Books afoot

Great artists fancy that they have taken full possession of a soul. In reality, and often to their painful disappointment, that soul has only been made more capacious and insatiable, so that a dozen greater artists could plunge into its depths without filling it up.
(Nietzsche, in Human, All-Too-Human)

Old Fred describes them well enough, the feelings I experience with regard to books these days. Being a bum with lots of spare time, there is room, and also, luckily, ample inspiration for reading a lot. Sharing is caring, and thus I will try and recommend or warn against the books I read, for the benefit of my fellow women (and men) back home.

I have, quite naturally, devised a rating system so ingenious as to cover everything that can be said of a book in four simple parameters:

1. Charlie Chaplins: Entertainment value
2. Vidkun Quislings: Treachery and doom
3. Virginia Woolfs: Beauty, poetic value
4. Martin Heideggers: Food for further thought

Books will rated from one to ten in these four respects, as well as a final verdict not necessarily the mean of these but more indicative of my general, subjective impression. Five is meant to be the average book, but this does not include books by idiots. Thus I imagine three and a half to four as the mean of all books written, and six to be a good score. Such are the values ascribed, if anybody needs a guideline:

0 Utterly Worthless
1 Horrible
2 Awful
3 Half-Assed
4 Flawed
5 Fair Enough
6 Good
7 Very Good
8 Outstanding
9 Flawless
10 The Stuff of Legend

In general, I am happy to recieve suggestions as to further reading, especially within my priorities at the moment, which in addition to leisure, are transcendentalism and ethics.

Books featured below (and counting):
1. Tom Wolfe: A Man in Full
2. Phillip Roth: The Plot Against America
3. Ken Wilber: A Brief History About Everything
4. Inga Clendinnen: Ambivalent Conquests: Spanish and Maya in the Yucatán 1517-70
5. Thomas Merton: Thoughts in solitude
6. Jim Handy: Gift of the Devil: A History of Guatemala
7. Virginia Woolf: To the Lighthouse
8. Virginia Woolf: The Waves
9. Che Guevara: The Motorcycle Diaries
10. Granta Magazine of New Writing, volume #71: Shrinks
11. Jamie O'Neill: At Swim, Two Boys
12. H.D. Thoreau: Walden, or: Life in the Woods
13. Hermann Hesse: Siddhartha
14. J.D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye

Books read, not yet reviewed:

Books carried:
Spinoza: Ethics
Mark Twain short story collection
The portable Emerson
F.W. Nietzsche: Human, All-Too-Human
Thomas Merton: New Seeds of Contemplation
GG Marquez: El coronel no tiene quien le escriba
Virginia Woolf: The Years

Books in demand:
The Bible, pocket version, alternatively the New Testament
Leo Tolstoy: War & Peace (found it, but discarded because of weight)
Thomas Hylland Eriksen: Small Places, Large Issues
Anything by Ken Wilber
Evolutionary theory, both scientific and intelligent design authors


1. Tom Wolfe: A man in full
Fiction, ca 700pp

I was gifted this book by my friendly host Adam in Atlanta. Having been there added to the experience of reading it at it is set in Georgia and Atlanta, but regardless of knowing this place it’s no waste of time. A man in full is a witty story of different men (they’re all men) and their struggle for power, survival and identity in a state where ethnicity is a question never far from the surface. A little too long, but still a fairly light read, the book is accessible, entertaining and provides a better, although superficial, understanding of black and white in modern US, at least for a foreign novice.

Charlie says: 6
Vidkun says: 4
Virginia says: 7
Martin says: 4

Verdict: 5 - Decent

2. Philip Roth: The plot against America
Fiction, ca 350pp

Without revealing too much, at least no more than on the cover, this book fictionally explores a United States wherein the right-wingers take power in the crucial ’41 elections and the slide towards US fascism, seemingly never too far away in the first place. The prominent historical characters are real, and thus this is an alternative history as described by an author who was a young Jew in America at that point, seen from his own eyes as the young Philip. Although initially a somewhat disappointing affair because of high expectations, this keeps growing on me in retrospect and the ‘what really happened’ section in the back is great. The reflection upon and the urge to learn more about US history is better than the book itself, but the book inspires these urges.

Charlie says: 6
Vidkun says: 6
Virginia says: 6
Martin says: 6

Verdict: 6 - Good


3. Ken Wilber: A brief history of everything
Philosophy, ca 300pp

This relatively small book serves as an introduction to Wilber’s thoughts and heavier works for the general public. Among the most interesting books I’ve ever read, this one is possibly for people already occupied with – although not necessarily experts on - psychological, philosophical and spiritual questions. It is highly accessible for dealing with such deep matters.

