Currently Reading

Thought I would change it up and read some non-fiction [Pompeii, specifically] in addition to this month's book club selection.

Jude the Obscure | Thomas Hardy

It's been more than a month since I finished reading "Jude the Obscure", and I'm a little frightened that I won't do this book justice with my review.  Thomas Hardy, as always, is best reviewed in layers... and there are so many layers it is impossible to do the book proper justice without writing a 20 page disertation.  I've likened Hardy to a master chess player, as noted in previous reviews of "Tess of D'Urbervilles" and "The Mayor of Casterbridge," as he seems to always be thinking a few steps ahead and in the end, all you can do is look at your fallen king with horror and a strange feeling of awe and wonderment at what has transpired.  There are so many themes present, so many jabs at english society and cautions for the future.  As such, "Jude the Obscure" was set in prototypical Hardy style.

The theme of the novel is primarily an assessment of societal constructs, and how these norms influence people in society.  Most critics of this work at the time, felt that the attack on the church (and the sanctity of marriage) was disgraceful.  In addition, "the book caused further strain on Hardy's already difficult marriage because Emma Hardy was concerned that Jude the Obscure would be read as autobiographical" [from Wikipedia].  Hardy never wrote another work of fiction again, after the reception this novel received.  Little did he know that his thoughts would become more accepted over time amongst the majority in english society, and that divorce would become so prevalent in society that more than half of the people in North America have experienced it.

The character development was something you would expect from a Hardy work.  Fringe characters were microcosms for the evil inherent in society and human beings in general, and women were portrayed in the extreme - stereotypically and one-dimensional.  The main protagonist, Jude Fawley was a flawed man with a good heart... and he was a dreamer.  His upbringing, like characters in Dicken's english works, was a difficult and lonely one... Jude being left to his aunt who put him to work and treated him harshly.  As such, Jude never grew up with other children or with an authority figure to steer him in the right direction.  His extremist nature caused him to lose track of his dreams to become a scholar, and he was entrapped into a marriage with the first girl he had feelings for.

After becoming estranged from his conniving wife, Jude falls in love with his cousin Sue who eventually weds out of obligation to Jude's old school teacher.  However, Sue is in love with Jude, and eventually leaves her husband to be with him.  Things go well for a time, and both become divorced from their spouses.  Sue is relectant to wed, and the two live 'in sin', moving from town to town as their welcome is worn out.  They have a few children together and tragedy eventually strikes the couple soon after little "Father Time" arrives, a child from Jude's first marriage. Sue believes that God is punishing her for her sins, and attempts to rectify them at the sake of her happiness.  I will leave Hardy to tell the rest.

The work was typically Hardy in its inevitable tragedy, a point Hardy defends by stating that authors should write what they know, because it produces better literature.  I tend to agree.

Hardy's extensive vocabulary is usually restrictive in the flow of the work.  The two works mentioned above had similar flaws in this regard, but I found no such trouble with the flow in "Jude the Obscure."

It's easy to experience anger at the decisions of both Jude and Sue, the former to abandon his goal to be a scholar and the latter, her constant desire for self-punishment.  Jude's decisions can be chalked up to a naivity about life and a passionate disposition, while Sue seems to enjoy creating her own drama.  Both characters are never fully comfortable in society, either due to society's constructs or due to their own volition. The foreshaddowing of problems with the Fawley's in marriage seems to turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy and we are left to question whether the problems exist due to the flaws in the characters themselves or due to fate.

As a whole, Hardy has done a remarkable job and risked a great deal with this book.  It is one of his best.  This is one of those novels everyone should have on their bookshelves, because something different can be gleaned from each read.  It's a shame that this novel was Hardy's last work, because it was evident that he still had a lot left in the tank to give us.  Like a lot of great authors, he was not appreciated for this work in his own time.  After reading various reviews and participating in an enthralling book club discussion, I'm glad he's appreciated for this work in our time.

Ravelstein | Saul Bellow

The last book I read by Saul Bellow, entitled "Henderson, the Rain King", I remember being a truly inspiring work.  The song by "Counting Crows" entitled "Rain King" was based on the novel, which is what led me to the grace of Saul Bellow's literature.  As such, the two men (the other being Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows) are invariably linked in my mind... and the other day, I rediscovered my favourite band from my youth and as such, I had a yearning to read some Bellow.  I picked up "Henderson, the Rain King to give it another go (in my age, I find myself forgetting most of the plot), but then decided to try something new and consequently opened my only other Bellow work entitled "Ravelstein" which he wrote in 2000 after his professor, Allan Bloom.  The work is listed as fiction, but I would wager that most of the work is non-fiction (biography style); the novel is purposely set-up in a fashion for the reader to question the split, if any.

