Mateus Fioda Fioda itibaren 60220 Boutavent, Fransa
Fun, light dissection of Scottish culture based on the people who live in one building in Edinburgh. Originally it was a daily serial in the Scotsman (newspaper) so chapters are short, an easy read.
Readers are “the world's great nomads, if only in our minds,” claims Ms. Quindlen. “In books,” she says, “I have traveled, not only to other worlds, but into my own. I learned who I was and who I wanted to be, what I might aspire to, and what I might dare to dream about my world and myself.” While those who do not consider themselves readers sometimes tend to look suspiciously on those of us who prefer the company of a thick paperback - “there is still in our culture something that suspects those who read too much, whatever reading too much means, of being lazy, aimless dreamers, people who need to grow up and come outside to where real life is, who think themselves superior in their separateness.” - Ms. Quindlen describes the sense of freedom and joy that drives readers back to the printed word over and over again. As a child, she says, “I did not read from a sense of superiority, or advancement, or even learning. I read because I loved it more than any other activity on earth.” Ms. Quindlen, so did I. In this slim volume, Ms. Quindlen briefly tracks the history of reading. Starting anciently with the Sumerians' “laundry lists” of livestock and slaves, through Ptolemy I's creation of the great library at Alexandria, she notes Socrates's disdain for books as they could only “remind one of what one already knows.” Please note: even the inestimable Socrates can be mistaken! Then to Gutenberg's press and movable type that opened religion to the masses, which spurred Martin Luther's quest for Reformation, and the Declaration of Independence that “fomented...a new way for men and women to look at their own government.” Indeed, “reading became a democratic act,” of which demagogues, tyrants and zealots are suspicious, even today. Nazis burned books, as did the Inquisition; slaves were often kept illiterate with the threat of losing a finger or two if caught with a book. Oppressive regimes around the globe and across time have banned, confiscated, and destroyed books (and beaten, imprisoned, or killed their owners) when those books presented an alternate view of the world than the one the totalitarian government wished to be presented without divergence or variance. “Ignorance was the preferred condition of the people by despots” and, I might add, still is. There are as many reasons for reading as there are books to read and people to read them. “Reading has as many functions as the human body,” including entertainment, expanding knowledge, decreasing isolation, and providing connection with our fellow travelers on earth. Who is to say only one of those functions is valid to the exclusion of the rest, or even that one is of more importance that the others? Ms. Quindlen's skepticism runs high towards those who insist on a “highbrow” definition of books worth reading and show disdain for what they consider “middlebrow” or “popular” literature, as they try to impose a false separation between “the literati...and the hoi polloi.” Her patience for those who would presume to ban books is likewise practically non-existent. Ms. Quindlen closes her book with a series of various creatively-titled “top ten” lists. 10 Books That Will Help a Teenage Feel More Human. 10 Books Recommended by a Really Good Elementary School Librarian. 10 Modern Novels That Made Me Proud to Be a Writer. After perusing these collections, my already overwhelming list of books I want to read someday grew by leaps and bounds. To sum up, I say in concert with Ms. Quindlen as she quotes Abraham Lincoln: “My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read.” What good company! For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
Two unlikely partners, Charles Lindbergh, the famed aviator and the French Nobel Prize winner and surgeon, Dr. Alexis Carrel an early organ transplant specialist work together exploring ways to achieve human immortality. Their experiments were tied to a mutual desire to achieve a superior race, so, it was no surprise that Lindbergh developed a fascination for the Nazis. After World War II, Lindbergh reflects on his earlier beliefs and to his credit, openly admits he had erred. Having seen the ravages of a Nazi work camp, he develops a new appreciation for humanity and becomes an ardent environmentalist as well. The author cleverly reveals two fascinating character studies both of whom were once admired and then later reviled.