Burr: A novel by Gore Vidal (1973; 2000 ed.) 430 pages.
Good grief! Slow, tedious, and boring! I had no idea wh2023 - ‘70’s Immersion Reading Challenge
Burr: A novel by Gore Vidal (1973; 2000 ed.) 430 pages.
Good grief! Slow, tedious, and boring! I had no idea who “Burr” was when I started on this novel. Aaron Burr, while serving as the 3rd Vice-President of the United States (1801-1805), shot and killed the first Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Hamilton, in a duel. Three years after that, President Thomas Jefferson charged Burr with treasonous actions against the United States. Burr was later acquitted of those charges but found guilty of proposing an invasion of Spanish territory in order to make himself emperor of Mexico.
I would suggest you first read some true historical accounts on the Founding Fathers of America before diving into this book, and for sure read the “Afterwards” first. Vidal Gore does tell you that the events are real, but he took liberties with the conversations between individuals. He even rearranged some of the character’s lives, presenting them as living, even though they had already been dead, when certain events occurred because he needed them. Remember, this is JUST A NOVEL! It is not all historically correct, although Gore does claim to have made it as historically correct as possible.
I will admit that I don’t know that much about the Founding Fathers myself, so I cannot personally refute the claims made in this novel. I did look up a few events of interest to see if they had actually occurred, and the events were real. But, the descriptions and conversations, and how things truly went down between the Founding Fathers…I’m not so sure about.
The Founding Fathers were not perfect. I get it. I’m sure they spewed out lies about each other, vying for top positions in the new Republic, much like they do today. I’m sure there was a good amount of corruption, but the good outcome of it all, while working out the details, definitely outweighed the bad. Why else do we see the “world” entering our open southern border…and not fleeing it?
The one problem I did have while reading this was the total character assassination of all the Founding Fathers and degradation of the Constitution of the United States, as if it was a fault of some “brainless, fat waddling drunks” (words of the author) who got together and wrote up something that only benefited themselves. This is exactly how the author presented the Founding Fathers in this novel. He claims this was written from Aaron Burrs perspective of things…but, I don’t know if I believe that at all. I personally believe this comes from the authors own heart.
My notes here are long. That’s just so I will remember some of the things written in this novel. Next year, I’ll be reading up a little on the Founding Fathers from true historians, hopefully learning the good and the bad and will be able to compare.
The below comments are about individuals in this novel, provided courtesy of the author:
Benedict Arnold was a fat scared weasel.
Andrew Jackson drooled at the corners of his mouth like a mad-dog and was incoherent when he became excited.
Regarding George Washington, “ ultimately, I think, he must be judged as an excellent politician, who had no gift for warfare. History, as usual, has got it all backward.” He was “slow-witted” as if he didn’t have a brain. He was “a perjurer, a robber and a traitor”.
Regarding Washington’s Delaware River Crossing (that infamous painting): “I found irritating the slowness of his mind; not to mention his awesome gift for failure in the field. In three years, he had lost every engagement with the enemy, except for a small victory at Trenton, and that had been an accident: the Hessians had not posted guards the night of his attack...Quite naturally, many officers wanted Washington replaced.”
Speaking of the Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson, “ I confess, to not having listened to a word of the declaration of independence. At the time, I barely knew the name of the author of the sublime document. I do remember hearing someone comment that, since Mr. Jefferson had seen fit to pledge so eloquently our lives to the cause of independence, he might at least join us in the army. But why is Tom preferred the safety of Virginia in the excitement of local politics to the discomfort and dangers of war.”
Regarding Valley Forge while on Pennsylvania hill-side during winter 1877-78: “ We felt abandoned. We were abandoned. Elsewhere, let it be noted, the nations founders spent a comfortable winter, particularly Jefferson at Monticello aware, in perfect comfort and serenity, he was able amongst his books together with his ever-so-fine wool.”
Hamilton was for taxation to the hilt, sending in the militia to collect overdue taxes from farmers throughout Pennsylvania, which now he had a right to collect because “collecting taxes” is now in the Constitution. He was Secretary of Treasury when he was charged for stealing money. Hamilton had an affair with a married woman and they black mailed him out of hundreds of dollars to keep it quiet. But, it came out in a public pamphlet put out by Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton thought it was put out by Monroe, who was running for President, and challenged him to a duel, which did not occur, in which Monroe asked Burr to be his second in the duel. Hamilton then claimed Burr had incest relations with his own daughter, Theodosia, and called Burr a “more despicable” man, resulting in the duel that killed Hamilton.
Davy Crockett was nothing but a drunken fathead who’s writing style was nothing but tall stories.
In my opinion, this author appears to be completely “woke”....more
“The Soul Thief” by Charles Baxter (2007; 2009 ed.) 210 pages.
Setting: 1970’s New York
I’m not too sure what I Month of November 2022 - The Thief Books
“The Soul Thief” by Charles Baxter (2007; 2009 ed.) 210 pages.
Setting: 1970’s New York
I’m not too sure what I just read. The author writes in a way as if we should be reading between the lines and understand his meaning, but does not give us any real information to go on. I felt the story was all over the place about nothing, really. But, I kept reading, thinking the ending would help pull it all together. Notta! If I can’t figure out what you are writing about, you get a 1-star.
College students, Nathaniel Mason and Jerome Coolberg, an odd genius who thinks he can acquire everyone’s soul (by driving them crazy??), have met at a geek’s party for artists. Jerome develops a weird obsession and life-long interest in Nathanial’s life.
He starts by stealing Nathanials clothes…and wearing them, then his furniture. Nathanial’s crush is found to be Jerome’s girlfriend. Then, when Nathanial falls in love with a lesbian he has been sleeping with, she is raped and beaten by, I think, Jerome’s orders, to a group of thugs. I still don’t see the relevance of this to the story at all.
