After reading Walking with the Great Apes (see my blog post from January 14), as I mentioned, I picked up two books at the United Way booksale. This was one of them, written by Jane Goodall "with" Phillip Berman. I'm assuming that means he acted in part as the writer? The sentiment certainly all belongs to Jane.
When I took my loot from the booksale home, I must admit I was disappointed by this one. I hadn't read the spine - I just saw Jane Goodall and handed over my two dollars. But once I took a closer look, I realized that this book was not really about the great apes at all, but about Jane Goodall's spiritual journey, from her youth to her adulthood to her reflections in later life.
Ever since I was young, I have not been a particularly spiritual person. I went to church. I understand what people mean when they discuss religion and God. I have moved around the world and been exposed to various other belief systems - Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism. But the idea of spirituality and religion has never gripped me.
Ever since I met D, I have had a greater appreciation for such beliefs. His father was a minister, and his family is quite religious. He himself has a strong connection to First Nations and Christian beliefs. I have a lot of respect for what he thinks, and I now know about loving and believing in someone else, despite the fact that I don't always see things the same way.
Until this book, I haven't ever read a spiritual or religious text of any kind. I remember once when we were living in India, when I was 11 or 12, I decided to read the Bible, and was quite determined to read the whole thing. I think I made it 10 or 15 pages before I left that goal by the wayside. When I get halfway down my second bookcase, I will read the Bible, as I thought I would all those years ago. But for now, I read about Jane Goodall's spiritual journey.
So far, the book has been wonderful. I shall reflect more on it in the coming days, but for now, I have found a new favorite quote, also one of Jane's: "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." It means that your strength will come each day, regardless of what kind of day it is. So I'll leave you with that today. More about how Jane has helped me grow a spiritual smidge in the next post.
Tuesday 22 January 2013
Sunday 20 January 2013
The Rules
I think this is a necessary step, though writing it out seems a bit pedantic. Most of the blogs I read have some sort of parameter. Many of them are cooking blogs - I love cooking blogs.
So: here are my 'rules', as it were. I will:
- read from the top-left of my first bookcase to the bottom-right of the final one
- have a home book and a work book. The home books will be 100% in order left-to-right, top-to-bottom. The work books will be taken from close to where I am on the shelves, but there are some books that just don't make relaxing lunch breaks, and that's ok
- blog each book at least once, preferably more
- blog interesting words and facts
- skip things that aren't for reading in the classic sense: Dictionaries, some textbooks, instruction manuals, etc.
- skip duplicates. I will not read 3 complete collections of Longfellow's poetry, for example. I keep duplicates of some books just because both editions are beautiful or meaningful to me
- skip books I've already read, with the caveat that if I cannot really remember the story, I will re-read the book
I think that's it! I'm not so rigid that these aren't open to interpretation and adjustment as I move through my books.
So cheers, and there they are. I'm going to go read now...
So: here are my 'rules', as it were. I will:
- read from the top-left of my first bookcase to the bottom-right of the final one
- have a home book and a work book. The home books will be 100% in order left-to-right, top-to-bottom. The work books will be taken from close to where I am on the shelves, but there are some books that just don't make relaxing lunch breaks, and that's ok
- blog each book at least once, preferably more
- blog interesting words and facts
- skip things that aren't for reading in the classic sense: Dictionaries, some textbooks, instruction manuals, etc.
- skip duplicates. I will not read 3 complete collections of Longfellow's poetry, for example. I keep duplicates of some books just because both editions are beautiful or meaningful to me
- skip books I've already read, with the caveat that if I cannot really remember the story, I will re-read the book
I think that's it! I'm not so rigid that these aren't open to interpretation and adjustment as I move through my books.
So cheers, and there they are. I'm going to go read now...
Currently Reading: the First Book!
Although I've determined what this blog will be, I only started reading the way I intended to three days ago. I've officially started! I'm reading the top-left book on my first bookcase. Here is the first part of the top shelf:
I am currently reading the tall, cloth-bound book on the left. It is a Canadian 'atlas' (more a geographical survey/textbook including maps) from 1935. The first few pages, as that's all I've read so far, have been fascinating. Really, it's a historical document. It is what people thought of Canadian geography in 1935, some 78 years ago. Pluto was brand-new - only discovered 5 years earlier. There is also an amusing bit about archaeologists:
"There still remain unexplored regions. There are some parts of the world where the foot of the civilized seeker of knowledge has seldom, if ever, trod. But the little known regions are dwindling, year by year, as the adventurers push back the line of darkness. Everywhere, too, are the archeologists or 'diggers', who excavate old cities or old geological strata, searching for relicsof past ages, to aid in the knowledge of early life on the earth."
It is a book that I think I got when my Grampa C passed away, when I was 20. All three of his children, and all 5 of his grandchildren, met at the home he shared with my Grama a little while after he was gone. It was a peaceful afternoon. All of the things that Grama didn't want to keep now that he was gone were laid out on tables in the basement. Slowly, in turn, we all selected things that we wanted to keep. I selected many things: a small bookshelf to hang on the wall; a tin from India (where he lived when he was young), with some 60 old coins in it; some hand-painted teacups; and many of his books. I think this book was amongst them. However, I also got many books when my Grama E moved several years back, and I'm not sure which of the two this book came from.
