January 28, 2009
That’s right, I finished The Brothers Karamazov? last night. ? All 701 pages. ? Of small print. ? Being stuck in a chair breastfeeding a good part of the day certainly has its advantages!
Anyone else who has read this, I would love to hear your thoughts. ? I find myself wishing for a good Russian literature class–there is so much in this text worth discussing! ? I’ll be posting on this book more, as I work through all the pages I dog-eared on my way through. ? But I am really curious to anyone else’s reactions!
January 10, 2009
So we started reading Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television the other day…out loud, in the evenings. ? (I know it seems a bit extreme, but bear with me.) ? The thesis is that television, by its nature, is destructive to human lives and communities, no matter how nice or educational the programming tries to be. ? I’m sure I’ll be revisiting that idea later, but I think we’re already trying to benefit from one of the observations included in Mander’s first argument. ? He points out how disconnected we, especially we who live in the city or suburbs, are from the earth and its workings. ? Our food comes from stores, not plants in the ground; our water comes from faucets, not streams or rain showers; the greenery we do see is chosen and arranged by humans, not nature. ? Many, if not most, of us have lost our connection to the natural world, the world essentially unmodified by human hands (and machinery). ? Read more...
January 2, 2009
Lucy recieved so many books for Christmas this year!? It is wonderful, because she loves books (as do we) and now we have a whole new plethora of choices for bedtime stories.? I’ve decided to start adding some of her favorites to my “Off the Shelf” reading list on the sidebar.? Many of these are worth revisiting, even if you don’t have a little one around to read them to.? I’ve really been? enjoying re-reading so many books from my childhood, as well as discovering new favorites.? And when you don’t have the time or the patience to tackle a 600-page Russian novel, these books provide almost instant closure.? It’s like great literature, 15 minutes at a time!
