Ramblin' RET: 2021

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Nancy Solves Larkspur Mystery

PASSWORD TO LARKSPUR LANE
#10 of Nancy Drew Mystery Stories.

Scan of the cover of my copy of Nancy Drew #10.

I picked this up at the 2021 Newtown Summer Used Book Sale. I was in the mood for some light reading and it seemed like it had been quite too long since I last read a Nancy Drew book. Password to Larkspur Lane by Carolyn Keene fulfilled my expectations.

As usual I started on my usual pace of a chapter per day but found my self reading during lunch time and multiple chapters on the weekends. It was a good break and unexpectedly appropriate for July reading. I was unfamiliar with Larkspur flowers and learned that they are a birth flower for July.

The larkspur represents the strong bond of love. In general, it signifies an open heart, ardent attachment to someone and the celebration of positivity. As with many flowers, the symbolism changes with the color of the bloom.

Blue larkspur symbolizes dignity and grace;
Pink larkspur symbolizes contrariness;
White larkspur symbolizes a happy nature; and,
Purple larkspur symbolizes first love.

According to Greek mythology, this July flower blossomed where the blood of Ajax was spilled in the battle of Troy. Larkspurs are known as a protective plant to repel venomous snakes and cure scorpion stings. Since it grows wild in the United States, Native Americans picked it for dye.

The story starts with the mysterious appearance of a wounded homing pigeon. And so I learned about the International Federation of American Homing Pigeon Fanciers. Check out their HOME page.

One of the illustrations in my edition.
"It's a strange message, Nancy," the
housekeeper said.

My copy is the 1966 edition and the 1985 printing. Thus, it only has 20 chapter instead of the 25 chapters in the original 1933 edition.

The summary says "Blue bells will be singing horses! This strange message, attached to the leg of a wounded homing pigeon, involves Nancy Drew in a dangerous mission. Somewhere an elderly woman is being held prisoner in a mansion. Nancy is determined to find and free, Mrs. Elridge.

While working on the case, the young detective's close friend, Helen Archer, begs her to solve a weird mystery. Helen's grandparents, the Cornings, are frightened by a sinister wheel of blue fire that appears after dark in the woods outside their home at lonely Sylvan Lake. When Nancy discovers the significance of the eerie signal, she also learns that her two mysteries are connected.

How the clever young detective fathoms the meaning of the strange message, how she locates the stronghold of a ruthless ring of swindlers, and how she rescues the gang's victims makes absorbing and exciting reading."

First edition (1933) dust jacket.

This edition includes six (6) illustrations (see sample above). The cover illustration is not a dust jacket but printed right onto the cover. I was amused to learn that a cover for the British edition generated some controversy because it showed part of Nancy's thigh.

"Racey" cover of the British edition.

My edition has 175 pages, not including several for the front section (contents, copyright, title page and frontispiece.

This was a lot of fun, a fast read, and I highly recommend it and all the Nancy Drew books.

--------------------------------------
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Drew
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Password_to_Larkspur_Lane
https://www.ftd.com/blog/share/july-birth-flower|
http://www.ifpigeon.com/
http://www.series-books.com/nancydrew/nancydrew.html
--------------------------------------
Written Sunday 15 August 2021

Sunday, July 11, 2021

READY PLAYER ONE - Reading Over

A while back, I announced that I had started reading the book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Simultaneously, I listened to the audio version, and read a study guide (online). Now that I have finished (sort of-see below), here is my report.

Cover of the copy I borrowed from the Library.

MY OVERALL OPINION

👍 Thumbs Up (i.e., I liked it). If you are a fan of 1980s culture, dungeons and dragons, and video games, there is a lot in this book that will likely stir your memory. If you like dystopian novels such as 1984, Brave New World, etc., you too will likely feel comfortable in this book. There's also a love story, and some twists and turns with a somewhat contemporary slant.

WHY I READ THIS BOOK

Initially, I was motivated to read it because my friend (ME) had listened to the audio version and really liked it. The concept of virtual reality intrigued me because of the alternate world I had recently read about in A Wrinkle In Time as well as the philosophers George Berkeley, Baruch Spinoza, David Hume, Gottfried Liebniz, and others that were mentioned in The Age of Louis XIV.

