Here are the three books I have chosen at random to read and comment upon in October. Congratulations to those of you whose recommendations were selected!
The books chosen are:
Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson.
Room, by Emma Donoghue.
Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts.
My thanks to those of you who made recommendations for October: Dan, Deborah, Flo, Graham, Martha, Matt, May, and Sarah!
Sadly, Dan's recommendation, a Choose Your Own Adventure book, was not available at the library, so I wasn't able to select it at random in any case. Incidentally, I don't remember any of the Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks, save one in which you (as the protagonist) are shrunk so that you can explore a sandcastle in which a pair of magical children have been trapped.
As is customary, the books which weren't picked for October are being put on the back burner for future reference. I am looking forward to having the opportunity to read and comment upon at least some of those books, too.
Meanwhile, I am still waiting for the last book I selected for September, Lamb, to become available from the library, so it is likely to be late getting out. I should also mention that two of the books selected, Cryptonomicon and Shantaram, are over 900 pages apiece, so any commentary on them will be of necessity incomplete and, to a certain extent, superficial.
Sunday
Saturday
The Denial of Death: Rank Neurosis
When last we left Ernest Becker and The Denial of Death, he had just finished going through the various 'solutions' we humans have arrived at to cope with what I think Becker would accept as being called the 'dualistic dilemma', or, to use one of his more colorful metaphors, the problem that we are 'gods with anuses'. Ironically, his chronicle of solutions begins with the fact that in the modern era we had rejected the 'religious solution', and ends with the insight - reached, apparently, much earlier by the psychoanalyst and former disciple of Freud, Otto Rank - that, all of the other 'solutions' having been tried and found wanting, we are back to the religious one.
Reader Recommendations: October
Now that I've completed a summer of choosing books from the back burner (as of writing this post with one book left for September), it's time to get back to getting fresh recommendations from you! I've cleared the list of books that were on the back burner, as I mentioned which I listed the books chosen from it for September, but feel free to recommend them again.
It's been a while since I last asked for recommendations, so just to refresh your memory and mine, I'll be asking for recommendations for books to read and comment upon in October as of the publication of this post. After about a week, I'll close recommendations for October and then select at random from the recommendations three books for the month.
Please check out the page listing the books I've already read, so that you don't choose something from there, and the guidelines on recommending books.
I am looking forward to receiving your recommendations!
It's been a while since I last asked for recommendations, so just to refresh your memory and mine, I'll be asking for recommendations for books to read and comment upon in October as of the publication of this post. After about a week, I'll close recommendations for October and then select at random from the recommendations three books for the month.
Please check out the page listing the books I've already read, so that you don't choose something from there, and the guidelines on recommending books.
I am looking forward to receiving your recommendations!
Thursday
Genesis: The Movie
First, my thanks to Elizabeth for recommending this book!
Second, before I begin my marginal commentary in earnest, I should tell you how I came to possess a copy of it. It was in the sale bin at the entrance to the bookstore in St. Paul University in Ottawa some years ago, and the title, not to mention the image on the front cover, caught my eye. Naturally, I had to pick it up. (Back then I was also ready to buy a book at the drop of a hat.)
The edition of Genesis: The Movie (whose author, Robert Farrar Capon, is an Episcopal priest) which I will be using for this marginal commentary was published by William B. Eerdmans in 2003. Eerdmans, by the way, is a Christian publishing company which can claim to be truly ecumenical, and I have found pretty much every book I have read published by Eerdmans to be thought-provoking, intelligent, and helpful.
Finally, before we begin in earnest, allow me to make two editorial notes. First, in all of the passages from Genesis: The Movie which I subsequently quote, any words or passages in italics or all capitals are original, unless otherwise noted. I find that Capon so often uses unusual editing which under normal circumstances would need to be commented upon that remarking 'italics original' and the like just cluttered the quotation. Second, I have been writing 'Genesis: The Movie' as the title of the book throughout, but the punctuation is actually Genesis, the Movie. However, I'm too lazy to go through my post, long as it is, to change how I've written it, so you will have to live with that particular recurrent typographical error. Mea culpa.