This novel did not live up to my feelings on "Henderson, the Rain King", though such a feat would be difficult to achieve.  I find that the last work of an author before his death (Bellow died in 2005) usually isn't his/her best work, with the latest exception I have coming in the form of Hardy's "Jude the Obscure."  I digress.

Ravelstein was a book about "Abe Ravelstein" written after his death from HIV by the author "Chick", Ravelstein's teacher and close friend.  After Ravelstein dies, Chick puts off writing the book about Ravelstein and nearly doesn't complete the work... for he has his own bout of health problems.  Are the powers that be keeping Chick alive to fulfill his promise to Ravelstein to write his biography or is Chick avoiding writing the work to give himself something to live for?  Ultimately, the death of Ravelstein forces Chick to come to grips with his own mortality... and this is the underlying theme of the novel.

Ravelstein lives an excessive life - he drinks, smokes, purchases the best things money can buy and is a bit of a snob.  However, he is tremendously loved by his students... and others either love him or hate him... there is very little moderation, paralelling the man's life.  Ravelstein doesn't sugar coat things - he gives his opinions to and of his friends straight-up.  Some of them appreciate the honesty, and some would rather he kept his thoughts to himself.  The point is, Ravelstein is a brash, excessive man, and as the reader learns about his life... he/she has to determine if he/she loves or hates the man... with the typical ups and downs you would experience from an honest telling of a man's life.

By intertwining his own life with that of Ravelstein's, Bellow (assuming the narrator Chick is the author) is able to write an aytpical biography which deals with Chick's morality struggle as opposed to Ravelstein's life in isolation.  This makes the work much more enjoyable, and a unique telling of the man's life which I think Bloom (Ravelstein) would have appreciated.  Ravelstein is described through the nuances of his speech and actions, and not the 'events' of his life... adding a nice literary flair.

The book was an enjoyable one, though a bit high brow at times.  While I believe the biography was a good one, I didn't feel blown away by this Bellow work.  It's honesty was refreshing, but it missed a deep connection with me... something that I was hoping Bellow could replicate from "Henderson, The Rain King."

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QUOTATIONS
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"A tragic hero has to be above the average in height." 30

"In the old days there was still a considerable literary community in our country, and medicine and law were still 'the learned professions,' but in an American city today you can no longer count on doctors, lawyers, businessmen, journalists, politicians, television personalities, architects, or commodities traders to discuss Stendhal's novels or Thomas Hardy's poems." 46

"A summary of his argument was that while you could get an excellent technical training in the U.S., liberal education had shrunk to the vanishing point.  We were in thrall to the high tech, which had transformed the modern world.  The older generation saved towards the education of it's children.  The cost of a B.A. had risen to $150,000.  Parents might as well flush these dollars down the toilet, Ravelstein believed.  No real education was possible in American universities except for aeronautical engineers, computerists, and the like.  The universities were excellent in biology and the physical sciences, but the liberal arts were a failure." 47

"Associate with the noblest people you can find; read the best books; live with the mighty; but learn to be happy alone." 161

"German militarism produced the extremest and most horrible nihilism.  For the rank-and-file this led to the bloodiest and craziest kind of revanchist murderous zeal.  Because it was implicit in carrying out orders that all responsibility  went back to the top, the source of all orders.  And everybody was thus absolved." 168

"If only we could bring back the full days we knew as kids.  But we became too familiar with the data of experience, I suggest.  Our way of organizing the data which rush by in gestalt sytle - this is, in increasingly abstract forms - speeds up experiences into a dangerous topsy-turvy fast-forward comedy.  Our need for rapid disposal eliminates the details that bewitch, hold, or delay the children.  Are is one rescue from this chaotic acceleration.  Meter in poetry, tempo in music, form and color in painting.  But we do feel that we are speeding earthward, crashing into our gaves.  'If these were just words,' I said to Rosamund.  'But I feel it every day.  Powerless thinking itself eats up what is left of life...'" 192

"Men were freshly killed and be-headed.  The heads were set aside.  The researcher who recorded all this said they were a currency used in wife-purchase.  That's why headhunters hunt heads." 193

Book Related Incident

Here's a less than important story, that is really irksome for a book lover.