While a case could be made that my effort was influenced by the charms of ME, we were coming at it from quite different perspectives. First, ME listened to the book, while I read it AND listened to it. Second, I lived during the 1980s; this was my college period and the beginning of my career. ME, on the other hand, was born in the 80s. Also, although I've never experience the technical version of virtual reality, ME bought a VR machine and claimed it helped her exercising.

During most of the book, the main characters never meet except in the guise of their avatars. Similarly, I have never met ME in person. We only know each other through Skype calls via work.

Interestingly, the author grew up in SW Ohio; I grew up in NE Ohio. The author now lives in Texas; ME also lives in Texas.

BOOK DETAILS

Published: 2011 by Random House (New York). First Edition, printed in the United States of America.

374 numbered pages, not including Advance Praise blurbs, Title Page, Copyright information, dedication, and "About the author." There are no illustrations or pictures.

The colorful dust jacket covers a black binding with white lettering on the spine.

ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK

There is no Table of Contents.

The book is divided into four (4) parts:

Chapter 0000
Level One (Chapters 0001 - 0016)
Level Two (Chapters 0017 - 0027)
Level Three (Chapters 0028 - 0039).

The book ends with two (2) pages of Acknowledgments.

MY READING APPROACH

When I couldn't find an inexpensive used copy to purchase, I borrowed a volume from the local library. I renewed it something like 4X. I started reading it the moment I got it home: Saturday April 10th and finished it Wednesday July 7th (ME's birthday - a coincidence, honestly!).

When I finished reading a chapter (several pages a day), I listened to the corresponding chapter of the audio book, then read the detailed summary and analysis at Litcharts.

I like to do my reading in the morning with a cup of coffee handy.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I saw some spiritual aspects in this book. The author cites references to one of the primary characters similarly to biblical citations as a way to demonstrate how serious his disciples followed him. Religion can be a sort of alternate reality that helps people cope with the challenges of life and the unknown regarding death. Also, I can see something of a parallel where "Jesus" becomes God's avatar in earthly life.

The virtual world is called OASIS because it helps the user escape the dreariness of the real world. And yet it's a fake work and, thus, limited in what can be accomplished and the level of satisfaction that can be derived. It functions similarly to what kinds of distractions we use today to distract us from the real world: TV, movies, social media, drugs, food, etc.

All of us want to present our best side and hide our flaws, shortcomings, etc. We are afraid of rejection. And all of us are worthy of being rejected. And so we hide from each other. Young couples like to live together before marriage in order to see what the other person is "really like." We stay the same and yet we change. As human beings we try to pretend that we are god-like so that others will (presumably) like us.

Ready Player One shares several similarities with other books I have recently read. It is a quest similar to The Pilgrims Progress. TPP is striving to reach the Celestial City while the characters in RP1 are hunting to find the "Easter Egg" that will make them the owner of the OASIS as well as fantastic wealth in this world. Like A Wrinkle in Time and TPP, RP1 involves traveling through an alternate reality. RP1 also involves growing up, maturing. It touches similar themes as AWIT and Little Women.

I didn't care for the ending. There is something of a happy ending that seems forced, like the Resurrection in Left Behind. For all the references to VR and geekiness, the ending tries to point us away from the isolation of a digital world and towards the real world. RIGHT. This is from a book that just taught its readers that immersing oneself in arcane trivia can pay off immensely. After being kissed by his pursued love interest, the last sentence of the book suggests a "and they lived happily ever after" future:

"It occurred to me then that for the first time in as long as I could remember, I had absolutely no desire to log back into the OASIS."

Right after I finished, I found a podcast series that is something of a virtual book club, reading a couple of chapters each podcast. I listened to the kickoff episode (00) today and will at least try to listen to a few. Looks they are about a half hour each.

I have no plans to see the movie version of RP1 nor read the sequel, Ready Player Two.

I am planning to read one of the Nancy Drew Mysteries next (really!).

---------------------------------
Links:
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2021/04/there-goes-sun-king.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_Player_One
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Cline
https://archive.org/details/ReadyPlayerOne-Audiobook-Unabridged
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/ready-player-one
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-wwwrinnnkllle-innn-tttimme.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Berkeley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Wilhelm_Leibniz
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2021/04/there-goes-sun-king.html
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/ready-player-one
http://372pages.com/about
----------------------------------
Written Sunday 11 July 2021.