Second, before I begin my marginal commentary in earnest, I should tell you how I came to possess a copy of it. It was in the sale bin at the entrance to the bookstore in St. Paul University in Ottawa some years ago, and the title, not to mention the image on the front cover, caught my eye. Naturally, I had to pick it up. (Back then I was also ready to buy a book at the drop of a hat.)
The edition of Genesis: The Movie (whose author, Robert Farrar Capon, is an Episcopal priest) which I will be using for this marginal commentary was published by William B. Eerdmans in 2003. Eerdmans, by the way, is a Christian publishing company which can claim to be truly ecumenical, and I have found pretty much every book I have read published by Eerdmans to be thought-provoking, intelligent, and helpful.
Finally, before we begin in earnest, allow me to make two editorial notes. First, in all of the passages from Genesis: The Movie which I subsequently quote, any words or passages in italics or all capitals are original, unless otherwise noted. I find that Capon so often uses unusual editing which under normal circumstances would need to be commented upon that remarking 'italics original' and the like just cluttered the quotation. Second, I have been writing 'Genesis: The Movie' as the title of the book throughout, but the punctuation is actually Genesis, the Movie. However, I'm too lazy to go through my post, long as it is, to change how I've written it, so you will have to live with that particular recurrent typographical error. Mea culpa.
Urban Meltdown
Urban Meltdown is written by Clive Doucet, a former city councillor of Ottawa. He is the second Canadian whose work I will have written a marginal commentary for (not counting Kate Pullinger, who was born in Canada but moved to the United Kingdom thirty years ago), the first, of course, being James De Mille's A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. The full name of the book is Urban Meltdown: Cities, Climate Change and Politics as Usual (the sub-title, incidentally, also being the title of one of the chapters of the book). According to the 'About the Author' blurb at the back of the book, Doucet has roots in the Maritimes, which is another (admittedly incidental) connection he has with De Mille. Well, the Canadian literary scene is, in many respects, a small world.
My thanks to Emily for suggesting this book!
The edition from which I quote passages was published in 2007 by New Society Publishers. Incidentally, one of the blurbs on the back of the book (obscured, as was the case with a blurb on the back of The Mistress of Nothing, by an OPL bar code) is by none other than James Howard Kunstler, whose book World Made by Hand I also wrote a marginal commentary for - and which was also recommended to me by Emily.
My thanks to Emily for suggesting this book!
The edition from which I quote passages was published in 2007 by New Society Publishers. Incidentally, one of the blurbs on the back of the book (obscured, as was the case with a blurb on the back of The Mistress of Nothing, by an OPL bar code) is by none other than James Howard Kunstler, whose book World Made by Hand I also wrote a marginal commentary for - and which was also recommended to me by Emily.
Wednesday
The Apprentice
I should reassure you straightaway that this has nothing to do with Donald Trump's show. This is a marginal commentary on The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, by Jacques Pépin.
My thanks to Lauren for recommending this book!
The Apprentice is the second autobiography I will have commented on for The Marginal Virtues, and its author, Jacques Pépin, is a French emigré to the United States who, along with Julia Child and others, introduced French cookery to America. (One wonders what they and others of their school thought of the American backlash against the French in the noughts.) Oddly, there seems to be no popular name for this group (whose work will, I presume, be featured in Pépin's book), so I will dub it 'the French School'.
The edition I am using was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2003.
My thanks to Lauren for recommending this book!
The Apprentice is the second autobiography I will have commented on for The Marginal Virtues, and its author, Jacques Pépin, is a French emigré to the United States who, along with Julia Child and others, introduced French cookery to America. (One wonders what they and others of their school thought of the American backlash against the French in the noughts.) Oddly, there seems to be no popular name for this group (whose work will, I presume, be featured in Pépin's book), so I will dub it 'the French School'.
The edition I am using was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2003.
Sunday
The Mistress of Nothing
First, my thanks to dee for recommending this book! She recommended it all the way back in December, but, thanks to the vicissitudes of random selection and being placed on the back burner, I didn't select it to read until July, when I picked it for this month.