But, Jerome twists all the stories around of what is going on with Nathanial until he has a mental breakdown and doesn’t know what’s real and what isn’t.
Nathanial moves on and gets married and has children. Jerome keeps track of Nathanials whereabouts, and every milestone of his life. Some years down the road, Jerome contacts Nathanial, and asks him to meet him in San Diego, where he will reveal the big secret to Nathanials past life.
Jerome hands Nathanial this book, “The Soul Thief”….Nathaniel’s life.
Originally published on October 12, 1979. I had to choose a science fiction novel to read for a prompt for my 2019 52-Book Reading Challenge. This booOriginally published on October 12, 1979. I had to choose a science fiction novel to read for a prompt for my 2019 52-Book Reading Challenge. This book has been mentioned in a few Facebook reading groups. I had no idea what it was even about, and never knew it was a talk radio show, then a BBC television show back in late 1970’s. I chose to read it because it is now considered a classic, written 40 years ago, and was “supposed” to be funny…NOT! And, it is a very short read…only 159 pages...thank you Jesus! Science fiction is not my cup of tea. I think it's stupid and a complete waste of time!
Arthur Dent wakes up on a beautiful morning only to find that his house is about to be bulldozed to make way for a bypass, but a bigger problem lurks around the corner. The planet earth is also about to be destroyed by aliens to make a direct route from one planet to another. Arthur is saved by his undercover alien friend, Ford Prefect, from the planet Betelgeuse, who had stopped by for a little week long visit, but was left behind and had been there now for 15 years. The only way for Arthur to survive the transition from earth through hyperspace and into the galactics was to fill his belly up on beer. So, Prefect brought him to a bar and ordered 6 pints and was told to drink up. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” in the story is an electronic book with a million pages, and counting, that help hitch-hiker’s such as Arthur to understand and function in outer-space. It explains why he had to jam a Babel fish deep inside his ear canal to understand the alien language, and just a lot of odd, stupid things in the story. Glad it was short! Glad it's over! Curiosity satisfied! ---------- 2019 52-Bookmark Reading Challenge: #47/52 – Science fiction novel 2019 - 100 PBS Book Checklist 2019 – 1001 Books To Read Before You Die (Really?)...more
Originally written in 1950 but not published in Germany until 1962. Translated and published in English in 2008. -------------------------------------Originally written in 1950 but not published in Germany until 1962. Translated and published in English in 2008. ---------------------------------------- Well, I couldn't make out heads or tails about what the author was trying to portray. It's one thing when it's a book of big words that require you to pause and look up their meanings for better understanding, but it's a whole different ballgame when the author's writing is nothing but riddles, talking in circles and full of repetitive sentences with underlying meanings. Forget the fact that I couldn't even decide who was talking or what exactly they were doing.
I really wanted to try and appreciate this guys writing because of his experience and survival through the holocaust, but the structure of the novel was all over the place. Still, I did give it my very best shot and read through page 100 and would have finished regardless, if only I understood even a little bit.
Although a novel, Adler's real life is supposedly portrayed in the character of Paul Lustig, the only surviving member of his family....more
**spoiler alert** A classic first published in 1854 - Not a book for your average reader. Evidently, I’m just your average reader. I couldn't understa**spoiler alert** A classic first published in 1854 - Not a book for your average reader. Evidently, I’m just your average reader. I couldn't understand half of what I was reading, only got the gist of the meaning some of the time. I find he's a vain and pompous writer. It turns out I'm not the only one thinks this. At the back of the book E.B. White, writer and author of "Charlotte's Web", wrote that many readers found it "a rather irritating collection of inspirational puffballs by an eccentric show-off." (p. 199) E.B. White found it enlightening. Christopher Thomas Knight, the last true hermit of Maine, an avid reader, said this was the only book he never finished. He was disgusted with Thoreau!
"Walden" is somewhat a memoir, but mostly it's Thoreau's so-called "philosophical" thoughts on the fast-pace and wastefulness of social life while he was living a couple of years in solitude, all taken from his journal log, which is online at The Walden Woods Project: https://www.walden.org/what-we-do/lib...
Originally published August 9, 1854 and set on Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. This pond was located "about a mile and a half south of the village Concord...in the midst of an extensive wood between that town and Lincoln, and about two miles south of that our only field known to fame, Concord Battle Ground." Thoreau’s original cabin site on Waldon Pond was discovered in 1945, and since, several replicas have been built as a museum at the Waldon Pond State Reservation in Concord, Massachusetts. Waldon Pond was actually owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson, another writer of the times and a good friend of Thoreau, who gave him permission to build a small cottage, 10 ' wide by 15' long, and to conduct his temporary experiment of solitude living. He lived deliberately and ethically at Walden Pond for 2 yrs, 2 mths, and 2 days.
I believe Thoreau was a bit lost inside his own head and considered himself a great philosopher. He believed reading newspapers a complete waste of time, and that merely reading of murders, a house burned, a shipped wrecked here or there, etc., did nothing to enhance one's life. He believed post offices receiving and sending letters from person to person were unnecessary and a waste of time, except for the two times HE used postage to send letters. Of course, he wrote two letters "...that were worth the postage." (p. 62)...you know, him being the "great philosopher" and all... Thoreau was big into reading, but considered anyone who didn't read and study ancient poetry or mythology a little ignorant and uneducated. Several times he mentions the reading of any of Homer's works, such as "The Iliad and the Odyssey" as a standard of just how educated a person really is, or isn't.
Thoreau says he wanted to strip down to the basics and essentials of life in food, shelter, clothing, and food, and get rid of all the extra luxuries of having more, and bigger and better. The basics simply keep you "warm", which is the number one human desire. He notes that the cost of a thing is the amount of what he calls life (everyone else calls it work), which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run. (p. 25) He minimalized his food choices and sold his gun before entering his 2 years of solitude. He believed that man would eventually improve his eating habits by finally giving up the killing and eating of animals, just as the savages gave up cannibalism when introduced to more civilized man and environment.
