bookshelves: currently-reading
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Adam
added a quote:
"Beauty! Wasn't that what mattered? Beauty was hardly a popular ideal at that jumpy moment in history. The masses had been desensitized to it, the intelligentsia regarded it with suspicion. To most of her peers, 'beauty' smacked of the rarefied, the indulgent, the superfluous, the effete. How could persons of good conscience pursue the beautiful when there was so much suffering and injustice in the world? Ellen Cherry's answer was that if one didn't cultivate beauty, soon he or she wouldn't be able to recognize ugliness. The prevalence of social ugliness made commitment to physical beauty all the more essential. And the very presence in life of double-wide mobile homes, Magic Marker graffiti, and orange shag carpeting had the effect of making ills such as poverty, crime, repression, pollution, and child abuse seem tolerable. In a sense, beauty was the ultimate protest, and, in that it generally lasted longer than an orgasm, the ultimate refuge. The Venus de Milo screamed 'No!' at evil, whereas the Spandex stretch pant, the macrame plant holder were compliant with it. Ugly bedrooms bred ugly habits. Of course, it wasn't required of beauty that it perform a social function. That was what was valuable about it." — Tom Robbins
"Beauty! Wasn't that what mattered? Beauty was hardly a popular ideal at that jumpy moment in history. The masses had been desensitized to it, the intelligentsia regarded it with suspicion. To most of her peers, 'beauty' smacked of the rarefied, the indulgent, the superfluous, the effete. How could persons of good conscience pursue the beautiful when there was so much suffering and injustice in the world? Ellen Cherry's answer was that if one didn't cultivate beauty, soon he or she wouldn't be able to recognize ugliness. The prevalence of social ugliness made commitment to physical beauty all the more essential. And the very presence in life of double-wide mobile homes, Magic Marker graffiti, and orange shag carpeting had the effect of making ills such as poverty, crime, repression, pollution, and child abuse seem tolerable. In a sense, beauty was the ultimate protest, and, in that it generally lasted longer than an orgasm, the ultimate refuge. The Venus de Milo screamed 'No!' at evil, whereas the Spandex stretch pant, the macrame plant holder were compliant with it. Ugly bedrooms bred ugly habits. Of course, it wasn't required of beauty that it perform a social function. That was what was valuable about it." — Tom Robbins
Adam
added a quote:
"As long as a population can be induced to believe in a supernatural hereafter, it can be oppressed and controlled. People will put up with all sorts of tyranny, poverty, and painful treatment if they're convinced that they'll eventually escape to some resort in the sky where lifeguards are superfluous and the pool never closes. Moreover, the faithful are usually willing to risk their skins in whatever military adventure their government may currently be promoting." — Tom Robbins
"As long as a population can be induced to believe in a supernatural hereafter, it can be oppressed and controlled. People will put up with all sorts of tyranny, poverty, and painful treatment if they're convinced that they'll eventually escape to some resort in the sky where lifeguards are superfluous and the pool never closes. Moreover, the faithful are usually willing to risk their skins in whatever military adventure their government may currently be promoting." — Tom Robbins
bookshelves: autobiographical-novel, history, memoirs, race-and-ethnicity, travelogue, vietnam
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by Andrew X. Pham
Pretty sure you've finished this by now, considering I have your bootlegged, photocopied copy in my room at home! Toodles! ]]>
bookshelves: automotive-industry, biography, business
Wrote a long review of this book and then lost it. . . argggh!
Definitely enjoyed Abodaher's biography of this man Lee Iacocca whom I've heard lots, but know little, about. His autobiography, or memoirs, have been recommended to me on numerous occasions but for one reason or another I've always passed it by. Now it's on my need to read list!
In painting a portrait of the man who helped bring Ford to life and Chrysler back to life, it necessitates presenting at least a short history of the American automotive industry, which is exactly what Abodaher does. Beginning with the invention of the internal combustion engine and the development of Ford Motor Company, Iacocca's story begins long before young Lido is even born.
What I enjoyed most about this book was not so much learning about Iacocca, though there is obviously heaps to be taken from his leadership style and approach to organizational management, but rather the history of the automotive industry that is so intricately intertwined with Iacocca's life.
A great deal of time is spent explaining, inadvertently, the intimate relationships that were maintained between the Big Three as Detroit came to rise as the Motor City. Competition amongst American automotive companies was fierce but then again so to was the battle against imports. This seems remarkably relevant in today's time as the current bailouts seem to echo the problems faced by Iacocca and the Chrysler Corp only a couple decades ago.
This man's story is truly inspiring and I will certainly enjoying learning more about the man behind the name despite disposing of this mildew filled text!
Long live the American Dream! ]]>
bookshelves: art, fiction
HA!!
What a literary trip this story is! Tom Robbins at his absolute best, whatever that means! Each page is filled with such beautiful prose that I felt as though I were examining a piece or art, not simply reading a book. Ironic in that the book is primarily about the importance of art and the pursuit of all things, well, non-tangible.
Tom Robbins simply has a way with words that I have never come across in any other reading. With each new book I am forced to read with a pen and paper in hand to scrawl down the dozens of new words I am faced with and the innumerable quotables that can be found with every turn of the page.
TR doesn't simply use words to convey an idea but rather to paint a picture, so vivid, yet so abstract that the reader can do whatever they want with it in one's own head.
Following a spoon, painted stick, conch shell, can 'o beans and dirty sock on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem couldn't possibly be made interesting by anyone but Robbins.
How glad I am that I was given the opportunity to read this book and the 'discoveries' made by Ellen Cherry at the end of the book are well worth reading, and re-reading as they likely hold more weight than I was able to derive from them in simply plowing through it, not wanting to stop!
Worth going over again and again! ]]>
Adam
took the never-ending book quiz.
| questions answered: | 329 |
| correct: | 268 (81.5%) |
| skipped: | 1022 |
| best streak: | 12 |
| questions added: | 0 |
bookshelves: non-fiction, psychology, science
Another almost cutesy pop-science book from Gladwell. Easy to read and super interesting though the majority of it is dedicated to presenting anecdotal examples of the 'blink' concept.
Breezed through it pretty quickly as I wasn't incredibly absorbed by it but did manage to draw a couple pieces of interesting info from it. Seems like most of us make a good amount of decisions based on very little information, despite telling ourselves otherwise. While we often think that the more information we utilize, the more accurate or precise our decision making will be. In doing so, we often over look the incredible power we retain to make snap judgments on a variety of topics using a 'power' that Gladwell refers to as rapid cognition.
Rapid cognition however can work both for, and against us. One of the biggest problems with it seems to be that the more ingrained something becomes, the harder it is for us to think clearly about it and not revert to our snap decisions. This can have markedly negative effects, for example, when people who have not been exposed to those of different ethnic backgrounds are suddenly confronted by a person of a different race.
On the other hand,there are the 'experts,' those who in any given field has simply had so much exposure to a topic that they are able to thin slice, or rapid dissect, any information pertaining to the subject without so much as 'thinking.'
An interesting introduction to the concept of rapid cognition and definitely an approachable book for people of all ages and backgrounds.
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Wooo hooo, woulda thunk a short jaunt through SEAsia wuold land you in an online book club! Great to meet you (again?) and have fun on the rest of your trip! ]]>