Larry’s Comments (group member since Nov 23, 2020)

Larry’s comments from the Nonfiction Reading - Only the Best group.

I think you get it very well, Carol. I do wonder if any of the references to Memphis--going past the obvious one in the first few lines--also pertain to the Memphis on the Mississippi.

shadows

in the latter days
you will come to a place
called memphis.
there you will wait for awhile
by the river mississippi
until you can feel the shadow
of another memphis and another
river. nile.

wake up girl.
you dreaming.

the sign may be water or fire
or it may be the black earth
or the black blood under the earth.
or it may be the syllables themselves
coded to you from your southern kin.

wake up girl.
i swear you dreaming.

memphis.
capital of the old kingdom
of ancient egypt at the apex
of the river across from the
great pyramids.
nile. born in the mountains
of the moon.

wake up girl.
this dont connect.

wait there.
in the shadow of your room
you may see another dusky woman
weakened by too much loss.
she will be dreaming a small boat
through centuries of water
into the white new world.
she will be weaving garments
of neglect.

wake up girl.
this done mean nothing.

meaning is the river
of voices. meaning
is the patience of the moon.
meaning is the thread
running forever in shadow.

girl girl wake up.
somebody calling you.

---Lucille Clifton

In the Winter of My Thirty-Eighth Year
BY W. S. MERWIN
It sounds unconvincing to say When I was young
Though I have long wondered what it would be like
To be me now
No older at all it seems from here
As far from myself as ever

Walking in fog and rain and seeing nothing
I imagine all the clocks have died in the night
Now no one is looking I could choose my age
It would be younger I suppose so I am older
It is there at hand I could take it
Except for the things I think I would do differently
They keep coming between they are what I am
They have taught me little I did not know when I was young

There is nothing wrong with my age now probably
It is how I have come to it
Like a thing I kept putting off as I did my youth

There is nothing the matter with speech
Just because it lent itself
To my uses

Of course there is nothing the matter with the stars
It is my emptiness among them
While they drift farther away in the invisible morning

SOURCE: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...

Carol wrote: "Excellent words. Thanks, Larry. - I will note them and transport them elsewhere! My only extra tidbit is that schoolchildren are a captive audience. They cannot choose what they read or see and so ..."

Carol, you are so right about the effects on children ... especially on sensitive children ... and even more so on sensitive children in the hands of a unskillful teacher.

This is hard to understand in full without the Facebook posting with a photo of banned books arranged on a table in a bookstore, but you can use your imagination. I posted my own words over that photo. These were my words:

"Hmmm ... If I'm hiring new employees, I might work some of these [banned] books into the conversation to see if they have read them ... I'm not sure I would want to hire a new employee who hasn't read any of these [banned] books."

Carol, these words are from a Facebook friend ... I shared his own posting on Facebook myself. (I read Maus years ago when a Jewish friend who lost a lot of his family in the Holocaust urged me to do so.) Notice how it begins ... he would like your closing words a lot.

"A few thoughts on Maus.
First of all, I want to underscore that people who have not read Maus are not entitled to an opinion about the propriety of children reading the book, whether under the tutelage of an educator, or on their own. Anyone who ventures: "I haven't read it, but. . ." is out of bounds.
I am a long time reader of Shoah literature, a parent who educated his children early, and a fan of the narrative technique employed in the graphic novel. And certainly I am fan of the message of Maus. Especially in a time of unparalleled division and moral confusion.
A few observations that have escaped the bloviators:
1. There are no people in Maus, mostly cats and mice, who do not customarily wear clothing. If your child sexualizes rodents and felines, your problems neither begin, nor end, with Maus.
2. The fundamental human problem addressed in Maus is the lack of empathy that a nation of human beings showed for one or more of their component groups--the wholesale dehumanization, attribution of otherness, and gratuitous brutality that led to the Shoah. Not by soldiers, in war--but by every aspect of German society, and for that matter, Austrian and other European nations all too ready to participate.
Empathy and solidarity is in short supply in 2022 America. As a vehicle for promoting empathy, warning of the dehumanization of other people by immutable characteristic---Maus is effective beyond mere words. No reader could conceivably suffer harm greater than benefit. Either you are too young to take anything from it, or you are old enough to grasp its tragedy. It may be a perfect bridge between those stages, since kids respond to anthropomorphism, as Disney has long demonstrated. What trauma unique to Maus would NOT be conveyed by another book decrying racism, anti-semitism, and senseless murder? Is there a "clean" way to teach about Mengele and Crematoriums?
3. I would very much like to hear from the proponents of this culling of libraries where they have stood on the video games and TikTok videos and violent films their kids digest daily. I submit that the average 10 year old in America sees entire worlds blown up with no moral lesson attached, entire populations wiped out on every streaming service out there. Do these parents set about blocking, culling, or editing the latest Call of Duty? Is the library somehow more sacrosanct a source of information than one's own home?
4. It is too cute by half to point out that there is more illicit sex and violence in the Bible and Quoran than in any book the Tennessee Board of Education would remove, and the moral messages in those religious tracts are far more opaque than the very direct and unsubtle Maus. But here we are: Too cute by half is also undeniably accurate.
5. When people tell you who they are, believe them. And when they tell you that a book about the Shoah doesn't teach what they want to teach, ask them what book they will hand their kids and get them to read in the way Maus communicates a message of empathy and the indispensable value of human kindness, and the burgeoning and recurrent threat of racism and nativistic violence. If they tell you they will get back to you on that, then they have won a zero-sum game: they have acted against empathy and created a vacuum with the loss of a tool to erase anti-semitism and cruelty. What will replace Maus? Show me the better vehicle for this lesson, before you remove it.
They should be incorporating it in every curriculum, not removing it without replacement.
And here's a hint: Look for the kid who fails to find meaning and moral direction in Maus. That's the one to fear."