Saturday, June 26, 2021

New Assignment for Fr. Hattie

On Monday June 21st, I received a letter from the USA Midwest Province of Jesuits regarding Fr. Hattie. I learned that he was promoted to heaven on Saturday June 12, 2021.

The letter also included a detailed obituary (see below) that "celebrates his wonderful life of service and the gift of his mission." He was just one month shy of his 99th birthday. "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the Lord."

Father Eugene F. Hattie, SJ

June 12, 2021

We pray in thanksgiving for the life of Fr. Eugene Francis Hattie, SJ, who died on Saturday, June 12, 2021. Father “Gene” Hattie, as he was fondly known, died at Karen Hospital in Nairobi. He was 98 years old, a Jesuit for 80 years, and a priest for 67 years when he received his final call.

Father Hattie was born July 18, 1922, in Canton, Ohio. His mother was Mrs. Mary Hattie, his brothers Mr. Donald P. Hattie and Mr. “Bim” Hattie, and his sisters Mrs. Charles J. Michel and Mrs. Robert Bheringer.

Father Hattie attended elementary school at St. Joseph in Canton, Ohio, and grade school and high school at St. John.

He entered the Society of Jesus on August 31, 1940, in Milford, Ohio, and pronounced his first vows in 1942. He did his juniorate at Milford, Ohio (1942-1944), and studied philosophy at West Baden, Indiana (1944-1947). He had joined the former Chicago Province, was put into the former Detroit Province when Chicago was divided, and later joined the Patna Province (India) after his final vows, before coming to the Eastern Africa Province. That profile, already, points to the missionary character of Fr. Hattie’s life as a Jesuit.

The missionary journey for Fr. Hattie began immediately after philosophy. In November 1947, he left the United States for India where he did his regency and theology, was ordained a priest, did his tertianship and much of his active ministry, as follows:

Studies in Hindi Language (1947-1948) at Mokameh Junction, Bihar, India, and passed a matriculation exam in Hindi Language from Patna University in Bihar, India.

Regency (1949-1950) as a teacher and hostel superintendent at Bettiah, in India.

Theology (1951-1954) at St. Mary’s Kurseong, India.

Ordained as a priest (November 21, 1953) at St. Mary’s Kurseong, India.

Tertianship (1955) at St. Stanislaus, Hazaribagh, India

Taught in various schools in India, notably in Bettiah (1956-1959)

Pastor, school principal, and teacher at Bar Bigha, Bihar, India (1959-1961)

Assistant principal at St. Xavier’s in Patna, India (1961-1963)

While in India, he was ordained a priest on November 21, 1953, and he professed his final vows on February 3, 1958, before continuing with his ministry there until the end of 1962.

In December 1962, Fr. Hattie received an assignment that would send him back to the United States as mission procurator in Cleveland, Ohio. He assumed that office at the beginning of 1963 and performed it with great success until the end of 1969. Those six years were to become the only time Fr. Hattie was ever in active ministry in his home county.

After completing his term as Mission Procurator in Cleveland, he returned to India where for six years (1970-1976) he worked in Jamshedpur Province teaching in St. Xavier’s High School, Lupungutu (a Hindi medium school).

Fr. Gene Hattie spent twelve years teaching in Hindi medium high schools in Patna Province, during which he was principal in two schools and hostel superintendent in two other schools. He spent two years at Xavier’s High School (an English medium school) in Delhi, and two other years at yet another St. Xavier’s High School (an English medium school) in Patna, India.

As he continued with his mission in India, the Lord showed Fr. Hattie another field where “the harvest was plentiful, but the laborers were few” (cf. Mt. 9:37). In his own words, “When I read in Jivan of the needs in Sudan, I decided that with 1,000 Jesuits (plus countless other diocesan and religious priests in the State of Bihar alone, I would not be missed. I felt that the need in Sudan was greater, since Patna how has so many Indian Jesuits to carry on. I wrote Fathers Paul Besanceney and Tho Toppo asking them if I could be of help, and they welcomed me with open arms.”

That way, Fr. Hattie left Bombay on May 2, 1984, headed for Juba via Nairobi. At this time, when he volunteered to go to the Sudan, he was already 63 years old, no longer young, although, for sure, still very young at heart. This is because he felt there was a greater need there. While in the Sudan, he taught at the major seminary (1984-1985) and at senior seminary (1985-1986), both in Wau. That was to be only the beginning of his “second missionary journey” after successfully accomplishing the first in India. Henceforth, he was to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 28:19) on Eastern Africa soil for the next and last 37 years of his life as a Jesuit.