Either way, this book belonged to one of my grandparents. Maybe it was even one of their schoolbooks. Its spine is fragile, and so I won't be carrying it to and from work with me. It will be my first home book - let the blog begin in earnest!
I am currently reading the tall, cloth-bound book on the left. It is a Canadian 'atlas' (more a geographical survey/textbook including maps) from 1935. The first few pages, as that's all I've read so far, have been fascinating. Really, it's a historical document. It is what people thought of Canadian geography in 1935, some 78 years ago. Pluto was brand-new - only discovered 5 years earlier. There is also an amusing bit about archaeologists:
"There still remain unexplored regions. There are some parts of the world where the foot of the civilized seeker of knowledge has seldom, if ever, trod. But the little known regions are dwindling, year by year, as the adventurers push back the line of darkness. Everywhere, too, are the archeologists or 'diggers', who excavate old cities or old geological strata, searching for relicsof past ages, to aid in the knowledge of early life on the earth."
It is a book that I think I got when my Grampa C passed away, when I was 20. All three of his children, and all 5 of his grandchildren, met at the home he shared with my Grama a little while after he was gone. It was a peaceful afternoon. All of the things that Grama didn't want to keep now that he was gone were laid out on tables in the basement. Slowly, in turn, we all selected things that we wanted to keep. I selected many things: a small bookshelf to hang on the wall; a tin from India (where he lived when he was young), with some 60 old coins in it; some hand-painted teacups; and many of his books. I think this book was amongst them. However, I also got many books when my Grama E moved several years back, and I'm not sure which of the two this book came from.
Either way, this book belonged to one of my grandparents. Maybe it was even one of their schoolbooks. Its spine is fragile, and so I won't be carrying it to and from work with me. It will be my first home book - let the blog begin in earnest!
Completed: Nineveh and Its Remains
I FINALLY FINISHED IT!
I have been reading this book since last spring. It has sat, staring at me, on the dresser next to my side of the bed since last spring. It has been taunting me, but I finally won.
It's not that it wasn't a fascinating read. The foreword, about Layard's life and work, was much enlightening about a name that I came across in my studies (I studied Near Eastern archaeology - not sure if I mentioned that), but never learned enough about to appreciate as a person. The stories Layard told in his own voice, about his excavation campaigns at Nineveh and his travels in Mesopotamia were touching and telling of an age and way of life long gone in that area.
I think the reason I struggled with it was twofold. I started it in the throes of drafting my thesis - a bad time to start a book. Also, once I reached the book itself (not the foreword), I was disappointed. Again, not by what was there, but what wasn't. For a book that was titled "Nineveh and its Remains", there was very little of the site, or the dig. I did learn that excavation was seemingly single-handedly directed towards recovering sculpture. Not even text - just sculpture. Monumental sculpture. Although he appears to have the best of intentions in his excavations, I have to cringe when he discusses things crumbling to dust upon excavation, and tunneling to find artifacts.
No, much of the book was Layard's travels and relations with the local tribes that he worked with. He travels by horse to various areas, meets various sheiks, and witnesses religious and spiritual events. He does much of this with a classic European superiority and detachment, though his seems milder than most of the same era. I feel it was more of a sociological reflection than an archaeological one.
On a different note, every once in awhile you learn something after years of study that makes you giggle. In this book, there were two. Both have to do with Layard's name. The first is that his last name is not pronounced like 'lay-yard'. It's pronounced like 'laird'. Every prof I ever had, every time I ever read his name, I thought it was the former. The second interesting bit is that his name changed - after college he chose to be Austen Henry Layard, instead of Henry Austen Layard. Or it was the other way around - I can't remember. But I love the whimsy of just choosing to reverse your name.
Title: Nineveh and Its Remains
Author: Sir Austen Henry Layard; or, Sir Henry Austen Layard
Published: 1969 (originally 1849)
Pages: 295
Total books blogged: 7
Total pages: 2,682
I have been reading this book since last spring. It has sat, staring at me, on the dresser next to my side of the bed since last spring. It has been taunting me, but I finally won.
It's not that it wasn't a fascinating read. The foreword, about Layard's life and work, was much enlightening about a name that I came across in my studies (I studied Near Eastern archaeology - not sure if I mentioned that), but never learned enough about to appreciate as a person. The stories Layard told in his own voice, about his excavation campaigns at Nineveh and his travels in Mesopotamia were touching and telling of an age and way of life long gone in that area.
I think the reason I struggled with it was twofold. I started it in the throes of drafting my thesis - a bad time to start a book. Also, once I reached the book itself (not the foreword), I was disappointed. Again, not by what was there, but what wasn't. For a book that was titled "Nineveh and its Remains", there was very little of the site, or the dig. I did learn that excavation was seemingly single-handedly directed towards recovering sculpture. Not even text - just sculpture. Monumental sculpture. Although he appears to have the best of intentions in his excavations, I have to cringe when he discusses things crumbling to dust upon excavation, and tunneling to find artifacts.