My January Reading ...

THE LAST DIALOGUES OF SOCRATES - THE APOLOGY, PHAEDO, CRITO

There are no words that I can offer that really do justice to these dialogues. One recent issue of Lapham’s Quarterly has these words: “Aristotle, his best student, described Plato as a man “whom it is blasphemy in the base even to praise,” while the mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead reportedly summed up the Greek thinker's accomplishments with the remark, “All of Western philosophy is but a footnote to Plato.”” I totally agree.

The Apology is Socrates's self-defense at his trial for blasphemy and leading the youth of Athens astray. Plato was present at the trial and supposedly the words in the Apology are Socrates words. Socrates makes an opening statement and then responds sequentially to the charges against him. He explains how and why the youth of Athens has come to follow him over the years. He names his accusers and explains why they have charged him with the offenses. He says that he will accept the judgment but that he prefers to obey God rather than the Court. He will neither offer to pay a fine nor accepts exile but will accept the death sentence. He ends with a statement that the judges themselves will be judged for what they have done.

The Crito immediately follows the trial. Socrates is in his cell awaiting execution and is visited by his friend Crito. Socrates wakes up from a sound sleep to find Crito there. He tries to persuade Socrates to flee and he tries to give him any number of reasons why this might be the right course of action. Socrates explains that reason forces him to accept the verdict and that, by accepting the advantages he has had by living in Athens as a citizen, he must now honor its laws and accept the sentence of death.

Phaedo was a disciple of Socrates and was there along with several others with him in his last hours before his execution. (Crito was one of the others there, but Plato was not.) Phaedo explains that he will try to repeat the conversation. Socrates’s wife Xanthippe is there with their child, but he sends her away. Phaedo explains that Socrates talked about the gods, our soul, and life and death. Essential reading. Totally essential reading.

Reading these dialogues in any translation is far better than not having read them. Let’s get that out of the way. I think that many people fear them because they don’t think that they can handle the Plato’s Republic. I get that. But don’t think like that. Maybe you’ll go on to that work (and it is far more challenging than the dialogues.) and maybe you’ll just stop after reading these dialogues. But you will be better for reading these dialogues.

The translation problem. Translations by Henry Cary and Benjamin Jowett have been around for more than a hundred years. I think that they are fine, but then I don’t read ancient Greek. They are available for free and again will give you a good understanding of what Plato was trying to get across. But there are better translations. I can recommend the Penguin editions of the dialogs as translated by Christopher Rowe. The later dialogues of his translation were published in 2009. Great introduction, great explanations of the translation, and great notes. The Last Days of Socrates

Earlier dialogues can be found in another book, Early Socratic Dialogues.

“The publication in 1987 of an edition of these seven short dialogues of Plato was hailed by reviewers as a landmark in the history of Penguin Classics. The team of editors, under the distinguished leadership of the late Professor Trevor Saunders, produced translations and commentaries that were clear, informative and, at the same time, scholarly.” A new edition in 2005 was released with some new notes but a decision was made that the 1987 translations did not need to be updated.

