I find that I think twice before I gossip, lie, and practice equanimity as much as I can.

My husband's a superintendent in the building where we live - a lot of nonsense comes our way at times, and I still blow my top occasionally.

But I don't stay mad long.

Well, it's nice that we're having this little chat.

I deleted the canoe mail addy.
Last edited by WildCityWoman on Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
WildCityWoman
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BTW

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My name's Carly . . . guess it doesn't show on these forums.
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