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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 16 of 16. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by MidnightBlue on May 3, 2006, at 0:44:08
You know, non-violent, few bad words, that will make me laugh, inform me, or make me feel good and NOT put down! Mysteries are okay, but no gore. Fiction or non-fiction.
I have a very active imagination and have to watch what I feed it!
Thanks!
MidnightBlue
Posted by NikkiT2 on May 3, 2006, at 12:33:34
In reply to Looking for a CIVIL book!, posted by MidnightBlue on May 3, 2006, at 0:44:08
If you want to be made to laugh, in a book with no nastiness, and that will nourish you, I think the perfect suggestion is Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series.. it starts with "The Eyre Affair". They're almost beyond description *giggles* Set in an alternate 1980's England, where people have re-engineered Dodo's as pets, and William Shakespeare is the most popular name.. I've not met a person that didn't fall madly in love with these books! *g* I promise
I like reccomending the "No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series as *nice* books.. they're easy to read, short, and nothing nasty in them at all..
I'm sure you'll get some more great reccomendations!!
Nikki
Posted by MidnightBlue on May 4, 2006, at 12:57:42
In reply to Re: Looking for a CIVIL book! » MidnightBlue, posted by NikkiT2 on May 3, 2006, at 12:33:34
Thanks Nikki, I'll have to check those out!
MidnightBlue
Posted by Racer on May 4, 2006, at 16:20:23
In reply to Re: Looking for a CIVIL book! » NikkiT2, posted by MidnightBlue on May 4, 2006, at 12:57:42
Posted by ClearSkies on May 4, 2006, at 16:50:06
In reply to I second Nikki's suggestions very strongly (nm) » MidnightBlue, posted by Racer on May 4, 2006, at 16:20:23
Posted by Declan on July 14, 2006, at 18:36:23
In reply to Looking for a CIVIL book!, posted by MidnightBlue on May 3, 2006, at 0:44:08
I'm trying to remember if I've read a civil book. I really can't think of one. Isn't that strange? My books would really depress you. If you were trapped here you'd have to get by on 'The Science of Yoga' and Henry James and Jane Austin. My wife liked "The Red Tent", I remember and she doesn't like my books either, so maybe that would be OK (but don't bet on it).
Declan
Posted by Racer on July 16, 2006, at 22:45:08
In reply to Re: Looking for a CIVIL book!, posted by Declan on July 14, 2006, at 18:36:23
> IIf you were trapped here you'd have to get by on 'The Science of Yoga' and Henry James and Jane Austin.
Do you find you need hip waders and a machete to get through James? I always did...
But if you like him, how about Edith Wharton? One of the only writers I count as a favorite and do NOT reread regularly. It's usually all I can do to get through her books once, without being hospitalized for dehydration from crying so much. (I do reread some of her short stories, though, and I think I've reread "Ethan Frome.")
And the Divine Miss Jane... How can anyone NOT like her? Some of hers I've reread so many times I can recite whole passages...
Posted by Declan on July 17, 2006, at 3:10:41
In reply to Re: Looking for a CIVIL book! » Declan, posted by Racer on July 16, 2006, at 22:45:08
No Racer, those are the books I haven't read. Maybe I meant to once, or maybe they are left over from university.
Jane Austin I would like to read, in that Marxist way people did, to show the effect of material conditions on consciousness. I'm a Wasteland and King Lear kind of guy; I know much of them off by heart.
I was just interested that my reading has been so uniformly bleak. There's a Bible and Book of Common Prayer around for dipping into now and then, but they're not light hearted either.
Posted by Declan on July 23, 2006, at 1:28:28
In reply to Looking for a CIVIL book!, posted by MidnightBlue on May 3, 2006, at 0:44:08
After a few weeks thought I remembered one.
Well, not the title, but certain things by PG Wodehouse.
I read one once that had such wonderful timing.
Part of the Jeeves series. Farce at its best.
But others were not as good.
Posted by Racer on July 26, 2006, at 0:59:42
In reply to Re: Looking for a CIVIL book! » Racer, posted by Declan on July 17, 2006, at 3:10:41
>
> Jane Austin I would like to read, in that Marxist way people did, to show the effect of material conditions on consciousness.Naw, read her books because they're funny as all get out! She really is one of the funniest writers I've ever read. For just plain fun, with a little substance, I recommend her highly.
For a bit less fun, but very important sorts of commentary, Anne Bronte. "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," and "Agnes Grey," she's said by some to be the most talented novelist in the family. (Emily being known as the most talented poet, and Charlotte for being quite prolific. How's that for damning with faint praise? I can't remember whose assessment that was, though...)
