@MightyDemon82 Titan is going well, almost the quarter of the way in. I'm still waiting on the physical, I didn't just want to rely on the digital, tablet.
@GirlVersusGame that's awesome, glad you are enjoying it. This week has been a complete nightmare. I've spent most of my free time shovelling snow, fingers crossed it starts to disappear over the weekend, but we still have some weather warnings in place. I managed to get milk and bread after not having for 4 days, due to no deliveries being made to the shops around here. Hopefully i'll get to work on that Good Reads profile and do some reading this weekend!
@MightyDemon82 Shops deliver food? I thought people just go into stores all of the time. Like take-away? or you mean like every grocery at once? I thought you were in America until I saw your snow pictures. I thought TheSoloution was in England, I had you both backwards. It's different, I didn't know manga was centered on pictures and art, I thought it was just the Twilight one. It reminded me of a graphic novel but with much bigger panels. So less busy and cluttered, I need to update mine too. I tried to game today and thought after a month 'it' would take affect and I'd want to. I'm not feeling it, maybe in January, December is always a slog. I can't imagine not having milk for four days, the snow does seem to shutdown parts of England. I didn't see many other planes when we came back, it's not an airport but still there are usually more than that. It may have also been the weather in Europe, I thought we'd start to dip to minus twenty at one point. After about minus ten I start to feel it. In England it feels different, a damp cold not sharp. I still have to re-acclimatize my time-zones too. It feels much later already, my mind thinks it's night-time. It's only six in the evening, it should re-balance in three days. They are saying a storm is coming too, that means I'll be staying in tonight at least.
These violent delights have violent ends & in their triumph die, like fire & powder Which, as they kiss, consume.
@GirlVersusGame. I meant the shops weren't recieving their stock of supplies as no trucks could get to them because of the snow. I'm in Aberdeen in the north east of Scotland. We aren't very well equipped to deal with it here but this is probably the worst we've had it in over a decade.
Yes they can be easy to read but like comics you can get ones that are heavy on the text.
Yes, stay safe in whichever part of the UK you are in as it looks like that one could be pretty lethal, I don't think it's going to reach up here in Scotland but we might get something. We will probably experience flooding next once all the snow has melted, whenever that may be.
I've put the biography of Mark Twain by Ron Chernow on pause for the time being, in order to dive into Frantz Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks ,which seems to be an undisputable classic, so far, and very important reading, based on my first impressions of what I've read of the book. I definitely prefer it to Malcolm X's Autobiography, so far. It appears to be a little gem of a book.
Edit: I've finished it, the Frantz Fanon book, now. It was an enlightening and potentially life-changing reading experience. Highly recommend! .
It had many thought-provoking passages, that I enjoyed, such as the part about black individuals only suffering from inferiority complexes, in a general sense, according to the author, because that's how their people have been defined by whites, i.e. ,that's the identity they've historically given them.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
Digitally for my Kindle Fire and digi8tal libary on barnes and noble
-Anne Rice's Prince Lestat for my Kindle Fire
-Star Wars Legacy of the Force book 2 Bloodlines digitally on my readlist on barnesandnoble website
I finished "Early Cinema in Scotland" yesterday, which I found to be very interesting, lots of things I didn't know about the early days of cinema in the country I call home.
I am now cracking on with "Nausicaa of the valley of the wind volume 1" I should finish it today and then I have a new manga to read. A murder mystery called "Adabana" which is quite a small book.
Then the plan is to just jump straight into "War and Peace" so might start that later tonight.
@FuriousMachine @GirlVersusGame I'm still finding my way around Goodreads but I've added my first few reads of the year. Could take some time to add all my previous reads.
Still hoping to put a favourite reads of the year up here, but it's been a tiring week getting up earlier than usual to defrost the car and dig a path to the main roads. It's been raining all day though, so a lot of the snow is slowly disappearing.
@MightyDemon82 I'm back and catching up on notifications, Ravix and I sort of talked until five in the morning again. Can we friend you on there? I'm curious what your library and 'to read' etc looks like.
These violent delights have violent ends & in their triumph die, like fire & powder Which, as they kiss, consume.
@MightyDemon82 Done and sent, I had to remove the . at the end, it was showing up as an error until I removed it. You probably recognize Furious from my friends on there if you are sending him a friend request too. He's kind of hard to miss, oh never mind I see he's there already. I see the Tokyo Ghoul you mentioned too, good luck trying to remember every book you've ever read if you are adding those too. It took me years to adds those. I need to update my favorites. And my to-reads, I've already read them. I still can't believe I've only ever read three random, non-tie in novels. I'm sure there are others. I suppose when people didn't have the internet they just picked up random books without having any prior knowledge of the story or author. I need to try that sometime, have you ever done that?
