Powergirl81
Trooper
That's all right Shrike 
I'm one of the very few women who likes hockey where I live...I used to go to Penguins games all the time when I was a teen
I forgot to mention Mario Lemieux's bio..I have read that as well
I'm one of the very few women who likes hockey where I live...I used to go to Penguins games all the time when I was a teen
I forgot to mention Mario Lemieux's bio..I have read that as well
Black Ace
Trooper
Whoa, you guys read a lot while I was gone. I tried to read all your posts, but I gave up half-way there.
Anyway, I did a bit of reading of my own. I'll just mention the last book I finished and the one I just started.
I read The portrait of Dorian Gray (is that the title in English? I got it in Romanian) by Oscar Wilde, and it was a really good read. The main plot's easy: Dorian Gray is a very beautiful young man who gets a portrait. He realizes that instead of growing old himself, his portrait becomes old for him, while he maintains his teenager-ish appearance. Also, all his sins are reflected on the portrait, not himself. Thus his life descends into utter chaos, as nothing he does has any ramifications on himself.
Except for the parts which make all the male characters sound well, gay, (I'm not homophobic or anything, it was just a weird read) the book's really great, with a lot of great general truths, about art, women, and humanity in general.
I started on Kafka's Trial (again, is that the English title?). Not much to say though, i just read the first 5 pages.
Anyway, I did a bit of reading of my own. I'll just mention the last book I finished and the one I just started.
I read The portrait of Dorian Gray (is that the title in English? I got it in Romanian) by Oscar Wilde, and it was a really good read. The main plot's easy: Dorian Gray is a very beautiful young man who gets a portrait. He realizes that instead of growing old himself, his portrait becomes old for him, while he maintains his teenager-ish appearance. Also, all his sins are reflected on the portrait, not himself. Thus his life descends into utter chaos, as nothing he does has any ramifications on himself.
Except for the parts which make all the male characters sound well, gay, (I'm not homophobic or anything, it was just a weird read) the book's really great, with a lot of great general truths, about art, women, and humanity in general.
I started on Kafka's Trial (again, is that the English title?). Not much to say though, i just read the first 5 pages.
Well, now that it's approaching the end of the summer I will post here my summer reading:
The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld- An interesting historical as well as psychoanalytic approach to crime. A young american psychoanalyst receives Freud at his only visit to the states. An apparent surviving murder victim who suffers from amnesia and loss of speech attracts the attention of the psychoanalysts and they attempt to treat her and to divulge the identity of the would-be murderer using psychoanalysis. This book should appeal to anyone interested in the history of psychoanalysis and it gives a very interesting insight into the world of psychology. As well as this it gives a rather more satisfactory explanation for Hamlets behavior in Shakespeare's play of the same name than Freud's Oedipus complex explanation. Highly recommend it.
Sovereign by C.J. Sansom- Another interesting crime novel set in Tudor times. For anyone interested in the history of English monarchy or in the Tudor times in general, this should make a great read. It didn't fascinate me that much because it gave me the impression to be far-removed from the time inwhich it was taking place, and by that I mean that it failed to engross me and make me care in any great amount about the events which took place so long ago.
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton- A romance told from the perspective of an old lady aged 99 years old. Very believable and somehow personal. It made me feel like I knew the main characters and it certainly got me to care very much for them. An excellent summer read with a rather surprising secret to it which is all the more appealing since it isn't sensationalized. Really recommend it.
This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes- I don't know what this author was thinking when they named this book but I sincerely doubt it will save anybody's life. Story about a middle-aged man who's life falls apart after a health-scare and who tries to find a meaning to his life by helping others. He makes unexpected friends and finds himself often in rather bizarre situations. It gets difficult towards the end to believe that anyone's life could be so filled with such chaotic events and weird revelations all in such a short space of time. Not my cup of tea to be honest this book. Entertaining at parts.
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith- The second book in a series about a middle-aged scottish philosopher who finds herself always getting caught up in other people's lives (some would call her nosy). The hilarious parts come when she makes connections between the events happening around her and philosophy. A light, highly enjoyable, summer read.
Den Döende Dandyn by Mari Jungstedt- The third in a crime novel series by the Swedish author Mari Jungstedt. Quite alright, but I doubt it'll ever be translated into languages other than Swedish.
There. Aside from the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter series that comprises my summer reading for this year.