Thoreau asks "Shall we always study to obtain more of these things, and not sometimes to be content with less?" (p. 28) I actually agree with this. The point is if you are always looking to obtain more things in life, you will never be satisfied or happy, and you will always feel poor compared to the man next to you. To do this, he went into living a life of solitude...or so he says. But, how can it be called a life of solitude when he states that he had all sorts of people stopping by, some strangers passing through, others were friends who had come out for a visit, and every day or two he took a stroll to the village to catch up on the latest gossip. The workers who worked on the railroad that ran below and on the other side of the pond where he would walk to town, knew him by name and, Thoreau joked, they thought he was part of the crew they crossed paths so often. And, at one point, he admitted there were twenty-five people crammed in his little cabin for a meeting of some sort. So a life of solitude? Hmmmm...
He felt youth could have been more profitable through the experience of life rather than merely boggling the mind and simply filling it with the facts of life, for instance, through extended education. I think he probably struggled with this himself. He wanted to live and experience the different aspects of life, not just write about it. But, hey, to each his own. Every man is different and has different desires, and different strengths and weaknesses.
Thoreau didn't believe in charity. He thought it enabled the poor. On page 50, he states, "Often the poor man is not so cold and hungry as he is dirty and ragged and gross. It is partly his taste, and not merely his misfortune. If you give him money, he will perhaps buy more rags with it." He didn't give anything to the poor because he had nothing to give. But, if I understood it correctly, what Thoreau detested most was the flaunting of giving and the recognition and praises others received by giving. Obviously, money left a bad taste in Thoreau’s mouth. He only worked and earned just enough to get him enough food to sustain him through the year. He never wanted to earn more than that, and he especially didn’t want to earn enough to pay the government their taxes, for which he was once incarcerated for not paying.
But, in all this, there is a caveat. While Thoreau slanders others who go to work, pay mortgages, have large farms with debt attached to it, he was a squatter on a friend’s property and had free labor from friends and other locals, and permission to chop a few trees down off his friends property by the pond to build himself a small house. It's not like this was something of his own earnings. He was using his friend. His friend worked hard to own all that, right? And here we have Thoreau knocking it, but using it. He brags that he's not "anchored" to a home. If his home burned down, he can walk away without much loss and even considered himself better off than most. (p. 39) Well, duh! That's because he has no investment in it. And he praised himself saying he left the land enhanced. By whose standards, I wonder? He did cut down trees and he lived and used that piece of property. Thoreau's greatest skill was to want little in life (p.47) and to collect nothing but the essentials. Therefore, he valued his free time and found that he could work about 6 weeks to support himself for the rest of the year to devote to his studies. (p. 48) Well, good for him. It's easier if you have friends you can mooch off of....more
**spoiler alert** A classic first published in 1936 - We have a winner here. This is absolutely my TOP WORST READ EVER!!! It ranks above “The Stand” b**spoiler alert** A classic first published in 1936 - We have a winner here. This is absolutely my TOP WORST READ EVER!!! It ranks above “The Stand” by Stephen King, and above “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen.
I'm not sure what the hell I have just read? He’s missing a lot of periods. Every sentence seem to run on for one…two pages...sometimes longer, paragraphs running several pages long. In chapter seven, one paragraph was actually ten pages long. This writing style makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever! He rambles on and on and on, repeating words, phrases, scenarios in different ways. It's all over the damn place. I need a cup of coffee, I have housework to do, I have to head outdoors to get work done, I have to take a poop but there's no place to stop, to break, to catch a breath. Not only that, I can't understand his story or what he’s trying to say. Who's talking and telling the story to Quentin? I thought it was some old lady sitting in a chair in a dark room, then suddenly it was some letter that was being read, then it was Quentin's grandfather...then all of a sudden it would be Quentin talking to Shreve who pops into the story unexpectedly. Who the hell is Shreve???...and I still don't know who Quentin is and why he cares to even listen to all this crap. And I have yet to figure out how the title, Absalom, Absalom!, factors into the story.
Through all of the above, here is what I gather the story is about: Thomas Sutpen, a mysterious stranger who shows up out of nowhere with nothing but a horse, his two pistols and the shirt on his back, and makes his home in Jefferson, Mississippi, in early 1830's. He rents a room, and daily, locking it, leaves on his horse before sunrise and returns for dinner, eats and retreats to his room. The rumors abound about him. Then one day he returns with a Spanish gold coin and purchases a hundred acres and calls it Sutpen's Hundred, then disappears again for a while. The next time he is seen coming through town on a wagon driven by a wild, naked negro, filled with wild stinking naked negroes inside.
He used them like animals to build the largest plantation around. They slept and covered themselves in mud for protection against the mosquitoes. The townsmen, curious, would sneak around and hide to watch what was going on. He and the twenty slaves built with a fury for two years, his house 12 miles from town, then rested. No doors, no locks, no window panes, no furnishings, just a shell inside, but grandiose and "respectable" looking from the outside. All that cost money, which he did not have. The next respectable thing he needed now was a wife...with money.
He began to socialize with the men of the town, throwing hunting parties at his place. They drank, played cards, hunted, and he even began pitting his wild, naked black negroes against each other. Fighting bets. Later, his future son, Henry, couldn't hardly bare to watch, but his daughter Judith watched. He was loaned cotton seeds, which he planted, then was done. He sat and did nothing for two years. His plan was to marry money to furnish and finish the inside. His end goal was "respectability" in the eyes of others.
Sutpen disappeared for a while once again and returned with four wagon loads of fancy home furnishings he had robbed off a steamboat. Rumors were running wild. He returned now an enemy of the people. They viewed him now very suspiciously.
