What I've been reading

Flowers for Algernon
by Daniel Keyes

narrated by Adam Sims

"Charlie Gordon, a floor sweeper born with an unusually low IQ, has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that doctors hope will increase his intelligence - a procedure that has been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon."

An unexpected gem from the Classics list, which I enjoyed even though it was a 20th century novel (I don't usually get on with modern fiction). At the start and possibly at the end I think that the printed book would have conveyed something more than the audio book through the spelling, given that it was written as a series of diary entries by the experimental subject, but the narration helped.

Nice Work
by David Lodge

"When Vic Wilcox (MD of Pringle's engineering works) meets English lecturer Dr Robyn Penrose, sparks fly as their lifestyles and ideologies collide head on. What, after all, are they supposed to learn from each other? But in time both parties make some surprising discoveries about each other's worlds - and about themselves."

A traditional sort of novel, with a story that introduces real people that I could believe existed who didn't follow some fairy tale narrative. It had a beginning, middle and end and I didn't know at any point what would happen next. In fact the author suspected when I would start guessing, and anticipated this by starting a couple of the chapters with a paragraph telling me what would happen next before it happened, which took away all the 'will they, won't they' and allowed me to just enjoy how things went. Not thrilling, not exciting, rather ordinary, but I really liked it quite a lot.

The Bodhisattva Ideal: Wisdom and Compassion in Buddhism
by Sangharakshita

"The image of the Bodhisattva, one who wishes to gain Enlightenment for the sake of all beings, lies at the heart of much of Indian, Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism. Sustained by a deep understanding gained through meditation and reflection, the Bodhisattva is able to work tirelessly for the benefit of all."

This is what we've been studying in my group on Mondays, and as for so many of the course books it's based on talks, in this case delivered in 1969 and 1984. The fact that I got through it is testament to the distance that I've covered since starting this Buddhist lark, and the help I've received from others in the study group. Philosophy and the science of the mind do not fall comfortably within the scope of my particular intellectual talents. But I've come so far that parts of the book explained things I hadn't realised I was confused about, such as the timeline of Buddhist 'sects' from Theravada to Mahayana to Vajrayana and Tantra. That knowledge isn't going to change my world, but I often compare Buddhism to a huge jigsaw where I have assembled a few clusters, and this adds a few pieces around the edges.

Riders of the Purple Sage
by Zane Grey

narrated by B. J. Harrison

"The story of Lassiter, a gunslinging avenger in black, who shows up in a remote Utah town just in time to save the young and beautiful rancher Jane Withersteen from having to marry a Mormon elder against her will."

This was an unexpected gem, read particularly well by my regular audio book narrator probably because it's set in Utah, which I think is where he lives. He's less successful when reading books set in 18th century England or France, for example, but we will insist on giving names to our aristocrats and towns that aren't pronounced as they are spelled. The Mormons don't come out well from the book but everyone else is brave and honourable and generous and it has a happy ending, so that's good.

The Wide Sargasso Sea
by Jean Rhys

"Born into an oppressive colonialist society, Creole heiress Antoinette Cosway meets a young Englishman who is drawn to her innocent sensuality and beauty. After their marriage, disturbing rumours begin to circulate, poisoning her husband against her. Caught between his demands and her own precarious sense of belonging, Antoinette is driven towards madness."

I've been looking out for this book for ages because I was aware it was written as a prequel to our beloved Jane Eyre, which I haven't read for ages and don't seem to have on my bookshelves, so I may borrow a copy from the library to remind myself how good it is (or isn't). I think that I was expecting this one to be as good as JE, but of course it wasn't. It gave me a tiny bit of insight into emancipation in the West Indies, which I admit to knowing nothing about before reading the book.

The History of my Going for Refuge
by Snagharakshita

"Sangharakshita's autobiographical account of how his radical understanding that the monastic life-style and the spiritual life are not identical deepened through his encounters with Burmese monks, Tibetan lamas, and the new Buddhists of India."

An esoteric work that interests me because of my study of the founder of the Buddhist movement that I'm involved with. As ever, it's a (barely) edited transcript of a talk that he gave in 1988 on the 20th anniversary of the movement's existence, and fleshed out a few helpful aspects of his thinking for me.

The Driver's Seat
by Muriel Spark

"Lise is thin, neither good-looking nor bad-looking. One day she walks out of her office, acquires a gaudy new outfit, adopts a girlier tone of voice, and heads to the airport to fly south. So begins an unnerving journey into the darker recesses of human nature."

A short novel describing about 2 days of this woman's life, and unnerving doesn't start to describe it. The character has crossed over into insanity, and I can't imagine why the author chose to write the story or what she meant by it. I suppose stories don't have to have a reason, and maybe what she describes is true to life, but I have no experience of this kind of madness and I couldn't relate to anybody she described.

On Beauty
by Zadie Smith

"Howard Belsey, a Rembrandt scholar who doesn't like Rembrandt, is an Englishman abroad and a long-suffering professor at Wellington, a liberal New England arts college. He has been married for thirty years to Kiki, an American woman who no longer resembles the sexy activist she once was."

I wasn't expecting to, but I liked this book quite a lot. It made me understand just a little more about race and class, and what that can mean in America and England. I was reading it during my recent retreat when one of the participants told me how she felt as a mixed race person who had been the subject of a physical racial attack when she was 16, and shed some light on the difference it can make to have a brown face. I can't really experience what that's like, but I can be aware that it's there, all the time, in her life and in the lives of many others.

Light Years
by James Salter

narrated by Mark Boyett

"The story of Nedra and Viri, whose favored life is centered around dinners, ingenious games with their children, enviable friends, and near-perfect days passed skating on a frozen river or sunning on the beach. But fine cracks that are spreading through their marriage, flaws that will eventually mar the lovely picture beyond repair."