Thus, in 1986, Fr. Hattie was transferred from the Sudan to Mwanza, Tanzania, where he taught at Lake Secondary School, before he was sent to Uganda. There he taught at a minor seminary in Moroto (1987-1990) and then at another minor seminary in Tororo (1990-1991). From 1992 to 1993, he taught at St. Peter Secondary School in Kampala, before going for a sabbatical at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (JSTB) in August 1993.

In 1995, Father Hattie returned to Kampala, Uganda where, apart from engaging in Pastoral Ministry, he was the chief correspondent with benefactors for the work of the Society in Uganda. To that responsibility, he added teaching at Nyenga Minor Seminary in Jinja (1997-1998), St. Paul’s Minor Seminary in Kabale (1999), and Moroto Diocesan Minor Seminary in Moroto (2000).

In 2002, he returned to Kampala and worked with street children, notably raising funds for them (2001-2010). This dedication to serve street children in Kampala by establishing a home for them was an anticipated response to the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus, decades ahead of their promulgation. The street children trusted and loved him mainly because he was always “young” like them. They taught him to remain young, and he always advised younger Jesuits never to grow old at heart. No wonder, despite having prayed the Suscipe for more than 80 years, Fr. Hattie’s memory never faded away until his death.

Despite his advanced age, despite living with cancer and despite being handicapped with near deafness and physical impairment for several years, Fr. Hattie wrote and submitted between 40 and 60 letters every month, using a typewriter, to raise funds for street children and orphans aged between two and 16 years old. He did extremely well in transforming the lives of poor, marginalized, and orphaned children in Kampala, and many people who worked with him recognize his commitment and dedication to the cause of those children.

While doing all this, he was also entrusted with vocation promotion to the Society of Jesus in Uganda from 2003 to 2007.

At the end of 2010, having worked for 30 years in India, two years in the Sudan, one year in Tanzania and 25 years in Uganda, Father Hattie was missioned for light ministry and praying for the Society and the Church, as he moved to Pedro Arrupe Community in Nairobi at the age of 88.

As we have noted above, apart from the first years of his Jesuit formation in his home country, and a few more years as Mission Procurator in Cleveland, Fr. Hattie spent the whole of his life as a Jesuit in India and Eastern Africa. A missionary par excellence!

Adverse conditions that afflicted the poor and marginalize were his “portion and cup” by his own choice, for all the years of his life. The letter of Father General, Peter Hans Kolvenbach, to Fr. Hattie on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee in the Society of Jesus, which he celebrated in 1990, states, referring to his mission in the Sudan: “Only you and others who shared the ordeal with you know how much you had to put up with in the hardship post, an area that is still torn apart by civil war and where we can only hope to start anew as circumstance allow.”

Father Hattie had a jovial relationship with fellow Jesuits and spiced up the community in many ways. His great sense of humor was the most precious gift that he always shared with his guests. No one met Fr. Hattie and went away sad. The most difficult thing was to resist laughing at his jokes. He must have attended some training on how to tell great stories and crack hilarious jokes. He knew how to make you laugh even if you had had a very bad day.

He was known for his frank and straightforward conversation with companions. Whenever something needed to be addressed in the community, he would not mince his words, but never lacked in charity.

He had a profound faith to Jesus Christ, and a great sense of justice for the poor, the underprivileged, and the marginalized, for whom he spent his energy, time, creativity and, indeed, emotions, to uplift their life. The choice of mission that he made very early on as a young Jesuit is a proof of his preferential option for the poor.

Father Hattie excelled in obedience as well. Not only would his Superiors attest to this, but also the nurses and doctors who took good care of him. His desire and request to die and be buried in Africa (among the people he loved and served) has been granted. He gifted us, his companions, with the privilege of celebrating his 80 years as a Jesuit, possibly the first companion in the province to do so. At 98, he was still young at heart, and always joyful.

The only thing we failed to teach Fr. Hattie is the use of computers, and the only thing we failed to learn from him is the use of typewriters. We will certainly miss his jokes, great sense of humor, dedication, and diligence. Father Hattie, teach us to remain young, dedicated, diligent, and happy!