The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld- An interesting historical as well as psychoanalytic approach to crime. A young american psychoanalyst receives Freud at his only visit to the states. An apparent surviving murder victim who suffers from amnesia and loss of speech attracts the attention of the psychoanalysts and they attempt to treat her and to divulge the identity of the would-be murderer using psychoanalysis. This book should appeal to anyone interested in the history of psychoanalysis and it gives a very interesting insight into the world of psychology. As well as this it gives a rather more satisfactory explanation for Hamlets behavior in Shakespeare's play of the same name than Freud's Oedipus complex explanation. Highly recommend it.
Sovereign by C.J. Sansom- Another interesting crime novel set in Tudor times. For anyone interested in the history of English monarchy or in the Tudor times in general, this should make a great read. It didn't fascinate me that much because it gave me the impression to be far-removed from the time inwhich it was taking place, and by that I mean that it failed to engross me and make me care in any great amount about the events which took place so long ago.
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton- A romance told from the perspective of an old lady aged 99 years old. Very believable and somehow personal. It made me feel like I knew the main characters and it certainly got me to care very much for them. An excellent summer read with a rather surprising secret to it which is all the more appealing since it isn't sensationalized. Really recommend it.
This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes- I don't know what this author was thinking when they named this book but I sincerely doubt it will save anybody's life. Story about a middle-aged man who's life falls apart after a health-scare and who tries to find a meaning to his life by helping others. He makes unexpected friends and finds himself often in rather bizarre situations. It gets difficult towards the end to believe that anyone's life could be so filled with such chaotic events and weird revelations all in such a short space of time. Not my cup of tea to be honest this book. Entertaining at parts.
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith- The second book in a series about a middle-aged scottish philosopher who finds herself always getting caught up in other people's lives (some would call her nosy). The hilarious parts come when she makes connections between the events happening around her and philosophy. A light, highly enjoyable, summer read.
Den Döende Dandyn by Mari Jungstedt- The third in a crime novel series by the Swedish author Mari Jungstedt. Quite alright, but I doubt it'll ever be translated into languages other than Swedish.
There. Aside from the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter series that comprises my summer reading for this year.
char_da_harlot
Trooper
@Natalie
I am going to take your advice and read The Interpretation of Murder and The House at Riverton.
I am going to take your advice and read The Interpretation of Murder and The House at Riverton.
Glory2Hypnotoad
Trooper
Just finished Remarque's Heaven Has No Favorites. It's a beautiful and believable love story about cheating death with some brilliant philosophy behind it. Of the books of his that I've read, I'd say it's second only to A Time to Love and a Time to Die.
I've just started Tree Comrades, one of his better known books and supposedly one of his best.
I've just started Tree Comrades, one of his better known books and supposedly one of his best.
Shrike
Trooper
I'm in the last act of Macbeth right now 
. Really enjoying it. But it's pretty heavy stuff. It's a "read scene, read scene-commentary, repeat"-process for me But there's some really awe-inspiring stuff in there. Li'l Bill was pretty good with words, so to speak.
I'm a bit torn as to whether or not I enjoy Shakespeare, I can definitely appreciate him, when taking the time to see all the connotations, links, and puns, but they aren't something I'd pick up on naturally (most of the time anyway), but rather when re-reading or reading the commentaries.
Did the Sonnets last week, and it that was pretty fun. A bit easier since they're sectioned off. But our class has a tendency to digress, so we ended up talking about whether or not Shakespeare wrote all the plays, and what the arguments were for and against it. Which is all well and good, but annoying when we didn't have time for the one sonnet I had actually spent some time on
Hopefully the Macbeth-discussion will be more focused. And if it gets too focused I'll bring in Bruce's Tyranny of Souls into the mix
. Really enjoying it. But it's pretty heavy stuff. It's a "read scene, read scene-commentary, repeat"-process for me But there's some really awe-inspiring stuff in there. Li'l Bill was pretty good with words, so to speak.I'm a bit torn as to whether or not I enjoy Shakespeare, I can definitely appreciate him, when taking the time to see all the connotations, links, and puns, but they aren't something I'd pick up on naturally (most of the time anyway), but rather when re-reading or reading the commentaries.
