Reading

December 20, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Read the last words of Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu today for the first time. I’ve been reading the Tao very slowly deliberately. I enjoyed it and would recommend that you read it as well. Just don’t breeze through it like a novel. The words have survived a couple of millennia and will reward you if you are patient with them. Rather than say I liked every word, I’ll have to admit that his admonishment against travel just doesn't sit well with me. I can not imagine the person I would have become without the benefit of travel. Here are some other thoughts I had while reading the Tao and Iceland’s Bell.

October 12, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. I finished Cat and Mouse by Günter Grass last night. Not bad. I didn’t get the ending. My notion of writing is much different than some of the authors I’ve read. I think you should leave the reader improved in some fashion. Perhaps you just have knowledge to pass on as in some of the technical writing I’ve done over the years. My naive view of a novel is a story with the basic plot of overcoming some obstacle or at least offering hope for something better.

October 4, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Finished reading The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende a couple of days ago. It was a good story but the South American authors are more raunchy than they need be.

September 07, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. How do you go about selecting something to read? When young, I would just pick a book up and start reading. It didn’t matter what it was about. The army was so boring at times that I would find relief by reading anything whatsoever. Those who know me may be surprised to know that I’ve read every word of Rosemary’s Baby (I would never read it today) and Instant Replay: The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer (me, reading about sports, back then). Later in college, it occurred to me that a person would never have time to read everything written and some of the stuff I had read to that point wasn’t very good anyway. I decided to stick with the classics. Now, after many years, I’m beginning to venture out into the unknown a little just to test the waters again. It seems much preferable to me to read a book when you have no idea of where the story is going. If you have a better method, I’d be interested in hearing about it.

September 05, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. I finally finished One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. It was a bit of a struggle for me to enjoy reading it. I would not rush out to buy it again.

July 09, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. During the drive to Boston, I had the pleasure of reading a couple of books. 1984 by George Orwell was OK. My son had read it recently and had in his mind 1984 as a past event. In fact, it was before he was born. I had always thought of 1984 as a future event as I first heard about the book back in the 60’s. Funny how the age difference makes such a difference in our perceptions.

Another of the books I read was The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton. Again, it was OK but I didn’t quite think the ending fit the rest of the story. Finally, I read Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse. I read several of Hesse’s books many years ago and always enjoyed them. I had always intended to read this one but never got around to it. It is probably his most famous work. Odd, because I didn’t much care for it and would not recommend that you read it. Try some of his other works such as Magister Ludi. They are, in my opinion, much better.

April 20, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Yesterday I ran into an unusual word. It doesn't happen frequently any more but every so often I stumble into a word that I’ve not seen before. I decided it is time to publish my own dictionary of peculiar words.

February 18, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. So what are you reading? I started thinking about my reading habits and the whole notion of reading. I began with See Spot Run. Run Spot Run… Somewhere along the line I remember reading a lot of comic books. I really liked Uncle Scrooge and the Beagle Boys. My dad bought me a copy of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn when I was 10 or 12. I enjoyed them enough that it tweaked my interest and I remember going the the public library in Norwood, Ohio and finding a book named The Mysterious Flying Sub (or something along those lines). That book got me hooked on reading. It was just an adventure story but it was just the right book at the right time for me. It was a treasure that I had found myself and to my knowledge no one else has ever read the book but me. A Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter was the first book I ever purchased. Since then I’ve read some of what was required while in school (The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis and The Merchant of Venice come to mind). In any event, I got to thinking about the whole notion and decided to publish my favorite books and a little about each.

In no particular order…

I made the list by going through my mind today and thinking about the stories that have changed me in some fashion. It would be curious to go through my books and see if I’ve overlooked any that should be in my top ten list.

Les Miserables, Victor Hugo

Started on my plane ride to Hawaii and took nearly two months to read these 1463 pages. Everything after this will seem just a short story. I recall that when I only had 400 pages to go thinking it sad that it would soon end and was curious about how the story would unfold.

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand

My sister gave me this book a year or two ago. It was a real interesting read and it changed the way I view my spiritual beliefs.

The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi), Hermann Hesse

I read several of Hesse’s books in the early 70’s and found this one to be my favorite. I recall Journey to the East and Siddhartha were among my favorites at the time. Somehow I never got around to reading Steppenwolf until recently.

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkein

I read this while still in high school (60’s) and I loved it. If you haven’t read it, I can sum it up for you in two words… power corrupts. Of course the story has become famous. It was popular back when I read it but no where near the superstar status it currently enjoys.

Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

Mid 70’s along with The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Both are classical Russian authors and you just have to read a couple to begin enjoying their verbose style.

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

Mid 70’s usually with a single glass of white German wine. I walked home from downtown Columbus to the Ohio State University campus every evening after the second shift at Lazarus and sat down and read for an hour before going to bed. It was a wonderful time for me.

The Mysterious Island, Jules Verne

Late 60’s with nearly every other book that Jules Verne and H.G. Wells wrote. I read everything I could get my hands on back then. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe and Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson were also great stories.

The Analects of Confucius, Confucius

Early 80’s. I was struck while reading this how similar it is to the Gospels in the Bible. The odd thing is that it was written around 500 B.C.

A Pen Warmed up in Hell, Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Mark Twain is known for the children’s books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Too bad! There is a whole other side to this man that is wonderful. This one is not for the timid. Whatever your beliefs, read about the logistics of Noah and the Ark. Absolutely fascinating. Mid 70’s.

King Henry IV, William Shakespeare

Don’t try this one at home. I had an excellent professor while in college that went through this book for an entire quarter. I would have simply missed much of what makes this a great story without the benefit of my professor that quarter. I still love that Falstaff character.

More…

Another day I’ll tell you about teaching my children to read and some of the short stories, poems, magazine, newspaper, and websites that I’ve read that are memorable for one reason or other. I’ll also have to devote some time to the great books that I’ve started but not finished for one reason or other. The astute reader will have noticed a sizeable gap in my readings. Between the early 80’s and late 90’s I’ll admit to reading little more than technical manuals and books. I permitted raising my children and holding a job to take priority over my own reading enjoyment.

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