when words lose their meaning (2)

The problem with most good things is that they can become so easily perverted.

Books that offer a fount of understanding, enjoyment and knowledge become another form of distracting entertainment. Sleep that restfully strengthens us becomes an activity for withdrawal and escape. (And laughingly in my case, the productive craft of knitting becomes a substitute for self-centered consumption.)

We are so easily turned from agents, individual who choose, to passive recipients, individuals whose lives are controlled by their fears and their environment. Arguably in that case, we are no longer individuals.

“Do not value money for any more nor any less than its worth; it is a good servant but a bad master.”

~ Alexander Dumas

“Books can speak to us like God, like men or like the noise of the city we live in. They speak to us like God when they bring us light and peace and fill us with silence. They speak to us like God when we desire never to leave them. They speak to us like men when we desire to hear them again. They speak to us like the noise of the city when they hold us captive by a weariness that tells us nothing, gives us no peace, and no support, nothing to remember, and yet will not let us escape.

Books that speak like God speak with too much authority to entertain us. Those that speak like good men hold us by their human charm; we grow by finding ourselves in them. They teach us to know ourselves better by recognizing ourselves in another.

Books that speak like the noise of the multitudes reduce us to despair by the sheer weight of their emptiness. They entertain us like the lights of the city streets at night, by hopes they cannot fulfill.”

~ Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

new york book review (1)*

sometimes, consultants have time to read

My reading has dwindled down this year. With my eyes tired from the glare of the computer screen, my mind either exhausted from debugging computer code, or perhaps numbed from not exercising certain portions of it, and with a sense of confusion and disorientation from constant travel, I often find it hard to focus on a book. Or maybe that’s because I was smart enough to pick books that aren't easy, suspenseful reads (guilty: The Trial by Franz Kafka; Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf). But I have to say, sitting on the plane today, reading Kazuo Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day, brought back that delightful joy of narrative. For a while, I was only vaguely aware that I was sitting on a plane, slowly descending over misty rain and dense orange lights scattered across New York City. For a moment, I escaped the repeated experience of a slightly anxious and distracting journey from city to city, through cab rides, security, boarding lines and stowing items into overhead compartments.

All that melodrama being said, here’s the backlog of book reviews since I have started life in the ‘real world’. Also, since I’m no longer required to read, I no longer finish books. Those are italicized. I hope to maybe finish them someday, but it may not happen. Books I actually finished reading are bolded.

Fiction

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore ~ The comic book behind the movie. The comic book is actually quite enjoyable, and I prefer it to the actual movie, because the ending is far more ambiguous and realistic.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera ~ I appreciate Kundera’s poetic reflections on philosophical questions that are posed alongside the story. The narrative itself is decent, but nothing spectacular, concerned with recounting the meaningless lives of people, as though some meaning could be elicited from the act of retelling….

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe ~ This book was enjoyable to read, but didn’t really live up to all my expectations. I think there was a blurb on the back that compared this to Iliad. I’ve never read the Iliad, but I didn’t find such mythic qualities to it. That being said, if my expectations were lower, I would have enjoyed it much more.

White Noise by Don Delillo ~ I really enjoyed this book about a Hitler studies professor and the airborne toxic event. Witty, intelligent and very bleak. Satirizes the academy and today’s consumer society and information overload.

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke ~ The book that was written alongside the Kubrick film does a much better job of filling in the details that the movie leaves in the dark.

2010: Space Odyssey II by Arthur C. Clarke ~ I really really enjoyed this book. It’s a must-read for any science fiction fan. Beautiful and incredibly surprising ending, as well as some wonderful descriptions of life on one of Jupiter’s moons, on Jupiter etc…

2061: Odyssey Three by Arthur C. Clarke ~ Just as the title might suggest something rather uninventive, the novel is decent, but nothing particularly groundbreaking.

Sophie’s World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder ~ The plot is cute but expected, though I do remember being really surprised by it when I read it back in high school or middle school. This book took me some two months of Delta Shuttle flights to finish reading, but was a great refresher/explainer of philosophy ideas.

3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke ~ This book contains only about 50 pages of actual continuation of the storyline, the rest seems to be Clarke’s detour into describing the future—one in which the comforts of a technologically-advanced society have stripped humanity of any real meaning in life, except a lengthy enjoyment of simulated pleasures. Nevertheless, his descriptions are absolutely fabulous to read, especially if you’re into descriptions of strange worlds (e.g. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury). I read this on the plane to California.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini ~ This doesn’t quite contain the strong cultural and archetype qualities of Things Fall Apart, but it does have a strong, engrossing narrative. I have to admit, sometimes I become a little wary of all this minority literature. That being said, I still think this book is well written, and avoids lengthy ruminations on identity and hybridity. It is instead more about ‘returning to the homeland’ and dealing with the past.

The Trial by Franz Kafka ~ I got through the first 70 pages. This book is rather slow paced. I might try and return to read it again, but for now, I can’t really comment on it.

Great Jones Street by Don Delillo ~ I started reading this book because my boyfriend played a show on Great Jones Street in NY—but I’m stuck about halfway through this book right now. Props though for providing pretty vivid descriptions of Great Jones Street—which now looks nothing like what was described in the book.