Did the Sonnets last week, and it that was pretty fun. A bit easier since they're sectioned off. But our class has a tendency to digress, so we ended up talking about whether or not Shakespeare wrote all the plays, and what the arguments were for and against it. Which is all well and good, but annoying when we didn't have time for the one sonnet I had actually spent some time on
Hopefully the Macbeth-discussion will be more focused. And if it gets too focused I'll bring in Bruce's Tyranny of Souls into the mix
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
I finished Michael Crichton's "Next" like a week ago. *sigh* I think he is starting to go senile. Just like State of Fear this one reads like a research paper with characters. Not only that, it is WORSE than State of Fear. In State of Fear you at least have 3 or 4 characters you follow the entire novel. In this one He introduces one, they disapear for five chapters while he introduces some more... and more and more, and they come and go. He gives EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER importance and frankly that's horrible writing right there. He's always been bad, but at least he used to be entertaining, not anymore. He jumps all over the place.
As for the story it has to do with genetics and all the neat new things you can supposedly do with them, like transgenic animals, cell lines that produces cancer curing enzymes, paternity tests etc. If you've read all other Crichton books like I have, give it a try, if not, skip it completely, honestly not worth the time of day.
As for the story it has to do with genetics and all the neat new things you can supposedly do with them, like transgenic animals, cell lines that produces cancer curing enzymes, paternity tests etc. If you've read all other Crichton books like I have, give it a try, if not, skip it completely, honestly not worth the time of day.
Kynisk Sokol
Ancient Mariner
Last week, I read The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. For those of you who are not familiar with the story, Werther is a youthful German gentleman at the dawn of his civil service career. Unlike his contemporaries, Werther is awkward, socially clumsy, and extremely sensitive. He is also desperately in love with a woman named Charlotte Lotte whose feelings toward Werther are not mutual. After Lotte rejects him, Werther goes to a party where he is publicly humiliated. This being more than Werther can bear, he returns home and kills himself with a pistol.
Werther's suicide is more than a response to Lotte's rejection. In a sense it is a disavowal of the society he lives in. Werther's emotions and sensitivity make him something of an oddball among his peers who ultimately scorn and reject him. At the end of the story, Werther is not only heart-broken but also isolated. When critics complained to Goethe about the copycat Werther suicides, he responded that if the commercial system killed so many young men, then couldn't Werther have a few. Suicide, like so many other extreme acts of destruction, isn't the solution to rejection, loss, and alienation, but it is certainly a symptom that is difficult to ignore. After all, Werther is unable to deal with both society and the burdens of life itself. The relationship between Albert, Lotte's husband, and Werther is especially interesting, as it moves from friendship to antagonism, entirely due to Werther's erratic behavior. In the end, Albert inadvertently helps Werther carry out his final plans by fulfilling a request from Werther. Albert's participation reveals a subtle, yet interesting psychological dynamic--hinting perhaps at Albert's own secret jealousies and frustrations, while also ironically realizing Werther's wish to drive a final wedge between Albert and Lotte.
Although a short read, it's as essential to Romanticism as Camus' The Stranger is to Existentialism. Werther's observations of the world in which he lives are still found in society today. Over 225 years old, this novel continues to affect its readers, and perhaps encourage young readers to view their world with a broader view.
Werther's suicide is more than a response to Lotte's rejection. In a sense it is a disavowal of the society he lives in. Werther's emotions and sensitivity make him something of an oddball among his peers who ultimately scorn and reject him. At the end of the story, Werther is not only heart-broken but also isolated. When critics complained to Goethe about the copycat Werther suicides, he responded that if the commercial system killed so many young men, then couldn't Werther have a few. Suicide, like so many other extreme acts of destruction, isn't the solution to rejection, loss, and alienation, but it is certainly a symptom that is difficult to ignore. After all, Werther is unable to deal with both society and the burdens of life itself. The relationship between Albert, Lotte's husband, and Werther is especially interesting, as it moves from friendship to antagonism, entirely due to Werther's erratic behavior. In the end, Albert inadvertently helps Werther carry out his final plans by fulfilling a request from Werther. Albert's participation reveals a subtle, yet interesting psychological dynamic--hinting perhaps at Albert's own secret jealousies and frustrations, while also ironically realizing Werther's wish to drive a final wedge between Albert and Lotte.
Although a short read, it's as essential to Romanticism as Camus' The Stranger is to Existentialism. Werther's observations of the world in which he lives are still found in society today. Over 225 years old, this novel continues to affect its readers, and perhaps encourage young readers to view their world with a broader view.