When reading a hardcover book (most of my books are hardcover), I always take the dust jacket off first so that I don't ruin it when I read.  I generally put the jacket on my book shelf on top of other books, so it doesn't get crushed.  After I do my summary, I put the dust jacket back on the book and return it in it's entirety to my shelf.  When I was reading "A Man Without A Country," I took off the dust jacket as normal, completed my review, and was going to put the cover on... but for whatever reason, I can't find it.

Since I'm so meticulous, the first thing I think is that my girlfriend moved it... though I probably placed it somewhere in haste.  The spirit of Vonnegut is now hiding somewhere in my condo.  So it goes.

One Hundred Years of Solitude | Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This book has been labeled a "modern epic" in many circles and the title was interesting, so I thought I'd give "One Hundred Years of Solitude" a read.  If it wasn't for my policy of never abandoning a book, I would not have finished.

Marquez portrays the history of a society called Macondo, which is near the coast of Columbia, and details the town's rise and inevitable fall.  The story revolves around the central family, the Buendia's, over their hundred year history since the settlement of the town.

One of the most talked about critisms of the book is the naming convention of the characters.  The Jose Arcadios, represent a reckless bunch of men who's extravagence dooms them for failure while the Aureliano's lead a hermetic existence dedicated to knowledge through literature, as opposed to life.  Both sets of men are dreamers and thus, the women in the story are inevitably the ones who provide structure through hard work... lead by the Ursula's.  The Amaranta's seemed to be a mixed bag... filled with the extremism exhibited by the rest of the family.

Marquez continues to repeat his point, that life is circular and that the mistakes of generations are repeated in subsequent generations.  While the repetition of the character names becomes annoying at times, it does have a point.  While Marquez compares the characters and their inability to learn through the generations to Latin America, this concept can be applied all over the world.  The definition of ignorance is doing the same thing and expecting different results.  Humans have a tendency to do this independent of their location in the world, and it's really inevitable that this will be part of our downfall as a species... particularly as to how it relates to the environment.

This book falls into the genre of "magic realism", which combines events that would never happen (like nearly five years of straight rain) with ordinary events.  I didn't mind the literary device, but I don't think it made the novel any more enjoying.  By contrast, the use of this technique in "The Satanic Verses" was more effective to me... and since it dealt with the concept of religion, this made it much more interesting.

The characters in this novel, I found I could not get behind emotionally.  I didn't really care for any of them, and the lack of dialogue in this book painted them as characters who were just there and not people who you could relate to.  The story was told to you in such a way, that it became repetitive and didn't interest me.  First this happens, then this... with this outcome.  Then, this happens...  *yawn*.

I also found it interesting that I only wrote down one quote through the book... and this was largely attributed to the way this book was written.  Nothing really interesting was presented that will live on in my memories over time, which is one of the main reasons why I generally read the classics.  This book did nothing for me, and was one of my greatest disappointments in 2009.

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QUOTATION
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"...the search for lost things is hindered by routine habits and that is why it is so difficult to find them." 247

A Man Without a Country | Kurt Vonnegut Jr

Let me preface this by saying that I have only read two works by Vonnegut, but both have put me in the classification as a fan. “Slaughterhouse Five”, on the bombing of Dresden, was a good book... but I can’t say that it has stuck with me very much over time. The opposite is true of one of his lesser known works entitled “The Galapagos”, which is a satire on human evolution. Vonnegut’s prognosis on the human race is that we’re failing due to one particular genetic defect: the fact that we have huge brains. His argument in the book is that, for humans to evolve as a species, we need to evolve to have smaller brains. I find this hilarious, truthful and fascinating all at the same time.


The other thing about Vonnegut that resonates with me, is that we ended up working for the same company [we’re both Scorpio’s as well] at one point in our respective careers. Vonnegut’s father grew up working in the arts and strongly advocated Kurt getting a degree that was a little more substantial. At one point he worked in public relations for one of the largest corporate conglomerates in the world... and I laugh at how horrible the fit probably was. I see that as a great work of satire in and of itself.

This brief interlude gives you an idea on where my headspace is coming from as I review this work, “A Man Without a Country”. The novel was published in 2005 when Vonnegut was 82 years old, and is a “collection of articles written over the last 5 years” since his previous published work, “God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian,” published in 1999. Less than two years after “A Man Without a Country” was published, Vonnegut (God Bless him – ‘a joke, since Vonnegut was deeply Unreligious) passed at the ripe age of 84. So it goes.