Non fiction/Cultural commentary

Comodify your Dissent: Salvos from the Baffler with Thomas frank, Matt Weiland as editors ~ The ideas in this book are nothing mindblowing, but it is an excellent collection of commentary on today’s technological and information society-- in particular the domestication of rebellion and dissent into consumption—written in a style far superior to anything that you could ever produce.

Is there meaning in this text? by Kevin Vanhoozer ~ The first part of this book summarizes the history of intellectual thought on authorship and textual meaning, focusing in particular on the postmodern death of the author and the death of meaning. It’s quite clear and easy to understand. I haven’t gotten yet to the part where Vanhoozer elaborates his own thesis .... so there's not much more that I can say.

Christian (I’m sorry, about 80% of them have stupid titles).

Bringing heaven down to earth: connecting this life to the next by Nathan Bierma ~ Written by a blogger, concerning the Christian’s call to bring heaven down to earth. I read a few chapters here and there, mostly because I was attracted when I heard that Bierma noticed that the Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city. Heaven is urban.

Should I Get Married? by Blaine Smith ~ The book addresses the question of the title by illuminating a few key issues to consider. The first part of this book is excellent—the most important question it asks concerning marriage is “Do you have compassion on the other person?” and “Are you good friends?”. The second part of the book gets weird with these random rules that don’t make any sense, and seem incongruent with the rest of it.

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Schazerro ~ Despite the fact that the title and the style of the book hugely smack of that despised genre of ‘Christian self-help’, the book is actually really good. It talks about how spiritual maturity in the way that Christians tend to conceive of it (lots of praying, lots of Bible studies, lots of service etc…) does not always translate into emotional maturity. This book explores daily Biblical devotions and contemplation as a way of learning to live an abundant life as a healthy, whole individual.

The Great Divorce by C.S Lewis ~ I sometimes catch myself wondering if C.S. Lewis’s books will become outdated—that they will only speak strongly to his generation, and some already-converts of mine. Yet rereading the Great Divorce reminds me that there is something timeless about C.S.Lewis’ writing, that hopefully can speak to many, if not, all generations and cultures. His vision of Heaven and Hell give incredible insight into the nature of human suffering and hell.

Love Yourself & Love is a Feeling to be Learned by Walter Trobisch~ Despite a tacky title that would suggest a cheesy new age self-help book, Love Yourself explores the necessity of loving ourselves (something that Christians often avoid… in the name of humility) in order to truly love others. Love is a Feeling to be Learned elaborates that true love is also suffering, not just fluffy pink hearts.

Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton ~ Thomas Merton seems to be another contemplative genius, that is especially applicable to our generation. I’m about halfway through this book, but find that I have to spend a whole day just thinking about what is said in one page. Notably, Merton comments: “When men are merely submerge in a mass of impersonal human beings pushed around by automatic force,s they lose their true humanity, their integrity, their ability to love, their capacity for self-determination. When society is made up of men who know no interior solitude, it can no longer be held together by love: and consequently it is held together by a violent and abusive authority.”

I’ve also made a list of potential reads for the next month or so: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (it’s an embarrassment that someone who did so much postcolonial literature still has not read this book), American Gods by Neil Gaiman (I have to have my science fiction/fantasy light reads!), Blindness by Jose Saramago (interesting premise….), The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (I just keep hearing about this book).

*if the guy in High Fidelity can arrange his record collection autobiographically, then I can list my books the same way…

you are what you buy*

Plagued by the mundaneness of our 'New Jersey'/middle class origins, [no, my father did not beat my mother; and no, there were never drive-by shootings in my neighborhood, and no, half my high school class did not get pregnant and drop out of high school], we are driven to consumption in order to compensate for our dull lives and common white collar professions. When we are unable to find satisfaction in our work, we often seek it in the objects and experiences we can buy. We become what we buy.

“The thing about new things is you feel new when you buy them, you feel as though as though you are somebody different because you own something different. We are our possessions, you know.”

~ Blue like Jazz**

We are what we do to the extent that what we do enables us to buy more. Higher paying professions (lawyers, consultants, doctors etc…) give us the income to make respectable purchases of interestingness that being an elementary school teacher does not afford. You’re interesting if you’re a consultant that has traveled the world. You're interesting if you're an investment banker living in a stylish apartment in midtown and are able to go to a different restaurant and nightclub every weekend. You're interesting if you're some top executive and have the money to pick up an extravagant hobby like flying airplanes. But you're definitely not interesting if you’re an elementary school teacher-- unless of course, you work in an inner city neighborhood with Teach for America or some other non-profit, because it’s cool to be 'into poor people'.

*This is one of perhaps a backlog of 15-30 blog entries that are unfinished. I figured, I should just give up, and start posting them….

**On a side note, Intervarsity Press has recently launched a new line of books, called ‘Likewise’, which are sort… of books designed for the postmodern generation. The writing styles are much more similar to Blue like Jazz, edgy, casual, more open for debate and discussion etc… Though I feel there is value in publishing these books, as books contain ideas and ideas ought to be disseminated (:P)-- All the marketing just makes me feel like a niche market. Luckily, our calling is to something much greater than that, whereas everything else in our society would seem to tell me, that is all I am.