update on books

Every now and then I feel guilty about,
1) not reading as much as I should; and
2) not recordng what I have read

because, then I'm reminded that I haven't read as much as I should and as I would like. A vicious cycle.

So, a quick update of what I've been up to, which ain't much.

Books listened to:

Middlemarch: a little long; dry in some spots. It's grown on me since I finished it, and like other books, it reminds me of how glad I am to be a woman in the 21st century, not dependent on marrying well to have a good life, and not required to wait and hope that the right guy will come along.

Blessings, by Anna Quindlen. A good read, if a little unrealistic to think that a man, who'd never cared for a baby or spent much time around babies, could not only manage to care for one, but could manage to keep it a secret. Ultimately, I wanted it to have a happy ending, but the ending probably was more realistic.

Lords of Discipline, by Pat Conroy. Excellent book! Suspenseful, unexpected, with insight into what military school might be like, sans the electric prod!

My Losing Season, by Pat Conroy. Autobiographical info, some of which made its way into The Lords of Discipline. Gave me more insight to what it's like for my own son to be part of a basketball team, the lessons learned, and the camraderie he enjoys.


Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. Sweeping; tragic. I can understand why so many people list AK as their favorite book. Once again, a reminder of how good is to be a woman today as opposed to living in the 19th century. Although, in some ways, the more things change, the more the remain the same. The AKs of today are still likely to be scorned, and risk the same fate with their children as Anna suffered with her own son.

I was particularly struck by the peasant women who didn't see children as a blessing, and reminded that for us, children are generally a blessing because we have the ability to control whether and when they are conceived.

Read:

The Kite Runner. Read at the insistence of Boiler Baby 1. She insisted that I read it before we went to see the movie which finally made its way to us. Great story, in the best tradition of storytelling. I never thought I'd enjoy it, but I did.

Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James. I've been working my way through it forever. I will finish it, but it's been a tough slog.

On to the next books

I finished Invisible Man on Monday. What an incredible book, and oh so relevant even today, and even beyond race. Who doesn't struggle with identity in general? Who doesn't struggle with the identity others want to hang on us? It is something I continue to struggle with, even at this age. People, particularly white men, see what they want to see, what they see of all black women, while ignoring so many evident signs of who I am as an individual. As a black woman, there is always the question as to whether I'm where I am because I am the token, who serves a purpose, but might be come dispensable should I no longer be needed.

Elison manages to capture the angst of life and identity in a world where it's so easy for all people to pigeonhole people quickly and proceed as though the initial charactization has to be correct.

I also finished Vanity Fair. Very well-written, with lively language, although the story dragged at the end. The social commentary is again, relevant even today. Did the world create a schemer like Becky, or did Becky have to scheme to adapt to a world that would otherwise constrain her. Silly women, like Amelia Sedley, abound, failing to "love the one they're with." I liked it.

So, what's up next. On the ipod, Middlemarch, by George Eliot. Reading, along with K2, Ivanhoe. Both have complex sentence structures, but Ivanhoe in particular, seems to be a good, adventurous story. We shall see, said the blind man.

Misjudgement

Boy did I misjudge. I thought by now I'd be done with both Vanity Fair and Invisible Man by now. So wrong. I have a little over 100 pages in Invisible Man and 35 minutes in Vanity Fair. It took a while to become engaged by IM and VF started to drag towards the end, but by next week, I really should be done with both--hopefully sooner.

The Will of God

This small book packs a powerful punch, and as a collateral benefit, provides a way to practice discerning the will of God. Rev. Leslie Weatherhead wrote this book during World War II, but it still remains relevant more than 50 years later. It provides a portrait of God that begins to humbly attempt to explain the will of God, particularly in bad circumstances. Weatherhead divides the will of God into three types: 1) God's intentional will; 2) God's circumstantial will; and 3) God's ultimate will.

It is comforting to worship a God that Weatherhead sees as wanting only good things for his people. Nonetheless, our God is one that has vested us with free will, that often interferes with God's intentional will, creating circumstances that are bad or arise out of evil. In these circumstances, we see the circumstantial will of God, i.e. how God's intentional will can still be realized. As an example, he uses Jesus on the cross. God's intentional will was that the world would accept and follow Jesus. When they chose not to, God's will was still realized through Christ's death and resurrection. Nothing can defeat the ultimate will of God, which is man's reconcilliation with God.

Weatherhead also sets out how he believes we can discern the intentional will of God, which is far more pragmatic and do-able for people like me. I've always felt spiritually inept because, unlike many other Christians, I don't "hear" God's will the way I hear my kids telling me their desires for dinner. However, he suggests that conscience, common sense, talking with wise Christians, as well as working to develop a close relationship with God will aid in discerning God's will. I think I can do that.

Weatherhead admits that he doesn't have all the answers as to why God would "allow" bad things to happen. Overall, a very good and important book.

Harry Potter--done

It took waiting for Chip to finish and two days of reading, but finished earlier today. An enjoyable experience, spent mostly in Starbucks or on the living room sofa. I liked it a lot. Like a beautiful tapestry, Rowling wove the various strings that were created in earlier books into a good tale overall. You sort of knew the answer to the ultimate question, and of course, it was all but telegraphed that Harry was a Horcrux, and I was pretty close to right about Draco. Satisfying indeed. It is at this moment, my favorite book in the series. That may change. We'll see.

Update!

So what have I been up to in the month since I've written? Well . . . let's see. I did indeed finsih listening to The Assault on Reason. It was thought-provoking, if a bit repetitive. Yes, Al, I heard it the first 5 times you said that Americans watch 4 1/2 hours of tv/day on average. Yes, I get the Bush administration is essentially evil, and I wonder if perhaps there are sour grapes on your part. But, either way, I agree with most of what the book says. We are being manipulated, and we don't even realize it. And, if we don't take back our country, and soon, we will have only ourselves to blame. Good book, Al.

I also finished reading Man Without a Country. It was a little hard to get into, initially. For Alex, it was a short read, but it was anything but that for me, at least at first. As it turned out, I agreed with much of what it said. A curmudgeonly old liberal who makes some very good points. My favorite quote from the book is, "There are no 'good old days'. Just days." I like that. I like remembering to live in the present--not the nostalgic past or the unattainable future.

I'm now on to reading Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison. Didn't realize it would have the existentialism aspect. Boy! That's stretching my philsophical memory. But it's well-written and has lots of food for thought. I can relate in many ways. In this society, so many of us AAs are invisible. Are we also blind?

I'm listening to Vanity Fair. Good social commentary, that's as relevant today as it was when it was written. Everyone is out to use the next person for whatever they can get, and the value of a person is dependent on that person's possessions. I think there's some truth in the idea that we become what the world expects of us. There are a lot of Becky Sharps in the world.

I'll be working on Vanity Fair for another week or so. Perhaps two more weeks for Invisible Man. I wish I had more time or energy!

Like a fine Sunday dinner

I finished The Measure of a Man last week, but I needed time to savor the message, like a fine meal that you want to remember. What a powerful book, full of insight about the movies Sidney Poitier made and why and how he came to make them, as well as the insights about his parents. They must have been incredible people. They were not perfect. Apparently, Reggie Poitier was a philanderer but he was faithful in that he took care of his children, and never lost sight of the principles that helped him shape the man that Sidney became. He is not perfect, and not ashamed to admit it. I plan to include the advice he has for divorced fathers about maintaining a relationship with their children. The description of that time of life is particularly poignant. Often, his memoir is a reminder of how one choice made differently might have had devastating consequences. It is also a reminder of the need to be grateful and responsible for the blessings one has. A wonderful book. Well-written in every sense of the word.