This photo taken in San Jeromino, Honduras in 2004. I'm standing next to the bells at the Catholic Church in the center of the town. To read about my 2005 trip to Honduras, click here.
This tiring week has finally come to an end. Here are a few quotes from my readings over the past couple weeks… Enjoy and why don't you let me know what you are reading. What interesting books have you discovered? I'd to know.
The grizzly instilled enforced humility…
- Doug Peacock, Walking It Off
There is always the temptation to see your own survival as a clear reflection of the favor of the gods. Fortunate and favored, the survivor stands in the midst of countless fallen comrades. For the buck sergeant, outlasting your buddies may produce guilt; but for the modern masters of war, I think, for the generals, it is the unblocking of power. The greater the number of dead, the bigger the heap of bodies, the more clearly the favor of the gods confirms their invulnerability. After Hitler survived the bomb designed to take his life, that killed almost everyone in the room except him, he concluded: “Providence had kept me alive to complete my great work.” The butcherous trails left by the compulsive campaigns of kings, dictators, and generals confirm this murderous pride.
-Doug Peacock, Walking It Off
I dream of great walks…
-Edward Abbey, from his journals, as quoted by Doug Peacock, Walking It Off
I am haunted by landscapes…
-Doug Peacock, Walking It Off
I, too, dream of great walks and am haunted by landscapes... -Sage writing to his blog
I guess he's got what some folks ashore call a conscience; it's a kind of Tic-Dolly-row they say - worse nor a toothache. Well, well; I don't know what it is, but the Lord keep me from catching it.
-Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Don't whale it too much a' Lord's days, men; but don't miss a fair chance either, that's rejecting Heaven's good gifts.
-Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Standing orders on whaling ships: "Keep your weather eye open, and sing out every time."
-Herman Melville, Moby Dick
The Mahatma had, indeed, been a difficult person for the British to deal with. Truth, to Gandhi, was the ultimate reality. Gandhi’s truth, however, had two facets, the absolute and the relative. Man, as long as he was in the flesh, had only fleeting intimations of Absolute Truth. He had to deal with relative truth in his daily existence… One of Gandhi’s disciples: “How can you say one thing last week, and something quite different this week?” “Ah,” Gandhi replied, “because I have learned something since last week.”
Collins and Lapierre, Freedom at Midnight
On the Indian Congress Party’s attempts to protect Gandhi: “you will never know how much it has cost the Congress Party to keep that old man in poverty.”
Collins and Lapierre, Freedom at Midnight
I dream of great walks, but no hauntings.
ReplyDeleteI just started One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. It was suggested reading, but so far I'm not impressed.
The November/December issue of Penthouse Forum. Unlike your other commenter, I am quite impressed with the stories.
ReplyDeleteNot really but since you already know the answer, I had to come up with something.
I doubt you'd be interested in my current reading material, Sage. One is called "Oh MY Stars" by Jodi Picault and the other is an out of print book titled "Winged Pharoah" by Joan Grant.
ReplyDeleteBeing haunted by landscapes is one of my favorite hobbies.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Wladyslaw Szpilman's autoboigraphy "The Pianist" (Film of same name with Adrian Brody is based on this). The book is about a Polish Jew's survival in Warsaw after 1939. Difficult book emotionally, but totally worth it, for it really makes you thankful for life "in these terrible times were in" (after all, tis' the season and all). Having family members that went through similar ordeals in the same city gives me a sense of resilience about my spirit, but also about humanity's spirit.
This is my second post. Does this mean I'm not a "lurker" anymore? I pride myself on liking to watch. Hmmmmm.
-Peace!
From a travel perspective, I really enjoyed Bill Bryson's In A Sunburned Country. I also really liked his Short History of Nearly Everything.
ReplyDeleteto kontan - I just read my first Evanovich - Four to Score - I thought it was pretty good - light and fluffy and entertaining
Kontan, I actually dream of great walks through haunting landscapes!
ReplyDeleteMurf, always the smart one, aren't you!
Kenju, interesting titles, I haven't heard of them at all, what are they about?
Angelless, that book sounds interesting, I think you need to move out of the sciences and into the humantites and teach Polish lit! Thanks for posting and not lurking.
Diane, Bryson is great and I enjoyed In a Sunbrunt Country and have recommended it to many, inlcuding my neighbors who are down under traveling as I write. Haven't read the other.
I have two magazine subscriptions, Outside and Adventure. It is all I can do right now to stay only a month or two behind in reading them. One of these days, I'm going to be able to read again instead of household chores.
ReplyDeleteI try, Sage. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've been reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I not sure yet what I feel about this work. It is definitely one of those novels in which one can fall in love with a character and find out that they are the devil and hate a character and find out that they are angels. It's one of those books I don't regret reading but I probably wouldn't recommend it for anybody's must list.
ReplyDeleteI came back to correct an error. I got the name of the author wrong in one: it is Lorna Landvik instead of Jodi P. Oh My Stars is more of a chick lit book. The other one was written in 1940 by a woman who claimed to be remembering a past life in Egypt.
ReplyDeleteSage!! Moby-Dick is one of my favorite books, ever! The narrator is so funny, and so obsessed --
ReplyDeleteI just finished Haruki Murakami's After The Quake. Every story in the collection is set in modern-day Japan, right after that big earthquake they had a few years back. Really strange stuff. And I'm in the middle of the new Best American Short Stories. There are always at least a few winners.
I'm definitely haunted by landscapes, as you probably know. I hope to go for a long walk on Wednesday -- it better not rain!
Ed, I use to read Outside, and I occassionally pick it up when flying someone. I've never subscribed to Adventure, but it's often available at the gym and I've read a few issues. Both have great photos.
ReplyDeleteMurf, I think it comes naturally
Tim, your little review almost makes me want to read Brown (finding angels to be demons and demons as angels). That's often true in life.
Kenju, I think my last "chic lit" book was the Nicholas Spark book, "The Notebook"
Ing, I read a youth's version of Moby Dick when I was in maybe the 6th grade--I'm enjoying it this time now. You seem to find the most interesting short story collections. I don't mid taking walks in the rain, when it not too cold, weather makes walks more interesing. But for your sake, may the sun shine brightly on Wednesday.
Sage - Have you ever read the story that was the basis for Moby Dick? "In the Heart of the Sea" and the "True Story of the Whaleship Essex" are two that I can think of.
ReplyDeleteI haven't Ed, but I notice that Philbrick's book on the Essex (Heart of the Sea) is available on Audio--in the unabridged format--so many it'll be my next gym book!
ReplyDeleteAnother great quote post!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading a couple stellar books about the farce that is globalization. THE BUSH AGENDA and MANIFESTO FOR A NEW WORLD ORDER. They may sound on the fringe but they are not. They're clearly written, rationally argued, and factually investigated indictments of the current version of globalization. And they argue for accountable, democratic alternatives. I hope to extensively quote from each, especially THE BUSH AGENDA, in the coming weeks.
Great work!
ReplyDeleteI really like the one not whale it too much on the Lord's day but don't miss given opportunities either!
V, I'll look forward to your reviews.
ReplyDeleteDeana, that quote came from the "Quaker" owners of the ship... as it was setting out to sea.