I kept expecting something dramatic to happen, something that would elevate this story to match its 'Classic' status, but nothing ever did. I learned about the two people, their children, their friends, their lovers, their divorce and subsequent marriange and death. But there was nothing to relate to and no arc to follow; they are described but I never cared about either of them or what might happen.

Back with a bang

Rivendell, July 2023

Back from my latest retreat and it's taken a while to get around to blogging, although I managed to dry the tent before a week had gone by. Part of the reason is that I went back to Mr MXF asking for a different task - the previous one was too complex for me to fit in between all the other things I'm doing, so it took me an hour or two to remember what I was supposed to be doing and then I had to stop to do something else, and then had to go through the learning curve again. So he's now given me something much easier that's rather fun to do, and so I spent quite a bit of time doing it last week.

But back to the retreat. It was in Sussex so I made a few stops along the way: staying with Sister D, a delicious Ethiopian lunch in Shepherd's Bush with her and Lola II, and then staying with my friend from primary school who lives in Worthing. Arriving at the retreat I set up my tent and reported for the briefing about what my responsibilities were. The main jobs were at the start (welcoming people), and at the end (organising the clearing up). Two team members did all the cooking and another was the creative inspiration for the team - she used me to fetch things and hold other things while she made beautiful objects for the shrine.

There wasn't all that much for me to do in the way of organising because there weren't any complaints about sleeping arrangements or snoring, nobody had forgotten to bring anything essential, and everyone seemed to be getting on pretty well. I was just thinking that this was quite an easy job when the news came in from the team that manage the property that a local water main had burst and there would be no running water for an indeterminate period. That certainly gave me a few things to do, with their help - they supplied bottled water, hand sanitiser and wet wipes, and we organised buckets of water from the pond for flushing the two outside toilets. Within the team we decided that if it continued beyond one night we would have to send everyone home. Thankfully the water was back after 24 hours and everyone survived.

The programme for the retreat was similar to last year. On the last full day we were all given a packed lunch and sent off to spend the day outside. I had some organising to do in advance of the clearing up task, and when I finally got out I decided to do something that was not entirely within the spirit of the retreat, which was to head for the local tea room for tea and cake. It was a lovely walk, and very fine tea and cake, but my rule-bending backfired on me when the caffeine withdrawal headache appeared the next day, and I suspect the tea was not as decaffeinated as it should have been. 

My misfortune continued on the drive home with heavy rain and horrible traffic on the M25, and then there was a loud bang from the nearside front of the car while I was south of Bicester on the M40. In the pouring rain, with a headache, I determined that steering, suspension and brakes were still performing as they should but I came off the motorway to finish the journey just in case. So it took ages. My wonderful garage was still open when I arrived and diagnosed a broken coil spring (now repaired).

UJ wasn't at home when I arrived - she was back in Ukraine for her father's birthday. I thought I'd go to the Buddhist Centre the next day for their regular monthly women's morning, but the activity was too raucous for my post-retreat sensitivities so I ended up sitting quietly in a corner. Then Sunday and Monday were set aside for meeting my cousin and her son who were visiting from Seattle, first in Regent's Park and then at mum and dad's, and then UJ returned next day. Not the recommended approach to easing oneself back into everyday life after the peace and calm of a retreat.

Today I've had two lots of dental experiences. The orthodontist is going to order a whole new series of aligners to replace the ones previously supplied, presumably because my wayward teeth aren't aligning themselves as they are supposed to. Then I experienced a new hygienist who sprayed my face liberally with water while her assistant sucked my tongue and cheek into her poorly-wielded suction tube, and then gave me even more work to do when brushing my teeth. I am not impressed, but feel that I should at least give it a try.

Also not impressed, April 2023

Gardens and Buddhists

Open Garden, June 2023

The journey back from Devon was fine, and the following weekend was also fine - laundry, putting stuff away, recovering, and I was moved by the fine weather to start the ritual attack on my garden. After mowing the lawn and basic pruning I thought I'd have a look at the paved area round the back, and was dismayed to find weeds growing as high as my shoulder. All this plus brutalising the wisteria and dead-heading the rose will produce a full carload of greenery destined for the tip when I get a moment. Lola II was witness to some of this drudgery, as she visited in advance of a commitment she had in Birmingham.

I also visited a much nicer garden, owned by one of the Buddhists and mostly tended by her partner. It was part of the Open Gardens scheme a week ago, when there was torrential rain, but our afternoon in the garden was warm and sunny, and it's a really beautiful place. I even made googly eyed apple snacks for the picnic thanks to a random idea from Lola II.

Then it was time to welcome another Buddhist to stay at my house. This came about because last year I went on a retreat led by VG, and afterwards I wrote to him to thank him. I also said that if he needed any help within the team in future years I would love to support the retreat, and about six months later he messaged to invite me. Not one to pass up an opportunity, I asked in return whether he'd like to come to see our group, which he had helped to get started in 2003 when he was Chair of the Birmingham Buddhist Centre. So he did.

The next weekend was supposed to contain a retreat in West Wales for just the team supporting the Warwick Buddhist group. One by one the team dropped away until on Thursday we were left with just three people, who all live within 2 miles of one another. So we cancelled the 3 hour journey and spent the weekend together instead, meditating, walking and talking quite a bit about our plans for the group as well as going to the Birmingham Centre on Sunday. I fell asleep during one of the talks, and not because it wasn't interesting. At least it wasn't while I was driving.

And now I'm off to visit a few people on the way to camping at VG's retreat, and looking forward to it a great deal.