I started reading this book in the very begining of 2006 as part of my new year resolution that I must read very solid writings now on! There is lot of garbage in the market, I feel tired after reading such books! The problem is one must try to read books of new authros to look for new findings; but in that process one must read lots of garbage. This is a big challenge to me: to find out books which are really challenging, challenge human intellectual. One just can't depend on references by other people, can't depend on prize winners, can't depend on many things...this makes it harder and harder to select right set of books. I am working on this continously: "how to select an exciting book, an exciting writing"...not just the regular once, not just the one following rules and regulations, right grammer and syntaxt, but there is heart in it.
So, I didn't take a risk in the begining of 2006! I selected Westland.
Westland by Eliot is no doubt one such book. I am still not done with the book since I am all over these beautiful lines all the time:
"He who was living in now dead
We who were living are now dying
With a little patience"
I am into these lines now...this makes me feel good...face the reality in true sense.....more later...
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Tao te ching : an illustrated journey / Lao Tzu
There are several translations available for the philosophy of Tao Te Ching or in short Tao. I heard about Taoism for several years but never found time to read about it. I heard lots of jokes about it mostly from modern intellectuals. I was seriously interested in this book only after reading the book of Capra (Tao of Physics)...just thought about giving it a try.
I read the translation by Stephen Mitchell. It was simple and clear translation, I liked a lot. I read it few times and like it more, even more than the thick books on Tao explaining the theory in great detail...
Idea of Tao looks very simple in the begining and well known to us. But in search of a philosophy we often forget this basic simplicity and consistency in it. This also look impractical to many, in fact to me too. But more I think about it, I get a hang of it. This world is not perfect, that doesn't mean that we can't think about perfection or try to be perfect.
Take Tao in the same spirit. You just think about it, practice it in your thinking and decision making process, when you are lonely, when you feel lost....you see, you may find a meaning of it..sounds lot like a religion? Not to me! Its just the way of thinking, the way you see things just changes...things don't change, they remain same!
At the end, Tao can't be explained :-)
I read the translation by Stephen Mitchell. It was simple and clear translation, I liked a lot. I read it few times and like it more, even more than the thick books on Tao explaining the theory in great detail...
Idea of Tao looks very simple in the begining and well known to us. But in search of a philosophy we often forget this basic simplicity and consistency in it. This also look impractical to many, in fact to me too. But more I think about it, I get a hang of it. This world is not perfect, that doesn't mean that we can't think about perfection or try to be perfect.
Take Tao in the same spirit. You just think about it, practice it in your thinking and decision making process, when you are lonely, when you feel lost....you see, you may find a meaning of it..sounds lot like a religion? Not to me! Its just the way of thinking, the way you see things just changes...things don't change, they remain same!
At the end, Tao can't be explained :-)
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Memoirs by Pablo Neruda
Memoirs by Pablo Neruda
(in progress....Version 2.0)
"In these memoirs or recollections there are gaps here and there, and sometimes they are also forgetful, because life is like that..."
When I was young this is what I read in a cover page of a book. I didn't read many English books then (other than the text books), but this line was haunting me for years. Later I used it in my email signature. I wondered how come this poet knew exactly what I felt and couldn't express...
I am going to write some favorite lines from the book, later express my views along those lines: How did Neruda inspire me for long time? Once I met another poet from his country and she was very surprised that I read Neruda and remember some of his quotes. I probably couldn't explain to her the reasons well enough, I am not sure if I can do it now...But this is the only way I know I can try...Neruda writes:
Poetry is an occupation
(in progress....Version 2.0)
"In these memoirs or recollections there are gaps here and there, and sometimes they are also forgetful, because life is like that..."
When I was young this is what I read in a cover page of a book. I didn't read many English books then (other than the text books), but this line was haunting me for years. Later I used it in my email signature. I wondered how come this poet knew exactly what I felt and couldn't express...
