Random books from WilfGehlen's library
Tao: The Watercourse Way by Alan Watts
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney
The Vampire Companion: The Official Guide to Anne Rice's "The Vampire Chronicles" by Katherine Ramsland
Bijou Funnies, Vol. 1, No. 4 by R. Crumb et al.
Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carre
1984 (Signet Classics) by George Orwell
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Friends: Catreona, EnriqueFreeque, Lgalen1950, Naren559, polutropos
Interesting libraries: anna_in_pdx, edwardhenry, knowthyself
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Member: WilfGehlen
CollectionsYour library (354), To read (4), All collections (354)
Reviews28 reviews
Tagssci-fi (33), hayden-lib (26), phil-lit (24), am-lit (15), brit-lit (14), russkii-lit (13), phil (13), euro-lit (13), pop-sci (13), lit-crit (12) — see all tags
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GroupsA Pearl of Wisdom and Enlightenment, Author Theme Reads, Awful Lit., Books Compared, Books that made me think, Club Read 2009, Existentialism, Fans of Russian authors, Group Reads - Literature, Le Salon Litteraire du Peuple pour le Peuple — show all groups
Favorite authorsAlbert Camus, Anton Chekhov, J.R.R. Tolkien, Herman Melville, Richard Benson Sewall, William Shakespeare, E. E. Smith, Laozi (Shared favorites)
Favorite bookstoresBook Ends, Harvard Book Store, McIntyre and Moore Booksellers (Cambridge, MA), MIT Coop, New England Mobile Book Fair, Porter Square Books, Prospero's Books, Quantum Bookseller Services, The Book Rack: Arlington, MA, The Harvard Coop
About meI seem to be a reader of genre fiction series, looking at the books on my electronic and pine shelves. Clusters are science fiction and spy novels. Commonality is the ease of immersion into the worlds of Frodo, Richard Seaton, Kim Kinnison, and George Smiley. Haven't bathed in these waters for a while, though.
Having had some time to myself recently, I started a journey through philosophy and literature, with no formal syllabus, one book suggesting the next. I found that writing provides me with the necessary focus for critical reading, so I created a blog to record my travels.
I try to keep in mind the dictum: without entropy, life itself would be impossible, so manage it responsibly. That is, live on the edge between chaos and stasis, live fractally until you fill up all the whitespace in your life. I have yet to integrate all these concepts, so for now I resort to Camus, who writes, "but the point is to live" and "the present and the succession of presents before a constantly conscious soul is the ideal of the absurd man" and "the absurd man can only drain everything to the bitter end and deplete himself."
"Non, je ne regrette rien."
Remember, mathematics is dominated by the irrational. Two plus two is four occupies only a small corner.
About my libraryBooks in my LT library are either on my shelf or have passed through my hands and are now sitting on a remote shelf. The latter are tagged with -lib. All have touched me in some, not necessarily profound, way.
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LocationCambridge MA USA
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http://www.librarything.com/profile/WilfGehlen (profile)
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Common KnowledgeSeries (69), Awards (135), Characters (1585), Places (318)
Member sinceNov 25, 2008
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 WilfGehlen reviewed, rated, added:Between Two Worlds: Critical Introduction to the "Master and Margarita" by Andrew Barratt  (read review) |
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posted by margad at 3:06 pm (EST) on Nov 2, 2009
posted by anna_in_pdx at 1:45 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2009
posted by solla at 9:37 pm (EST) on Sep 29, 2009
I found it out when trying to understand the deeper meaning of the Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.
