What are you currently reading?

[Iota]

Interesting looking book, aligreto.

The other main major concern for me, if Pearce, a journalist and science writer who specialises in global environmental issues, is to be believed, is the veracity of purported fact in terms of the core data that much of global decision making is based on and also the apparent lack of verification and replication of this core basic data, which is worrying from an empirical point of view. A lot of current thinking and decision making would appear to be based on shaky science at best. Are we all doomed simply because we will not verify the information upon which we are basing policy decisions?

I'm sure the empirical view of data often gets pushed out of view by vested interests, people commissioning research that gets the answers they want to hear. It seems a depressingly common phenomenon in many areas.

Another one of the things that he purports is that apparently some modern ecologists are moving away from the notion that Nature is fixed and balanced in a pristine state in any ecosystem. It is, rather, in a constant state of flux. Therefore, spending both time and money on trying to maintain stability can lead to instability.

Interesting and rings very true. If it ain't fixed, don't broke it? ..  ()

[aligreto]

Interesting looking book, aligreto.

I'm sure the empirical view of data often gets pushed out of view by vested interests, people commissioning research that gets the answers they want to hear. It seems a depressingly common phenomenon in many areas.


Interesting and rings very true. If it ain't fixed, don't broke it? ..  ()

Yes, an interesting one.

His basic argument purports to be that Nature is in a constant state of flux. There is no such thing as a "pristine" ecosystem. "Alien" species constantly invade, sometimes take over but, seemingly, inevitably increase biodiversity. We should not be fighting against this. This is the New Wild. It is Nature doing its thing.

[Iota]

Yes, an interesting one.

His basic argument purports to be that Nature is in a constant state of flux. There is no such thing as a "pristine" ecosystem. "Alien" species constantly invade, sometimes take over but, seemingly, inevitably increase biodiversity. We should not be fighting against this. This is the New Wild. It is Nature doing its thing.

Quite so. It sounds very right to me!

[JBS]

Yes, an interesting one.

His basic argument purports to be that Nature is in a constant state of flux. There is no such thing as a "pristine" ecosystem. "Alien" species constantly invade, sometimes take over but, seemingly, inevitably increase biodiversity. We should not be fighting against this. This is the New Wild. It is Nature doing its thing.

But it does make a difference if the "invader" is from the next valley or from the next continent, and whether the natural constraints on its growth migrate with or close to it

Interesting looking book, aligreto.

I'm sure the empirical view of data often gets pushed out of view by vested interests, people commissioning research that gets the answers they want to hear. It seems a depressingly common phenomenon in many areas.

That's a generalized version of the argument made by those generally known as climate change skeptics/denialists.

[Iota]

That's a generalized version of the argument made by those generally known as climate change skeptics/denialists.

That's true, though I'm firmly in the camp of believing that global warming is adversely affected by human behaviour, the evidence overwhelmingly seeming to point that way.

My point, which was not about climate change specifically, was simply that I imagine commissioning research to back up your point of view goes on, on both sides of the political fence in many areas.

[Karl Henning]

But it does make a difference if the "invader" is from the next valley or from the next continent, and whether the natural constraints on its growth migrate with or close to it

Tangentially, one of the pieces we of Triad will sing in November is my friend Pam Marshall's How Spiders Came to Hawaii.

[The new erato]

Finally got started on A Fsrewell to Arms. To my surprized it is situated in Gorizia, which I accidentally visited in 2019.

Reresding Hemingway due to Ken Burns' documentary.

[vers la flamme]

Finally got started on A Fsrewell to Arms. To my surprized it is situated in Gorizia, which I accidentally visited in 2019.

Reresding Hemingway due to Ken Burns' documentary.

I read that in the springtime, it really blew my mind.

[ritter]

Starting Jean Giraudoux's Siegfried et le Limousin.



What a beautifully written book, enjoying every page if it! The "literary thriller" that triggers the story seems like a precursor if the work of Jorge Luis Borges.

[SimonNZ]

Ritter: was it you who was reading The Mandaribs a little while back? What did you think of it?

[ritter]

Ritter: was it you who was reading The Mandaribs a little while back? What did you think of it?

Yes, it was me, and I was planning to write to you about the book (as I recall you saying it was among your favourite novels).

I must admit I have mixed feelings. It took me very long to finish it (I was very tied up with work, and only managed to advance significantly now that I'm on holidays). I found it very difficult to relate to any of the characters, many of which I found downright unpleasant. Perhaps Perron and Dubreuilh are the most interesting, and their different ways of tackling the role of the "engaged intellectual" are the gist of the whole thing, aren't they? The former is idealistic and "sincere", but when he's faced with issues that affect him personally, he shows no remorse in abandoning his "ideals" (and oddly enough, appears to me even more honest and sincere when doing so). The latter, in pursuit of a goal, turns a blind eye to issues that clash with that goal, and seems rather cynical in that respect (but his final perseverance does generate some sympathy in me). Still, the book nicely deals with these—unsolvable—issues. Also, it appears to me that all the characters slide into a confortable—inevitable?—petit bourgeois complacency as the book advances, which from the point of view of the author must have been a sort of ultimate defeat. Perhaps the devastating (and to me, unexpected) last chapter also reflects this to a certain extent.

