Denial of the Soul (1997) M. Scott Peck

My introduction to M. Scott Peck was the abridged audio version of this book, purchased when I regularly listened to books on tape at work, and preferred non-fiction to fiction. I listened to it several times, but when I chose physician assisted suicide as my topic for my legal/ethical issues in public health class, I felt that I wanted to read the entire book, and have it as a reference, for although I do not agree with all of what he says, I felt that he made many good points that I would want to expand upon for my project.

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Seeing as how I’m supposed to be reading for school and not for fun, it took me the better part of the semester to read this anthology. But that was a okay, as it allowed me to enjoy it for longer, and going back to look at some of the stories as I wrote this, it was like reading them all over again.

The Faery Reel edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling

Any time I see a fantasy anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, I’ll often as not pick it up, because I know that it’s going to be good. Usually very good.

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The DA has an interesting article on a recently publiched book about UFO sightings in Flatwoods.

Because they don’t think we’re crazy enough here in WV as it is…

(1)
If Paul as an apostle
wrote epistles to his misses
should Ephesians take as gospel
all he said within his missives?

or as skeptics would we wonder
(while with God and stuff we blunder)
why epistle apostolic,
intellectually cause colic?
— Lenny Aniello

or if you prefer…

(2)
A crash reduces
your expensive computer
to a simple stone
— Unknown

or even….

(3)
I believe in coincidence.
Coincidences happen every day.
But I don’t trust coincidences.
— Elim Garak (Cardassians)

When you see this, post poetry into your journal.

(via Erin)

I’m so excited!

I got tired of lugging my personal HTML and CSS books back and forth to work, so I finally asked the boss if I could buy copies for work. She agreed, and so today I recieved:

HTML & XHTML The Definitive Guide
Cascading Style Sheets The Definitive Guide
Dreamweaver MX 2004 The Missing Manual

I’m so excited!

Now, if only I had time to read my new books…

Myths and Legends of Japan (1913) F. Hadland Davis

Although I prefer Royall Tyler’s Japanese Tales (1987), this Dover collection is still well worth having if you like folk tales. There is a discussion and history of the Gods of Japan, as well as a section on Buddha legends, both of which were unfamiliar to me.

There was also a collection of fox legends, which immediately made me think of Erin, who loves fox stories.

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People of the Lie M. Scott Peck

Considering that the book was written in 1983, there were several passages that I found particularly striking.

When it no longer bothers us to see mangled bodies it will no longer bother us to mangle them ourselves. It is difficult indeed to selectively close our eyes to a certain type of brutality without closing them to all brutality. How can we render ourselves insensitive to brutality except by becoming brutes?

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We could make up plausible origins. Like old men shaking their canes at kids on the lawn, or children going after fruit trees with a stick–really good trees would have more fruit than you could shake a stick at…

You mean…

“More than you can shake a stick at” comes from Ireland, and the old Irish writing system of Ogham, where histories were inscribed frequently on long, thin, rods.

In Ireland, writing was typically limited to the druids, bards, and warrior classes, but the most prolific writers were the bards who were often grandiloquent when writing the genealogies and histories of the Irish families. In fact, some historians believe that the Irish love of story may date back to this time.

One of the old record keepers, a contrary man named Midac, received the rods for the Bascna clan–more specifically, he received numerous rods detailing the exploits of the warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill, mainly submitted by Finegas. Midac made disparaging comments about the histories, saying that some of the stories were exaggerations, if not outright lies.

As Midac the Cranky was not particularly popular, and his comments were seen as disparaging not just Finegas, but bards in general, others started submitting tales of Fionn’s exploits for the sole purpose of irritating Midac. After a particularly ridiculous tale involving the Morrigan, Midac said that all the other clans had a handful of tales to their histories “a reasonable number” but the number of rods submitted for Fionn was ridiculous. Standing up and shaking the rod with the latest offering, Midac said that all these Fionn tales were more than he could stand and the way things were going, Fionn tales would be the only history of the people that would survive.

It was later that evening when one of the junior bards, after perhaps a bit more mead than was good for him, reenacted the scene. Unfortunately for him, when he mimicked Midac’s rage over the Fionn rods, he grabbed a heavy walking stick as a substitute, and knocked himself unconscious. It was this telling that took the fancy of the local population, and eventually led to our modern saying.

Today I said something about “more than you can shake a stick at” and then wondered where the heck that came from.

The answer seems to be: no one knows for sure, but I’m going to go home and check my books, just in case.

ADDENDUM the First:
All four of my slang dictionaries are silent on the subject stick shaking.

ADDENDUM the Second:
Or we could just make something up.

Happy Banned Book Week

The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000
(Books I have read are in italics)
(more…)

You’re a pretty imaginative guy. What’s your view on life?

I think, on the whole, it’s infinitely better than the alternatives.

from Neil’s on-line journal.

This tale.

Although the version I first read is slightly different.

An article in today’s NY Times discussing short stories struck me, mostly because it was a sharp reminder of how my reading habits differ from the habits of “the general public”, and how the genre I love best (fantasy) seems strangely separated from the rest of the world.

Almost no one makes a living from writing short stories anymore. The story has to a large extent been severed from its traditional roots – from popular, large-circulation magazines, that is – and it has been transplanted into the greenhouses of the academy.

As I’ve mentioned before, I love short stories. There’s just something about the form that fascinates me. They’re quick to read, and you have to get to all the important stuff in just a few words. Everything is there, in just a few pages.

Not that I dislike novels mind you. There are times when you just want to read more about a character, and only a long novel or (I read lots of fantasy) a nice trilogy will do.

But as far as publishing short stories, if you look through the science fiction and fantasy section at the book store, you’ll find several quality anthologies, including the “Year’s Best in Fantasy and Horror” which is a huge book, collecting some of the best stories and poems from the previous year. And you can also find various collection on different subject, or collections by specific authors. (I love all of Charles de Lint‘s short story collections, probably more than I love his novels.)

So if Science Fiction and Fantasy can produce so many quality short stories, then why not elsewhere?

This may be it for the fun reading for awhile.

Which is why, of course, we went to three bookstores this weekend and bought more books. But really! I needed to replace my copy of Steven Brust’s The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars.

The Blackie Ryan Mysteries by Andrew M. Greeley

Although I like Andrew M. Greeley’s writing, I don’t necessarily recommend a reading marathon of the Blackie Ryan mysteries, primarily because he has written the books to stand alone, so each book gives you an explanation of the nickname punk, Blackie’s relationship with Mary Kate, and why Mike the Cop is called Mike the Cop. Those things aren’t bad in and of themselves, but they get a little old if you’re read the same line three days in a row. He does, however, get a little better about this as the series continues, which is good, because I was getting a little tired of reading about Sean Cardinal Cronin’s gallowglass laugh.

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