He built up all these walls of protection: claimed a hundred acres of land and called it Sutpen's Hundred, he built the largest plantation home in the area, he owned slaves…not just any slaves, but wild French slaves. He married Ellen Coldfield, the daughter of the most respected man in town. She even coaxes him to attend church a few times. It all looked good from the outside. But, Thomas is caught by his wife, sparring with his slaves...and was forcing his son Henry to watch and learn. Ellen is completely distraught.
Chapter 7 explains more of Thomas Sutpen's life growing up secluded in the mountains. His father, a drunk, decided to one day head down and into civilization. Here's where poor Thomas, at around age 15, learned of slavery, and of racism between rich white men and poor white men. One day, during their travels, his father sent him to deliver a note to a very wealthy owner of a plantation just down the road. Here he saw the owner had a slave taking care of his every whim. He didn't even have to remove his own shoes. Young, ragged Thomas knocked on the front door. A black slave answered and he was turned away and told he had to use the back door. Didn't even bother to inquire of his business. This very instant changed Thomas for life. His whole plan in life was carried forward with careful planning. He would not just never be turned away again, but he would have a better life, a better plantation, better pure bread slaves, a better family than what he saw that day. But, even in all the planning, obstacles, such Thomas Sutpen's two sons, one from his secret marriage years ago, Charles Bon, and Henry, his son with his second marriage to Ellen Coldfield, would wreck his plan of dying a highly respectable man.
Henry began bringing Charles around as a friend, when arrangements and rumors began transpiring that Charles and Henry's sister, Judith, were planning to be married...although they had never, ever seen each other face to face. It was all in the letters back and forth to each other. Thomas told the unknowing Henry that Charles was his son (Henry and Judith's brother). After some time and consideration, Henry was okay with the idea of an incestual relationship between Charles and Judith. It was when he found out that Charles was part negro, and not part Spanish as presumed, then Henry had it out for him. Thomas counted on Henry to take the matters into his own hands, which he did. Henry killed Charles, then left the homestead for good!
So, Thomas continued to plan and, at age 60, he then married Ellen's youngest sister, Rosa Coldfield, in hopes of obtaining one more son to right things and be able to die a "respectable" man in the eyes of society. But, the story never reconnected here to let us know if Rosa had a child by Thomas.
On the back cover of the book, William Faulkner is quoted, speaking of Thomas Sutpen: "He was a man who wanted sons, and the sons destroyed him." But, from what I read and can understand through all that horrible writing, Thomas Sutpen came into town and swindled everyone. He was nothing but a con-man and set his own life up to fail all in the name of appearing to be a "respectable" man. ...more
**spoiler alert** What a ridiculous romance novel It’s like the author just could hardly wait to get to the sex part.
Cade has become a hermit living **spoiler alert** What a ridiculous romance novel It’s like the author just could hardly wait to get to the sex part.
Cade has become a hermit living up in the mountains of Colorado because he couldn’t get over his last fight with his wife who had left him while wasted drunk , with his twins, and wrecked and killed them all. Then, comes along Katrina, travelling the snowy passes and wrecks just down the hill from his house. She is, of course, passed out from a concussion and he rescues her and carries her to his little cabin. He’s instantly in love and can’t hold back his hard wood....haha. She recovers from her concussion and she is instantly smitten and wants him, even though she almost just died. Jeeeeez! So, they fight and fling, fight and fling. It turns out he is FILTHY rich and she is a beautiful stripper who was hired by his mother to show her son what he is missing by being holed up a cabin in the mountains. But, that backfires on the momma cause she sees her son falling in love eith the ho'. His mother chases her off and she goes back to stripping.
But, Cade loves her so, to everyone’s surprise…NOT, he drives to her place of employment, slaps down a gold card and requests a private dance from Katrina. She opens the door and sees it’s Cade who has come back for her. They make passionate love in the private room and then he rescues her, much like in “An Officer and a Gentleman”, from her smucky life. The end. No surprises here folks! No story! No foundation! Very shallow and a waste of my time! I need to start taking more time in choosing books with substance!...more
**spoiler alert** Ellis Peters (a.k.a. Edith Mary Pargeter 1913-1995), a British author, wrote 23 books in the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, a monk w**spoiler alert** Ellis Peters (a.k.a. Edith Mary Pargeter 1913-1995), a British author, wrote 23 books in the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, a monk who solves murder mysteries. This is book #17, but is the first book I've read in this series. It takes place in medieval town of Shrewsbury, in the 12th century.
Very hard to get into because of the writing style. The author is British, and therefore, her writing style is a little hard to follow. Also, this is a very Catholic-type novel with the use of all their authority figure heads. A potter’s wife is discovered buried in his field after he is admitted into the priesthood, or monkhood. He was believed to be the killer, but as the investigation proved him innocent in the end, it turned out a very prominent man in the county, who was now dead, was the actual killer. Just a downright boring story!...more
5/25/2019 2ND READING ATTEMPT - With my second attempt, I made it to chapter 6 of this book for my 52 Bookmark Reading COriginally published in 1970.
5/25/2019 2ND READING ATTEMPT - With my second attempt, I made it to chapter 6 of this book for my 52 Bookmark Reading Challenge prompt #24/52 - "Book you never finished"...Still never finished!
It was highly recommended by Dr. Shane Bernard, historian on Avery Island, Louisiana. He claimed it was the most valuable book he's ever read. Great! This was exactly THE kind of book I had been looking for to help me determine a good history book (the truth) verses a bad one (propaganda), since we are having all these problems with the cancel culture and woke leftists trying to cancel out and change history. But, I need to search for another by a different author who writes in a language I can actually understand. On page 285, the author writes regarding a fallacy of many historians, a form of error is…”committed by scholars who never use a little word when a big one will do.” Well, this author could learn from his own writing. You need a dictionary handy just to decipher what it is he’s even talking about. But if you are a scholar, I'm sure you would actually rate this as top-notch. The 1-star is due to my own inadequacy for understanding, not for the quality of this book.