I've just finished Senator Al Gore's newest book, The Assault on Reason. This is a narrative on Al Gore's opinion as to why American politics are preparing to collapse. Basically Al Gore blames TV and broadcast news-tainment for a lot of the decline, and he believes that the Republican Party under the neo-conservatives have purposefully taken advantage of that to erode American civil liberties and centralize power in the administrative branch.
Gore has some very interesting ideas - basically that in order for people to participate properly in the democratic process, they need to be able to exchange ideas. He says that TV only delivers pre-set ideas and that things like YouTube and net forums are how democracy will continue to grow strong. He also discusses global warming and how the current administration has allowed oil corporations to erode governmental safeguards to actually increase pollution.
One of the neat things Gore does in his book is plug Jon Stewart. I love The Daily Show, but Gore seems to honestly believe it's the best show on TV because it goes and does things that no other news station does - tries to catch politicians in lies. He put an example of Cheney saying he had never said anything on the location of Iraq WMDs - and then Stewart and co. promptly pull out the clip where Cheney said they knew exactly where they were, near Tikrit.
While Gore might not be right in every aspect, I think it's an interesting analysis of the current situation in American politics, and it will be interesting to see, 20 years down the road, how close to Al Gore's accusations the actual truth is.
Gore has some very interesting ideas - basically that in order for people to participate properly in the democratic process, they need to be able to exchange ideas. He says that TV only delivers pre-set ideas and that things like YouTube and net forums are how democracy will continue to grow strong. He also discusses global warming and how the current administration has allowed oil corporations to erode governmental safeguards to actually increase pollution.
One of the neat things Gore does in his book is plug Jon Stewart. I love The Daily Show, but Gore seems to honestly believe it's the best show on TV because it goes and does things that no other news station does - tries to catch politicians in lies. He put an example of Cheney saying he had never said anything on the location of Iraq WMDs - and then Stewart and co. promptly pull out the clip where Cheney said they knew exactly where they were, near Tikrit.
While Gore might not be right in every aspect, I think it's an interesting analysis of the current situation in American politics, and it will be interesting to see, 20 years down the road, how close to Al Gore's accusations the actual truth is.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
I just finished reading a great book called El Inquisidor (The Inquisitor) about a Grand Inquisitor for the Italian Inquisition. The best way to describe this book is "Medieval Star Wars," seriously. It is a first person narrative told by Angelo De Grasso (Luke Skywalker) the inquisitor and he tells the complex story of how the Church (The Empire), a secret brotherhood of priests that want to reform the church (the rebellion/Jedi) and a secret society of wizards and witches (the Sith) are after the same thing. Two forbidden books, the Necronomicon and the Emerald Codex. Books which if in the wrong hands can not only destroy the Church, but the world as they have the power to unleash the Anti-Christ upon the world. It is a very Satisfying read and I highly recommend it. Patricio Sturlese does a great job of blending fiction with facts and while he is very descriptive and detailed, it is not a heavy read. The best book in Spanish I've read in years.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Just finished reading God in the Movies by Andrew Greeley and Alan Bergensen. There are two reasons why I wanted to read this book. The first was really Alan Bergensen, I read his Depth of Shallow Culture last Christmas, because I found the back of the book interesting and because he is a sociologist at my Alma Mater. In about the author it mentioned that he had co-written God in the Movies with Andrew Greeley. I knew I had to read it.
My first encounter with Andrew Greeley was at Borders (an American bookstore chain), when I was looking for "new" books and I saw a novel with a priest on the cover. I'm a sucker for any religion related literature so I picked up the book read the back (forgot what it is about not really important) and I read about the author, Andrew Greeley. Turns out he is a Catholic priest... and a sociologist... at the University of Arizona AND the University of Chicago. He teaches, does research (after some digging it turns out he's done TONS of research and is a HUGE name within American sociology and the sociology of religion subfield), writes novels and academic books... he became my hero right off the bat. Then I actually read some of his research in some of my sociology classes and since I was attending vocational retreats I heard his name get thrown around in those circles at well. It was funny to see that in the "conservative" religious circles he's seen as too much of a trouble making liberal and in the academic circles he's seen as a cool "progressive" LOL
ANYWAY, as for the book. The authors argue that humans are a storytelling creature and that religion ultimately comes down to the retelling of stories that are considered sacred. They contend that movies are by far the mode of choice for storytelling today and that it shouldn't surprise us to find God in those stories. They pick several movies that highlight different things about how people (because while art is an individual expression it is still a reflection of the collective consciousness) see or want to see god as, because movies and ultimately art is nothing more than a Metaphor. It tells us what God is like, not what God is. For example in All that Jazz God is played by Jessica Lange, a sexy, flirting woman that eventually invites Joe into a separate room clearly to make love. in Alwaysp Audry Hepburn plays a warm, understanding and gentle god. In Oh, God it is a peppy old man and in Jacob's Ladder it's a chiropractor.... Whether god is played by a woman, a man, young or old, he is always caring, understanding and while firm, ultimately loving and forgiving. Greeley says that his students have a hard time accepting Audrey Hepburn and Jessica Lange as a metaphor for God. First of all because they are women and most importantly ATTRACTIVE women. Well why shouldn't God be a woman? After all He/She (he refers to God as "She" by the way) is eternal, everything and nothing, begging and end, hence man AND woman. Also why shouldn't god by a flirtatious woman? God is love and God loves us and yearns for us and wants us to be with Him/Her... why can't that union be represented in the act of making love?
