Mark Reece's Blog, page 21

Review- The discourses of Epictetus

Discourses and Selected Writings by Epictetus

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


In some ways, it is difficult to give a negative review to a book such as this one, which has a significant place in intellectual history. In other, more pressing ways, it is not.

The main positions advocated are a distinction between 'soul' and body, and the opposition of things under one's control to external things. External things are both material goods, and the acquirement of office. One could summarize these things as 'politics'. Epictetus states that one should care about one's 'soul' and be indifferent towards external things.

To Epictetus, becoming indifferent to external things is achieved by reducing desires and becoming indifferent to the world. This will also lead one, in his view, to become largely indifferent to one's self preservation. Many of the discourses indicate that if a person has become a fully stoic philosopher, then they cannot be made a slave regardless of their external circumstances. This is because such a person can still control their own actions and thoughts- they cannot be made to think in a slavish way, even if they are a slave.

Epictetus also makes regular references to God, or Zeus, and states that humans should submit themselves to God's will. God's will is expressed in nature; human nature is granted by God, therefore acting in accordance with nature is to act in accordance with God's will. This means that although God is frequently cited, God is in fact not a necessary component of Epictetus' philosophy. Actions do not have to be taken because God directly grants or requires them; Epictetus' doctrines would be identical, for practical purposes, in the absence of God.

After reading a few pages of this book, it quickly becomes apparent how poorly developed the arguments are. In fact, there is often very little argument at all. It is asserted that God exists. The 'soul'/body divide is asserted, the desirability of reducing desire and living in accordance with nature is asserted (which seems a formal naturalistic fallacy). And once asserted, they are reasserted, frequently. One can only compare the philosophy (that is, the structure and quality of the argument) of these dialogues extremely unfavorably with, for example, the Euthyphro dilemma, which assesses the relationship between God and morality in a way that is absolutely superior to anything written here.

This lack of argumentation makes me inclined to consider Epictetus more of a moralist than a philosopher. And the morality being advocated is one of tired Conservatism. One should not go to parties in case one loses one's honour. One should not laugh too often in case one goes down in one's friends' estimation. Of course, as Epictetus repeatedly points out, once one becomes a properly stoic philosopher, it is wise not to associate with one's previous friends, in case they ruin one's character with too many parties and too much laughter.

Of course, it is good to bear whatever suffering is inevitable stoically, using the commonplace meaning of the term. But to make a principle out of this requires that human welfare/flourishing is never attended to. A philosophical individual does not 'seek office'- then who does? There is no significant political philosophy at all here- plainly, someone is going to seek office, and Epictetus' only counsel as to how they should govern is indifference.

The style also falls flat. Possibly, part of this was to do with the translation- there are a lot of modern idioms that sound bizarre, as in this passage from page 196:

"... if you value dignity and restraint over being called a 'sport' by your old mates..."

Not having read the original, I can't attest to the accuracy of this, but it doesn't seem very redolent of the speech of a Roman in the second century. Such quirks aside however, the text is simply dull, certainly in comparison with other ancient philosophers. Of course, this may have been Epictetus' intention- better dull and repetitive than risking making the listener laugh, perhaps.

One wonder what the end game in all of this is- to have more dullards leading lives bereft of passion? It is in this sense that the book feels most contemporary. There are plenty of people making assertions without evidence and giving tritely moralistic advice in the modern world, too.



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Review- The Changeling

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Changeling is a type of adult fairy tale in which the protagonist, Apollo Kagwa, sets off on an adventure after his wife commits an inexplicable crime.

This is a curious novel to review, as the tone was very uneven. Much of the first part of the book is taken up with descriptions of how Apollo becomes a doting father. He acknowledges that new parents' interest in their children is often dull- reading about it has the same problem. These passages are extremely long for the plot they contain.

The story gets going when Apollo's life is overturned, and some of the sections where he is trying to work out what has happened are fast paced and intriguing. However, when he reaches his destination, the story suddenly feels very long again. The resolution seems contrived and cliched- I think I would have have preferred Apollo not to have found any answers, if those were the only kind of answers available.

Overall, there was some good writing, but I didn't like this story.



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Review- I will never see the world again

I Will Never See the World Again by Ahmet Altan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I will never see the world again is a set of essays written by Ahmet Altan, largely about his arrest and subsequent sentencing to life imprisonment for supposedly offering logistical support to the Turkish coup plotters in 2016.

This is a great book, and one that cries out to be read over a short period of time. The writing is urbane, and the subjects discussed are varied. Altan is a writer's writer- he quotes or alludes to a wide variety of literature, largely from memory, and the tone of the book is not only reminiscent of other prison literature but also of dystopian fiction.

