Member: reuchlin

Welcome back!! You were missed.

posted by gautherbelle at 2:20 am (EST) on Aug 20, 2008

I am honored you should list my library as an interesting one. It's interesting to me, of course, but I don't always think about it interesting others! Sounds like you will have an interesting library of your own when you break the 200 barrier, eh? Hope you have enjoyed your time on LT as much as I have. Best, Lois

posted by avaland at 11:17 am (EST) on Jul 6, 2008

Much as I fancy groveling-especially when it's directed at me-it's by no means necessary. I just returned to Librarything and realized I had left some people's messages waiting unanswered for over a month, and I hadn't even been away from my computer. :)

As for those half-finished manuscripts, they certainly don't warrent 'enthrallment', (but that was nice to hear!) It's a favorite topic of mine, so I dabble. I have to one day finish one that will be worthy of its source material. I don't know much about David Aaron Clark, except for his "Juliette" novel; but I've been meaning to further explore his oeuvre. In what way is he like a mentor to you?

I appreciate your references to golems. Pity no one included the magic 'recipe' on how to animate one. That would've created oh-so-many possibilities. :) I was browsing your comments board, and 'estern' mentions the writer Cynthia Ozick. Her anthology "The Puttermesser Papers" contains the short story, "Puttermesser and Xanthippe", which is cool in that it's the only female golem in literature I'm, so far, aware of.

Thanks for flagging me as an interesting library, by the way.

posted by Zz9pluralzalpha at 11:40 am (EST) on May 14, 2008

Greetings. Fantastic library! I envy your having aqired all those rabbinical texts on magic and demonology. There could be some really useful stuff in them. For instance, I've alays wanted to learn how to create a golem. Notice anything about that in them before you sold them? ;)

Here's to our three books in common! ;)

posted by Zz9pluralzalpha at 9:09 am (EST) on Jan 25, 2008

You wrote: Very interesting library (we share many more titles than the twenty matched; I'm a great fan of Heschel, for example; his book about the Kotzker & Kierkegaard is one of the best on either. Wiesenthal is also excellent - on "forgiveness" amongst other things - albeit not very "Christian").
From your list I infer that you may be a college student still (like me, though undoubtedly younger and wiser). Hampshire's work on Spinoza is still the standard undergraduate text, and virtually impossible to better.
What I do not understand - it is one of life's little perplexities - is how the hell ANYONE can read Ayn Rand! And still admit to doing so!
Isn't Dennett bad enough?
Mazel tov
R.

Thanks for taking an interest in my library. On Heschel, I couldn't agree with you more, Kotzker book was fun to read, his other stuff is more personally gripping and challenging, though I do think that Heschel is one of those writers that becomes a little harder to read as time goes on. Sunflower is good for educational purposes- with the responses by various people in the back (I particularly like Cynthia Ozick's line 'sooner the fly to God than he)

Haven't read the Spinoza book, unfortunately, a dense book like that need time I can't give it right now. There was an interesting piece in NY review of books by Avishai Margalit on the occasion of Hampshire's death, in which he relates that Hampshire himself was, unfortunately, a confirmed Spinozan to the end- 'at bottom, it's all biology'

I have to take issue with your Ayn Rand comments, though I know I am distinctly in the minority in this one. I have read a lot of Rand (as you can see from my library), much of it, like most, when I was young. I was never a convert to the cult of objectivism, but I did sense there was something extraordinary and important in Rand's ideas and character depictions (caricatures, if you like, but it doesn't take away from their uniqueness). It is only of late that I have has some success in formulating this intuition. What I take from Rand is not her ideological capitalism per se, and not her anti-religious outlook. Rather, what is unique about her is her rigorous adherence to a code of personal ethics, a set of of values carried through consistently, a focus on norms taken seriously enough to be held onto in the face of popular antagonism. In our modern culture of socially enforced conformism, of the separation of emotion from values (in which the former is always an excuse for the lack of the latter), and generally of what C.S. Lewis called the 'abolition of man', Rand is in many ways a strong anchor in the tempest. So, though I am not an Orthodox Randian,I think much of the dismissal of her work is premature, and we still await a serious (i.e., not from the obejctivist center) reformulation of the strongest aspects of her ideas, and a measured appreciation of her typology of the ideal man.

Regarding Dennet, glad to be a comrade- Dennet is not a philosopher, he is a scientist who likes to dictate his superior scientism to naive philosophers. Let's just stick with the non-philosophical evolutionary biologists, more fruitful work can be done.

Also, noticed your Sefardic heritage, thought you might be interested in social and historical works on Spinoza as an excommunicated Sefardi- specifically Yirmiyahu Yovel's Spinoza and other Heretics, and a new book by Rebbecca Goldstein whose title I can't remember.