@GirlVersusGame Thanks yes Furious sent me a friend request a few days back. I look forward to seeing what you both have read/want to & are reading.
All the time as a kid and still now. Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson is probably my all time favourite series and it was just a random pick also Horns by Joe Hill but now they are both automatic buys as soon as they release a new book.
@MightyDemon82 I'm reading Daredevil Psychology: The Devil You Know. It's by the same author of Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight. I'll be reading that again soon too, I just realized there's a revised second edition. And I'm also reading Batman and Ethics by Mark D. White, then after that it will be Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul also by Mark D. White. There's an 'and philosophy' book for almost every franchise/movie/TV show/pop culture you can think of, the same for psychology. I don't know any other super heroes worth reading about, I checked for Hellboy too but didn't see any. Daredevil should be interesting, I know very little about the character. I might read The Joker Psychology: Evil Clowns and the Women Who Love Them too.
I read Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin. I thought it was a great book, very well-written and insightful, essentially continuing my independent study of Black Existential Philosophy.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN I read that after it was mentioned in American History X. The movie was about an ex neo-nazi, he left prison and wanted to change his life. You maybe know it. The book Native Son was assigned to that character when he was younger by a school teacher and his Fathers response was what led to his radicalization into that movement/ignorance. I wanted to understand what kind of a book could be such a threat to a person like that, then I read it myself and understood. That whole dinner scene in the movie was triggered by that one book, it was seen as that much of a threat to his Father, he then infected his son with those same beliefs. I'm not sure if anyone else picked up the book and read it after the movie.
It's hard to summarize what I took away from it, the whole thing was disturbing, and it felt like a weight was on my chest. I can't say I understand racism at all. Definitely a very tough read, mainly because I couldn't believe humans could do that to other humans.
@GirlVersusGame I'm glad you read that book, because I think, as I've said before, to read about such matters. Books can be a gateway to levels of understanding that were hitherto unprecedented. My main takeaway from the book is that racism is something that has been historically created through slavery and colonialism, and many different generations are still living with the consequences of it today.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN It was a gateway to something and one of the hardest books to finish. I have this thing where if I start something I have to finish it, even if it's uncomfortable. It was less about a feeling, and more about a knowing. I saw it as information, information I previously didn't have but then didn't know what to do about it. Mainly because what I learned was (I thought) of the past. But then I thought the same thing about the Native American community until I started to read more modern books about tribal politics and about the kind of poverty that exists in some of those communities. I understand why certain things were/are kept from me, but not racism or slavery. The former was probably because the people around me aren't racist full stop, and the latter is probably because the Russian Empire did benefit from slavery, most definitely from our involvement in Siberia and in the Crimean Khanate. And I'd argue (dangerous words) that it never went away, I see that in the treatment of migrant workers from East Asia. I saw the same thing in U.A.E, that wasn't easily hidden, nor do I think they even tried to.
(this could be long, I'm not sure how to word it. I'm still trying to figure it out myself)
I'm not sure if you've ever heard of a Finishing School? I was sent to one of sorts in my teens. It's done to improve on etiquette, social graces, old world values, the result being you sound like a time traveler to normal people. It was a private residence in France, hence now I can speak fluent French, and quite a lot of my favorite music is French because I wasn't allowed to listen to English music or watch English media, I was a fast learner, I wanted my music.
The track I'd previously shared with you was by a man called Benjamin Clementine. He's from London but his family are originally from Ghana, in his late teens he moved to Paris and played music on the street to earn a living. That's how he popped up on my radar. I'd listened to his song 'London', it was about his time as a homeless man, of what he experienced. It's one of the only pieces of music that allowed me to cross that divide and to understand what his life actually was. He was discovered by a talent agent on the streets of Paris. I shared it with you because I thought maybe you might appreciate his talent and the message it contained. I don't remember exactly but I think you said you weren't listening to music with lyrics that day. I'm going to share it again, maybe you'll see or hear what I did. I believe (but can't be sure, I have no track of time and numbers are an enigma) that both he and I were in Paris at the same time, on different sides of that divide. His music was a bridge, but not information, I felt his words, and still do.
That's him, that's Benjamin. I saw him play the Royal Albert Hall a couple of years ago.
If I'm right then the following happened when he was living on those same Parisian streets. Completely invisible to me, back then I didn't even know what homelessness even was, or that it existed, nor racism.
One day I read about a soldier, he said 'if you can make your bed in the morning, you can do anything in life'. I took that as 'I'll try', so I did. And it wasn't received well, I didn't know what I was doing. I'd seen it done hundreds and thousands of times before and still made a mess of it, but that wasn't the issue.
