Bio
Latest
This Year
Last Year
Older
Music
Links
Profile
Notes
E-Mail
Diaryland
What I've Been Reading 2005-01-07 @ 10:41 a.m.
I've been doing a ton of reading lately. Thought I might share with you all what I've been digging my nose into, besides your personal lives revealed on the Internet :)
*The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, by Andrew Solomon -- I've had this book for a while; I must have gotten it over a year ago from my book club. In the past though, every time I tried to pick it up I couldn't really get into it. With some recent depression of my own, however, I found myself really able to get into it at last. There's some deep stuff in there that really makes you appreciate the difficulty of the human condition and how much difference small things can make. Also just how amazing people can be without even realizing it. There's some painful stuff in here, but from what I've read thusfar, I would recommend this book to anyone who has chronic depression problems. I don't know if others would really get it.
*Leave Myself Behind, by Bart Yates -- I found this in the gay fiction section at Borders, and was skeptical with the review that it had something to offer even to straight people. But it surprised me. This book started out fairly simply, and I kind of thought it would be simple there on in. But the story gets more complex and bittersweet as it goes along, and you learn about dark pains that have been going on the whole time but which the characters only become aware of later. All the characters were beautifully crafted, and the writing was done very well. I found a lot of new insight into familiar topics, like being gay, learning about your parents' fallibility and humanity, love, prejudice and other things. The main character's voice was really enjoyable in particular - its sarcastic but very honest. So while parts of this story are very sad, I definitely recommend it for everyone.
The Varieties of Religious Experience, by William James -- I've been gradually working on this one for awhile; each of the lectures is really profound, and I kind of like to take time to really digest what I find. Scientists may be skeptical when it comes to anecdotes, but even though people can't help but put a spin on things, it is amazing how much you can learn just by reading a spectrum of personal stories on a subject. I like the way James draws connections between things though and finds the common ground. I'm on the lecture on conversion experiences now, and its really interesting. He talks about it psychologically as being an experience that unifies a heretofore fractured personality that couldn't figure out its priorities and was thus in pain. He brings up an interesting point in that conversions aren't always necessarily religious. Some people find Jesus and are healed by that; some people reject religion alltogether and find healing though that path. I also liked the lecture on sick souls and how many people focus on the dark side of life because they feel it may have more to teach than the saccharine and temporary pleasures of earthly life. I can relate to that.
*The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, edited by Paul Rogat Loeb -- this is an amazing inspirational collection of writings by some of the activists I admire the most, and other great people I am new to. So many different experiences and angles, and even many different beliefs and backgrounds. Yet each of these writers shares something about humanity that is so reassuring - about how we can't judge our lives or others or the world by unrealistic standards; how we need to appreciate the unsung heroes and how the little things each of us do or don't do can make such a difference that we may never be fully aware of.
*The Seven Storey Mountain, by Thomas Merton - I'm just getting started with this one, but I'm looking forward to it.
*The Energy Medicine Kit by Donna Eden - This kit is really really hippie, but I don't care cause' its really a lot of fun. There's a DVD and CD and a crystal and a book all about "enercizes". Several of them don't seem to do much for me, but there are a couple that work really amazingly and are able to change my energy and mood within a minute. Donna is kinda flighty, but its cute - she's so happy to be a teacher, and its clear she loves what she does.
*Yiddish Proverbs and Slang -- I borrowed this from my grandmother and have been having fun with it. Its amazing how much Yiddish I already know without having even realized it! Knowing some cursory Hebrew, and German being fairly similar to English, I've been surprised to be able to read many of the proverbs in Yiddish and not need a translation. Here's a good one: "A gelechter hert men veiter vi a gevain -- Laugher is heard farther than weeping."
"Details in the Fabric" - May 31, 2009
Not So Quick Questions - April 6, 2009
The Morning Stars - Lords of the 15 - April 9, 2009
Sincerity and Faith in Magic - April 10, 2009
Not So Quick Questions (2) - April 14, 2009
|
CURRENT MOON moon phase |
