Lenon’s last login was yesterday. « hide recent activity
Lenon is now reading Shalimar the Clown: A Novel.
Lenon added Shalimar the Clown: A Novel.
Lenon added The Trial of Henry Kissinger.
Lenon added The Light of Day.
Lenon reviewed Confidential Agent : An Entertainment 1 month ago.
“ A movie in a book from Greene. Fog, guns, London taxis, double crosses, bad guys, surly toughs, sweet kids and a thoughtful... ”
Lenon rated Confidential Agent : An Entertainment 1 month ago.
Lenon has read Confidential Agent : An Entertainment.
Lenon reviewed The Road 1 month ago.
“ Why did McCarthy pick the tattered trope - post apocalypse as a device to explore our true nature when so many others have... ”
Lenon added Confidential Agent : An Entertainment.
Lenon rated Vile Bodies 1 month ago.
Lenon’s last login was yesterday. show recent activity »
Sorry -- I got distracted by your alter ego. I wanted to ask whether you've read The Trial of Henry Kissinger and what you think of it -- I did and although I appreciated its purpose, courage and language, much of it requires some detailed knowledge about American politics' intricacies. Or maybe it just seemed to, to me.
I see the Fruit Truck moved to the Tropics for winter. Wise move. Think of a truck of mistletoe or some other dismal little winter fruit in the hemisphere!
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/10/i_wish_i_could_have_seen_that.php
Fruit Truck! Long time no see.Thank you for spotting this one out; it's been a surprise, I heard it on the news. Never read anything by her but I guess now I should.
I was aware, dimly, of the existence of Mr. Swift. His publicity team has failed to capture my attention on his behalf and you have, so perhaps you should offer him your services. As he is apparently now in his sixties, I imagine he is a writer of some promise, and will add him to "Wish List". Thanks for the reco!
I like him too. I read somewhere that in his Last Tango in Paris Bertolucci alluded to Truffaut with the fiance character (interpreted by one of Truffaut's favorites, Leaud). I am not sure that was a compliment :-)
It's gratifying to know your Lurking habits are paying off.
You have such good taste in reading material lately!
Tinky simply dotes on Waugh. I tried to read Vile Bodies, but we weren't meant for each other. I liked Brideshead revisited much, much better.Great Expectations ranks pretty high on my list. My favorites are Little Dorrit and The Old Curiosity Shop. Barnaby Rudge and some of the Christmas stories are at the bottom. My mentor says one reads Barnaby Rudge simply because it's there. I've re-christened it Barnaby Drudge. Awful.
It's turning into a veritable Seattle down here, with rain several times a week and more on the way. Mr. B is petrified of the rain. I usually find him sleeping on the bath mat, curled up like a small dog. He's really enjoying kindergarten. Everyday is a new adventure. Hope things are going well up your way.
Nice to meet your face! :-) The fruit truck was nice too; while you were engaged elsewhere, it gave me a tip about TED ;- ) Send my thanks, I enjoy watching the talks there a lot!I know you are right - maybe skepticism is not the best reaction to propositions such as this; a lesser evil should be let pass for a greater good. I might be too much of a pessimist, but I fear that, since we evolved by constant squabble, it would require a gigantic leap from all of us to be able to surpass the "narcissism of minor differences" (I am not sure this is the correct phrase :-) and actually collaborate in preserving this planet. All this is very new; I mean, cultures (various religions y compris) became interacting in a meaningful and - to some extent - respectful manner very recently. But what could have been an auspicious beginning is marred by the conflict over resources - I am not sure which is first and foremost among the reasons for war overseas these days: the fight against Islam religious fanaticism? One wonders. It would be ironic, with the Christian right as strong as it is in the US. Retaliation for 9/11? In two regions already, and Iran to come? (And no Saudi Arabia, if I am allowed :-) Again, it does not sound convincing. Or oil? Getting hold of the resources is the ultimate motivation of all wars since forever but we are still too prudish to admit it. It's so much easier (and effective) to play people on the chords of religious belief -- and other cultural differences.In short, I do not believe that the solution for peace lays with religion, or secularism - not per se, for that matter. These are too high a worry in Maslow's pyramid to discuss about while half a planet suffers from hunger and the other half is desperate to feed its over-consumption.Science holds the answers, because science is our hope to find new sources of energy and new ways to limit consumption of what we have, not to mention methods of limiting the impact we have on the environment. Then I believe we could deal with morality, prejudice etc. and hold more realistic hopes we'll ever achieve universal compassion, humanism, secularism. How's that for a long note? :-)PS I know nothing about the Gog and Magog!PPS Can I opt for ET as admonishing alien? I found the finger tip-cum-light bulb rather convincing:-)
Oh! A face! Hi! :-)Taking cues from previous notes, I could suspect it's not your face; but then again, it feels much better than befriending a fruit truck - in a virtual space, true, but still - so I much appreciate the change :-) PS It was a fruit truck, was it not?...
Thanks for the tip! I looked it up - and left trails :-) It shows I'm new to this forum&discussions thing:-) I think Armstrong correctly identified a problem, which is the lack of compassion and understanding - not to mention appreciation - between various cultures (where religion is part of the culture, actively or passively, through layers and layers of influence throughout centuries). But saying that we need to show appreciation as a solution is like proposing that we should cure cancer. Great, of course we need to do that. But how? I am not at all sure that the way to work towards that is or should be through religion. Armstrong basically starts from the idea that, since religious belief (and, she says, the Golden Rule it implies - which is such a particularly rosy picture about the whole thing that one cannot in fact draw it unless they first reinterpret the books) is sometimes the only thing two cultures have in common, even though it's a belief in different gods, we should then work with that in order to make the two cultures appreciate each other - for lack of better common grounds. But I don't think it's either correct to say that, or a possible solution. What all humans regardless their culture have in common are other things, which are not religious: the fact, for instance, that all parents love their children, or all people need their dignity, or want to prosper or love someone. The fewer the ideologies feeding themselves from these basic human inclinations, and hijacking them, the better. And religion is such an abusive ideology par excellence. Then, each religion thrives on difference and pretends to offer one the absolute truth and the only one way to reach salvation, hence it's not an ideology one could use to unite cultures. It is in fact because of these particular pretenses that religion seems to me to be most useful, for those who find it useful at all: it seems people want to possess ultimate truths, and practice the righteous ways that would lead them to eternal life; people want to be right and belong to the right community. Not a good starting point for universal unity, I believe. Anyway, I tried to identify your own posts on TED but don't think I could; told you I am very new at this and still look for a face, a name etc. But I'll progress! :-)
hey, i know who Christy Mathewson was!!! and, on FACEBOOK..i am "Judith Loue"....i'll check you out, over there....anywayJ
oooh whoi am on FaceBook now too...under my real moniker JUDITH LOUE....what is your NOM DE FACE...pray tell? or do i have to troll the alleys in search of??J
i was culling my Friends list and was ready to give you the Axe..until i saw your ratings for THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD & AMERICAN PASTORAL....i guess we're stuck as Friends...pity, that.J
hi lenon,you read disgrace. what did you think of it?
Why Thanx Again....JASS!
Spring term is over, but I'm teaching summer school right now. Hubby lost his job in March when his company filed Chapter 11. I'm not one for reading things in order. I prefer to hunt and peck as it were, reading whatever strikes my little fancy at the moment. I've neither read nor heard of Graham Swift, which leads me to believe he must be among the living.Perhaps we'll Scrabble when I've finished teaching.
Has it really been two months since I last sent you a note? How very rude of me. I think I've been in Siberia with "War and Peace" since then. My apologies.
