Word of the ?Week: Imagist

At work, I have been unsuccessfully attempting to read The Poetical Works of Longfellow during my lunches. I haven't gotten very far - but I have been avidly enjoying it.

In the introduction, I came across the word Imagists, and although it has been months since I've done a Word of the Week, I've decided to look up Imagism, as it is something I had never heard of.

First, a bit of background:

As you know, I love to read. I loved English in high school. I had a succession of English teachers, some brilliant (Mr. Jones), some less so (Mrs. Wichellow comes to mind) in terms of inspiring a love of my native tongue and its many interpretations on paper. What I discovered part-way through high school, though, was that I did not particularly enjoy, nor did I have a particular talent for, dissecting and analyzing literature. The purpose of this blog is reflection, and an enjoyment of the memories and thoughts that the books I read bring up in me. However, if I had to continue to write "what theme did you follow throughout the book and what did it all MEAN?" papers about the books I read, I would likely cease reading.

For this reason, I actively chose not to take English courses in university - I thought they would focus too much on the analysis, and not enough on the enjoyment I found in casual reading.

I think, in choosing not to take English, even as an elective, that I may have missed out on some of the periods of literary history and understanding how writing and poetry evolved through the decades of the last few hundreds of years.

Now, on to Imagism, something I might have heard of if I had chosen to take poetry in university:

Imagism is, according to Wikipedia, was a movement in early 20th-century Anglo-American poetry notable for its precise imagery and sharp, clear language. Notable examples of Imagist poets are Ezra Pound and D.H. Lawrence.

I was surprised to see D.H. Lawrence ranked as a key Imagist poet, as I did not know that he wrote poetry. Of course I am familiar with his prose, though I have not read any. I think everyone has heard of Sons and Lovers, or of Lady Chatterley's Lover. And although Pound's name is familiar to me, I'm not sure why - I certainly haven't read any of his work.

And so - with this word of the week, I've decided to create a Parking Lot. It's a term I picked up at work: A Parking Lot is where you put ideas that are good ones, but take you off your current focus, and so you 'park' them until the time is right. I already have so many books to read that I already own, that I need a place to put things that I'd like to read sometime - sometime down the line once I'm caught up on my own books! So Pound and Lawrence's poetry will be the first additions to my Parking Lot. I fear there will be a monster list there by the time I get there! But - as I reasoned in a post awhile back, this is a pasttime that will never end, as I will never run out of interesting things to read. Best to keep a list of the things that interest me, even if I don't get to them until well down the road!

Completed, though not entirely: Food

Of course, one's quest to find amazing recipes and eat good food is never at an end. But I'm happy to say that I'm done with the books I intended to read (though we had to return Starved for Science, so I didn't get to that one).

It has taken me some time to get here. I got married three weeks ago! There was much work leading up to it, and lots of time with family and friends, and so I have not spent nearly as much time reading as I might ordinarily. However, we're settling back down into normal life, and also into some brand-new living room furniture - a wedding wish that has come true. Now I have a true reading nook! Not as lovely as some of the fancy library getups that some people on the internet seem to have, but it's mine and I'm thrilled: a lovely leather armchair and ottoman to sink into and read a book. They have replaced a dilapidated Ikea Poang and associated dilapidated ottoman.

My new reading nook

I've made recipes from Simple Suppers and the Vegetarian Collection, and they turned out delicious. I returned the Whole Foods Market cookbook to the library because it is coming as a gift from my new sister-in-law.

Seeds of Deception was exactly what I thought it would be - drivel. Poorly researched, out of date, poorly sourced, and, frankly, mostly irrelevant to Canadians. A lot of the pages are devoted to GM tomatoes (no longer on the market), GM potatoes (also no longer on the market), and issues related to American governmental interference with scientific efforts and GM research (no surprises there). If anything, the book reinforces that the Canadian government has stood up, kept BGH milk and dairy out of Canada, and held government to account when it tried to muzzle research on BGH milk. Admittedly, Canada is currently failing miserably at scientific backing and freedom, but in terms of GM produce I don't think we're doing too bad. The book totally cherry-picks and sensationalizes what it writes, with a heaping spoonful of sarcasm and disdain. It was terrible, but I read it cover to cover in order to be able to say that with authority. I hope to never read as poor a quality of book ever again.

Just Food was interesting. It also had a bit too much haughty confidence on the part of the author, but I did find his writing to be much more, well, fair, and realistic in terms of how humanity can balance our population and our food needs along with the environment. His main ideas were:

• Local food is a bit too overrated - don't focus so much on food miles but on the carbon cycle of the thing you're eating overall
• We need to drastically reduce our meat consumption, and instead replace land-based meat with ethically- and environmentally-sound aquaculture systems (more fish!)
•  Integrate livestock and food production on mid-size farms, growing things that thrive in the environment you're in without heavily modifying it
• Judicious use of biotech and chemicals, being mindful that some organic chemicals are very environmentally harmful

I would definitely recommend the book. My main issue throughout, which was validated in the final chapter, was that a lot of the food decisions he recommends are currently impossible to make, with our labelling and farming systems as they currently appear. This was a disappointing ending to a book that brought me much hope. But it certainly gave good ideas for what to keep an eye out for as I shop and eat.

So, with a bigger focus on finding vegetarian meals for all four of us to enjoy, and finding ethically raised meat (pork and beef has been found, chicken pending) to eat in moderation (less than we have in the past), and eating more fish, I'm going to go sit in my new chair and move on to my next book, started before the food kick: The Bedtime Book of Famous French Stories. So far it is fabulous! I'm kinda done with reading non-fiction for a bit, and am looking forward to engulfing myself in French prose.

Title: Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of GE Foods
Author: Jeffrey M. Smith
Published: 2003
Pages: 254

Title: Just Food: Where Locavores get it Wrong and How we can Eat Responsibly
Author: James E. McWilliams
Published: 2009
Pages: 222

Total Books Blogged: 12
Total Pages: 4145