They also deal with the possibilities of the after life like in Flatliners (a favorite film of mine, I'm glad they included it), where forgiveness is the key to peace regardless of an afterlife or more precisely, more powerful than the afterlife itself. As the medical students kill themselves and are revived to tell their friends about the afterlife, they find themselves haunted by their sins of the past and one by one (except one character) figures out that they must seek the forgiveness of those they have transgressed, only to find they have already been forgiven, but their acknowledgment of such a need, and the reassurance of those that forgave them (even those already dead)gives them peace.
They end the book with a small piece on the evolution of storytelling and its possible future. They say that each new form of storytelling is taken to its ultimate expression by the new dominant power. It is no coincidence that the novel found it's truest expression and it's greatest proponents and examples in Europe, specifically France, just like it was no coincidence that movies found their ultimate expression in the United States, as the power shifted from Europe to North America so did this new form of storytelling evolve to it's fullest.
Europe also has cinema, but it is stuck in the realism of the novel/play form. It tells of personal dramas and realities, while in the U.S you find Star Wars, the Matrix and of course God in the movies. It was Hollywood that employed the magic of cinema to it's fullest, but it has reached it's limitation. While CGI is becoming very prevalent for the most part it movies still are half and half, half live action and half CGI, like Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Resident Evil, etc. Fully CGI movies like Final Fantasy are not as readily accepted. However, with a new shift in power to East Asia, we begin to find a new mode of storytelling, Japanimation (Animie) Ghost in a Shell was the first Animie movie released world wide in 1996 to great reception. Animie is different from say... Disney animation in that it's range is much more vast. It has better writing, deals with a wider variety of subjects including extemely violent, sexual and of course philosophical and religious. Like Ghost in a Shell (which includes all the above elements) about a computer program that gains conciousness and wishes to merge with a Cyborg woman. This computer program was born of the internet the ultimate and infinite source of information (The Word) which yearns to become flesh (Jesus). So we have seen god potrayed as a man, a (sexy) woman and now as pure information... Animie is a wider creative canvas than the movies because whatever you imagine can be drawn and brought to life while live action has it's limitations, just like the novel has it's limitations.... Great Book and while easy to read, VERY thought provoking.
My first encounter with Andrew Greeley was at Borders (an American bookstore chain), when I was looking for "new" books and I saw a novel with a priest on the cover. I'm a sucker for any religion related literature so I picked up the book read the back (forgot what it is about not really important) and I read about the author, Andrew Greeley. Turns out he is a Catholic priest... and a sociologist... at the University of Arizona AND the University of Chicago. He teaches, does research (after some digging it turns out he's done TONS of research and is a HUGE name within American sociology and the sociology of religion subfield), writes novels and academic books... he became my hero right off the bat. Then I actually read some of his research in some of my sociology classes and since I was attending vocational retreats I heard his name get thrown around in those circles at well. It was funny to see that in the "conservative" religious circles he's seen as too much of a trouble making liberal and in the academic circles he's seen as a cool "progressive" LOL
ANYWAY, as for the book. The authors argue that humans are a storytelling creature and that religion ultimately comes down to the retelling of stories that are considered sacred. They contend that movies are by far the mode of choice for storytelling today and that it shouldn't surprise us to find God in those stories. They pick several movies that highlight different things about how people (because while art is an individual expression it is still a reflection of the collective consciousness) see or want to see god as, because movies and ultimately art is nothing more than a Metaphor. It tells us what God is like, not what God is. For example in All that Jazz God is played by Jessica Lange, a sexy, flirting woman that eventually invites Joe into a separate room clearly to make love. in Alwaysp Audry Hepburn plays a warm, understanding and gentle god. In Oh, God it is a peppy old man and in Jacob's Ladder it's a chiropractor.... Whether god is played by a woman, a man, young or old, he is always caring, understanding and while firm, ultimately loving and forgiving. Greeley says that his students have a hard time accepting Audrey Hepburn and Jessica Lange as a metaphor for God. First of all because they are women and most importantly ATTRACTIVE women. Well why shouldn't God be a woman? After all He/She (he refers to God as "She" by the way) is eternal, everything and nothing, begging and end, hence man AND woman. Also why shouldn't god by a flirtatious woman? God is love and God loves us and yearns for us and wants us to be with Him/Her... why can't that union be represented in the act of making love?
