Rubicon by Tom Holland

Perhaps it's not as tightly written as Persian Fire; perhaps it's the name of the characters;  perhaps it's the soap opera nature of the story of the Roman Republic; nonetheless the read was not as compelling necessitating immediacy and a compulsory read. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the book fine, enjoyed the history of the republic's demise. It just that didn't capture my imagination.

Rubicon is a consumable history of the dying decades of the Roman Republic, from the great civil war (circ 500 bc) with Rome's Italian allies to the reign of August Caesar (circa 30 bc). It traces the events and characters that propelled the final throes of the five hundred year old Republican government. His writing style is again more like a novel than a historical lecture which makes the content accessible on the one hand but at times can feel more like a syndicated gossip column. 

An american audience can't help but draw connections between Rome's Republic and modern day America (note the book was published in 2005 long before our current dictator)

As you read you can debate whether stronger executive power in the face of adversity, balanced against the perceived loss of liberties accruing from increased executive power, a timeless theme, is inevitable. I think it is . That's how it was back then and frighteningly provides a  compelling reason to look to the past -  it's too close to what could happen tomorrow.

Persian Fire. The first world empire and battle for the west. by Tom Holland

Persian Fire by Tom Holland

Well I wish I had read this before our family trip to Greece and Turkey! A very engulfing  history of Persia as well as the founding of democracy in Greece circa 480 bc.   Holland recasts the Greek-Persian conflict as the first clash in a long-standing tension between East and West, echoing now in ISIS pretensions to a Muslim caliphate. In the words of one reviewer Holland shows ...' that he could master a complex and fast-moving narrative from ancient history and make it a pleasure for both general readers and the learned. '

He modernizes the first written Greek history  and how they outlasted Xerxes the king of kings (from Persia ) What happened is that the victories gave the ancient Greeks a sense of superiority over easterners which their modern epigones (an undistinguished follower or imitator- great word eh. I borrowed it! I didn't know it before today) in Europe and America, who did not carry a shield at Marathon, or row a boat in salamis, nevertheless seek to enjoy.  Had the Greeks been defeated in the epochal naval battle at Salamis, not only would the West have lost its first struggle for independence and survival, but it is unlikely that there would ever have been such an entity as the West at all.

A side note  I came away knowing more details of the Spartan life than I needed to know. They were extreme.

Totally enjoyed the book. And am eagerly anticipating Rubicon - let me learn of Rome and of Caesar!  

Symbols in Stone by Matthew Brown

Symbols in Stone by Matthew Brown 

An adequate yet ambitious  book discussing symbolism of the Temple, both architecturally and ceremonially. presents itself as though it was to be the definitive expose on the clarification and definition of the many LDS iconic symbols. Though it is encyclopedic in identifying the symbols it falls short in the definition. Many are left as- it appears as ... , one could infer that ... , scholars have thought ... . In the later case many of the footnotes have the appearance of scholarship but when read fall into conjecture , heresay, or family history. Often not  more than a personal experience or feeling related by someone that gives his or her impressions regarding the temple

Interesting yes- must read no. The ultimate guide no. Starting point perhaps. Source for a reliable visitation or vision experience-     Indeed

Jim the Boy, by Tony Early

Is a coming-of-age novel not based in sexual awareness as is the norm these days, but family relations, baseball , farming, aging, death, in dealing with challenges of farming and country life. A simple, nice read, a quick casual read.

I found it in a review of 'what I'm reading now ' -and liked the NYT review
"Earley has had the courage to return to artistic first principles: clarity, balance, ease. Set in Depression-era North Carolina, his year-in-the-life story of a rural boyhood unmarked by parental abuse, erotic turmoil or domestic dysfunction seems strangely brave and new. ''Jim the Boy'' is a novel that does one thing memorably instead of many things forgettably."..."Earley isn't into genre-bending; he tells his coming-of-age story straight, making all the familiar stops in a way that reminds us, paradoxically, just how unfamiliar they've become. The first baseball glove. The first brush with the local bully. The first best friend. The first glimpse of death and nothingness. Not nasty at all.

The magic strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch albom

I try not to stray into the sentimental too much, nonetheless, I just finished reading  The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Album ( popular author who wrote The Five People You Meet in heaven )  This story is narrated by Music, interspersed with interviews with famous musicians of many ages and genres. The main character, Francisco, an incredible guitarist , is like Forest Gump meets the world of music.- primarily the age of rock and roll. You might find it charming , which is why I refer it to you - or totally off putting dribble , in which case  you will hopefully forgot I recommended  it by next time we talk.