Wilber outlines his all-level, all-quadrant theory intent on integrating different schools of thought regarding evolution and development in the physical, internal and cultural spheres (quadrants). He thus makes a stab at including both science and subject, a problem that has caused much confusion of theory since the enlightenment and the death of subjectivity. Highly interesting are also his descriptions of the higher stages of consciousness, the first of which provides the best explanation I’ve found so far of peak experiences I’ve had myself.

On the negative side, I don't immediately buy all the claims of Wilber, and some of it seems thinly argued for. This may be better in the more 'serious works' of his. Also, the book is poorly written and I hate the dialogue-form and the humour, as well as some of the attempts at eloquence and poetry. Hopefully this will not be as prevalent in more academic books by Wilber, and surely not in the scores of other writers he has inspired me to read up on.

Charlie says: 5
Vidkun says: N/A
Virginia says: 3
Martin says: 9

Verdict: 8.5 - Though flawed, intensely inspiring and bethinking


4. Inga Clendinnen: Ambivalent conquests: Maya and Spaniard in the Yucatán 1517-1570
History/Anthropology, ca 250pp

Focusing on the early years of the conquest and the changes it brought for the indigenous population, this book is much more than that. It is a work of beauty and interpretation, offering insights into the workings of both the minds and actions of conquistadors and the fransiscan monks trying to convert the population, as well as the power struggles (ecclestiastical vs secular power, bishop vs monk as well as indigenous vs the white man). Perhaps due to her anthropological background, Clendinnen, an Australian, by the way, goes further with regard to (qualified) guessing as to the thoughts and actions of the indigenous population than most historians would; the book is actually divided into different sections according to the two groups in the title. Much time is spent delving into the missionaries, their power, their mind and their work, especially explaining what would lead to the inquisitious proceedings that took place. It is an eerie and believable account of the evil actions of men with the best - although stupid and dogmatically religious - intent.

The book is eloquently written, as well as inspiring; I love its somewhat informal tone, allowing for a language less boring and academic; also, among its sinews is its assiduity concerning the employment of locutions intent on assuaging even the most recalcitrant adversary of plain English. I imagine her editor; instead of emending the book in order to extirpate the apposite verbalisations and bridle her facundious penchant, he (or she) silently acquiesced. That being said, it's not so much about the inaccessibility of her language as a whole, rather about the infatuation with - and frequent use of - some unnecessary expressions which, once you know them, will be pleasing to you. By the way, here are the words I looked up, which will have you well on your way to understanding both the book and the previous sentences:

attrition - the wearing down over time by constant pressure
exigency - urgency
intrepid - bold, as in a person or undertaking
jealous - wary of losing position
assuage - relieve
deference - obedience/yielding/respect
extirpate - root out
the assiduity of their mortification - the insistency of their self-denial
sinew - source of strength (possibly one of many, from muscle fibres)
imputation - attribution
concupiscence - lust/desire
apposite - relevant/in question
recalcitrant - stubbornly defiant
emend - improve by critical editing
punning - light ramming
accretion - contribution to growth
acquiesce - agree/comply without question

Charlie says: 6
Vidkun says: 8
Virginia says: 7
Heidegger says: 6

Verdict: 7 - Recommended

Highly enjoyable for anyone remotely interested in the questions discussed.


5.Thomas Merton: Thoughts in solitude
Religion/Philosophy, short and handy (pocket-size)

Thomas Merton was a 20th-century Catholic monk writing scores of spiritual books and engaging in dialogue with such heretics as Dalai Lama, my wikipedia tells me. I came across this little book sitting alone, sick and miserable, missing the recently departed Loren; surprisingly, in this mix there was room for a contemplative mood as well: I was eating at the horrendously named D'Noz in beautiful San Pedro de la Laguna, Guatemala, as I realized that 'Noz carried a wide selection of interesting books, most of them novels; my eyes, however, fell on the very small religious section - I was actually looking up something in the Bible, wondering what the hell Jesus meant about the birds and the flowers in the sermon on the mount - when I spied this alluring title, apparently the literary manifestation of what I was, and to a wide extent, am on about these days. Part of its attraction was also its small size, to be swallowed over no more than a couple o' hours when drinking coffee and smoking and whatnot. The book, then; initially general, wise and inspirational, with regard to meditation and the benefits of occasional solitude, it soon turns too specifically religious for my tastes and thus is not the best choice for people not heavily into Christianity. This being said, I was sufficiently enchanted by parts of this book to give brother Merton a second chance when I saw a larger work, "New Seeds of Contemplation" in a used book store. I like liberal Christians and am interested in all approaches to spirituality; I look forward to reporting on the second book. As for this little baby:

Charlie says: 3
Vidkun says: 2
Virginia says: 5
Martin says: 6

Verdict: 4 - Hardly worth the time

For the especially interested, ie Catholic monks or students of theology.