>I'm a Wasteland and King Lear kind of guy; I know much of them off by heart.
Have you read "A Thousand Acres," by Jane Smiley? It's one of hers I haven't yet, but I do like what I've read of hers -- "Barn Blind" might be my favorite, but it's a bit of a tragedy -- so I suspect it's a good'un.
>
Posted by Declan on July 26, 2006, at 13:20:54
In reply to Re: Looking for a CIVIL book! » Declan, posted by Racer on July 26, 2006, at 0:59:42
Years ago someone gave me a Jane Smiley book I half read. The truly wonderful Jean Rhys based her best known book "Wide Sargasso Sea" on something by Charlotte Bronte. (Mad woman in attic, house burning down.) But I liked "Goodmorning Midnight" myself, published in 1939, lots of bad luck all round.
Posted by Declan on July 26, 2006, at 14:10:03
In reply to Re: Looking for a CIVIL book!, posted by Declan on July 26, 2006, at 13:20:54
(you can see where I've taken this thread), but what I'd like IRL is to find someone to read out loud with. All the books I'd love to have read and haven't managed to finish, like Dostoevsky, Kafka, and from recent times, Sebald, and also Jane Austin and so on.
Maybe I should put an Ad up?
Posted by Racer on July 26, 2006, at 19:48:28
In reply to I know that wasn't civil, posted by Declan on July 26, 2006, at 14:10:03
I love reading aloud with someone. My ex and I used to do that. We read a couple of George MacDonald books -- "The Princess and the Goblin," "The Princess and Curdie" -- and I forget what else we read. It was wonderful.
My husband doesn't much care for it. I tried to read him "Tom Sawyer," in order to read him, "Huckleberry Finn," but after a couple of chapters, he just wouldn't keep going. It upset me a lot, but I have gotten to a point where I just don't even ask him for what I need anymore. Sad, huh?
Maybe an ad would be a good idea. Or if you like reading aloud, how about reading to the blind? Or school kids, if you like children's books? (You're in Oz, right? I would imagine they have similar programs there...)
Hope that helps.
Posted by Jay on July 30, 2006, at 23:49:47
In reply to Looking for a CIVIL book!, posted by MidnightBlue on May 3, 2006, at 0:44:08
"Naked Lunch" by Burroughs.
Jay
Posted by finelinebob on August 26, 2006, at 21:23:42
In reply to Looking for a CIVIL book!, posted by MidnightBlue on May 3, 2006, at 0:44:08
> You know, non-violent, few bad words, that will make me laugh, inform me, or make me feel good and NOT put down!
I can't guarantee that last bit. In fact, I would recommend that you put this book down as many as 81 times, that being the number of verses the book contains, so you can soak in the calligraphy and the photography that accompany the poetry in this translation, and let the meaning sink in subconsciously while your mind is otherwise occupied.
I'm talking about the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, as translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English. And the 25th Anniversary Edition is available at Amazon, yea! I thought it might be completely out of print by now.
If you've never read it, there is one thing you need to know: Lao Tzu speaks directly but underneath the words is a meaning meant to turn the world on its head. Given the historical time in which it was written, it would have been easy to read/hear its words and think they praise and flatter the "lords" of the day, but if you **listen** to what is said you'll hear the subversion of the material in pursuit of the mystical.
I've read several translations -- from transliterations that seem to ignore any difference between languages or ages to manipulations (The Tao of Power comes to mind) that look to distort it for the reader's (that is, the author's) purposes. Gia-Fu Feng's translation is elegant and contemporary and carries with it that internal sense of truth, something you can feel is right.
It has made me laugh. It has made me contemplate. It has given me new perspectives on cultural "truths". It has helped me see how marvelous our existence is while remaining humble, because there is so much more.
I can't remember if this quote was attributed to Lao Tzu himself or some other teacher who followed him. Taoist talk of the "ten thousand things" between Heaven and Earth -- all that exists. Why 10,000, when it's rather obvious that there are far more than that? The answer (the quote): It is enough.
Switching philosophical gears here, some contemporary Buddhist authors I like are Thich Nhat Hanh (No Death, No Fear) and Pema Chödrön (The Places That Scare You: A Guide To Fearlessness in Difficult Times)
Posted by Declan on October 1, 2006, at 2:23:35
In reply to Re: Looking for a CIVIL book!, posted by finelinebob on August 26, 2006, at 21:23:42
" Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tzu, as translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English.
This is the end of the thread.
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