Some of the essays are only a few pages long, giving anecdotes about the petty mean-spiritness of prison doctors or the sentencing judges; other essays give longer expositions about the act of authorship and prison life. The tone is transparently honest, light and even whimsical- bitterness never intrudes, and that only heightens Altan's distance from, and superiority to, the oppressive environment he finds himself in.

At one point, he writes:

Anyone on earth who finds a listener has a story to tell. What is difficult to find is not the story, but the listener. I was the listener in that cage.

One suspects that his words will be remembered long after his tormentors have been forgotten.



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Review- Stung with love

Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments by Sappho

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This selection contains Sappho's poems where more than a phrase survives. Even so, the poems are highly fragmented, giving them a gnomic quality. Aaron Poochigian gives a very useful introduction and set of notes, explaining the context and historical importance of the poems.

When hearing the value that contemporary poets ascribed to Sappho, the slightness of this volume fills one with considerable sadness. Although her name is often associated with love, the surviving fragments indicate something of a role in public life- for example, in poems that celebrate marriage, and that detail the heroic events involving the gods of the ancient Greek pantheon.

The fragments are elegant, sumptuous, and passionate:

Moon and the Pleiades go down.
Midnight and tryst pass by.
I, though, lie
Alone.

The beauty is only glimpsed, making the loss poignant.



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Review- 'Gut'

Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ by Giulia Enders

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Divided into three section, this book examines the digestive process, the nervous system of the gut, and finally the ecosystem of the gut.

Enders's enthusiasm for her research interest (she was studying the gut when writing the book) comes across clearly on the page, and this is an interesting read. In additional to describing how the gut works, she discusses how the gut interacts with the rest of the body and its effects on general health. In particular, she comments on how the health of the gut can affect mental well being, drawing on evidence from both medical research and animal experimentation.

The author keeps the discussion at a basic level, although that is fine for the subject matter- certainly, some of the information she gives was new to me. Unfortunately, however, the topic at hand soon becomes obscured by the writing style. Enders seems worried about the intelligence of the general reader, and constantly uses silly figurative language, including extended metaphors that have little to do with what she is attempted to describe. A few of these would be forgivable, but to constantly do so quickly becomes grating.

Enders also has a habit of breaking off the narrative to give patronizing self help advice, organised into lists. This will start with her describing the impact of (say) a particular disease on the gut, then the book will continue thus:

Good ways to avoid infection
1) Always use a good chopping block!
2) Wash the food very thoroughly! And your hands!
3) Always keep your dishcloth separate from your toilet brush!

I exaggerate, but only a little. It is difficult to find the right tone when speaking about a complex subject, and Enders clearly has some interesting information to convey. A neutral tone may well have been more appealing than what was offered.

I also need to say that the illustrations were not helpful. I didn't mind the cartoon style per say, but they generally didn't illustrate anything. They serve only as visual jokes, which further exaggerates the tone. I would potentially read other books by this author, but if the style is maintained, only short ones.



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Review- An Inspector Calls and other plays

An Inspector Calls and Other Plays by J.B. Priestley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A collection of four plays, the titular work, 'An Inspector Calls', is by far the strongest and most powerful. A police inspector arrives at the house of a wealthy family to question them about their involvement in the suicide of a young girl. Their actions, and their attempts to justify them, expose the tawdriness of their apparently respectable values. The characterisation is a little stock (the young rake, etc), but the tension is built effectively, and the social democratic message fits naturally with the story.

'The Conways' tells the story of a family breakdown , with the acts shifting in time. In 'I have been here before', a mysterious stranger arrives at a hotel and proceeds to tell the residents of his conception of time. 'The Linden tree' concerns a professor of history facing forced retirement at the end of the second world war.

The writing in all of these plays is good- brisk- although they sometimes feel superficial. There are a lot of upper middle class characters arguing about science vs religion, the fate of man under socialism and so forth, over plenty of good port. The stage directions are sometimes unintentionally amusing- a young man turning up without a hat is often a portentous sign. The servants are generally good hearted, drop their aitches, and provide comical respite. Too often, there feels little at stake.

I have been here before is certainly the weakest of the plays- the mystery protagonist talks nonsense about the nature of time at some length- for much too long, in an unintentional irony.

Overall then, 'An Inspector Calls' is the only play of the four that encourages repeat reading, as it sucessfully creates conflict that does not rely on family spats. And the inspector's powerful final speech lasts in the memory:

'We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish'.



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The Colour Purple at Birmingham Hippodrome

Different mediums have intrinsic properties; on the page, poignancy lingers; on the stage, joy. That is evident in the recent performance of The Colour Purple musical, performed at the Birmingham Hippodrome. Even Celie's lament that she only knew her father when he raped her as a child, is soon forgotten.

