Member: Musecologist

CollectionsYour library (728), Wishlist (7), Currently reading (7), To read (10), Family Read-Aloud (29), To Read Aloud (17), All collections (729)

Reviews14 reviews

Tagsmusical scores (105), musicology (103), Beethoven (66), fantasy (47), nineteenth-century (44), biography (35), criticism (34), reference (26), British literature (26), romanticism (23) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

GroupsFriends of Jack (C.S. Lewis), Music History, Performance, and Theory, Scottish LibraryThingers

About meI am a musicologist who is interested in romanticism and really interested in Scotland - hence my Robbie Burns portrait. I also have a degree in physics. (This pretty much "outs" me to anyone who has ever seen my resume IRL.) I hope my library reflects someone who is interested in deep questions about what art is for, what life is for, and how we can use human knowledge to see more of the divine hand working around us.
I freely admit that I own some terrible books, so while I feel it's fair to judge someone based on his/her library, there's no need to try to integrate everything I own into the reflection of one complex persona.

About my libraryThis site helps me keep track of the books I own. I don't really feel that musical scores are "books," but I need to keep track of them too. There are only a few books in the list I do not own - they are there to remind me to acquire them next. You'll see a lot of music history (my professional work), a fair amount of science/physics (my hobby and previous career interest), and a good deal of biblical studies and other religious writings (my hobby). You will notice my preference for C. S. Lewis, and also for other writers in his circle (Tolkein, Williams) - or indeed out of his circle (T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf). Wish I wrote like them.
I enjoy collecting old books when I can afford them - I have a 19th-century edition of J. G. Herder and an 1801 edition of Robert Burns. I read in German, French, and Italian when I feel ambitious (or have to for professional reasons). English literature is just for fun.
My favorite books are often classified as "children's literature," but I often find that the issues dealt with in children's books are much more fundamental and important - and beautiful - than the mere relationship struggles and searches for fulfillment, freely peppered with the most ugly words and situations that language/life has to offer, that often pass for adult (grown-up?) literature.
I wish there were a "shame factor" rating for some of the books in my library, but instead I give 1 star to books about which I feel fairly ashamed to own. (I try to put on all the books I own even if I don't love them!) 5 stars is reserved for books that have changed my life. The middle three are for great, good, and less good (or enjoyed greatly, enjoyed, and didn't enjoy - a book can be good without my enjoying it). I don't tend to rank the musicology books; they are written by my colleagues, and they can easily find out who I am. And with a five-star rating system, I don't know how I would rank books that are really useful to me but not compellingly written, or vice versa.

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URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/Musecologist (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Musecologist (library)

Common KnowledgeSeries (68), Awards (131), Characters (1438), Places (339)

Member sinceOct 23, 2008

Currently readingHyperion (Insel-Taschenbuch ; 365) by Holderlin
The Metamorphoses by Ovid
Maria Stuart (published in German) by Friedrich Schiller
The Small Rain: A Novel by Madeleine L'Engle
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Lewis Carroll in Numberland: His Fantastical Mathematical Logical Life by Robin Wilson
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (1 Volume, Abridged Edition) by Sir James George Frazer
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