The biggest error one can make in understanding this great book is to read it in terms of Mann's own publicized toughts and actions.
posted by Macumbeira at 1:37 am (EST) on Sep 21, 2009
Don't want to spoil anything : )
posted by Macumbeira at 11:04 pm (EST) on Sep 14, 2009
I'm thoroughly enjoying M&M! I read it first about 25 years ago (gulp) but it didn't make that much of an impact on me as it has now.
did you put a link somewhere to your review?
posted by tomcatMurr at 9:47 pm (EST) on Sep 8, 2009
Murr
posted by tomcatMurr at 8:55 am (EST) on Sep 2, 2009
I have to agree with your take on Bloom. I really fell for him during my trip through Dublin with him! A truly generous soul.
posted by anna_in_pdx at 11:07 am (EST) on Aug 3, 2009
Sorry to say that I have never read Les Miserables, but I have a really nice old collected editon of works of Hugo, with nice illustrations, including the iconic image of Cosette, the waif with the broom who reminds me of a girl I knew in college. As you can see, I have a bit of a problem with associative thinking. No wonder I never get anything done.
posted by Makifat at 10:39 am (EST) on Jul 30, 2009
I absolutely HATED Born Yesterday. Aside from the acting conducted at fortissimo yelling for most of it, I found Kanin so didactic and obvious I could not stand it. (Animal Farm: Four legs good, two legs bad. Kanin: Democracy good, corruption bad. Fine in Orwell's hands, less so in Kanin's.) If it had been a TV show, I would have turned it off well before halfway point, but having paid for expensive tickets I sat through it. On the other hand the production of Moon for the Misbegotten was spectacular. Jenny Young's performance ranks in my top three of all time, and I have seen powerhouse acting all over the world. She had me crying in the last scenes and that does NOT happen lightly. If you have not seen it, I would most highly recommend it.
I am confused now about MM. Are you suggesting that there will be a discussion BOTH in Group Read and Brent's group? Different audiences presumably? I must confess I have only come to Brent in the last week through Murr's misadventures and have no idea who his audience is. Are you going to take part in both? Should I join Brent's Gang, too, just to see different perspectives? I am a little trepidatious about MM. I have been reading a lot of positive comments about it but at the same time am not sure about too much doom and gloom in my life. I was planning to be reading a lot of Dostoevsky over the past 12 months, and bailed on my group early since it was too bleak for me and the humour which others saw I was missing. I hope that will not be the case with MM.
posted by polutropos at 11:38 am (EST) on Jul 27, 2009
it's out there. just give it some thought. I'm a bit handicapped having not read Melville (well, except Bartleby in high school) or Camus...or the vast majority of classics for that matter. :)
You have some wonderful and carefully constructed ideas. The way you analyze works is very different from how I've typically done so myself. I'm actually pretty simple, and mostly just get a storytelling experience out of the reading. Sometimes I can get a bit more. I started to read through your thread this evening, for the first time. I made through post 15...but that will give me enough to think about for awhile.
cheers,
d
posted by dchaikin at 9:24 pm (EST) on Jul 22, 2009
Thanks for the comment. It's nice to meet a fellow geoscientist here. I fully agree about LibraryThing. I'm thinking about your comment regarding the amateur in literature. The arts are strange in that they are made by something resembling experts, but they strive to be accessible to everyone; whereas a development in something like astronomy can have value even if only a small number of astronomers get it. That makes the sciences straight forward, where as the arts hover in a space never well defined.
I really enjoyed your post about the Seifert poem. You just brought in so much extra information. It was a lesson for me.
cheers,
d
posted by dchaikin at 4:47 pm (EST) on Jul 22, 2009
Will intersect briefly with the Breakfast with Buddha road trip, but no bowling and no mini golf. Just a whirlwind tour with no whirlwinds, we hope, stopping just short of Kansas.
posted by WilfGehlen at 8:46 pm (EST) on Jul 7, 2009
The Russians have, or had in prerevolutionary days, a unit of distance called a verst. I never was able to grasp what that was in relation to English units. I learned, or at any rate was taught, metric units as a kid, but never did take to them. Give me good ol' English units any day. I donno, the metric system seems so mechanized or something. The English system has character and charm.