I have to confess to not being a fan of musicals. However, the performance here was carried out with such aplomb as to evoke real pleasure. The role of Celie was less central than in the book, perhaps necessarily so, given the novel's epistolary structure. Also, there was very little focus on the missionary work of Celie's sister. Both of these changes helped to focus the plot.

T’Shan Williams and Karen Mavundukure were great as Celie and Sophia, respectively. In particular, the slow transformation of Celie from the browbeaten wife at the start of the play to the more confident woman at the end was achieved both by a gradual shift in the tone of Williams' singing, and subtle changes in her dress.

There were no weak singers, and the introduction of three gossips, acting as a kind of chorus between scenes, was a deft move. The year is periodically projected on the back of the stage, offering a redemptive note, implying that the evil men do will soon fade.

The audience was so packed that the start of the play was delayed by twenty minutes. The performances created a great atmosphere, with frequent laughter and whooping, and a standing ovation at the end. Perhaps even enough to make me more amenable to musicals in the future.

Review- Inferior

Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story by Angela Saini

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In this book, Saini argues that innate sexual differences are not as significant as are often supposed, and that there are occasions where scientists have over- interpreted results from their research in support of a view that is more informed by pre-existing notions of gender roles than an objective assessment of the evidence.

Saini discusses her thesis in relation to a number of areas, including neuroscience and medicine, although the focus during most of the chapters is on sociology- setting out the social context and the institutions in which particular ideas develop. This is not necessarily a weakness, but it does make the subtitle a little misleading. In places, the book is written in a 'he said, she said' style- I wonder whether more detail of the science should have been included to allow the general reader to make a more informed assessment about which theory should be preferred in the examples Saini raises.

I also wonder whether it would have been better for her to have set out her philosophy of science more explicitly. When discussing the circumstances in which various theories arise, she sometimes seems to suggest that there is an objective truth to be found, albeit that this is a plane that is hard to reach in reality. On other occasions, she hints at support for a more perspectivist epistemology- the idea that (in this instance), male and female scientists can have different truths. To my mind, this caused a little confusion on occasions.

The book is on much more solid ground when criticizing some scientists from over extrapolating from facts to general theorizing about sex differences. For example, whatever the precise nature of the differences between the brains of men and women, it is difficult to isolate sex from (for example) body weight or the fact that men and women live and are treated differently, which may produce physiological effects. Furthermore, extrapolating from brain differences to how people actually live requires an epistemology that, at a minimum, weighs up biological with social factors, and it is likely that empiricism is unsuited to this task. In other words, the interpretation of a fact is not itself a fact, and this is a problem that is made in many fields.

There is a strong argument to be made that whatever innate sex differences exist are irrelevant to questions of justice- equality is generally argued for on the basis that such differences that exist are not morally significant, rather than that innate differences do not exist per se. Therefore, the direct political importance of the questions raised in the book is not obvious, but of course, that is not in itself an argument not to raise them.

Saini is a good writer, and the book reads very easily; she also gives an extensive bibliography for those who want to pursue the subject in more detail. I'd recommend this book as giving a good overview of the topic in an engaging and passionate style.



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Review- The Colour Purple

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Despite the poignancy of the subject matter, this book is a pleasure to read. Set in the segregated American south, the protagonist, Celie, is lonely and isolated, living in an effectively forced marriage, in which she is subject to constant abuse. With no one to talk to, and semi-literate, at the start of the novel, she composes letters to God.

The character development of Celie is outstanding, subtle and believable. By the end of the book, she has changed considerably but still possesses recognizable traits and insecurities that were evident from the start. The supporting characters, including the singer, Shug Avery, who helps Celie to change her life, are memorable in both their virtues and their foibles.

There is a danger when depicting regional dialects, as Walker does, that the language becomes intrusive or a barrier to understanding. However, that is not the case here. Enough colloquial words are used to emphasize Celie's background and level of education without overburdening the narrative. The epistolary form works very well, as it allows Celie's character to shine through while leaving enough gaps that the violent scenes do not become overpowering.

Walker's use of language is delightfully deft, making the world it describes seem a light place, despite all its horrors. It is a great work of art.



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Birmingham royal ballet Hobson's choice

Another great performance by the BRB, this time with the comic ballet Hobson's choice. Set in a boot shop, the ballet tells the story of how a lowly shoe maker marries the daughter of the shop owner, and ultimately becomes the master himself.

It's an interesting change of pace from the more dramatic works, and demonstrates the range of the dancers, who here elicited regular laughter. Many of them are skilled actors as well of dancers. And a demonstration of what an interesting city Birmingham is in many ways to possess a theatre of the quality of the Hippodrome.

One can only hope that with the imminent retirement of director David Bintley, a new generation will emerge to continue his fine work.