Father Hattie has returned to the Lord just after we have celebrated the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Friday June 11, 2021) and the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Saturday June 12, 2021). This is a confirmation of what many who met him always believed, experienced, and knew about him. He was a companion with a great, beautiful, joyful, and loving heart.

A funeral mass for Fr. Hattie will be offered Saturday, June 18, in his home community in Nairobi.

------------------------------------
Links:
https://www.jesuitsmidwest.org/memoriam/hattie-eugene-f-father/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertianship
https://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/suscipe.html
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-06-11
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-06-12
------------------------------------
Written Saturday July 2, 2021.

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Walnut Hill Rose Garden

A couple weeks ago my friend (ME) in Texas was telling me how she took her sister (visiting from NYC) to a gigantic rose garden in Tyler, Texas. This inspired me to visit our rose garden here in New Britain yesterday. The weather was fantastic: sunny and hot (90s). Although I went in early evening (~6 pm), the heat was still brutal. Felt like I was in Texas.

The rose garden is located at the top of a hill in a
memorial to World War 1 dead from New Britain.

Aerial view.

------------------------------
Links:

https://txliving.com/tyler-rose-garden-and-museum/
http://www.friendsoftherosegarden.com
https://www.facebook.com/pg/WHRoseGarden/community/?ref=page_internal
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=41383
--------------------------------
Written Sunday June 6, 2021.

Sunday, April 18, 2021

There Goes the Sun King

I finished reading my hardback copy of the first printing of the book, The Age of Louis XIV, Part VIII of the Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant. The subtitle is "A History of European Civilization in the Period of Pascal, Moliѐre, Cromwell, Milton, Peter the Great, Newton, and Spinoza: 1648-1715." The book was published by Simon and Schuster, Inc. (New York) in 1963.

My copy of the book (no dust jacket).

MY OVERALL OPINION

👍Thumbs up (i.e., that means I like it). Very glad I read it. Would recommend it to anyone who is curious about history, science, philosophy, culture, and theology.

WHY I READ THIS BOOK

The short answer was that I read the Age of Louis XIV because I wanted to find out more about the political climate at the time The Pilgrim's Progress (TPP) was written. The Christian aspect of TPP was obvious to me but I was also aware that the author, John Bunyon, had started writing it when he was in prison for his religious beliefs. TPP was mentioned or referenced several times in Part One of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott which I read last year.

Most of the material I encountered online was about the religious aspects of TPP. One day I realized that there might be something in The Story of Civilization series of books that I have carried around for many years barely touching except when I moved. This volume, Part VIII, includes about five (5) pages on John Bunyan. And that whetted my appetite for more. So I kept reading.

Illustration of statue in the Louvre (Paris)
of Louis XIV by Francois Girardon.

BOOK DETAILS

Published: 1963 by Simon & Schuster (New York).

804 pages plus xviii pages of front matter, and three unnumbered sections containing 59 B&W illustrations.

The main text portion concludes on page 721 and is followed by a Bibliographical Guide (10 pages), Notes (24 pages), and an Index (36 pages); the final two pages are "About the Authors." The endpapers contain four maps (see picture below).

Maps in the front endpaper.

My copy of this volume also included a little pamphlet containing an essay by Gilbert Higher that was reprinted from the Book-of-the-Month Club News.

Click on the image to open a larger window to read this essay.

It appears that the series is no longer published in a physical hard back book. Simon and Schuster appear to only offer an E-book version. Used copies of the books can still be found via the various used book sellers. You can read the book (and the entire series and more) online.

The series is intended for the general reader, not the scholar.

ORGANIZATION OF THE VOLUME

The text is divided into five (5) books:

Book I: The French Zenith (1643-1715)
Book II: England (1649-1714)
Book III: The Periphery (1648-1715)
Book IV: The Intellectual Adventure (1648-1715)
Book V: France Against Europe (1683-1715)..

From the Preface ("Dear Reader"):

This volume is part VIII in a history whose beginning has been forgotten, and whose end we shall never reach. The subject is civilization, which we define as social order promoting cultural creation. It includes government,. economy (agriculture, industry, commerce, finance), morality, manners, religion, art, literature, music, science, and philosophy.

The scene is Europe. The time is from the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) to the death of Louis XIV, whose reign (1643-1715) dominated and named the age.

The pervading theme is the Great Debate between faith and reason.