Anyhow, The Mistress of Nothing is written from the perspective (and, indeed, using her as a first-person narrator) of Sally Naldrett, the lady's maid of Lady Duff Gordon, when the two women travel to Egypt for Lady Duff Gordon's health. It tells the story of Sally's gradual self-discovery ('awakening', one blurb on the back cover puts it) and the consequences thereof.
I would have liked to address one of the blurbs which praises The Mistress of Nothing for not being 'an Orientalist fantasy' while yet 'bringing 1860s Egypt to life' (at least I think that is what it says), but because my copy of the book, which is from the Ottawa Public Library, has a library bar code obscuring the blurb, I can't make out what it says to comment upon it. Not having read Edward Said's famous book Orientalism, I cannot comment on why I felt somewhat irritated by the blurb's reference to 'Orientalist fantasy' and its relation to the notion of 'Orientalism', but suffice it to say that I am, as a rule, suspicious of terms or words whose only function, it seems to me, are to serve as components in an ad hominem, or else a straw man, in argument or debate. But that is a matter for another time.
The edition of the book from which I quote was published in 2009 by McArthur & Company, a publishing house based in Toronto. I should mention that I will be going into quite a bit of detail about the plot of the book, so if you are keen to read it for yourself, I suggest you do that before turning to this marginal commentary. I believe, however, that this will be intelligible even if you do not read the book.
Anyhow, The Mistress of Nothing is written from the perspective (and, indeed, using her as a first-person narrator) of Sally Naldrett, the lady's maid of Lady Duff Gordon, when the two women travel to Egypt for Lady Duff Gordon's health. It tells the story of Sally's gradual self-discovery ('awakening', one blurb on the back cover puts it) and the consequences thereof.
I would have liked to address one of the blurbs which praises The Mistress of Nothing for not being 'an Orientalist fantasy' while yet 'bringing 1860s Egypt to life' (at least I think that is what it says), but because my copy of the book, which is from the Ottawa Public Library, has a library bar code obscuring the blurb, I can't make out what it says to comment upon it. Not having read Edward Said's famous book Orientalism, I cannot comment on why I felt somewhat irritated by the blurb's reference to 'Orientalist fantasy' and its relation to the notion of 'Orientalism', but suffice it to say that I am, as a rule, suspicious of terms or words whose only function, it seems to me, are to serve as components in an ad hominem, or else a straw man, in argument or debate. But that is a matter for another time.
The edition of the book from which I quote was published in 2009 by McArthur & Company, a publishing house based in Toronto. I should mention that I will be going into quite a bit of detail about the plot of the book, so if you are keen to read it for yourself, I suggest you do that before turning to this marginal commentary. I believe, however, that this will be intelligible even if you do not read the book.
Wednesday
August Update
This is to let folks know that I am changing the order in which I write and post marginal commentaries for a few of the books I have selected to read for August and September, and to mention a milestone on The Marginal Virtues.
I am going to be waiting for a while for one of the books I selected for August, Lamb, to become available at the library, almost certainly until well into September. Therefore, I am moving The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen to the list of books I will be reading and commenting upon for August, and Lamb to the list for September. Thanks for your patience and understanding!
Also, because I forgot to mention it in the post itself, my marginal commentary on Hitman was the fiftieth post published on The Marginal Virtues. It feels a little unreal that I have already written that many posts (some of which, of course, are updates and the like), but I'm happy to have accomplished that feat (unspectacular though it may be). In particular, I'm glad that so many of the posts are on books that I would have never read were it not for your recommendations, so thank you all very much!
I am going to be waiting for a while for one of the books I selected for August, Lamb, to become available at the library, almost certainly until well into September. Therefore, I am moving The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen to the list of books I will be reading and commenting upon for August, and Lamb to the list for September. Thanks for your patience and understanding!
Also, because I forgot to mention it in the post itself, my marginal commentary on Hitman was the fiftieth post published on The Marginal Virtues. It feels a little unreal that I have already written that many posts (some of which, of course, are updates and the like), but I'm happy to have accomplished that feat (unspectacular though it may be). In particular, I'm glad that so many of the posts are on books that I would have never read were it not for your recommendations, so thank you all very much!
