What are you currently reading?

[AnotherSpin]

A free thinker is someone whose opinions are not by consensus or dogmatic assertions. It's an Enlightenment idea

On the other hand, the Enlightenment led many different people to the same conditioned stereotypical beliefs, didn't it? However, any beliefs are stereotypical and externally conditioned, even the most "brave" ones...

[Florestan]

On the other hand, the Enlightenment led many different people to the same conditioned stereotypical beliefs, didn't it?

Say it again and again, amen! 

To think freely is great. To think rightly is greater still. (I once heard this quoted as the motto of the Uppsala University but I wasn't able to ascertain it.)

[San Antone]

Native Wisdom for White Minds: Daily Reflections Inspired by the Native Peoples of the World - Anne Wilson Schaef



You don't have to be white to have a white mind.

What is a white mind? As Anne Wilson Schaef learned during her travels throughout the world among Native Peoples, anyone raised in modern Western society or by Western culture can have a white mind. White minds are trapped in a closed system of thinking that sees life in black and white, either/or terms; they are hierarchical and mechanistic; they see nature as a force to be tamed and people as objects to be controlled with no regard for the future.

This worldview is not shared by most Native Peoples, and in this provocative book, Anne Wilson Schaef shares the richness poured out to her by Native Americans, Aborigines, Africans, Maoris, and others. In the words of Native Peoples themselves, we come to understand Native ideas about our earth, spirituality, family, work, loneliness, and change. For in every area of our lives we have the capacity to transcend our white minds--we simply need to listen with open hearts and open minds to other voices, other perceptions, other cultures.

Anne Wilson Schaef often heard Elders from a wide variety of Native Peoples say, "Our legends tell us that a time will come when our wisdom and way of living will be necessary to save the planet, and that time is now." Anyone ready to move from feeling separate to a profound sense of connectedness, from the personal to the global, will find the path in this mind-expanding, deeply spiritual book. (Goodreads)

[DavidW]

I reread Dune.  It still holds up.  It is funny that despite the sheer length of the recent adaptation there are still intricacies with the politics and characters unexplored.  I read part of it on my nice hardcover, but mostly read the ebook just due to sheer weight of the hardback.

[AnotherSpin]

Native Wisdom for White Minds: Daily Reflections Inspired by the Native Peoples of the World - Anne Wilson Schaef



You don't have to be white to have a white mind.

What is a white mind? As Anne Wilson Schaef learned during her travels throughout the world among Native Peoples, anyone raised in modern Western society or by Western culture can have a white mind. White minds are trapped in a closed system of thinking that sees life in black and white, either/or terms; they are hierarchical and mechanistic; they see nature as a force to be tamed and people as objects to be controlled with no regard for the future.

This worldview is not shared by most Native Peoples, and in this provocative book, Anne Wilson Schaef shares the richness poured out to her by Native Americans, Aborigines, Africans, Maoris, and others. In the words of Native Peoples themselves, we come to understand Native ideas about our earth, spirituality, family, work, loneliness, and change. For in every area of our lives we have the capacity to transcend our white minds--we simply need to listen with open hearts and open minds to other voices, other perceptions, other cultures.

Anne Wilson Schaef often heard Elders from a wide variety of Native Peoples say, "Our legends tell us that a time will come when our wisdom and way of living will be necessary to save the planet, and that time is now." Anyone ready to move from feeling separate to a profound sense of connectedness, from the personal to the global, will find the path in this mind-expanding, deeply spiritual book. (Goodreads)

In other words, to liberate the mind from the dogmas of Christianity, the belief in free will, the illusion of progress, etc.

[Bachtoven]

This is a very disturbing novel. It's about a single mother who is a teacher and is also the narrator. Her son is grievously wounded during a shooting at the school where she teaches. (Numerous children were killed, but we don't know how many yet--I've read only about 40 pages). It seems as if it's going to be a revenge story. Rickstad's writing is absolutely visceral at times, which greatly intensifies the horror. Big fans of the 2nd Amendment should probably give this a hard pass.

[vers la flamme]

I reread Dune.  It still holds up.  It is funny that despite the sheer length of the recent adaptation there are still intricacies with the politics and characters unexplored.  I read part of it on my nice hardcover, but mostly read the ebook just due to sheer weight of the hardback.

I haven't seen the Dune Part 2 yet but I read Dune for the first time last year, and when I watched the Part 1 afterward I thought they left out so much.

I'm currently reading another big world-building-heavy book for the first time, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Not sure how I managed to avoid reading this, but it's quite good. I think I'm going to take it slow and read one volume at a time with other stuff in between, though I know the volumes are not really individual entries in a series but parts of a single novel. I just get the feeling that Tolkien's writing style might be easy for me to burn myself out on.

The editions I have are paperback and look really nice:



(not my photo)

[Mandryka]

I haven't seen the Dune Part 2 yet but I read Dune for the first time last year, and when I watched the Part 1 afterward I thought they left out so much.

I'm currently reading another big world-building-heavy book for the first time, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Not sure how I managed to avoid reading this, but it's quite good. I think I'm going to take it slow and read one volume at a time with other stuff in between, though I know the volumes are not really individual entries in a series but parts of a single novel. I just get the feeling that Tolkien's writing style might be easy for me to burn myself out on.