Plato; Emlyn-Jones Chris. Early Socratic Dialogues (Penguin Classics) (Kindle Locations 158-160). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.

One of the things I miss about working (I've been retired for about 12 years now) is that every year to celebrate Chinese New Year, we would go down into Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown and eat at one of several Chinese restaurants that my Chinese-America co-workers knew so well.

Such good points, Sher.

John wrote: "Larry, I think I would normally go to Spotify and listen to Billie Holiday for a good long while. But I have had some pause about Spotify given Neil Young’s position — and now Joni’s, too...."

It's way overkill, but I also subscribe to Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music Unlimited. A number of other major artists are following Neil and Joni.

John wrote: "This morning, I came across this great poem by Rita Dove. Although I am familiar with Rita Dove, I have read very little of her work.

CANARY

Billie Holiday’s burned voice
had as many shadows as l..."

It is a great poem indeed ... full of suggested dark sadness ..."magic spoon, magic needle" ... the clear reference to heroin here, cooked in the spoon, injected with the needle.

Carol wrote: "One of the best books I read last year was 'The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present by Ronald Hutton. (Goodreads won't let me add it- have no idea why.)
If you are looking t..."

Carol, this looks really good. I just checked and discovered that I can read it with my Perlego subscription. (Once I saw that Yale University Press was the publisher, I thought that it might be on the Perlego site.)

I think that the threat of being charged with being a witch was used to "keep many women in check" in many countries through the ages ... so that they didn't exercise that "independent female power."

It does seem that Hutton is willing to explore all the different aspects of witches, including ones that I had never thought of.

Carol wrote: "A wonderful review, Larry. I had never heard of Ann Patchett, but will put her on my TBR list."

Carol, would you like to share any thoughts about a book from last year that you thought was one of the best books you read?

This one grabs me from the beginning, John .. A "house ... far out at sea all night" ??? I think I'll read it over several times today.

Carol, a friend posted this one elsewhere today:

Burns penned many works commemorating Scottish history. This poem is one. To Explain--After the town had changed hands 12 times down the ages, Berwick-upon-Tweed at last became definitively English on August 24th, 1482 when Edward IV took possession of what had long been Scotland's principal port.

Berwick Law, mentioned at the end of the first stanza, is a conical hill dominating the harbor. It is NORTH Berwick that is referred to in today's poem, a lyric affirming its author's fondness for, 'wine, women and song'. Mary is probably, 'Highland Mary', whom Burns, 'seduced and abandoned', the story goes.

For a musical rendition-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mEfR...

My Bonie Mary
Robert Burns

Go fetch to me a pint o wine,
And fill it in a silver tassie;
That I may drink, before I go,
A service to my bonie lassie:
The boat rocks at the Pier o' Leith,
Fu' loud the wind blaws frae the Ferry,
The ship rides by the Berwick-law,
And I maun leave my bonie Mary.

The trumpets sound, the banners fly,
The glittering spears are ranked ready,
The shouts o' war are heard afar,
The battle closes deep and bloody.
It's not the roar o' sea or shore,
Wad make me langer wish to tarry;
Nor shouts o' war that's heard afar-
It's leaving thee, my bonie Mary!

Carol, my wife and I just finished watching the last episode of the second season of ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL. Near the end of that episode, James repeats Burnes' poem FOR AULD LANG SYNE, saying that that is their family tradition on Christmas Evening.

Too funny about that announcement, Carol!

Carol, it's such a great summary of how the French helped the Americans in critical ways on land and on sea. Most Americans know little of their own history about the most critical events.

Lance wrote: "For football fans (appropriate since the playoffs are now here) there’s an upcoming book on the only undefeated team in NFL history, the 1972 Miami Dolphins. I was lucky enough to obtain an advance..."

Lance, football fans probably didn't get a lot of reading done this past weekend.

So my thoughts about Ann Patchett’s These Precious Days: Essays, which could not be more precious to me. I still have some negative feelings whenever I see the word “essay” simply because of having to write essays for so many years in school. Maybe this latest book by Patchett has finally gotten me over that because they are wonderful in their wisdom and in their deep human emotion.