They also deal with the possibilities of the after life like in Flatliners (a favorite film of mine, I'm glad they included it), where forgiveness is the key to peace regardless of an afterlife or more precisely, more powerful than the afterlife itself. As the medical students kill themselves and are revived to tell their friends about the afterlife, they find themselves haunted by their sins of the past and one by one (except one character) figures out that they must seek the forgiveness of those they have transgressed, only to find they have already been forgiven, but their acknowledgment of such a need, and the reassurance of those that forgave them (even those already dead)gives them peace.
They end the book with a small piece on the evolution of storytelling and its possible future. They say that each new form of storytelling is taken to its ultimate expression by the new dominant power. It is no coincidence that the novel found it's truest expression and it's greatest proponents and examples in Europe, specifically France, just like it was no coincidence that movies found their ultimate expression in the United States, as the power shifted from Europe to North America so did this new form of storytelling evolve to it's fullest.
Europe also has cinema, but it is stuck in the realism of the novel/play form. It tells of personal dramas and realities, while in the U.S you find Star Wars, the Matrix and of course God in the movies. It was Hollywood that employed the magic of cinema to it's fullest, but it has reached it's limitation. While CGI is becoming very prevalent for the most part it movies still are half and half, half live action and half CGI, like Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Resident Evil, etc. Fully CGI movies like Final Fantasy are not as readily accepted. However, with a new shift in power to East Asia, we begin to find a new mode of storytelling, Japanimation (Animie) Ghost in a Shell was the first Animie movie released world wide in 1996 to great reception. Animie is different from say... Disney animation in that it's range is much more vast. It has better writing, deals with a wider variety of subjects including extemely violent, sexual and of course philosophical and religious. Like Ghost in a Shell (which includes all the above elements) about a computer program that gains conciousness and wishes to merge with a Cyborg woman. This computer program was born of the internet the ultimate and infinite source of information (The Word) which yearns to become flesh (Jesus). So we have seen god potrayed as a man, a (sexy) woman and now as pure information... Animie is a wider creative canvas than the movies because whatever you imagine can be drawn and brought to life while live action has it's limitations, just like the novel has it's limitations.... Great Book and while easy to read, VERY thought provoking.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
So I finally finished Viktor Frenkl's Man's Search for Meaning and I have to say this is a must read. The story of how I came to read this book has only accentuated how much it has changed my life. I went to the movies to watch Hot Fuzz only to be informed that it had been taken off to make room for the midnight premier of the third (and hopefully last) Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Given Hot Fuzz had been listed for 9pm I was very annoyed at the fact that they needed more than one hour to set up a stupid midnight premier.
I was so upset I didn't want to go straight home so instead I decided to browse the bookstore located at the other end of the mall. I decided I needed more psychology books and thought of Carl Jung, since he once was Freud's favorite student and later they ended up hating each other. I was browsing Jung's books when something caught my eye, a small black book with its title illuminated by a simple match. I picked it up, Man's Search for Meaning Looked interesting enough. A week later, my last day at my key job at the car dealership, a good friend of mine (one of the salesmen) and I had a nice long talk about existential matters. Then he tells me, "There is a book you need to read."
"Ok, which one?" I asked as I got some paper and a pencil.
"It is by Viktor Frenkl, Man's Search for Meaning..." I stopped writing at that point, reached into my backpack and pulled it out, "you mean this one?"