Anyway, take care.
Elliot

posted by estern at 10:47 pm (EST) on Oct 20, 2007

Hiya, thanks for your comments and sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you.

I'm sorry you disgree with Karen Armstrong, but I have to say I find her entirely convincing, and more important now than ever. Religious debate seems to be polarised between religious extremists and "militant atheists" (Rochard Dawkins et al) – Karen Armstrong seems to me to be the only viable middle ground.

As for Shadow of the Wind, I think I mentioned a few of the sentences that struck me as particularly bad in my review. It wasn't the story, it was just the lazy writing I didn't get on with – and the fact that I couldn't care less about any of the characters! Maybe you'll have better luck with it than me though. In the meantime, I'll enjoy having a poke around your library....

Cheers,

Widsith

posted by Widsith at 10:26 am (EST) on Oct 16, 2007

Hi

Sorry about the delayed response; I haven't visited the site for quite a while. I'm quite flattered you have actually gone to the trouble of looking through my little reviews, which admittedly are totally personal and certainly don't aim to be objective analyses at all.

By the way I take exception to your description of yourself; you don't exactly come across as simpleminded! But then again you probably didn't mean that seriously.

Let me give you a proper answer to a couple of your remarks. First how I relate to my books. I can assure you I don't exaggerate at all when I say that I chuck books, both in the garbage can and out of my life. The main issue for me is staying maximally alive and alert to the world around me and try to be continually in transition to new phases of life. In that perspective books are inspirations and friends and tools and food for thought. But I don't feel any piety for them at all. The thing is I don't want to live in my own past, and when the books aren't actually of any practical use to me anymore as a means of changing, I chuck them. In the garbage. Not because they are worthless, but because I don't want to have them around any more.

You make a rather strong case for the loveable old Chesterton; I may quite conceivably have been a little to harsh about him. But seriously, read Flying Inn over again. If that's not a reactionary vision of a society I can't imagine what is. But of course it's not entirely seriously meant. Another thing is that as an atheist I very easily get a little impatient with religious text, not that I normally have any beef with religious people of course. But religion just doesn't touch anything in my own life, and it's not an issue for me, so I usually find these thoughts quite irrelevant and pointless for me. Having said that I don't find Flying Inn nauseating actually, I probably must have had in mind The Everlasting Man which is much more extreme, and which actually nauseates me a bit to be quite honest. My apologies.

Your comments on Wittgenstein are very interesting indeed. They show very clearly how differently we perceive the old guy. Just have a look at the vast secondary litterature, and you see what I mean. It's impossible to decide who is right and who is wrong here because W isn't really a truth finder. He has chosen the Socratic approach, and he gives us a bunch of tools for our own thinking. W takes philosophy out of the hands of the academics and gives it back to its rightful owners, to people like you and me. In my opinion PI is the most radical book of the last century. It clarifies what language can do and what it can't do. And language is obviously the vehicle that carries the wisdom that we have inherited from history. And it also carries all the lies, the confused thinking, the meaningslessness and the skewed concepts of what a human being is. W is right when he says words can be like steering wheels that are not connected to anything in the machine. When we turn them nothing happens. So is PI religious or not? Depends on who reads it. To me it is an aid for thinking a bit more clearly.

Two things have helped me to think a tiny bit less muddled than I did before. The first is the continuous analysis of what the language we use actually mean, which words signify anything and which don't, and in which contexts.

The other thing is the practice of extreme sport which throws me back on raw excistence in a very material way indeed. I know very well how this sounds totally childish; people just love to point that out to me, but it is a fact that it quite fundamentally changes the perspective and the way of thinking. Or I should perhaps say that it does so for me anyway.

But now I'm taxing your patience in the extreme, sorry about that. It's all too easy to get carried away by the keyboard. Great hearing from you anyway. Cheers.

posted by agricolaoval at 3:18 pm (EST) on Oct 11, 2007

Having just found you I am loath to let you go. I count on your return and so . . . Welcome back you were missed. Wherever you journey, you have a friend here in the the Southern quadrant. Now I must certainly find some Guinness.

posted by gautherbelle at 1:38 pm (EST) on Oct 7, 2007

Such an unexpected pleasure hearing from you again. Glad you like the picture, Ramsess is the artist and my best friend.

Guinness it is. I've never tried it. But if ever I get the chance I'll raise a glass to you. I do like tea, but these days I just drink water.