6. Jim Handy: Gift of the Devil: A history of Guatemala
History, ca. 300pp

A Canadian and thus, presumably, a relatively trustworthy historian, Jim Handy has written an interesting and accessible introduction to the Guatemalan past, seen from different perspectives, repeatedly critical towards the US influence, both business and political (not that there is a difference in the case of the US) as well as the Guatemalan military regimes and the land-owning elite all the way up from the conquistadors. Of few weaknesses were the tendency to repeat oneself somewhat when discussing things from different angles, and that my version was published in '84 during the civil war and does not recount the post-war development - to the extent that the last word can be employed. As I know Clendinnens work to be, I believe this is a textbook in various university courses for some - lucky, I would say - students.

Charlie: 5
Vidkun: 6
Virginia: 5
Martin: 6

Verdict: 6 - Good


7. Virginia Woolf: To the Lighthouse
Fiction, ca 300pp

Now, to the eloquent lady herself. How to pay the respects due? Near-impossible. Actually, I was starting here on the review of 'The Waves', but found that I had to break my circle of chronologically reviewing the works I have read on my journey in order to insert this magnificent book, read this spring before my departure.

'To the lighthouse' is, among several things, a triumph of the use of the English language. Myself, I am far from being an expert in English literature; even so, as the keen reader of my blog may have noted, I have leanings towards both English in general and little-used, often archaic expressions in particular. Thus it is worth commenting right away that while some readers may find Mrs. Woolf's style excessive and complicated, inacessible even, I take pleasure in having to look up the odd word and having to read some sentences twice to decipher their meaning. For adamant haters of any pretentious or ostentatious or whatever you would call such a use of English, I recommend Hemingway, rather; more stripped-down and to the point language-wise, his prose is still decidedly inspired and beautiful.

The difficulty of tapping into the flow of words in 'To the Lighthouse' is twofold: not only does Woolf employ a large vocabulary, she also uses the stream-of-conciousness style allowing for the descripion of the constant, imperfect and impermanent ebbs and flows of our faculties, of our perception both external and internal. This all leads to long and flighty sentences, which in spite of themselves seem lighter because of the talent that went into their composition. The style also alters traditional narration, as we jump from one character to another, acquainting ourselfs with their interpretations of their world without and within. For readers in search of a plot and tangible transactions in general, they may have to look elsewhere.

Enough with the style. The book is, in addition to being a beautiful work of poetic prose, more than anything else a supremely insightful dive into the workings of our minds, the impermanence of memory, the subjectivity of perception and the ephemeral quality of life and experience in general. It is not without a certain melancholy air that this is described.

The shorter and middle of the three sections of the book, called 'the passing of time', breaks with the general narration (there is here a more obvious narrator) and describing just what the title suggests, it emphasises the impermanence of our existence and the changes a ten-year lapse can make, thus conveying the distance back to where one once was once the last section commences.

As Lily finally cries out for (the previously eminently described) Mrs. Ramsey long after her death I, the reader, am spurred to cry because of the beauty of it all, and because of the void that is transmitted. These are tears not of sadness, well, a tad melancholy it is, but foremost they are symbols of an aesthetic appreciation. Not the only time, I might add, that I've felt tears in my eyes when reading Virginia Woolf, as has not yet been the case with any other author.

Charlie says: 5
Vidkun says: 5
Leo Tolstoi, on the aesthetics panel in Virginia's absence, says: 10
Martin says: 8

Verdict: 9 - Classic

Although open to the possibility of a book being better, I wouldn't need one to be, at least not aesthetically speaking. It might be added that this is my favourite book.


