Author Topic: Book Thread  (Read 41570 times)

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Book Thread
« Reply #50 on: November 03, 2006, 11:15:11 am »
I am listening to a series of lectures given by Robert Thurman for the second time. It is called "Liberation Upon Hearing In the Between." "In the Between" is his way of translating the title of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. THe latter title is wrong, he says, because there are no dead, there is no such thing. It is an immensely interesting and enlightening series of lectures, and I will write some highlights here. I don't know if the lectures exist as a book, but he has written many books on Tibetan Buddhism.

One last thing, Buddhism is not a religion. It is an educational system. THere are no gods to be worshipped in Buddhism, only ordinary people like you or I who have become enlightened.
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Re: Book Thread
« Reply #51 on: November 08, 2006, 03:44:57 pm »
Now I am reading two books. The first is The Virginian by Owen Wister. Based in the Medicine Bow Mountains of Wyoming, it was first published in the 1930s and is thought to be the first and most classic Western. (Although I'm not sure where Buffalo Bill's dime novels and Zane Grey fit in.) It is very interesting to see the parallels to BBM, which are many. The Virginian himself at first glance seems to be a melding of Jack and Ennis (Very sympatico!!) I have just started the book, and one of the first topics is the sharing of beds among all the male travellers in a small town!!

I am also listening to Laurel Canyon. It is a chronicle of the start of the folk-rock movement in Los Angeles, with the Byrds, CSN&Y, Joni Mitchell, the Mamas and the Papas, Bob Dylan, and Frank Zappa. It promises to be fun!!
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Offline delalluvia

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Re: Book Thread
« Reply #52 on: November 08, 2006, 09:31:53 pm »
Just re-read 'Virtures of War' by Pressman.  Fictional Alexander the Great novel.  Nice fast reading.  Doesn't go into much depth with character or place or action other than battle.  He doesn't ignore Alexander and Hephaestion's relationship, but neither does he do much with it either.  Author gets points for making the man/boy, boy/boy, man/man relationships the norm.

Still reading the letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (leader of the all African-American Massachusetts 54th in the Civil War) in 'Blue-eyed child of Fortune, the Civil War letters of Robert Gould Shaw'.  So far, is a lovely pleasant read.  He seems to have been a truly sweet, nice, very empathetic positive person, always looking for the best in everyone and expecting the best out of everyone.

Offline Andrew

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Re: Book Thread
« Reply #53 on: November 08, 2006, 10:27:41 pm »
Here's Jeff Wrangler in front of the Robert Gould Shaw monument in Boston near Boston Common.  It's from when he was here for the Boston Brokies get together in September.


Offline delalluvia

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Re: Book Thread
« Reply #54 on: November 08, 2006, 10:33:13 pm »
Here's Jeff Wrangler in front of the Robert Gould Shaw monument in Boston near Boston Common.  It's from when he was here for the Boston Brokies get together in September.



Cool!!!!   8)

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Re: Book Thread
« Reply #55 on: November 08, 2006, 10:34:25 pm »
Jeff is a cutie!

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Re: Book Thread
« Reply #56 on: November 13, 2006, 03:43:11 pm »
As I said earlier, I am reading "The Virginian" by Owen Wister, which is about a Wyoming cowboy, or cow-puncher, as the narrator calls him. I was wondering why the book is titled that, and why the taciturn stranger is called just The Virginian. Ostensibly, it's because he has a southern accent, but I think there's something more to it. Virginia was named for Elizabeth I, the unmarried Queen of England. She was called a virgin because she remained unmarried (I hope everyone has seen the outstanding movie Elizabeth, which explains all this, or the recent miniseries starring Helen Mirrin) and that is the traditional definition of the word virgin "an unmarried woman." Virgins of old were not necessarily chaste; in fact they were often the opposite. The vestal virgins of ancient Greece were priestesses in charge of secret sexual rites paying homage to the Goddess. But what does all this have to do with the Virginian? Perhaps nothing. But for me, personally, the Virginian, like Ennis, is a young untested man who subjects himself to the power of nature, or should we say, Mother Nature, which has a lifelong influence on him. It has a mythical resonance for me.

Now, the word Wyoming... I will have to deal with the meanings inherent in that word next. Or not!!....
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Re: Book Thread
« Reply #57 on: November 27, 2006, 12:03:45 pm »
There was a story about the book "Passionate Minds" on NPR this morning about Emilie du Chatelet, who was Voltaire's lover and an eminent scientist and philosopher. It sounds like something many would be interested in.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6542620
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Re: Book Thread
« Reply #58 on: December 06, 2006, 12:14:17 pm »
A group of us is going to start reading The Virginian together and I'll create a new topic here for discussion of it. Also, watch for a new topic here about parallels between Brokeback Mountain and a previous work of Annie Proulx's called Postcards.

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Re: Book Thread
« Reply #59 on: December 14, 2006, 12:06:53 pm »
Looking for a good book to read over the holidays? I have two recommendations: The Virginian, by Owen Wister, is a book we're reading and discussing now. It has been called the greatest Western ever written and has sold millions of copies since it was published first in 1902.

Also, there's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathon Safren Foer, my candidate for the best novel about the 9-11 experience. Here is a link to the first page for your reading enjoyment:
firstpage
"chewing gum and duct tape"