7/22/2018 - 1ST READING ATTEMPT - What the hell did I just read? You seriously need a doctorates degree to read and understand this book! I read through the first chapter a month ago and found it to be way over my head. So I put it down. I actually had it ready to go in the Goodwill box but just couldn't see it go just yet.
I did learn something substantial in that first chapter: That all historians write about history in their own biases and beliefs. Good or bad, right or wrong, their job is to present history to their readers, preferably backing up their writing with empirical proofs, and not their point of views. It is subjective and individual. Wow! I never even thought of it like that before. I've always just simply read and accepted every word in every history book as fact.
Because of this insight, I decided to go ahead slowly and painstakingly try to read through it again and try to gleen at least one important piece of information from each chapter in hopes of learning how to critically read history books, news reports or any other nonfiction piece of work, and to determine if what I'm reading can be a "trusted" source. I found that I'm not smart enough to determine a truth from a lie. But, I did at least learn a little bit about how historians write and the many fallacies that could make or break their reputation as great historians. I was only able to read through half of chapter 6 before totally giving it up for good because I literally couldn't understand one single word they were writing about. It's back in the Goodwill box for the next brilliant mind......more
This is a work of fictional Arab folklore, originally written in the Arabic language, during the Islamic Golden Age, dating back to the 8th-13th centuThis is a work of fictional Arab folklore, originally written in the Arabic language, during the Islamic Golden Age, dating back to the 8th-13th centuries. The original author remains a mystery. Not really my cup of tea. Most of the stories were of vengeful Jinnee’s or Jinneyeh’s (if female) or about an Arab woman or man so beyond beautiful and always compared to a “rising full moon”. Every story starts with a victim who must tell his story to the satisfaction of the perpetrator, or else be killed. The storyline is a little different for each one, but usually ends in a happy ending.
This version, translated in 1912, which I read online at The Project Gutenberg, includes hyperlinked notes. The author uses "notes" to explain more in-depth of the Arabic culture and tales told to him, and of his own experiences while living in Cairo. But mainly, all I did was struggle through all the Arabic names of people, places and things. It was very exhausting! Thank God it is only one volume and only 555 pages long...haha. It satisfied 2 of my 2019 reading challenges: (1) 52 Bookmark Reading Challenge - #30 - A book over 100 years old; and (2) 12-book Literary Passport Reading Challenge - ARABIA. Plus, it satisfied my curiosity of what this classic was all about.
Amazon carries many versions of One Thousand and One Nights (a.k.a.The Arabian Nights' Entertainment) from various translators. One reviewer recommended that if you want a more enjoyable read without all the textbook-like notes, then read The Arabian Nights Complete and Unabridged (Unexpurgated Edition), translated by Arabist Sir Richard Francis Burton. It includes all 10 original volumes (1885), plus the 6 supplemental series (1886-88), and is a whopping 8704 pages long…Amazon Kindle edition for $2.99. I did purchase it because it was so cheap, but doubt I’ll ever read it. Volume one was plenty enough for me.
NOTES ON THE MYRTLE BUSH: Mentioned in The Thousand and One Nights, p. 200: “The myrtle is the rival of the violet. "Adam," said the Prophet, "fell down from Paradise with three things; the myrtle, which is the chief of sweet-scented flowers in the world; an ear of wheat, which is the chief of all kinds of food in this world; and pressed dates, which are the chief of the fruits of this world."”
The myrtle is a symbol of recovery and of God’s promise and is mentioned 4 times in the Holy Bible (NLT version):
Isaiah 41:19-20 – “I will plant trees in the barren desert – cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine. I am doing this so all who see this miracle will understand what it means – that it is the LORD who has done this, the Holy One of Israel who created it.”
Isaiah 55:13 – “Where once there were thorn, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”
Zechariah 1: 8-11 – “In a vision during the night, I saw a man sitting on a red horse that was standing among some myrtle trees in a small valley. Behind him were riders on red, brown, and white horses. I asked the angel who was talking with me, “My lord, what do these horses mean?” “I will show you,” the angel replied. The rider standing among the myrtle trees then explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent out to patrol the earth.” Then the other riders reported to the angel of the LORD, who was standing among the myrtle trees, “ We have been patrolling the earth, and the whole earth is at peace.”
Nehemiah 8:15 – “He had said that a proclamation should be made throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, telling the people to go to the hills to get branches from olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees. They were to use these branches to make shelters in which they would live during the festival, as prescribed in the Law.”...more
Over-rated! My daughter and I started this together. We got through chapter one and had to give it up. The author writes in riddles and the exercises Over-rated! My daughter and I started this together. We got through chapter one and had to give it up. The author writes in riddles and the exercises don't seem to correlate with the Bible readings. Moving on!...more
I saw the documentary on Kit Carson, "Men Who Built America". It was so awesome I thought his biography would be fun to read. Boy, was I ever wrong...I saw the documentary on Kit Carson, "Men Who Built America". It was so awesome I thought his biography would be fun to read. Boy, was I ever wrong...what an absolute bore!
This is Kit's story, dictated to a writer, as he was illiterate, as best he could remember, of his struggles with the Indians during his fur trade expeditions in mid-1800 and of his contribution to the Mexican War. This edition, 192 pages, published in 1966, contains super lengthy and super numerous and super annoying footnotes, peppered throughout, with explanations and sources to reference for further reading.
Christopher "Kit" Carson, was a small sized man and orphaned. He was raised in Missouri and worked as an apprentice for a leather worker. Extremely unhappy with the work, he ran away at the age of 16 to chase dreams of wild tales told of the wild, wild West, which he had always heard about, and he never looked back.