8. Virginia Woolf: The Waves
Fiction, ca 300pp

My only book before this by Virginia Woolf was the more famous 'To the Lighthouse'; that book, as even readers with anterograde amnesia may recall, blew me away. It made me swear that I would read all that she has written, and then cry because there is no more to be had. That is why I was happy to find several works by VW in a Xela bookstore - a short digression: you can't say touristiness is good for nothin' when used bookstores pop up in Latin America that sell great works in English for next to nothing, even giving you half the ridiculous price back when changing it in again. Not being too familiar with the authorship of Virginia, I just settled on two books relatively light to carry, 'The Years' (yet to be read) and 'The Waves', the latter described as among her most experimental works. Knowing that a challenge lay before me, I nevertheless dug in undaunted and found that there was much beauty to be found. Even so, after a 100 pp I stagnated somewhat, due to sickness I believe, and the rest of the experience was a broken-up affair, never quite re-entering my Virginial space but reading a few pages here and there with other books in-between, finally finishing it off in Todos Santos before I went to Mexico, not because I really refound inspiration but because I didn't want to carry it forever.

Let me comment on the book's form and theme; the waves of the title are the lives of men, growing from calm waters to their steady pounding of the shores midday to their ultimate recession come nightfall. Thus the book is divided into sections, numbering about nine I'm guessing, each of them introduced by a description of the passing of a day, with light, waves, birds and trees going about their business as the time of day commands, in beautiful, poetic passages of about two pages. The story itself is about six people, three men and three women, followed throughout their lives; they grow up in, as far as can be told, Virginia Woolf's contemporary England, but this is relatively unimportant. The narration consists of their voices taking turns to relate passages; although the form '..., said Bernard' is used, he far from said much at all, it is rather his own inner voice observing subjectively on feelings and events taking place, although brilliantly doing so, as if they were supremely self-insightful. The characters thus become everyday sages interpreting their lives perfectly and beautifully; despite their realizing the workings of their nature, to the extent that they themselves are 'speaking' and not a parallel self, they do not do much to alter the course of their lives, it seems untouchable, predestined even. But this, again, could be from themselves not realizing 'their' thoughts that we are privy to, as it seems more of a peek into their brain, their unconcious, even.

Struggling this book I realised one needs a certain amount of energy surplus when reading Virginia Woolf, and also that it can be very hard to - in the words used in the previous review - tap into the flow. This means this book is completely different depending on the reader being able to find the energy, the sentiment and the solitude, preferably, to connect with the flow of words and thoughts and sentiments conveyed in the book. Detached from this, it is boring and difficult, and suddenly Virginia seems more ostentatious (showy) and worthless, as I suspect 'To the Lighthouse' would if the reading conditions were not met. Obviously this goes for the reading of any book, but moreso with Virginia Woolf than other authors I've read, you must be in the zone to appreciate her fully, or possibly, at all. Drifting in and out of this zone it occured to me that the book's latter half was less inspired than the first, but this could just as well have been me. Again, Virginia Woolf offers beautifully written prose and provides ample evidence for her understanding of man. But no distractions are essential to a successful read, and thus to what might have been a review more in favour of this definitely interesting book. Even so, keen to exuse my beloved Virginia as I am, it is hard to disregard the possibility that the qualities inherent to the book, and not just me, were at least part of my problems. Such it reflects on the scoreboard, with the possibility of this book growing vastly on the next encounter; I imagine myself ploughing through the collected works of Virginia Woolf in 40 years time, pipe-in-mouth, feet clad in ridiculous but comfy checkered slippers, my deteriorating body lodged in my Chesterfield chair, the fireplace lit in the library of my castle somewhere on the British isles.

Charlie says: 4
Vidkun says: 4
Leo says: 8
Martin says: 6

Verdict: 6 - Good

9. Che Guevara: The Motorcycle Diaries
Sporadic Diary, ca. 5 hrs

Instead of the ludicrous number of pages, which says absolutely nothing due to differences in fonts and also the understandability and flow of the material at hand, I am now giving an estimate as to how long it took me to read the book. This, my friends, is short, and is read in an afternoon. It is the own words of the revolutionary hero we see, in a somewhat, to this reader, surprisingly poetic and intelligent pen, describing his and his friend's classic motorcycle journey from Argentina up to Venezuela, where some the bones of sympathy were shaped - from which the full-fledged revolutionary was later to be fleshed out. Not too original or too interesting for non-fans, but still a light and enjoyable read.

Charlie mimes a 6
Vidkun betrays a 3
Virginia eloquently conjures a 5
Martin doubts the genuineness of his 5

Verdict: 5 - Decent


10. Granta Magazine of New Writing, volume #71: Shrinks
- THIS REVIEW WILL BE SLIGHTLY DELAYED DUE TO NOTES IN REMOTE PLACES -
Short stories and articles, ca. 10 hrs

The Granta Magazine is, as the name indicates, a collection of new or just lesser-known interesting writers and writings, each edition loosely connected by a theme. Not all the entries in this issue stuck to the theme, though, without that mattering to me. Even so, I was hoping for some profound insight into psychiatry, but there was not too much of a serious approach to be found, just shrinks being parts of several of the stories in different ways.