I am going to write some favorite lines from the book, later express my views along those lines: How did Neruda inspire me for long time? Once I met another poet from his country and she was very surprised that I read Neruda and remember some of his quotes. I probably couldn't explain to her the reasons well enough, I am not sure if I can do it now...But this is the only way I know I can try...Neruda writes:
Poetry is an occupation
When I wrote my first lonely books, it never entered my mind that, with the passing years, I would find myself in squares, streets, factories, lecture halls, theatres, and gardens, reading my poems.
Here I liked the gutsy usage of the word lonely, normally I don't see such usage. His books were lonely because there weren't many readers then, he just started writing, he was the only reader of those books (or writings)..I liked it. Writing of this kind eliminates the differentiation between poetry and prose!
Originality
I don't believe in originality. It is just one more fetish made up in our time, which is speeding dizzily to its collapse.
I believe in personality reached through any language, any form, any creative means used by the artist.
"Poetry is an occupation" is the most interesting chapter in his memoirs. His comment on originality is so unique and goes against my conventional thinking. This is how he attracted me with very original ideas of his own :-)
Criticism and Self-criticism
Some believe I am a surrealist poet, for others I am a realist, and still others do not believe I am a poet. They are partly correct and partly incorrect....
As for the realism, I must say, in my own interest, that I detest realism in poetry. Moreover, poetry does not have to be surrealist or sub-realist, though it may be anti-realist. And it is anti-realist with all reason, with all unreason; that is , with all poetry.
I had several arguments with my friends about realism in poetry, this is probably the one most common point to start argument among poetry lovers. I didn't read Neruda then, but somehow had same opinion as this, though in a softer tune. Realism is not necessarily a part of poetry, even the concern for society, poverty, making life better for others, ...absolultely nothing!
But I must admit that I was very surprised to hear this comment from Neruda (about realism)...now I don't!
Lost in the city
Shyness
Shyness is a kink in the soul, a special category, a dimension that opens out into solitude. Moreover, it is an inherent suffering, as if we had two epidermises and the one underneath rebelled and shrank back from life. Of the things that make up a man, this quality, this damaging thing, is a part of the alloy that lays the foundation, in the long run, for the perpetuity of the self.
This is the first time I read about male shyness with such bold statements.We normally read lots about female shyness, this clarity of thoughts in male shyness is not explained well so far. Neruda was a very shy person from his childhood. His feeling about girls, in his own language: "And since I could find no one to give me a push, I walked along the fascinating edge, without even a side glance, much less a smile". That's the experience of a complete shy person!
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
A brief history of time by Stephen Hawking
A brief history of time by Stephen Hawking
..............
(please check back later, will write someday, send your comments or blog if you have already written something on this)
This is truely a special book on physics, probably the best I ever read on this topic.
..............
(please check back later, will write someday, send your comments or blog if you have already written something on this)
This is truely a special book on physics, probably the best I ever read on this topic.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Thursday, November 17, 2005
NameSake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahairi
I liked this book a lot, but I read it sometime back. I need to read it again to write more comments on this book.
This is my favourite quote from the book:
"In spite of the fact that there is nothing in particular to do, the days assume a pattern. There is a certain stringency to life, a willful doing without" ...jhumpa lahiri in "The NameSake".
However, I use a more generalized signature along the same line:
"In spite of the fact that there is nothing in particular to do in life, the life assumes a pattern".....
This quotation reminds me of another famous work "Diba Ratrir Kabyo" by Manik Bandyopadhyay.
...more later...
I liked this book a lot, but I read it sometime back. I need to read it again to write more comments on this book.
This is my favourite quote from the book:
"In spite of the fact that there is nothing in particular to do, the days assume a pattern. There is a certain stringency to life, a willful doing without" ...jhumpa lahiri in "The NameSake".
However, I use a more generalized signature along the same line:
"In spite of the fact that there is nothing in particular to do in life, the life assumes a pattern".....
This quotation reminds me of another famous work "Diba Ratrir Kabyo" by Manik Bandyopadhyay.
...more later...
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