MY READING APPROACH

I don't remember when I exactly started reading this volume. I suspect it was sometime in October 2020. I tried to read a section each day.Some of the longer sections I broke into two reading sessions. I like to read in the morning with a fresh cup of coffee by my side and a dawning day outside the window.

The vocabulary sometimes challenged me. As much as I hate to say this, I liked using Google's Dictionary. In addition to the definition of a word, it would demonstrate how to pronounce. And there was a second way to explore pronunciation: in American English and British English and to even slow the pronunciation. This was very engaging. I tried to find something similar that was not on Google but was not successful.

Example of Google Dictionary.

I also would use Wikipedia to augment the text in order to find out more about people and places. Perhaps the ability to supplement the text with online material made the reading experience more satisfying for me.

Finished the book on Saturday April 17, 2021.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I really, really enjoyed reading this book. Nearly every day, their dry wit brought a smile to my face.

While I was reading the first part of the book, the 2020 US Presidential election was underway. Nearly everyday, I found something in the early days of Louis XIV that correlated with the contemporary political scene in the US. When I heard news commentators exclaim that some event or situation was unprecedented, I was often amused because I had just read something similar that happened in 17th Century France. Later, when I read about the English Civil War, I again found many touch points with the contemporary US political environment.

Earlier this year, while I was reading A Wrinkle In Time, I was reading in The Age of Louis XIV about physics (Newton) and astronomy (Halley) and then philosophy (Descartes, Locke, George Berkeley, Leibniz, and Spinoza). What is real? So much overlap between the two books at that time. Quite fascinating.

So much to learn.

NEXT

Am currently reading Ready Player One (started Saturday April 10, 2021).

Started Part IX of the Story of Civilization, The Age of Voltaire, on Thursday April 22, 2021.

-----------------------------
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Civilization
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Durant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Durant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moli%C3%A8re
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the_Great
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-pilgrims-progress.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Women
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bunyan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Girardon#/media/File:Louis_XIV_statue_equestre.JPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Girardon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Highet
https://erenow.net/modern/the-age-of-louis-xiv/
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-wwwrinnnkllle-innn-tttimme.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_Player_One
https://erenow.net/modern/the-age-of-voltaire-a-history-of-civlization-in-western-europe-from-1715-to-1756/
----------------------------------------------------
Written Sunday 25 April 2021

Saturday, March 20, 2021

A Wwwrinnnkllle innn TTTimme

Cover of Tina's homemade note to me.

I am writing this post about a month after I actually finished the book (but I'm dating the post closer to when I think I completed the book). The Covid chaos (to simplify the accumulation of distractions, frustrations, and anxieties) has resulted in diminished motivation for things like logging my activities, filing receipts and anything that is not needed for basic living.

Anyone who has read Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time will recognize my reference in the title of this blog post. I wrote about the background to my reason for reading this book in a previous post. After wracking my brain trying to recall when I finished the book, I thought the book title to be a most appropriate title for the blog post.

My sister, Tina, sent me a note (see picture above) in answer to my inquiry on why she sent me the book. I thought the note was pretty cool, and a good way to start the post.

Bottom line: I finished the book, enjoyed it immensely, and heartily recommend it.
(Apparently Disney produced a movie version a few years ago but I have no interest in that). I just finished the Durant's book (see below) and I'm anxious to post about it but don't want to let my thoughts about A Wrinkle in Time slip away.

There is a lot I could say about this book but I don't want to write a dissertation here. If you are keen to discuss the book, call me and let's talk.

The book is beautifully summed up in 90 seconds in this video:

As you may know, while I was reading AWIT, I was also plowing through Will and Ariel Durant's The Story of Civilization (Part VIII) The Age of Louis XIV. During the various narratives about time travel in AWIT, I was also reading about Newton and Leibniz developing the Calculus, Physics and Science and Astronomy (Halley's comet) and philosophy (John Locke, George Berkeley, Spinoza). So there was a lot of philosophical and astronomical overlap between the two books.

The Black Cloud (1957 US edition).

Later, in some of my supplemental reading about AWIT, I learned that Madeleine L'Engle was reading about Einstein as well as the astronomer and science fiction author Fred Hoyle. It appears that his novel, The Black Cloud, influenced "The Dark Thing" in AWIT.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but was disappointed in the ending: "All You Need is Love" which I found to be contrived and convenient (need to find an ending, quick. "Love" is always a nice solution). But what exactly is love? It's more that the main character Meg running around IT shouting, "I love you." This was simple and silly because it seemed to come out of nowhere, like clicking your heels ans chanting "there's no place like home."

