What I've been reading

Herzog
by Saul Bellow

"His formidable wife Madeleine has left him for his best friend. His head buzzing with ideas, he writes frantic, unsent letters to friends and enemies, colleagues and famous people, the living and the dead, revealing the spectacular workings of his labyrinthine mind and the innermost secrets of his troubled heart."

A 'Modern Classic' with this idiosyncratic tic of including his interpolated letters and notes that simply irritated me, while the literary and historical references were lost on me. The last few chapters had less of this, and were much more satisfactory, even though it wasn't enough to redeem the book.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth
by Jules Verne

narrated by B. J. Harrison

"An adventurous geology professor chances upon a manuscript in which a 16th-century explorer claims to have found a route to the earth's core. Professor Lidenbrock can't resist the opportunity to investigate, and with his nephew Axel, he sets off across Iceland in the company of Hans Bjelke, a native guide."

I still think I remember aspects of the film that was an enjoyable Saturday afternoon classic on TV when I was growing up, but it may just be false memory. The book isn't bad, narration not bad either. Passed the time.

Adventures in Human Being
by Gavin Francis

"We have a lifetime's association with our bodies, but for many of us they remain uncharted territory. The reader is led on a journey through health and illness, offering insights on everything from the ribbed surface of the brain to the secret workings of the heart and the womb; from the pulse of life at the wrist to the unique engineering of the foot."

A mixture of medical, surgical and anecdotal material relating to different parts of the body. Nothing particularly memorable or outstanding but it was interesting enough, and I intend to pass it on to the woman who has been giving me fantastic deep tissue shoulder massage recently.

Creative Symbols of Tantric Buddhism
by Sangharakshita

"The aim of Tantric Buddhism is to help us realize our potential for profound wisdom and unbounded compassion by transforming the energy locked in by old habits, fears, and narrow views. This experience cannot be mediated by concepts; it is beyond words and thought, but it can be evoked with the help of symbols."

This was the textbook for the last module with the group of women that I've studied with for nearly five years. The material is full of mysticism and symbolism and everything is metaphorical - colour, sound, shape and form. Not the easiest subject, but I did learn a bit about the historical context as well as trying to let go of some of my more stubborn habits of mind.

The Tao of Pooh
by Benjamin Hoff

"In which it is revealed that one of the world's great Taoist masters isn't Chinese - or a venerable philosopher - but is in fact none other than that effortlessly calm, still, reflective bear, Winnie-the-Pooh. While Eeyore frets, and Piglet hesitates, and Rabbit calculates, and Owl pontificates, Pooh just is."

So I've been on a solitary retreat, which gives me a lot of space and time to do things that I like, which includes reading. A lot of reading. This was on the shelves there, and I remember when it was first published in 1982 because of earnest friends seeking Eastern wisdom. I wasn't much interested then, but obviously time has brought change. I'm still not sure I understand the difference between Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, but it doesn't really matter.

An Evil Cradling
by Brian Keenan

"When Brian Keenan went to Beirut in 1980 for a change from his native Belfast, he was kidnapped by fundamentalist Shi'ite militiamen and held in the suburb of Beirut for the next four and a half years. For much of that time he was shut off from all news and contact with anyone other than his jailers and, later, his fellow hostages. "

This is a book that has long appeared on my list of 'Books I'd like to read', perhaps ever since it was published in 1992. Telling the story of his imprisonment in Lebanon as a hostage alongside three Americans and Englishman and journalist John McCarthy, it was not perhaps the best choice of reading for a solitary retreat. But being thrown upon one's own resources provides insight into the nature of mind, strength and personality. Clearly a cottage in Worcestershire is not the same as a dungeon in Beirut, but his story provided much to admire and emulate from my comfortable room. John McCarthy's book was also on the shelves, but I decided it wasn't sensible to continue this sort of reading at this time.

The Heart: The Art of Meditation
by Vessantara

"Cultivating more warmth, more kindness and more happiness is possible for all of us. Through the lovingkindness meditation, the gentle and encouraging approach of experienced meditator Vessantara helps us to discover the positive wonder of what is already in our hearts."

This small book focusses on the meditation that I was concentrating on during my solitary retreat - it's a beginner's primer, but with lots of useful hints and tips, and one of those books that contains exercises that you can do but I always skip. Well, on retreat there's nothing else that needs to be done, so I didn't skip the exercises (except the one that involved being in a crowded place), and it was really interesting to watch my mind doing its thing.

A Slip of the Keyboard
by Terry Pratchett

"With all the humour and humanity that have made his novels so enduringly popular, this collection brings Pratchett out from behind the scenes of the Discworld to speak for himself – man and boy, bibliophile and computer geek, champion of hats, orang-utans and Dignity in Dying."

Essentially this is a book of Terry Pratchett's essays written throughout his life as articles in the paper, forewords to books, speeches at Science Fiction conventions and so on. I discovered that he started his career as a journalist for a local paper, became a press officer within the nuclear power industry before the joy of his words and imagination made him a millionaire and a national treasure.

Truckers
by Terry Pratchett

"To the thousands of the tiny nomes who live under the floorboards of a large department store, there is no Outside. Things like Day and Night, Sun and Rain are just daft old legends. Then a devastating piece of news shatters their existence: the Store - their whole world - is to be demolished."

Because the cottage contained every Terry Pratchett book (I think) - and in chronological order on the shelves, it's been interesting to follow up little nuggets  from the book of essays. This is why I started reading Truckers with only one day before I'd have to leave - it's less complicated than the Discworld so I thought I'd have a chance of finishing it, which I did. As it's written for younger readers there's not so much of the clever wit that I love, but it's a neat idea taken more seriously than, say, the Borrowers.

 

Living with Kindness
by Sangharakshita

"Kindness is one of the most basic qualities we can possess, and one of the most powerful. Living with Kindness shows us how to cultivate many of the facets of kindness in ordinary, everyday life through the Buddha's teaching of metta in the Karaniya Metta Sutta."

This book was lent to me for the retreat, and has two themes. One is the meditation that I was working on during the retreat, and the other is the translation and analysis of the ancient text that led to the practice. The former is covered no better or worse than in two of the other books I brought with me, but the translation is fascinating. I'm tempted by the Sanskrit summer school that's available, but really I have enough already on my plate without adding another spoonful.

Meditation: The Buddhist Way of Tranquility and Insight
by Kamalashila

"A complete handbook and a comprehensive guide to the theory, methods, and practice of Buddhist meditation. Providing an introduction to the basic techniques for beginners, Kamalashila also offers detailed advice and reference material for those more experienced."

A very comprehensive manual starting at the very beginning but also including some pretty advanced meditation practices and techniques, which it has become clear I don't come close to mastering. A training day I attended recently included an interesting discussion about the purpose of meditation - is it to foster higher levels of consciousness, or to enable better awareness of self and other, both on and off the cushion? This book is heavily invested in the former, but all my efforts will have to remain centred on the latter.