The editions I have are paperback and look really nice:



(not my photo)

When I was 17 me and my mate Martin bought a big lump of Red Leb and took a tent to The High Peak with our copies of Lord of the Rings - the project was to read it all while camping. I recommend that approach enthusiastically- I'd do it again at the drop of a hat, as Dylan says at the end of his Dream.

The old hardbacks were very good, especially the appendices. Treat yourself to this - better than money in the bank

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31314625389&dest=gbr&ref_=ps_ggl_2038407968&cm_mmc=ggl-_-UK_Shopp_RareStandard-_-product_id=bi%3A%2031314625389-_-keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_-GxBhC1ARIsADGgDjvU72_CW3yKAo-XOn8hfMTj8o4FdZX9kj4_lVQDROrKfgR5MFUzS3IaApJfEALw_wcB

[vers la flamme]

When I was 17 me and my mate Martin bought a big lump of Red Leb and took a tent to The High Peak with our copies of Lord of the Rings - the project was to read it all while camping. I recommend that approach enthusiastically- I'd do it again at the drop of a hat, as Dylan says at the end of his Dream.

The old hardbacks were very good, especially the appendices. Treat yourself to this - better than money in the bank

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31314625389&dest=gbr&ref_=ps_ggl_2038407968&cm_mmc=ggl-_-UK_Shopp_RareStandard-_-product_id=bi%3A%2031314625389-_-keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_-GxBhC1ARIsADGgDjvU72_CW3yKAo-XOn8hfMTj8o4FdZX9kj4_lVQDROrKfgR5MFUzS3IaApJfEALw_wcB

That does sound like an ideal way to enjoy the book. And that's a steal for only 5100 pounds sterling 

[AnotherSpin]

[Ganondorf]

I haven't seen the Dune Part 2 yet but I read Dune for the first time last year, and when I watched the Part 1 afterward I thought they left out so much.

I'm currently reading another big world-building-heavy book for the first time, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Not sure how I managed to avoid reading this, but it's quite good. I think I'm going to take it slow and read one volume at a time with other stuff in between, though I know the volumes are not really individual entries in a series but parts of a single novel. I just get the feeling that Tolkien's writing style might be easy for me to burn myself out on.

The editions I have are paperback and look really nice:



(not my photo)

I'm currently re-reading both The Hobbit and Lotr. After that I shall re-read The Silmarillion which remains my all-time favorite by Tolkien. The prose he uses in that work is simply exquisite.

[vers la flamme]

I'm currently re-reading both The Hobbit and Lotr. After that I shall re-read The Silmarillion which remains my all-time favorite by Tolkien. The prose he uses in that work is simply exquisite.

I definitely want to read that one too; I'll be keeping my eyes open for a copy.

[DavidW]

I definitely want to read that one too; I'll be keeping my eyes open for a copy.

It is great.  People complain about it being hard to read, but I found that it has the most memorable, evocative imagery in all of Tolkien's writing.

[AnotherSpin]

Not so much reading as remembering a book I read several decades ago in Russian translation. Back then, in the 70s, Mario Vargas Llosa was quite often translated into Russian and hugely published. I probably read 5 or more of his books then. Latin American writers were favoured in the USSR, perhaps they were considered irreconcilable warriors against the domination of world imperialism, anyway at the end we received good literature: Marquez, Cortázar, Carpentier, Fuentes, Amado, then Borges and Bioy Casares, and all the rest.

[Florestan]

Not so much reading as remembering a book I read several decades ago in Russian translation. Back then, in the 70s, Mario Vargas Llosa was quite often translated into Russian and hugely published. I probably read 5 or more of his books then. Latin American writers were favoured in the USSR, perhaps they were considered irreconcilable warriors against the domination of world imperialism, anyway at the end we received good literature: Marquez, Cortázar, Carpentier, Fuentes, Amado, then Borges and Bioy Casares, and all the rest.

The irony being that ever since 1971 Mario Vargas Llosa has been an outspoken opponent of socialism and communism and a self-avowed classical liberal. 

[steve ridgway]

The irony being that ever since 1971 Mario Vargas Llosa has been an outspoken opponent of socialism and communism and a self-avowed classical liberal. 

I wonder if he made any money from those Russian translations  .

[AnotherSpin]

I wonder if he made any money from those Russian translations  .

Becoming part of the struggle against global capital was more valuable than any money

[Florestan]

[AnotherSpin]

The famous Mexican poet Octavio Paz was at one time in the diplomatic service in India. His notes may not be very thorough, but they are quite remarkable.

[Spotted Horses]

I haven't been keeping up reporting my reading on this thread. Just finished My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante, which I found dreary in the extreme. The story of a girl, her self-absorbed friend and their various schoolmates in a depressed neighborhood in Napoli.

I've started to read Margaret Atwood's Bodily Harm. This is a relatively early book (1980, or so?) before Atwood was drawn into speculative fiction, such as the Maddadam series, The Heart Goes Last, and the Handmaid's tale series. Her work in that period was edgy and socially conscious literary fiction. I recently read Surfacing, another brilliant early novel from Atwood.