Kit jumped from one group to another as he would hear of where the party was headed to do their beaver trapping, which could be anywhere in the west, from the Colorado Rocky Mountain rivers, Los Angeles, California rivers (Mexican territory at that time) or along the Arkansas rivers, or even around the Great Lakes. He traveled them all and really learned the lay of the land. He learned to scout, and he learned to fight the Indians.
Once, he chose a party of 40 men lead by Ewing Young, travelling from Taos, New Mexico, to California. In 1829, licenses were not granted to American men to hunt or trap on Mexican territory, so they had to travel first in a northern direction for about 50 miles through Indian territory, where they were constantly being harassed and had to fight off Indian attacks, then head down a southwestern route sneaking into Mexican territory and trap for beaver for months. They'd return to New Mexico, hide the 2000 pounds of pelts and apply for a license to trade with the Indians, make a quick and prosperous trade and each with several hundred dollars in their pockets, would party it up like sailors before looking for a new trapping expedition heading out. This was pretty much his life until the Mexican War started.
By then he had quite the reputation out on the Western frontier, and was then requested by President Polk to become an Agency of the government, interceding between the Indians and the Americans for peace and release and exchange of prisoners. He accepted the responsibility without the title or status.
In his own words, "...if the service I was performing was beneficial to the public, it did not matter to me whether I was enjoying the rank of lieutenant or only the credit of being an experienced mountaineer. I had gained both honor and credit by performing every duty entrusted to my charge, and on no account did I wish to forfeit the good opinion of a majority of my countrymen merely because the Senate of the United States had not deemed it proper to confirm my appointment to an office I had never sought, and one which, if confirmed, I would have to resign at the close of the war." [p. 125-6]
Wow! This is a far cry from what we see in men and women today! Recognition and big money seems to be our number one concern, or we don't want to do it!...more
This book was almost impossible to understand and get through. You really have to know about Africa's political past situations to be able to fully coThis book was almost impossible to understand and get through. You really have to know about Africa's political past situations to be able to fully comprehend and appreciate what the author writes about.
I thought this would be more about the use of children slaves mining these diamonds in Africa, but it was more on the Liberian and Sierra Leone civil war throughout the 1980's and 1990's, and the fight over the rights for the diamond mines. It seems to have started with one named Charles Taylor, whom we had imprisoned in Massachusetts. It's believed that our own CIA allowed his escape from prison because of our own interests in Liberia...which this little short book didn't exactly say who was interested nor what our interests were. But, for the record, George H. W. Bush was President from 1989 to 1993, and he was in charge of the CIA. Charles Taylor then ended up on a plane back to Africa to begin his reign of terror, creating numerous groups filled with "sociopathic and homicidal tendencies". They "glorified in extreme violence for its own sake" (loc 510), all in the name of profit for their regime, not politics, power nor anything else. Amputations were the symbol of the Blood Diamond conflicts. They inducted many youth by placing the power of guns in their hands and were usually offered drugs to fight, it's been told, with cocaine injected into their foreheads. The youth were known to have created the most heinous acts during these civil wars....more
I’m not so sure I’d call this a “memoir”. It seems to be more of a “how-to” to get to spiritual consciousness. You know you are living life in the minI’m not so sure I’d call this a “memoir”. It seems to be more of a “how-to” to get to spiritual consciousness. You know you are living life in the mind when you have disharmony in the soul. This author renamed God when he encountered His bliss because the name God didn’t seem to fit. He named him “Isness” because He is in everything…your soul, your spirit, the trees, the plants, the sky, the universe, etc… I’m okay with that; Isness can be the God, Jehovah, the “I am”. God goes by many names.
In his early start, the author lived in Japan for a while and was trained under a martial arts instructor, and received spiritual therapy. Here, he claims to have seen the unbelievable. His instructor took his arm and swung him flip-flop like a ragdoll with no exertion on the instructor’s part. The instructor then held out his index finger and told him to grab it. When he did, the instructor, apparently, flip-flopped him again like in a cartoon. Here’s where I’m having a hard time believing. I can’t believe this until I actually see it, sorry!
The author also claimed to have seen in a martial arts class one time, a student try to kick the teacher, but there was a barrier, an invisible wall, preventing the kick and the student fell down. He claimed the teacher was in complete harmony, living in unconditioned love, and when anyone is in that state, they cannot be harmed by anyone. I don’t believe this! What about innocent little babies who have no biases and no hate in their hearts. Bad things do happen to babies!
The point of this book was to learn to live in the present, not live with your mind, which has limitations and is living in the future (hopeful) or the past, but to live in unconditioned love and being one with the Isness, or God. He attempts to show you how to get there, but I just couldn’t understand what he was saying at all. It sounded like highfalutin gibberish.
Of all the millions of people in this current world, and past, this author knows exactly what happens to the human soul after death as it gets ready for reincarnation to continue our journey? Even the Dalai Lama wrote that he was at least “hopeful” that what he was doing in this life would help him in his next life.
When the author took a spiritual journey to the Amazons, he claimed he was told he would start a new kind of spiritual therapy, combining martial arts and therapy. So, he created the “Observation Meditation” where you focus on the 5 senses (visual, sound, feel, smell & taste) to get to a meditative state. And then created the “Dance of the Self” meditation where you reflect on your day anywhere in private for 10-15 minutes. If you notice any disharmony within yourself, or against any one else, find it in your body and discard it.
Now, it seems to me that this author is really lust looking to start a whole new ‘following’?...more
236 pages. If you were looking for a book on "how" to meditate, then this isn't the book. I'm bummed. It was a Goodreads recommendation on sale for $2236 pages. If you were looking for a book on "how" to meditate, then this isn't the book. I'm bummed. It was a Goodreads recommendation on sale for $2.99.
I was drawn to it because for a while now I have felt my compassion for people and my joy for life waning. I'm pretty sure this is a direct consequence of my addiction to Facebook, which encourages "self-cherish", the main subject of this book. People are posting every single aspect of their lives online to show everyone how wonderful they are..."self-cherishing"! I'm definitely caught up in it too. I have been praying for God to restore this compassion and joy that I used to feel for all the little things in life, without the "Like" button. I thought, why not, let's see what the ol' Lama has to say.