Monday
September Selections
You may not remember, but as I noted in my post when I announced the books selected from reader recommendations for August, I chose at random three books from the list of books 'on the back burner' for September, which is why I didn't canvass for recommendations this month.
So, without more ado, the books selected for September:
The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, by Jacques Pepin.
Genesis: The Movie, by Robert Farrar Capon.
Urban Meltdown, by Clive Doucet.
My congratulations and thanks to those whose previous recommendations were selected: Elizabeth, Emily, & Lauren!
Following this selection of books from the back burner, I will be back to requesting recommendations starting in October. I will be shortly clearing the list of books from the back burner, so thank you to everyone who recommended books, and I am sorry if your recommendation wasn't chosen! Just keep recommending books and, with any luck, one of your recommendations will be selected sooner or later.
So, without more ado, the books selected for September:
The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, by Jacques Pepin.
Genesis: The Movie, by Robert Farrar Capon.
Urban Meltdown, by Clive Doucet.
My congratulations and thanks to those whose previous recommendations were selected: Elizabeth, Emily, & Lauren!
Following this selection of books from the back burner, I will be back to requesting recommendations starting in October. I will be shortly clearing the list of books from the back burner, so thank you to everyone who recommended books, and I am sorry if your recommendation wasn't chosen! Just keep recommending books and, with any luck, one of your recommendations will be selected sooner or later.
Saturday
Dumbledore's Man Through and Through
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the theme of loyalty is an important one, and, sadly, it is omitted in the film, for Rufus Scrimgeour does not appear in it, nor do many scenes between Harry and Dumbledore, nor does much of his questioning of Snape's loyalty, nor his disagreement with Ron and Hermione about where Draco Malfoy's loyalties now lie (with respect to the latter the film pretty much tells us flat out what he is doing; a dramatic necessity, perhaps, given restrictions of length, but again, omitting much of Rowling's genius in plotting and in leaving subtle clues and hints for the reader to enjoy and savour).
It is my intention in this post, then, to explore what I believe to be one of the chief themes of The Half-Blood Prince; namely, the theme of loyalty. If anything, of course, Harry's loyalty to Dumbledore is sorely tried more in The Deathly Hallows than in The Half-Blood Prince, but, if loyalty be a virtue, it is one which Harry had to learn as a habit in The Half-Blood Prince (not that he hadn't already demonstrated loyalty to Dumbledore; see The Chamber of Secrets) in order to remain loyal to the Headmaster and carry on the struggle under the most trying and difficult of circumstances in the last volume of the series.
The edition from which I will be quoting is the Raincoast/Bloomsbury edition of 2005. For those of you who wish to read the passages I quote for yourselves but have a different edition of the book, I will include the chapter from which the quotation was taken, using the abbreviation HBP (indicating Half-Blood Prince), followed by the number of the chapter; thus, for example, the first quotation is from the first chapter, and so is noted as 'HBP1'. This form of noting the chapter I am taking from the Harry Potter Lexicon, which is an excellent reference and resource. Needless to say, I will freely discuss what happens in the book, so if you haven't read it, proceed no further.
It is my intention in this post, then, to explore what I believe to be one of the chief themes of The Half-Blood Prince; namely, the theme of loyalty. If anything, of course, Harry's loyalty to Dumbledore is sorely tried more in The Deathly Hallows than in The Half-Blood Prince, but, if loyalty be a virtue, it is one which Harry had to learn as a habit in The Half-Blood Prince (not that he hadn't already demonstrated loyalty to Dumbledore; see The Chamber of Secrets) in order to remain loyal to the Headmaster and carry on the struggle under the most trying and difficult of circumstances in the last volume of the series.
The edition from which I will be quoting is the Raincoast/Bloomsbury edition of 2005. For those of you who wish to read the passages I quote for yourselves but have a different edition of the book, I will include the chapter from which the quotation was taken, using the abbreviation HBP (indicating Half-Blood Prince), followed by the number of the chapter; thus, for example, the first quotation is from the first chapter, and so is noted as 'HBP1'. This form of noting the chapter I am taking from the Harry Potter Lexicon, which is an excellent reference and resource. Needless to say, I will freely discuss what happens in the book, so if you haven't read it, proceed no further.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)