No, much of the book was Layard's travels and relations with the local tribes that he worked with. He travels by horse to various areas, meets various sheiks, and witnesses religious and spiritual events. He does much of this with a classic European superiority and detachment, though his seems milder than most of the same era. I feel it was more of a sociological reflection than an archaeological one.
On a different note, every once in awhile you learn something after years of study that makes you giggle. In this book, there were two. Both have to do with Layard's name. The first is that his last name is not pronounced like 'lay-yard'. It's pronounced like 'laird'. Every prof I ever had, every time I ever read his name, I thought it was the former. The second interesting bit is that his name changed - after college he chose to be Austen Henry Layard, instead of Henry Austen Layard. Or it was the other way around - I can't remember. But I love the whimsy of just choosing to reverse your name.
Title: Nineveh and Its Remains
Author: Sir Austen Henry Layard; or, Sir Henry Austen Layard
Published: 1969 (originally 1849)
Pages: 295
Total books blogged: 7
Total pages: 2,682
The cover was just a plain library-bound cover, so here's the title page!
Monday 14 January 2013
Completed: Walking with the Great Apes: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Birute Galdikas
To be fair, I finished this book several weeks ago. I just haven't gotten around to blogging it. But I realized looking back that it really looks like I've read very little since September, and it looks that way because it's true.
I've been slowly eliminating TV shows from my PVR, no longer recording ones that I really won't miss. I've been trying to read, at least a bit, every day before bed. And I try to read during my lunch break, though some days that just doesn't happen!
Walking with the Great Apes was fascinating. The four main characters really do read as though they were (are, for two of them) larger than life. Richard Leakey, patriarch of African palaeoanthropology, playboy, scholar and personality. The man who selected three women to study the great apes - two of whom were not even trained in a relevant subject. He believed that women would be better able to empathize with the great apes - better able to understand them.
Jane Goodall - free spirit, kind, spiritual, patient adventurer. Fearless. Even in her old age, she travels more than any of her staff, who work in shifts to keep up with her. As a young woman, she was beautiful, serene, a perfect person to act as a bridge between the human psyche and that of the chimpanzees of Gombe.
Dian Fossey - passionate, psychologically unstable, loner, angry, bitter Nyiramachabelli (read the book for the explanation of the last word). Dian came from an unhappy childhood and lived an unhappy adulthood. Although she loved the gorillas, she slowly removed herself from humanity. Hers was a sad life, despite its many accomplishments.
Birute Galdikas - gentle but utterly firm, commanding and yet soft-spoken. She was the only one already a grad student before being selected by Leakey, and the only one to remain in academia proper.
All three sacrificed marriages and relationships, health and wellness, time, money and comfort, for their dreams. Dreams that Leakey helped to foster but that each woman embraced with all their hearts. The "three primates" have become three of the most influential and well-known women in science, and they caused paradigm-shifting changes in the field of primatology. Crusader (Jane), Sorceress (Dian) and Diplomat (Birute) - truly miraculous women. Well worth a read.
Title: Walking with the Great Apes: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Birute Galdikas
Author: Sy Montgomery
Pages: 239
Total books blogged: 6
Total pages: 2,387
I've been slowly eliminating TV shows from my PVR, no longer recording ones that I really won't miss. I've been trying to read, at least a bit, every day before bed. And I try to read during my lunch break, though some days that just doesn't happen!
Walking with the Great Apes was fascinating. The four main characters really do read as though they were (are, for two of them) larger than life. Richard Leakey, patriarch of African palaeoanthropology, playboy, scholar and personality. The man who selected three women to study the great apes - two of whom were not even trained in a relevant subject. He believed that women would be better able to empathize with the great apes - better able to understand them.
Jane Goodall - free spirit, kind, spiritual, patient adventurer. Fearless. Even in her old age, she travels more than any of her staff, who work in shifts to keep up with her. As a young woman, she was beautiful, serene, a perfect person to act as a bridge between the human psyche and that of the chimpanzees of Gombe.
Dian Fossey - passionate, psychologically unstable, loner, angry, bitter Nyiramachabelli (read the book for the explanation of the last word). Dian came from an unhappy childhood and lived an unhappy adulthood. Although she loved the gorillas, she slowly removed herself from humanity. Hers was a sad life, despite its many accomplishments.
Birute Galdikas - gentle but utterly firm, commanding and yet soft-spoken. She was the only one already a grad student before being selected by Leakey, and the only one to remain in academia proper.
All three sacrificed marriages and relationships, health and wellness, time, money and comfort, for their dreams. Dreams that Leakey helped to foster but that each woman embraced with all their hearts. The "three primates" have become three of the most influential and well-known women in science, and they caused paradigm-shifting changes in the field of primatology. Crusader (Jane), Sorceress (Dian) and Diplomat (Birute) - truly miraculous women. Well worth a read.
Title: Walking with the Great Apes: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Birute Galdikas
Author: Sy Montgomery
Pages: 239
Total books blogged: 6
Total pages: 2,387
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