Well, good luck reading this. It's full of riddles, made up words...and full of "word salad" as one reviewer put it, and he was right! It gets just 1 star for such a hard and horrible read. I only understood a tiny fraction of this book.
But, here's a few interesting things I did learn about Buddhism:
The Buddhist spiritual path is, at first glance, similar to the path that God would want all His children to follow, focusing on empathy, meditation and knowledge. But, according to the Bible, LOVE actually trumps empathy, or compassion, because without love in your heart, there can be no compassion. And, according to the Bible, FAITH and BELIEF in Christ trumps ALL things. There is no mention of a higher "self" or God, or any kind of entity, at all in this book. But, because I have seen a spiritual angel at work with my own eyes, I know for a fact they exist. But, I don't go around seeing angels everyday to go around and brag about it. That was a one time show years ago, and I will never forget it!
After reading this book, I get the feeling that Buddhists, although good at heart and they tell you to love one another and have compassion for others, and want world peace, really seem to be self-absorbed, even if they did give up all the material things in life for a life of meditation. It seems their goal in life is to learn to get to the "clear light", or Great Completeness, which is the phase they say you get to at death. It is the act of learning to stay in the mindset of innerpeace through all situations in life and to have complete spiritual development so they can be kind and be a help to others. To get to this phase requires daily meditations and working your way through the 8 phases with the practice and teachings of a qualified Old Translation schoolmaster, and his blessings, and it would take years to learn to remain in that state. They say that while in that state of mind, "clear light", they can recount events that occurred over hundreds and thousands of years ago in their "previous lives", which I cannot say is true or false. I don't believe the Bible speaks of rebirths at all, but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Also, according to Lama, the benefit of knowing the 8 phases and achieving getting to this "clear light" state of mind in death is that they are able to slow down decomposition of the body after death. He claims to have seen a Tibetan Buddhists body last up to 20 days before it started to decompose. Dalai Lama said he practices this meditation daily through the phases so that when death is at his door he may recognize those phases and then enter into "clear light", and hopefully slow down his own decomposition. Hmm...that sounds kind of self-cherishing. But, if one does not reach Buddhahood in his present lifetime, not to worry, he will have many other lifetimes to complete the process.
With that being said, the Buddhist and I are still brother and sister. We each have a SOUL and we are both God's children. The Buddhist believes what he believes to be the right path, and I believe what I believe to be the right path. I do have great respect towards the Buddhists, who have such devotion to their beliefs that you hardly see in Christians today. I believe God is bigger than either one of us, and that we don't know what all there is to know about life after death. Maybe we each interpret the same God in different ways....more
Sorry for the very long review, but, hopefully, this will save you from ever having to read this ridiculously biased book. Plus, I want to remember whSorry for the very long review, but, hopefully, this will save you from ever having to read this ridiculously biased book. Plus, I want to remember what the book was about so I never have to read it again.
This was a free eBook download on my Google Play Books App. It was a very hard book to read and understand as it is written in that early, pretentious English style of the 19th century. I found his writing very “flowery” and just horrible all the way around.
Nehemiah Adams was a preacher from Massachusetts who travelled south to observe slavery firsthand. He painted slavery as picture perfect, a complete utopia of total bliss in the south. He did this 2 years after Harriet Stowe published her book, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, showing how brutal the southern plantations can really be and the true emotional impact it had on the slaves. Tensions were rising throughout the states and there didn’t appear to be a solution anytime soon.
Below, are some pretty outrageous takes that Adams came away with after spending three months down in the south and, supposedly, getting a “real” bird’s-eye view on all that is slavery.
He saw slaves dressed very sharp in marching bands, choirs, as firemen, slaves in broadcloth suits in church on Sunday morning.
Liberty was given to any slave as long as they showed a pass from their master. There were no mobs and fights in the streets due to limited liberty and curfews. There was no crime like they have up north. And the women slaves were modestly dressed unlike the scantily dressed black free women of the north.
He made it sound like cotton plantations were no more severe than hired hands on an agricultural farm up north. It was the nature of the work that was so difficult.
Master and slave rode side by side as "they" counted up their net profit and they went off to the bank together to make a deposit into the ever growing savings of his slave.
Negro slaves had a choice to improve their dwellings, or not. It was a personal choice how they lived. Mud logged homes were cooler in summer and warmer in winter, that's why they differ from black dwellings in the north.
They trust their slaves implicitly to send on long journeys, even with their master's gold coins. They will not keep a slave who doesn't "want" to be there. If he runs away, he will be sold to another master.
They chose to be enslaved over freedom because they had the support of their masters throughout their lives, even when they were too old or too sick to be of any use. They had no concerns on their economic welfare.
Their prayers were all about their spirituality and never seen to be about their conditions of being enslaved.
They had mental stability because they had security in their future...no bills due, no markets or short crops to worry about, and no planning...literally, all hard thinking done for them.
Then the author suggested that if there is a dark side to slavery, it should be kept separate from the good and just rejoice in the good.
Finally, the author sees a flaw in slavery: Separating children from their mothers. Where he was, wherever that was, he never stated, he saw a 14 year old little girl sitting on the outside steps of a courthouse waiting to be sold. She was 3/4 black, so when sold, she would be worked 3/4 of the time with her new master and 1/4 of the time of with her old master who retained a vested interest in her. [NOTE: Later in the chapter, I caught author in a contradictory statement, unless I misunderstood. He later wrote the purpose of this sale was so that the purchaser would be her sole owner.]. A large crowd of educated business men and gawkers had gathered to watch as if this was business as usual, but every one of them humane and kind, he added. When the auction began she was told to stand and the bidding began. She began to cry, wiped her tears with the backs of her hands and turned her back to the audience, shoulders heaving and mumbling something to a man behind the sheriff, who happened to be her mother's master. She was sold for $450 to that man who said to her 'kindly', "Well, run and jump in the wagon.", in which she did ' happily'. The author writes that he had a 14 year old daughter at home who he had just sent a gift back home for her birthday a few days before, so now, finally, he can relate.