I still get goosebumps just recalling that experience, guess things do happen for a reason. As for the book itself the first half is Frenkl's experience in a Nazi camp and how, thanks to his own ideas which given his situation he was forced to live by instead of merely preaching them, he was able to survive (that and a lot of luck). The second half is a brief explanation of that philosophy which he called Logotherapy, in which he argues that man's ultimate goal isn't pleasure like Freud stated or Power as stated by (I believe) Adler, but MEANING. We all, in the end, want to feel we have a purpose and that our lives have had meaning. He explains meaning can be achieved despite suffering, because needless suffering is not heroic, but rather masochistic. There are three ways in which to gain meaning two of which are to engage in some project, in other words work, the easiest of the three and the second is to engage someone else, to love someone else. regadless of the way they are all selfless, because it is when we stop worrying about ourselves and we begin to think of others that we are able to transcend ourselves, grow and find true meaning to our lives.
I'm paraphrasing a lot here, but just read it, it's an amazing book.
I was so upset I didn't want to go straight home so instead I decided to browse the bookstore located at the other end of the mall. I decided I needed more psychology books and thought of Carl Jung, since he once was Freud's favorite student and later they ended up hating each other. I was browsing Jung's books when something caught my eye, a small black book with its title illuminated by a simple match. I picked it up, Man's Search for Meaning Looked interesting enough. A week later, my last day at my key job at the car dealership, a good friend of mine (one of the salesmen) and I had a nice long talk about existential matters. Then he tells me, "There is a book you need to read."
"Ok, which one?" I asked as I got some paper and a pencil.
"It is by Viktor Frenkl, Man's Search for Meaning..." I stopped writing at that point, reached into my backpack and pulled it out, "you mean this one?"
I still get goosebumps just recalling that experience, guess things do happen for a reason. As for the book itself the first half is Frenkl's experience in a Nazi camp and how, thanks to his own ideas which given his situation he was forced to live by instead of merely preaching them, he was able to survive (that and a lot of luck). The second half is a brief explanation of that philosophy which he called Logotherapy, in which he argues that man's ultimate goal isn't pleasure like Freud stated or Power as stated by (I believe) Adler, but MEANING. We all, in the end, want to feel we have a purpose and that our lives have had meaning. He explains meaning can be achieved despite suffering, because needless suffering is not heroic, but rather masochistic. There are three ways in which to gain meaning two of which are to engage in some project, in other words work, the easiest of the three and the second is to engage someone else, to love someone else. regadless of the way they are all selfless, because it is when we stop worrying about ourselves and we begin to think of others that we are able to transcend ourselves, grow and find true meaning to our lives.
I'm paraphrasing a lot here, but just read it, it's an amazing book.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Finally got done with Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, really good read! Again, for what it is. By far the best of the three even though you don't follow Master Chief in this one. He's writing also improved with WAY less spelling and grammatical mistakes, and you see things from the covenant perspective as well. This one tells the story of Kurt, a Spartan that unlike the others is rather emotional, actually builds and maintains friendships outside of the Spartan group and is just more emotionally invested than the others. He's Death is Staged by ONI (think CIA) so he can become part of a top secret project, he is to train the new generation of Spartans, the SPARTAN IIIs. These Spartan's however are inferior to the SPARTAN IIs in every sense, they are younger, they are mentally unstable (not crazy or retarded, they mere don't have the mental toughness required), and their armor is weaker. What they have on their side is numbers, stealth and a more pronounce aggressive drive which makes them virtually shock proof. The SPARTAN IIIs were designed for high risk missions with the full knowledge most of them would not return. In fact Alpha company, the first crop, was completely wiped out and Beta only had two survivors, one of which became mute do to the battle trauma.
In fact the new companies are training on Onyx when the planet suddenly awakens and it turns out to be an artificial planet built by the Forerunners to protect the "Reclaimers" from the Halo explosions and the Flood. Great book with an AMAZING ending! All the Halo books are really neat since they fill in the gaps between the games and in the case of Onyx, expand the universe a bit since it is not centered around the Master Chief. I wonder if the story will continue in the game Halo Wars, the movie, but more likely more books are to come. Good stuff for such not-so-mindless read.
In fact the new companies are training on Onyx when the planet suddenly awakens and it turns out to be an artificial planet built by the Forerunners to protect the "Reclaimers" from the Halo explosions and the Flood. Great book with an AMAZING ending! All the Halo books are really neat since they fill in the gaps between the games and in the case of Onyx, expand the universe a bit since it is not centered around the Master Chief. I wonder if the story will continue in the game Halo Wars, the movie, but more likely more books are to come. Good stuff for such not-so-mindless read.