This book turned into The Time Quintet series and four (4) more books were published during the next thirty years. I don't know if I will read those. Perhaps I might if someone gives them to me as a gift or I find them cheap at a used book sale.

----------------------------------------
Links:
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2021/02/tomorrow-never-knows.html
https://www.madeleinelengle.com/
https://read.macmillan.com/mcpg/a-wrinkle-in-time/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhsCCQrCNAs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hoyle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Cloud
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Quintet
https://vimeo.com/222978679
-----------------------------------------
Written Sunday 18 April 2021.

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

The Pilgrim's Progress

This is probably not exactly what I hoped to write about my experience of reading The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyon but I have been procrastinating and I don't want to lose this accomplishment as I have to so many other posts intended for this blog that I never got around to writing. And there is no time like the present. So here I go.

I am dating this post March 3rd because that is the day I finished my reading; however, I am writing this much later (see below). Being something of a mathematical, engineering mind, I am partial to numbers and take pleasure in symmetry (03/03). I didn't plan this date but it seemed like a good place to stop my study of TPP.

My endeavor to read TPP began a few years ago when R.C. Sproul's Renewing Your Mind show featured the book in promotion of Derek Thomas' lecture series for Sproul's Ligonier Ministries. Intrigued by the several sample lectures, I provided a token donation in order to obtain the promised book and lectures DVD (see above). I had heard of TPP before but it was never on my reading list. Challenged by its label of being a classic as well as the observation that it is rare reading for today and even rarer to finish both parts, I began my study. For whatever reason, though, my efforts stalled about a quarter into the first part.

And so the book and DVD joined the heap of my other unfinished (reading) projects. My interest was rekindled during my reading of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women where it was a frequent component of the first part of that book. [An interesting connection between both LW and TPP is that both started out as a single book with a later sequel that were then combined into a single volume.]

One of the biggest challenges for me in reading TPP was the lack of chapters; it is just one long text. The lecture series didn't help by specifying the corresponding pages of the book. This is what did me in the first attempt. I became overwhelmed trying to match up the lectures with the reading and checking the scriptural references. For my second try, I set my own pace and just read something every day (no rush).

Another challenge was the antiquated syntax (I think that's the correct word). It's like the difficulty with comprehending the King James Version of the Bible but not as bad as deciphering Shakespeare.

It didn't help that the Penguin edition seemed to contain too many typos regarding the scriptural references in the margin notes. What saved me was finding an online version that had the (seemingly) correct references. This version was also divided into sections which helped me to gauge my progress. I think I was like a slow driver: going 30 mph in a 35 mph zone.

The map on the front cover was also a fun help. I wish there was a larger version because that would make it easier to follow. I do like maps, recipes for traveling. Being on the right path is helpful.

Once I finished the first part, I was eager for more. So I started over and this time made an effort to coordinate the lectures with my reading (again, not easy because an explicit guide was not part of the package). During my first attempt, I did not watch the lectures but rather listened to them via MP3 files saved to my cell phone which I listened to during my evening walks. For my second try, I did not have a good earphone so I was somewhat forced to watch the lectures. This turned out well even though the visuals were boring and virtually useless. There were no maps, illustrations, or visual supplements; just Dr. Thomas talking to a bunch of people. Fortunately, each lecture was rather short, about 25 minutes. These overviews helped to focus on the story and the various themes.

A highlight of the lectures for Part One was learning that the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was highly influenced by TPP even though he was something of an atheist. This led me initially to weekend of listening to RVW music, especially Symphony No. 5 and then No. 3. His was a fascinating life story worth its own post (alas, another of my unfinished projects). The culmination of his life's work was an opera version of TPP.

Around November (2020), I started reading The Second Part of TPP. The first part dealt with the journey of the man, Christian while the Second Part deals with his wife, Christiana, and their four boys. SPOILER ALERT: Both Christian and Christiana make it to the Celestial City (aka Heaven). The story of the four boys was saved for another potential book that was never written.

Although the book is revered as a Christian (religious) classic, I was intrigued with the political background that caused Bunyon to write these stories. The introductory material in my Penguin edition was interesting but served me merely as an appetizer. There's got to be more to the story (background): history, you know? That quest led me to my set of Durants' The Story of Civilization (but that is another post, hopefully).