I too looked upon the sea today. It always feels me with longing. Once when I was walking alone the beach just off shore were a group of dolphins, or propoises frolicing. They were different sizes and ages and were simply playings, there were dozens of them. It was an unbelieveable experience just watching them.

posted by gautherbelle at 3:06 am (EST) on Oct 7, 2007

Thank you for your kind words. Maybe we'll share more titles once you finish listing your library. I collect mostly modern fiction though, so maybe not. I haven't been posting as much on the forums since I signed up for NaNoWriMo. Have you heard of it? During the month of November people all around the world venture to write novels a minimum of 50,000 words. So I'm trying to get all my notes in order, research done, etc. Do you any particular expertise - maybe I can pick your brain? I read in your profile that you have twins. I've always been fascinated by them. I bet they're a joy. Anyway, thanks for stopping by to say Hello. I hope you're having a wonderful day.

posted by VictoriaPL at 10:47 am (EST) on Oct 6, 2007

The Irish are a very strong people with a important place in history, their time isn't over yet, as a matter of fact, the best is yet to come! Whatever you do, don't buy into the le, "Speak the truth to the world!" it's not that strong (the world) and fears the Truth.

posted by ocianain at 9:06 am (EST) on Oct 6, 2007

i'm loving your posts in the favorite crime novel thread.

posted by NativeRoses at 9:27 am (EST) on Oct 5, 2007

Hey there,
I never know what to make of the word “interesting” as it could be either good or bad, but I won’t delve too deeply for fear of a disagreeable response ;-) In the end, I suppose it’s got to be better than “boring”. Thanks for stopping by and for the comment!

~Brenda

posted by Dmatthewsgirl at 9:20 pm (EST) on Oct 4, 2007

Richard Scarry writes picture books for very young children, so he might not fit into your library. I have to admit, Emma is the only Austen Novel I had to push myself to finish, just because I found Emma herself so irritating that I didn't identify with her at all. I should probably give Wuthering Heights another try, though, just for the sake of the prose, and because it's been many years since I read it. I didn't like it for the same sort of reason -- I couldn't stand Heathcliff and Cathy. Neither of these books was boring and both were well written -- I just didn't want to inhabit the characters while I was reading them. What makes them your favorites? Glad to know that we do have favorites in common, though, (you must, like me, have many unentered books in your library, because I couldn't find many books in common on your list.)

posted by aviddiva at 5:01 am (EST) on Oct 3, 2007

The upside of not being overly picky about which version of a book one chooses is that one may use the search function and add with one click.

What attracted me to you, however, was the helpfulness you show on several LT 'groupstalk' pages. Had to check out the profile of such an obliging guy.

Don't worry. It's really a front. Ummm, well not really. I just find that life is much simpler when simple kindnesses are observed. Well, that, and I have way to much free time on my hands.

As for the uncertainty thing... There are areas of my life where I countenance it and areas where I don't. As far as Physics or Metaphysics, there's not so much I can do to counteract that.

I tend to take a rather stricter view of uncertainty when it comes to interpersonal communication. I get rather uptight about relationships and don't abide flaky people very well. I think that's the flipside of dealing with so much uncertainty. There's enough of it floating through the 'verse that I don't necessarily feel the need to countenance it from friends/acquaintances. This has ended some relationships, and very often people feel that I'm an anal retentive SOB, but I can live with that.

Re: Being lost in the universe - When I was twenty or so, someone told me that if I took enough dramamine, I'd hallucinate wildly. Of course, being twenty, I went home and consumed half a bottle of dramamine. It was a rather interesting trip.

I spent about three hours watching television, and sure enough, things started to act a bit wonky. That, or the special effects on the shows were very intense. After a bit of time, though, I became a bit bored and decided to listen to the radio. So I turn the stereo on, and change the station to try to find something a bit more upbeat. But the music doesn't change when I turn the station. Then I notice that even as I'm changing stations, the music is still there. So I turn the stereo off.

And the music's still there.

Literally, the little red light goes off, but the music stays on. So I turn the stereo back on, and the little red light goes on, but the music is the same as before. This development intrigues me.

So I spend about twenty minutes playing around with the volume. I turn it slowly down. And all the way up. Trying to find out where the music on the stereo ends and the music in my head begins. And I can't do it. I just can't find the line. I'd occasionally try to sneak up on myself and turn the music up very quickly just to fake myself out. Regardless, it's seamless. I can't find the spot where the one begins and the other ends.

I'm guessing that you've never tried acid. I'd done it quite a few times before this. But an acid trip is entirely different. You look at the wall and the wall starts pulsating and throwing persian rug patterns at you. And you say to yourself, walls don't do that. That must be the acid.