Now that we have all that background stuff out of the way, let’s talk about the book. “A Man Without a Country” is filled with a bunch of world musings by Vonnegut. Most are the standard “humans killing the planet,” “the United States is hated by all with good reason”, “Politicians are idiots and the system breeds them that way,” etc. All this stuff resonates, and Vonnegut provides us with some great humour... but it’s the same shtick we’ve heard from everyone that has any intelligence whatsoever. However, there are little gems in here that maybe aren’t as common... such as a nice little portrayal of why Vonnegut wouldn’t order envelopes sent to his house (for his manuscripts), but would rather walk to the store and interact with people and the world in general. It’s true that lots of us have lost this – we lose a lot of valuable life by absorbing ourselves in virtual worlds. And as Vonnegut said, we’re supposed to be dancing animals.

The one thing that stands out to me in the old age of Vonnegut, is that he’s given up. He declares that we’re already doomed and there is nothing we can do about it anymore. This may be true... but you don’t start revolutions by telling people they will fail. We probably will, but Gandhi didn’t tell Indians that they should just give up their salt and play by the rules. My intention is not to compare Gandhi to Vonnegut by any means, but I would think that someone on the edge of his life would be more concerned with making a difference than telling people things are hopeless.

That being said, I enjoyed the book for what it was – it had some good satirical points by commenting on what we’ve done to society and the world, but it didn’t suggest ways to improve things or introduce any new concepts. For Vonnegut, I found this book to be a bit “tired”, and that left some sort of negative undertone on the book for me as a whole. That being said, I’m glad I read it and there are things about it that I hope will stick with me as I go about my life until my own... “so it goes”.

Literature | 2009 in Review

In case I don't get to it around the holidays, I'm going to post a list of the books I read in 2009.  I've managed to get through 20 (if you don't count the children's book by Tolkien), which matches my last year's total. 

When I look at the last book list versus this one, I'm surprised to find less favourites here than last year which had some greats.  That being said, I was glad to get through a bunch of classics this year with the book club, and hopefully we'll be able to keep up the pace in 2010.  Please check out the reviews below [they may be helpful for holiday gift giving].

Asimov, Isaac.  I, Robot
Bradbury, Ray.  Farenheit 451
Bronte, Emily.  Wuthering Heights
Brown, Dan.  Angels & Demons
Card, Orson Scott.  Ender in Exile
His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler.  The Art of Happiness at Work
Dickens, Charles.  A Christmas Carol
Dostoevsky, Fyodor.  Crime and Punishment
Forster, E.M. A Passage to India
Freeman, Ru.  A Disobedient Girl
Gladwell, Malcolm.  Outliers
Hemingway, Ernest.  A Farewell to Arms
Hemingway, Ernest.  The Sun Also Rises
Huxley, Aldous.  Point Counter Point
Kafka, Franz.  The Trial
Leahy, Michael.  When Nothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan's Last Comeback
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia.  One Hundred Years of Solitude
More, Sir Thomas.  Utopia
Swift, Jonathan.  Gulliver's Travels
Tolkien, J.R.R. Bilbo's Last Song
Vonnegut, Kurt.  A Man Without a Country

Best book of 2009: Farenheit 451
Worst book of 2009: A Disobedient Girl
Most Likely to 'stick in your head': The Trial
Most Difficult to Read: Utopia
Biggest Disappointment: I, Robot; One Hundred Years of Solitude
Best Quotations: Point Counter Point

The Art of Happiness at Work | HH, The Dalai Lama & Howard Cutler, MD

His Holiness, The Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler have teamed up again to create "The Art of Happiness at Work", another book in "The Art of Happiness series."  This is the first book I have read in the series, and most likely my last.

Dr. Cutler is a psychologist and has come up with a framework of questions he wishes to ask the Dalai Lama.  Cutler meets with him every couple of evenings to discuss the nuances of happiness at work.  The examples often presented as a supplement to the Dalai Lama's answers are sometimes anecdotal and come from Dr. Cutler's personal life.  Occasionally, these examples are poor and stray from the point being made.  In addition, Dr. Cutler thinks too much like a scientist and not enough like a spiritual being.  I will concede that this is a difficult challenge that Cutler is working on, but it does make the questions he asks lack a certain something - they seem to be too literal.  Defining something without a common definition is a daunting task; but something that western society continually tries to accomplish.

That said, Dr. Cutler is able to take broad Budhist concepts from the Dalai Lama's answers and sometimes make them applicable to our jobs.  With such a variety of people reading this book, it would be difficult to cover all bases... and Dr. Cutler does his best with this difficult task.