“How to practice” is even better at not holding onto things that you have once bought or were given. (This follows her fun essay, “The Year of Not Shopping.”) It begins when the father of her childhood friend Travis died. After his death, they help sort his things to be given away. And then, Ann and her husband Karl begin to go through all the things in their house. They give a lot of thing to Karl’s nurse and her adult daughter. And then to Karl’s son and his daughter-in-law. And then to his daughter. She kept things that were beautiful and things that they used. She gives away more and more, including a manual typewriter to Charlotte, an eight year old girl who is thrilled beyond words to have a manual typewriter. Manual typewriters come up again later in the book.

There is a great essay about meeting Eudora Welty, and Welty tells her where an author should sign a book when a fan asks for a signature. Practical advice can be found a lot in this book. But also some deep wisdom about the deep South. That leads to this quote about Mississippi, “The reason it’s so impossible to write about Mississippi,” Donna Tartt once told me , “is that everyone thinks you’re exaggerating.”

There are many good passages in more than one essay about her husband’s planes and flying in more than one of the essays … and then about her husband’s last motorcycle.

I can;t mention enough that there is so much love in this book. And it’s not always love for people. Sometimes it’s love for books and for her bookstore, Parnassus, in Nashville. The best of that is found in her essay, “A Talk to the Association of Graduate School Deans in the Humanities.” After graduating from Sarah Lawrence in 1985, she went back to Nashville to live at home and got a job as a cook in a restaurant. She then went back to school at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her work with professors there helped her little, but her teaching help her a lot. Graduate school also made her tough. These quotes from that essay are worth repeating.

“An MFA degree is a funny degree.” … “owning a bookstore has … reminded me what I loved about graduate school.” She thinks she has done “more good on behalf of culture by opening Parnassus than [she has] writing novels.” “And it isn’t just about books. Yo-Yo Ma came in one day and played a Bach suite for the twenty people who happened to be in the store.”

“Here’s something they didn’t teach you in graduate school: if you want to save reading, teach children to read. Engage in reading.”

Her connection to children or at least children’s books is deepened by her growing relationship with another writer, Kate DiCamillo. It begins by Ann Patchett just delivering lunch to DiCamillo and her publicist for an author event. So she begins to read her DiCamillo’s books, starting with this one. “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is a perfect novel. It made no difference what age it was written for.” She then decided to read all of Kate DiCamillo’s books … even the Mercy Watson books. [I’ve probably read each one of those about 20 times to my granddaughters.] Her favorite is The Magician’s Elephant.”’

And so we come to one of the last essays, the longest one by far and easily the most touching one. It gives its title to the title of the book, “These Precious Days.” She picks up an ARC of Tom Hanks’ Uncommon Type, his book of short stories. She is surprised to find it a very good book. She is asked to come to Washington to interview Hanks about the book. They stay in contact and she asks him to be the narrator for The Dutch House. His assistant, Sooki, is a big help. Ann discovers that Sooki had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. As the months wear on, we have entered the pandemic. A clinical trial is available in Nashville, and Ann’s husband Karl, who is a doctor, helps Sooki get into that trial. As the pandemic gets worse, Sooki moves in for a number of months with Ann and her husband in their home. She begins to learn a little more about Sooki. She is very private, but she begins to tell Ann a bit more about her life.

And Sooki begins to paint furiously. She also begins to do kundalini yoga with Ann. Ann is worried about the infecting Sooki. She is also worried a bit about the store, but customers are still buying through online sales. Sooki helps sometimes. They do psilocybin together, and that is good for one of them and not at all good for the other one.

There is so much more. More about her father, who had been a LA policeman and detective for 33 years … and never swore. That’s just not according to Ann but according to her father’s friends as well. And when he read drafts of Ann’s works, he would go through them and cross out all the swearing. Ann’s love for people is so incredibly real and it is based on loving them for who they are, as maddening as that can be at times.

We get a great essay on Ann winning a prize. That’s “What the American Academy of Arts snd Letters Taught me About Death” She won a writing prize in 2005 and she quickly discovers the difference between winning an award and being inducted. She is seated next to John Updike when she gets that prize. He is both kind and charming. It turns out that he is the one to present her with an award … for her prize. There are only 250 members of the Academy at one time. Twelve years later after the award, she gets a letter informing her that she will be inducted as a member. She is notified as members die. Since she was inducted, she had gotten about 40 of them.

People die. And finally we return to Sooki, with Patchett’s last essay, “A Day at the Beach.”

I’ll stop right here. People die. Things end. My reviews vary a lot in length. I posted a one sentence review last year of a book that I liked a lot. This review is the longest one I’ve done in a long time. It still doesn’t come close to covering all the things I like and admire in this book of Patchett’s essays.