He claims he was told by one physician, and seems to believe him, that the hearts of negro slaves was more like a hen, very protective for the first few weeks, but after chicks are gone for a few weeks, then the hen completely forgets about her baby chicks and life goes on.
NOTE: I catch this author in another contradictory statement. He previously had gone to the courthouse and saw a man holding an infant sitting on the courthouse steps waiting to auction off the infant. The author went inside, but did not watch this auction. A friend of his asked if he had witnessed it, and he said NO. Later in the chapter, he writes that during his stay, 3 or 4 prominent gentlemen came to him in private and said that they understood he had ‘witnessed’ an infant being auctioned off and apologized, even though it was illegal to auction off a child under 5 years old. And, as far as they knew, nothing like that had ever happened before. They justified it by saying that the woman became pregnant by a man who belonged to another master, so the baby belonged with the man. The baby was put up for auction to be purchased by the woman's master so the baby could be with his mother.
All regard of humanity is taken when auctioning off slaves as if they were white orphaned children. The advertisements in the papers, that the northerns had found horrifying, was explained as just a sale that had to be made public by law. The auctions were not totally unrestricted, the community knew the sales had already been arranged for in private. Many slaves pretty much got to choose who they would like as masters and many good masters would come together and stop a purchase to known bad men of the community. Well, so finally, he doesn't refute that there at least were some bad masters.
The author says the north is responsible for the word of God not reaching millions of souls down south. The abolitionist were stirring the slaves up with their propaganda to the point that the southern slave owners were afraid of an uprising. So, stricter laws had to be put into place regarding their education and learning to read and write. They were to be taught the Word of God by their owners so that outsiders couldn't come in and twist their minds against their masters. He claimed the south were simply acting in self-defense and so extended the laws of slavery into new territories. It was like a contest between the north and the south, and the south was not going to let the north tell them what to do.
According to this author, while searching for God’s purpose in slavery, when slaves earned their freedom and were taught the love of Christ, then they could be sent back to Africa to turn more souls there to God, spreading God’s word. They could not be emancipated to remain here at their own demise. They would not know how to survive on their own. He literally stated that the southern states was a friend and protector of the Africans. The south was ready to free the slaves just as soon as self-defense from the north accusations were taken away.
This one subject in all of history is the one subject that divided the nation, pitting families against families, churches against churches, friends against friends. No other thing had ever divided a nation to the point of a Civil War. The author suggested that if the subject of slavery could have been discussed on its moral issues instead of its political issues, then there would have been far less excitement. He blames the north for constantly slandering the southern plantation owners and sending out propaganda and inciting rising tensions between the north and south.
He reminds readers that in 1800, against the wishes of the south, the north voted to extend the slave trade another 8 years until enough money could be saved to take care of the 300,000 emancipated slaves. He suggests we not look at slavery as taking bondage but as saviors of the African race in this country, again, his words.
The author finally gives his opinion on Uncle Tom's Cabin. He says it gives a false perception of slavery in the south and he worries how it will influence the foreigners perception of slavery in America. Northern critics believe he had been deceived and, of course, the most prestigious plantation owners showed their best side during his visit and interview, I mean, who wouldn’t? The southern critics thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Finally, someone gave them their due recognition as good, honest and God-fearing slave owners. I noticed that the author never mentioned the names of plantations or names of any slave owners, or even the names of any towns he visited. But, he was sure to mark down that a particular owner, which he was speaking very highly of, was 'very well known and liked in his community'.
In the back of the book, is an “Extra”, where he felt he had to go back and explain himself to some really harsh critics from up north. He said he does not defend slavery. He went down to actually get the “Christian’s” point-of view of slavery and how best it could be removed. Adams had to defend and change the northerns point of view on the humane and Christian slaveholders of the south.
The one thing that did resonate with me, he said that the slave’s weren’t allowed legal marriages. Also, the husband was usually shacked up with one slave owner, and the wife with another. They wouldn’t see each other most of the time but maybe one day a week for a few hours, if that. So, there wasn’t a father around when children were born, and he most likely wasn’t a faithful father at times, or a faithful wife, being human and all. And, according to other authors, the children were easily auctioned off. So, I can see how they learned to mentally detach themselves from developing real relations. Maybe we are still seeing the repercussions from this today, handed down from generation to generation?...more
This was one of those free ebooks offered at Amazon. I sure thought it was going to be a book about writing hacks but turned out to be an actual cookbThis was one of those free ebooks offered at Amazon. I sure thought it was going to be a book about writing hacks but turned out to be an actual cookbook...not one I'm inclined to invest in. It's all canned goods, which I'm not i to...but, hey...that would be pretty rapid recipes...lol
I hate it when an author doesn't "test" their recipes before putting them in print. The first and only recipe I tried was the "Quick Brownies" on page 211. It was quick and easy enough to throw together alright so I'd have time to write...lol...but it says to bake 325 degrees for 25 minutes. My brownies were still raw at that time. I had to leave it in for another 15 minutes for a total of 40 minutes baking time. Texture is more like a cake with a crunchy exterior, but descent flavor if you are craving chocolate....more
A classic first published in 1813 - A large book...one I had always wanted to read since high school. Finally got it read in 2017 and now I wouldn't rA classic first published in 1813 - A large book...one I had always wanted to read since high school. Finally got it read in 2017 and now I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. I didn't think it was ever going to end. The speaking language is some weird early period British - English dialect or something. I barely survived it! Such a boring novel! Why do I have to be such a finisher?...more
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