Certainly the religious preaching in these books is an obstacle to the skeptic, atheist, non-Christian, Catholic, etc. However, from an intellectual and historical perspective, I found them (i.e., both parts of TPP) to be provocative. The book raises questions about (among others) deity/God, religion, life after death, reality, salvation, etc. I could write lots about the religious aspects of the story. The short answer is that it didn't convince me to convert and give my life to Jesus.

In the end, this book was like a century bike ride for me. I accomplished my goal and enjoyed the ride. The journey motivated me to start another ride with the Durants. So far so good with that.Reading has helped me to get this far through the Covid lockdown.

If you have read The Pilgrim's Progress and/or are fan of Ralph Vaughan Williams, I would love to hear from you. Any intelligent, respectful response is always welcome.

-------------------------------------------
Written Saturday 30 March 2021 (first day of Spring).

Saturday, February 27, 2021

Tomorrow Never Knows

My newly received copy of "A Wrinkle in Time."

I should be out trying to get a haircut instead of writing this but I have been wanting to do a blog post for such a while and this morning has been such a somewhat bizarre experience that I thought I might capture a bit of it in a blog post.

My sister, Tina, recently sent me a softbound copy of the book "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L' Engle. To be honest, I was initially annoyed that she had done that since I never expressed an interest in the book and I have plenty to read. However, I was intrigued and attracted by the cover art (which reminded me of one of my favorite childhood books, "The Spaceship Under the Apple Tree" by Lois Slobodkin (see below-what do you think? Are you able to see any similarities?).

I wish I had a copy of this book.

When I saw the audience was ages 10-14, I thought this might be a candidate for reading before bed (i.e., something light and breezy). So I started to read one chapter each evening. However, yesterday was a very challenging and long day (worked from 7 am to 9 pm) that I skipped the reading and postponed it until this morning.

So this morning I read Chapter Four, "The Black Thing." I read it out loud like I have been doing now. That slows me down and helps me focus.To say this is a bizarre chapter (let alone a bizarre book) is an understatement. It reminded me of a drug trip, of an LSD experience (of which I have no first hand knowledge other than John Lennon's Beatles song, "Tomorrow Never Knows").

The speech of one of the supporting characters, Mrs. Who, is almost entirely limited to quotes from classical literature or the like. The quotes are structured in three parts: the original language, the speaker, and the English translation. This chapter includes a quote from Euripides, Nothing is hopeless; we most hope for everything.

Since I wasn't sure what exactly this quote meant, I looked it up online and found a very interesting blog post entitled Untangling L' Engle's Greek. It was very intriguing but didn't help to understand the meaning. It was actually about a typo. I learned from a comment to the post that the quotes were reportedly taken from DICTIONARY OF FOREIGN PHRASES AND CLASSICAL QUOTATIONS, Edited by H.P.Jones (Edinburgh 1910). Interesting trivia, in a sense, but also a lesson in the importance of accuracy.

The imagery in this chapter is ethereal. Here's a sample:

They left the granite plain and flew over a garden even more beautiful than anything in a dream. In it were many of the creatures like the one Mrs Whatsit had become, some lying among the flowers, some swimming in a broad, crystal river that flowed through the garden, some flying in what Meg was sure must be a kind of dance, moving in and out above the trees. They were making music, music that came not only from their throats but from the movement of their great wings as well.

What are they singing?" Meg asked excitedly.

Mrs Whatsit shook her beautiful head. "It won't go into your words; I can't possibly translate it to your words.

Mrs Whatsit eventually provides a paraphrase that turns out to be a quote from the Book of Isaiah [42:10-12a].

"Listen, then," Mrs Whatsit said. The resonant voice rose and words seemed to be all around them so that Meg felt that she could almost reach out and touch them.

Throughout her entire body Meg felt a pulse of joy such as she had never know before. Calvin's hand reached out; he did not claps her hand in his; he moved his fingers so that they were barely touching hers, but joy flowed through them, back and forth between them, around them and about them and inside them.

The setting of this chapter is on a planet named Uriel.Curious if there might be some significance to this name, I found a website that explained the Uriel is known in ancient literature as an angel of wisdom, who shines the light of God's truth into the darkness of confusion. Uriel means "God is my light" or "fire of God." It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the rest of the book.