The Dalai Lama once again proves to be a complex man, with simple principles.  His warmth and humour shines through this book, but so does his intelligence and interest in science and humanity.  There are some great tidbits that come through him in this book, despite a lot of general principles on enlightenment.  As you read, you must remember that the study of Budhism is about inner development and as such, you will find no simple solutions in here.  What is presented is both perspective and tips to develop understanding of self.

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QUOTATIONS
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"You shouldn't confuse contentment with complacency." (HHDL) 28

"He reminds us that if we can change some of the external conditions at the workplace that contribute to our dissatisfaction, we certainly should.  If not, although it is always easy or quick, it is still possible to be happy at work through reshaping our attitudes and outlook, through inner training." (Cutler) 34

"I think it is important to remember that in all human activities, whether it is work or some other activity, the main purpose should be to benefit human beings." (HHDL) 37

"You must take some initiative, even from your first day on the job, aand try to show some friendship to others, introduce yourself, say hello, ask how long have you worked here, and so on." (HHDL) 39

"They may use these challenging situations as part of their spiritual practice, and view situations where there are conflicts with difficult co-workers as opportunities to practice these wonderful human qualities, to strengthen these spiritual values." (HHDL) 45-46

"Those who never lose sight of the purpose of money and have the ability to relate to money with a healthy perspective, even though such people may actually possess less money, will enjoy a greater sense of well-being with regard to wealth and money.  So, ironically, they may be poorer in terms of actual material wealth but they are in reality richer, for they are able to understand the true worth of money, and are freed from the unrealistic expectations about what wealth will provide." (HHDL) 61

"If you just think about your own viewpoint and you have no willingness to open yourself to opposing viewpoints, there will be no room for growth or improvement." (HHDL) 73

"Those who view their work as a calling tend to have significantly higher work satisfaction, as well as overall life satisfaction, than those who view work as a job or career." (Cutler) 99

"You would think that our view of our work depends on the nature of the job.  In some jobs - for example, some kinds of unskilled labor, or what are considered menial jobs - you would think that people would see their job just as a means to earn money, while a social worker or a nurse or a doctor would see it more as a calling.  But it is not the case that there is a division based on the job.  In fact, the very same study that identified the three primary categories of how we view work found that there was the same division, no matter what the particular field or job." (Cutler) 108

"He (Martin Seligman) recommends choosing work where you can naturally use these strengths.  But if you can't do that, then he suggests recrafting your present job to use these strengths as much as possible." (Cutler) 121

"I would also list an agitated state of mind as another obstacle for greater self-understanding.  Since self-understanding demands a certain ability to focus on one's own abilities and personal character, a constantly agitated mind simply will not have the space to enter into any serious self-reflection." (HHDL) 128

"Not only is he assured of his position as Dalai Lama througout his liftime, but he is guaranteed the same job in numberless future lifetimes as well.  That's job security." (Cutler) 150

"The Buddhist concept of right livelihood means that you strive to engage in an activitiy that has no potential for being harmful to others, either directly or indirectly." (HHDL) 162

"And in the modern world particularly, and in industrialized nations where many people do have opportunities to choose the kind of job they take, I think it is best to choose work that does not cause harm to others, that does not exploit or deceive others, either directly or indirectly.  I think that's the best way." (HHDL) 171

"But a wider definition of 'productive labour,' one based on being of some benefit to others, may provide us with many new sources of satisfaction that can sustain our sense of pride and accomplishment even during the inevitable slow periods of our career." (Cutler) 185

"In summarizing some of the literature on the subject, James Harter, Frank Schmidt, and Corey Keys report, 'As much as a fifth to a quarter of the variation in adult life satisfaction can be accounted for by satisfaction with work.' While on the surface this may not appear to be a high number, when one takes into account all of the variables that may affect life satisfaction, including martial status, social supports outside of work, health, and other life circumstances, one can begin to appreciate the tremendous role that work can potentially play in a happy and satisfied life." (Cutler) 188

"The way people perceive the world is much more important to happiness than objective circumstances." (Cutler) 196

"Some made their way through the crowd introducing themselves, and as I would later mention to the Dalai Lama, the most common question was 'What do you do?'  They seemed to have a talent for sizing you up - within sixteen nanoseconds, they could determine if there was any way that you could be useful to them.  If not, they were soon off, jostling their way through the room to meet someone more important." (Cutler) 202

"The employer also, the management, the organization, all play a role in setting the tone of the workplace environment, and have an impact on the happiness of the employees, and of course if we are to discuss wider issues of ethics in business, the economy, and so on, that is another thing..." (HHDL) 206