The transatlantic love story has some beautiful moments, but then its decline seemed to me to go on and on forever, and it was very difficult for me (as a male reader) to empathise with Anne's sorrow.

What I did not admire is how it is written. The alternation of third and first person is clever at first, and then becomes predictable. But the prose, at moments, verged on the crude: paragraphs and paragraphs of "X said this" followed by "Y said that". Not very fine, I must say.

In any case, I'm glad I read this important book, that touches some interesting issues, but I didn't really admire it.

Good night to you, Simon, and best regards,

[SimonNZ]

Thank you for that. Those are very interesting responses. I'll try and keep them in mind next time I read it.

[Brian]

Finally got started on A Fsrewell to Arms. To my surprized it is situated in Gorizia, which I accidentally visited in 2019.

I am curious how you accidentally visited a place!

[Spotted Horses]

I finally finished As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner (actually some time ago).

I find it a great book. William Faulkner himself characterized the book as a tour de force in narration, and I think that is a frank assessment.

It is the story of Addie, who lies on her death bed, as her family around her prepares for her burial (including her son Cash noisily fashioning her casket within earshot outside her window). She is intent on being buried with her people in Jefferson, an arduous journey away (in the aftermath of a strong storm) and her husband makes great hay of being determined to carry this out. It often seems like he is using this as a pretext to serve his own whims. The story is told alternately by the various participants, including her children, her husband, and various people who encounter the burial procession.

I think the point of this book, and a general theme in Faulkner's work, is that we think of ourselves are rational, but we are actually beholden to our own prejudices, obsessions, and emotional limitations. In this work, the distortion of reality by the various participants is exaggerated to a perhaps absurd level. But the effect is there isn "ordinary" people. Faulkner's genius is to illustrate that, and to tell a great, captivating story.

[vers la flamme]

I finally finished As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner (actually some time ago).

I find it a great book. William Faulkner himself characterized the book as a tour de force in narration, and I think that is a frank assessment.

It is the story of Addie, who lies on her death bed, as her family around her prepares for her burial (including her son Cash noisily fashioning her casket within earshot outside her window). She is intent on being buried with her people in Jefferson, an arduous journey away (in the aftermath of a strong storm) and her husband makes great hay of being determined to carry this out. It often seems like he is using this as a pretext to serve his own whims. The story is told alternately by the various participants, including her children, her husband, and various people who encounter the burial procession.

I think the point of this book, and a general theme in Faulkner's work, is that we think of ourselves are rational, but we are actually beholden to our own prejudices, obsessions, and emotional limitations. In this work, the distortion of reality by the various participants is exaggerated to a perhaps absurd level. But the effect is there isn "ordinary" people. Faulkner's genius is to illustrate that, and to tell a great, captivating story.

Well said! Glad you enjoyed your rereading. Certainly a great book that I look forward to rereading and rereading in the future.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Schopenhauer's Encounter with Indian Thought. Stephen Cross. Univ. of Hawaii Press. Fun read.

[Artem]

Read these books recently.



Wojnarowicz autobiographical essays were rather brutal, many of them dealing with AIDS in the US, religion and politics surrounding the epidemic. I can also see how Hanya Yanagihara could possibly be inspired by some of his writing about, for example, homosexual relationships.

Heroes and Marvels of the Middle Ages is a curious collection of various images, historical and fictional figures from the old times, what they meant back than and how they are presented in modern culture.

The most fascinating thing that I found out from the Pale Rider is that so many issues we are dealing with during the current pandemic were the same ones that people had to decide on during the Spanish Flu 100 years ago.

[vers la flamme]

Kobo Abe, The Face of Another



So far, so good. A scientist, whose face is disfigured with keloids after an experiment gone horribly wrong, endeavors to create a new face for himself; insanity ensues. (I think: I'm not very far into the book yet.)

[JBS]

Read these books recently.



Wojnarowicz autobiographical essays were rather brutal, many of them dealing with AIDS in the US, religion and politics surrounding the epidemic. I can also see how Hanya Yanagihara could possibly be inspired by some of his writing about, for example, homosexual relationships.

Heroes and Marvels of the Middle Ages is a curious collection of various images, historical and fictional figures from the old times, what they meant back than and how they are presented in modern culture.

The most fascinating thing that I found out from the Pale Rider is that so many issues we are dealing with during the current pandemic were the same ones that people had to decide on during the Spanish Flu 100 years ago.

You might find this of interest regarding Wojnarowicz
http://counterlightsrantsandblather1.blogspot.com/2009/10/passion-of-david-wojnarowicz.html

http://counterlightsrantsandblather1.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-second-wojnarowicz-series-in-its.html

[SimonNZ]

I read a number of Jacques Le Goof's books at university. Somehow I've never seen that one before. Is it a posthumous roundup of uncollected pieces?