"The Secret is not to make your music louder but to make the world quieter"

"That is often why you come to music Isn't it to feel that you're not alone".   And I thought i learned last week from Gabriel  Zevin that, that is what reading is for!

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanith

When breath becomes air by Paul Kalanith

A NYTimes top seller; Interesting book to chosen to read right after the storied life of AJ Fikry. Both deal with death more than anticipated by me; both deal with living richly and loving abundantly. Both challenging me to live better dealing with my Parkinson's.

'A tureen of tragedy was best allotted  by the spoonful' -when he was in his doctor mode on how to share devastation , most need time to digest, be mindful of how we share

'You can't ever reach perfection, you can believe in an asymptote (a line that continually approaches a given curve but does not meet it at any finite distance.) toward which you are ceaselessly striving'

'Darwin and Nietzsche agreed on one thing : the defining characteristic of the organism is striving'

'The tricky part of illness is that, as you go through it, your values are constantly changing. You try to figure out what matters to you, and then you keep figuring it out. It felt like someone had taken away my credit card and I was having to learn how to budget. You may decide you want to spend your time working as a neurosurgeon, but two months later, you may feel differently. Two months after that, you may want to learn to play the saxophone or devote yourself to the church. Death may be a one-time event, but living with terminal illness is a process.'-WORD

'Seeing death as an imposing visitor but knowing that even  if I'm dying, until I actually die I'm still living'

... The prospect of losing meaning and agency agonizing'

And that my wife and family might say of me as this line in the book - 'even while (the author Paul) terminally Ill he was fully alive despite physical collapse he remained vigorous, open, full of hope, not for an unlikely cure but for days that were full of purpose and meaning'

Footnote 

The song the author and his wife sang. together in church which is not in our hymnal but which I like a lot: the servant song

Will you let me be your servant

Let me be as Christ to you

Pray that I might have the grace

To let you be my servant too

We are pilgrims on the journey

We are brothers on the road

We are here to help each other

Walk the mile and bear the load

I will hold the Christ light for you

In the night time of your fear

I will hold my hand out to you

Speak the the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping

When you laugh, I’ll laugh with you

I will share your joy and sorrow

Till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven

We shall find such harmony

Born to all we’ve known together

Of Christ’s love and agony

Places

As I stated earlier a trip can be defined by the people with whom you interact, meet and share with on a trip. But that is not all - place can also make or break an experience. I adhere to the definitions of sense of place:

Sense of place is:(according to nathaniel james)

• Difficult to quantify and abstract — place is frequently referred to as "fuzzy" or difficult to locate geographically.(5) In addition, one definition of place may not transfer across political or geographic borders.
• Comprised of natural features, patterns of human settlement, and social relationships — the connection between people is a key component of place.
• Determined by local knowledge — while it may be possible to broadly describe place as an outsider, intimate understandings of place are best expressed by natives.
• Embodied in folklore, personal narrative, and amateur history — intimate descriptions of place rarely show up in "official" documents, that is, those prepared by government or bureaucratic agencies

In simpler terms a sense of place can also be:
Some places are just fun and make a great experience just by being there.

Other places are bucket list type and you want to have been there.

Places may define a larger geography and take a meaning of their own.

Sacred places bring you nearer the infinite and lift you up by being in their presence.

The place is home for that is where the heart is.

Gratefully we experienced many relevant places - to us.

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zefin

This is mostly, in a small bookstore and is about a bookseller, books, life and death, love lost, found, developed, and the life that surrounds the store itself. I like bookstore books, my favorites include : The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. 

“The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry reminds us what saves us all from a life of loneliness and isolation: our sense of empathy; our ability to love and be loved; our willingness to care and be cared for. Gabrielle Zevin has written a wonderful, moving, endearing story of redemption and transformation that will sing in your heart for a very, very long time.” 