The someone else who was supposed to do it wasn't Caucasian, I'd started talking to that person every morning and in English (which was against the rules) you'd call it small talk. I was curious about their country, what music they listened to there, the food they grew up with, the animals they saw etc, each day was a new discovery and I had maybe two hundred questions prepared. I'd see that same person throughout the day. When they brought tea I'd answer with 'merci beaucoup', which is a simple thank you and something I do regardless of who it is and where I am. The Family (Lady of the House) didn't like that, I was always corrected with 'don't do that, it's their job'. My Family aren't like that, I've said thank you four times already today, I call that having manners, and respecting someone. That Lady was different.
She found out that I tried to make my bed and didn't take it out on me, like she should have. Instead she took it out on the person who was tasked with doing it. I didn't see them the next day, they'd been let go. I didn't see it as racism because I didn't see colour, I struggle to see it today.
What I saw that day or rather experienced (did I? they lost their job, I was only scolded) didn't occur hundreds of years ago, it was less that twenty years ago. Maybe sooner than that, I'm still learning numbers, to count etc. I think (know?) people still benefit from slavery and racism on some level. That one event sticks out to me, I saw it as 'they'll be impressed that I tried to do this', they weren't and instead of it being something positive it was turned into something negative. I never tried to make my bed again, and certainly not there. I stopped saying thank to everyone (there) I didn't want to see anyone else let go. I talked to Tjuz about the same experience, he saw racism and only racism.
For years I didn't think race was even a factor, it wasn't (then) because I didn't see that person's skin colour, I saw it as 'I did something wrong', in hindsight I see the truth. I think they had racism in their blood, we are both very old Families, but I was raised on Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment) and Tolstoy (War and Peace) and they were raised on something else. Quite a lot of that something else. That experience still bothers me, I've never seen or experienced blatant racism since my time there, and I still don't know if they lost their job because of something I did or if that Lady was looking to make an example of that person. I don't know where she is now but I'm sure she remembers that day too. I do, and think about it any time I do see someone make my bed. I sort of stand there awkwardly even if I've known that person for years, I'm sure they notice it too. I think it left a lot of confusion. Some of those books helped to lift a little of it, but then layered on a little more that wasn't previously there.
There are a couple of other books that stand out for the same reason. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (it got personal and removed some kind of racial barrier, I understood) and The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison were both similar and challenging in their own way. I'm not sure if they teach about racism in schools, I never attended one. I'd hope that they do. If not then I'd question it. I imagine in America they must? They did in that movie, and it led to me sourcing that book. I know what I learned in Paris was the opposite, there were a lot of moving parts in that situation but I did like talking to that person. She was from Morocco, in her twenties and really pretty, she had a child back home and was sending her wages to her Mum. One day she showed me pictures on her phone, I may have bought her a new phone too, so maybe that was an issue or part of it. She would take trips back there to see her child, a new phone meant more pictures and a much higher resolution (was that selfish? I don't know) She showed me so many pictures, mostly of her family, a lot of her child, dinners, celebrations (videos of dancing) even animals like I'd asked. I don't know if that was wrong, I know she was friendly (to me) but we were from two very different worlds and I wanted to learn about hers, which I 'think' was a rather reasonable request. But thinking is not knowing.
Maybe I overstepped some kind of boundary, I'll never know. I was in her country last year and thought about her again. I see that as an example of racism through class and station. I have that one reference point, I'd call it long lasting. But I'll never know if that was most certainly racism, classism, or some kind of method used to make me less human, perhaps it was all three. I understand being raised in an old world, I understand living in an old world. I don't understand why anyone who didn't have to, would want to.
I'm sorry that you had that experience. It was undoubtedly something that had an profound effect on shaping who you were to be as you got older. Still, I'm glad you've read those books and have knowledge of those issues, even though, as you say, although I'm paraphrasing, it is something borne of an old world, that you don't understand that anyone would want to live in.
Cheers!
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Thank you. It was different, and I'm sure for that woman too. Perhaps no one had been nice to her before, it seemed so. I'll figure it out eventually. I had but one journal entry for my final day there, it was short and simple 'Paris is no place for a good and loyal Russian'. It's from the musical Anastasia. I like the city, it's people, and still visit, but they were the wrong People to learn from.
These violent delights have violent ends & in their triumph die, like fire & powder Which, as they kiss, consume.
Hi all. A book I read recently that blew me away was Svetlana Alexievich's Secondhand Time. Wow. She's incredible at capturing and weaving together all these interview testimonies from ordinary people inside Russia, mind boggling stories from people's lived experience across the 20th C. Really gets into the soul of the Russian experience. Highly recommend!
I finished The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, in between readings of the mammoth Mark Twain by Ron Chernow, which I'm about 7/10 of the way through. The former book was a satisfying albeit light, in terms of length, read. The subject matter, i.e. Baldwin's thoughts on racial issues in America, at the time of writing, opinions on Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, and it's inception/particular modus operandi, were fascinating and very insightful, I felt. Really enjoyed it.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
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