If only they could, or would, divorce the terrible noise from the lovely display, I'd love fireworks. I can only watch them on television, and that with the volume muted. Though I agree the concept of fireworks being made for television is pretty peculiar. Wonder what Gandalf would think of it? LOL
posted by Catreona at 2:50 pm (EST) on Jul 7, 2009
LOL
posted by Catreona at 2:08 pm (EST) on Jul 7, 2009
Yeah, nice and quiet just the way I like it (except for the blankity blank fireworks! Bah humbug! *grin*) How was your Independence Day?
posted by Catreona at 1:56 pm (EST) on Jul 7, 2009
Happy 4th!
posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:52 pm (EST) on Jul 4, 2009
posted by LolaWalser at 10:21 am (EST) on Jul 2, 2009
posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:29 am (EST) on Jul 2, 2009
Adding books from my dirtworld library to my online one. It's a slow process, but I enjoy it.
posted by Catreona at 2:30 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2009
I've been mulling over your comments about Moby Dick for a while, and I think you've got to be right about it being an older Ishmael narrating - I mean, I've read absolutely no criticism of Melville or the book, but it's the only answer that makes sense - except that the very early narration, mostly when he's still on land, feels so in-the-moment, and so... clueless, for lack of a better word, both before and after the painting, that it's easy to leave that part of the book with the impression that it's young Ishmael. Then, of course, by the time you see the vaunted whale 450 pages later, you've forgotten all about that little clue. Or, at least, I had. I'm coming around to the idea that it'll be worth reading again sometime when I'm not in the middle of moving house so I can get a less fragmentary view of it.
Thanks for your comment!
posted by upstairsgirl at 7:55 pm (EST) on Jun 10, 2009
Don't make it too difficult for yourself lol
posted by Macumbeira at 10:39 pm (EST) on Jun 8, 2009
I had a look at your nice library.
Is it correct that your blog has not been updated since december 2008 or am I looking at the wrong place ?
Cheers
Mac
posted by Macumbeira at 1:46 am (EST) on Jun 8, 2009
posted by tloeffler at 8:13 pm (EST) on May 4, 2009
I am also in whole-hearted agreement with your philosophy (living "on the edge between chaos and stasis"). Life is far too short to do otherwise.
I'll have to stay posted on what you're reading. Thanks again!
posted by tloeffler at 12:39 pm (EST) on May 3, 2009
I also have an intention in my mind to yet obtain his essays and diaries - a fascinating fellow in many many ways.
Broch I know less off - but the Sleepwalkers is commonly reckoned his best. However, on certain 'bohemian' threads on this site it has been suggested that The Death of Virgil is equally important. I'm willing to believe it - and when I find time!!? it will certainly be read.
posted by zenomax at 2:07 pm (EST) on Apr 23, 2009
As your tastes appear not disimilar from my own, I wonder if you have read any Robert Musil or Hermann Broch?
posted by zenomax at 7:07 am (EST) on Apr 22, 2009
posted by kabrahamson at 1:50 am (EST) on Mar 20, 2009
posted by anna_in_pdx at 5:03 pm (EST) on Mar 13, 2009
Genomics research sounds fascinating. What aspect of genomics research are you studying? What University? And philosophy is definitely something that tugs at my heartstrings, having done a degree in it, and I still love it and write about it on occasion.
As for your "personalised bookmark" - LOL, I do hate it when I've let people borrow my books and never get them back, but I don't think I have the chutzpah you do, to physically threaten the poor reader every time they open the page!
Thanks again,
Dan.
posted by RachDan at 1:59 pm (EST) on Mar 12, 2009
posted by EnriqueFreeque at 9:01 pm (EST) on Feb 15, 2009
http://surlalunefairytales.yuku.com/foru...
Cindy
posted by malinablue at 11:51 am (EST) on Feb 4, 2009
posted by Naren559 at 7:49 am (EST) on Feb 3, 2009
posted by rebeccaallen at 8:43 pm (EST) on Feb 2, 2009
And yes, you DO need to read Everything is Illuminated -- as in Catch-22, the hilarity makes the horror bearable.
Thanks for commenting!
posted by DetailMuse at 1:29 pm (EST) on Dec 22, 2008
posted by surly at 10:12 am (EST) on Dec 14, 2008
posted by surly at 3:52 pm (EST) on Dec 8, 2008