'We aren’t the things we collect, acquire, read. We are, for as long as we are here, only love. The things we loved. The people we loved. And these, I think these really do live on'

'Remember, Maya: the things we respond to at twenty are not necessarily the same things we will respond to at forty and vice versa. This is true in books and also in life'

'It is the secret fear that we are unlovable that isolates us,” the passage goes, “but it is only because we are isolated that we think we are unlovable. Someday, you do not know when, you will be driving down a road. And someday, you do not know when, he, or indeed she, will be there. You will be loved because for the first time in your life, you will truly not be alone. You will have chosen to not be alone.'

'The words you can't find, you borrow.

We read to know we're not alone. We read because we are alone. We read and we are not alone.'

The high mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel

The high mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel
Martell is a little unorthodox in the storytelling but it is compelling reading and I love the unpredictable.  Agatha Christie mystery books as an allegory for Jesus Christ and the gospel just  wasn't expected but it was a new thought and got me thinking. It merits more discussion than space / time I want to dedicate to it at this point in time.

The conversation Peter had in his mind about where to move with Odo reminds me that the only place I ever thought of retiring had been Portugal; where the two of them embarked:  "where will they go? Florida. A lot of Canadians retire there, precisely for the purpose of fleeing Canada's winters. But the place means nothing to him. He does not want to live between a strip mall, a golf course and a sweltering Beach. Portugal The word illuminates his mind" . So, maybe I ought to take a field trip from my Florida home to Portugal.

I've always found crying, my crying odd. He explains: "And weeping is undignified. It lies beyond the tutorials of etiquette remains a personal idiom individual in its expression. The twist of the face , quantity of tears quality of sob, pitch of voice, volume of clamber, effect on the complexion, the play of the hands, the posture taken: one discovers weeping - ones weeping personality – only upon weeping. It is a strange discovery, Not only to others but to oneself." So I ought to be comfortable with my limited but trending up weeping

Interesting discussion on what I would deem light-mindedness. "Humor and religion do not mix  but humor sheds no light on true religion. it's just humor unto itself. Worse humor misunderstand religion , let's  not make the mistake of thinking that levity is the same thing as Joy. Religion abounds in joy. Religion is joy

His explanation of the allegory of walking on water. "swimming is a modern invention – people at the time of Jesus cannot swim if they fell in the Deepwater they sink they drown that is a literal truth but we think of water is the experience of life there's also the religious truth man and women are weak it in their weakness they sink. Jesus does not sink a man drowning in water naturally looks up what does he see while being engulfed by choking darkness he sees above him the clear light and pure air of salvation   he sees Jesus."

Of Awkward phone calls with relatives: "they end the call with the grace of people learning how to dance on stilts"

In total an odd book but a good book. I skipped a few pages where it was appropriate. He's an author with a twist no doubt about it. And he gave me a few things to ponder.








Sent from Tim w

The Last Armada by Des Ekin

The Last Armada by Des Ekin

I must confess that if I were to be an historian I would be a devotee of the 15th - 18th century with a focus on Spain, France, England, and Italy. Whether its historic fiction like Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael mystery series by Ellis Peters, or non-fiction like The Discoverers a history of discovering the Americas, by Daniel Boorstin or the Map That Changed the World, the history of the first geological map by Simon Winchester – I will dive in and give it read. So when the library failed to deliver on the book I supposedly had on reserve, The Last Armada by Des Ekin caught my eye and so we dove.

I’ve formed my own jaded opinions, over time, of the peoples of that epoch: English - over-bearing, over-confident, exploitative in a patronizing manner, destined to play their role in setting the stage for the restoration; Spanish -discoverers, adventuresome, indulgent, unfortunately consumers of their American found wealth and not builders; Irish – animated, strong willed, destined to emigrate. The book did nothing to dissuade me.

The English did not win (many more of them died) – they claimed they did. The Spanish were not there to help the Irish (only to interfere with the English) – they failed on both accounts. and the Irish simply did not fight (why should they? they were there for the spoils/not for freedom). The flight of the Earls was never a significant result. Without an Irish national feeling, No man would die for another man's freedom – they languished in their relationship with England ever since.

The author explains the terrain, battles, siege construction, and weaponry well enough to please any military historian concerning Spain’s last armada and invasion of Ireland and the battle of Kinsale. Most compelling are the author’s discussions of the effect of the battle on Spain as its empire died and England’s colonies grew, the end of Spain’s religious wars, the shift of power in England, and the cataclysm as Gaelic Ireland declined and died.

A good book that places Kinsale siege and battle in its rightful place in history. And as a randomly chosen book was well chosen.