This was entirely different. And past a certain point, I became scared shitless. I mean, I'm sitting there thinking I've broken my head. It's never going to work again. So I talk myself down. Give it time, I say. The effects of the drug will wear off. I'll go to bed, wake up in the morning and everything will be back to normal. So I take a downer, pass out and wake up the next morning trying to figure out if things are back to normal.

I think quite possibly they may be.

I'm not sure if I'd be able to tell if they weren't, though. For all I know, it's still 1997 and I'm sitting in the living room of a flat on Fillmore Street in San Francisco.

Now, you might argue that this is insane. But by definition, it might very well be insane to think otherwise (drug-induced psychosis leading to a solipsistic comment on the web page in my head). How to tell?

I'm not sure. But if this is my drug-induced psychotic solipsism, it's going to be the best psychotic solipsism I can have.

posted by Jesse_wiedinmyer at 6:09 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2007

Yes it is my element. I have hopes of exploring the entire Universe (which may be difficult since it is expanding). Maybe I will even find your corner. Do you enjoy a tea? I have tried Alice several times but alas, she does not speak to me. You have a very interesting background and life experience. I always wanted to be a professional student. Speaking of twins, my daugther is expecting them in April! I can hardly wait!!

posted by gautherbelle at 12:50 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2007

thanks for commenting on my library. i thought love invents us and the year of magical thinking were both good books. i am just a very tough critic. i want all books to be really deep, moving, and thought-provoking :) in other words, i have been spoiled by a few great books and nothing is living up to my standards! it's interesting how different people feel differently about books! happy reading!

posted by amanaceerdh at 10:58 am (EST) on Oct 2, 2007

Success may spoil the Irish, but I doubt it, they are resiliant. Economic success is a wonderful corrupter, it's the preferred method for introducing Whiggery and it's perversions to otherwise unresponsive populations, the idea economic success equals favor with God is of course wrong, but it's believed by many. This belief then leads to, economic success equals morality. Ergo, that which brings economic success is good. None of this is true of course but it is easy to lose yourself in the vainglory.

posted by ocianain at 8:59 pm (EST) on Oct 1, 2007

Needless to say I mis-spelled Nobel.

posted by ocianain at 6:44 pm (EST) on Sep 29, 2007

Thanks for your kind words regarding my reviews of Wilde and Stephens, I'm partial to both, in particular Stephens. O'Brien also belongs in the Irish pantheon, I like The Third Policeman (read it a long time ago), I often wondered if the Irish domination of Letters worked against talent like Flann. I feel he, Lady Gregory and Stephens deserve the Noble but are denied it for appearance sake, 7 winners from one country hust seems too much I guess.

posted by ocianain at 6:35 pm (EST) on Sep 29, 2007

Hee, Hee,
I am quite the "Angel."

posted by angelcliffne at 12:31 am (EST) on Sep 25, 2007

In browsing yr virtual shelf I see we have done sort of the same thing-- restrict ourselves to 200 'representative' titles. I was fascinated and frustrated by this exercise, but it means more to me when I see (as with you) 15 titles overlapping someone else's 200, than if I see those same titles overlapping someone's 2,000.

posted by skholiast at 2:26 pm (EST) on Sep 5, 2007

Well thank you :-) My profile isn't much because I don't have much to say. I'm just a freaking teenager, an aspect of me which I dislike passionately.

I am totally friending you, though I am really not sure on how exactly LT friends keep up with one another. Do we comment back and forth? Email? I don't like having a "friend" that I don't ever talk to. DO you have a Livejournal?

I'm soo jealous on the permanent student lifestyle. Did you hear about the guy who went to MIT for 14 years just for fun?

posted by lilbrattyteen at 12:53 am (EST) on Aug 25, 2007

Grotto Press carries Jaki's books, I've seen his monograph on Bruno there.

http://www.grottopress.org/Real_View/Rea...

posted by ocianain at 11:13 am (EST) on Apr 29, 2007

Thank you for your kind words, while Joyce is no doubt a talented writer I believe most of his appeal lies in fear, a fear of being out of the loop or, of being thought of as a benighted unsophisticated soul. A string of painfully pathetic hipness runs through literary criticism (see the French deconstructionists for example), many critics are so fixated on advocating the latest cuting edge/perspective, they miss (or ignore) the talent standing before them.

Your profile is very interesting, I too am a geek, (just a very big one). I must say though, I wish I was a fly on the wall when your Irish and Spanish families got together! I see you have a study of Giordano Bruno, did you ever read Stanley Jaki's treatment of him? It's a lot different then the "He died for science" mythology (he was preaching a heretical understanding of the eucharist).

posted by ocianain at 8:25 am (EST) on Apr 29, 2007