11. Jamie O'Neill: At Swim, Two Boys
Fiction, ca. 25 hrs

It's a relatively huge book, and it's tough to get into; we're in Ireland in 1915, following events up to the Easter revolution in 1916 through some young Dublin boys. The boys are gay but when you're living in this place at that time most young gays would hardly even have the vocabulary to describe or understand what they are. It's a nice enough plot; there's growing up, there's the Irish history and being gay in a Catholic community that regards even sex for reproductional purposes with a wary eye. The thing is, though, that at least for this reader it's a rough ride in the beginning because the language, it seems, is very well kept in line with the times, and it's not so much it being advanced as it being different that puts me off, words meaning other things than they usually do and combinations of perfectly normal words being hard to interpret, or at least, hard to follow the flow of. For any connoisseur of the classic Irish literature, though, I doubt they would feel the same way, and also, I got better after a while. Actually, come to think of it, I am sure it would be helpful reading a novel like this before, for instance, Ulysses, making the latter easier to get through; I wouldn't know, but they say that classic's heavy, and the language issue discussed here could be part of it. Anyway, to round off, it's a fairly entertaining and interesting novel; well-written in its difficult way, to the extent that I can tell; a touch of Ireland and gayness it is indeed, but it's probably not going to change your life, as they say.

Charlie: 5
Vidkun: 4
Virginia: 6
Martin: 4

Verdict: 5 - Readworthy


12. H.D. Thoreau: Walden, or: Life in the Woods
Nonfiction/Philosophy, ca. 10 hrs

Now this time the expectations were way up. Thoreau builds this hut in the woods, living delivberately, sucking the marrow out of life, and not wanting to die having discovered that he had not lived and all that. Having said that much, I'm not about to slaughter this little American classic of the so-called New England transcendentalism, where the belief in the possibility of spiritual evolution and the importance of harmony with nature were central, the latter particularily the object of the book in question. The reason for my disappointment was rather that I thought it could be one of those few life-changers, when indeed it was not, just an interesting book. There are many ideas worth considering, among them about the necessity of a simple life and the stripping away of all that is superflous to pure living. There is also lengthy descriptions of nature and the communion with the same; this description of unity can also be said to reflect the next stage of consciousness described by Ken Wilber, as well as Arne Naess' foundation for deep ecology. 'What is good for the grass, is good for me', Thoreau says, words echoed by Arne Naess elsewhere. The endless descriptions of animals and trees and the depth of ponds, though, I could very well do without, perhaps partly because I know Virginia Woolf and how she can describe things in an infinitely more readworthy way. Anyhow, for those with romantic/philosophical/ecological leanings, this is time well spent.

Charlie: 4
Vidkun: 3
Virginia: 5
Martin: 8

Verdict: 6 - Good


13. Hermann Hesse: Siddhartha
Fiction, 5 hrs

Or even less! This beautiful little baby is read in a second, and I'm going to read it again. It is the story of Siddhartha and his search for enlightenment, very much like the one pursued by the Buddha himself and probably based on his story. Even so, it is not ment to be THE Buddha, which also figures in the book. What can I say? It is a lovely, inspiring little book that serves any Westerner well as an introduction to Eastern thinking, and is fairly entertaining in itself.

Charlie: 6
Vidkun: 4
Virginia: 7
Martin: 9

Verdict: 8 - Highly Recommended


14. J.D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye
Fiction, 5 hrs

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's another classic, so they say. This one 'highly controversial to this day' one internet article claims. Let me tell you something, gramps: a disillusioned sixteen year-old boy using profane langue, dropping out of a couple of private schools and having drunken brushes with prostitution is no longer shocking to anyone, in fact, to the parents of inner-city school kids, this is the BEST they can hope for, as long as their kids are off crack they're happy. Jizz. Yeah, I'm sure it was shocking in the States in the fifties. This is Europe, 2007. It's a kid's book and a fairly boring American classic, but, I'll tell you what's good about it. It does put into words the disillusionment that many, especially young people, feel with the fakeness of most people and the apparent random conventions we blindly adhere to. It also has a peculiar style, a very simple, oral-sounding language that is interesting to come across and at the same time very easy for readers not too fond of, or used to, reading English. Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe this particular recommendation will ever reach any in the latter group.

Chaplin: 5
Quisling: 5
Woolf: 5
Heidegger: 6

Verdict: 5 - Decent