Reading
Log For 1993
BABBITT
(1922)
Signet Classic Paperback, New York
Spring 1993
Later Paperback Edition:
-
- Sinclair Lewis was born in Sauk Centre, MN (and has a
museum there) in
1885 and died in 1951
- Takes place in Zenith in 1920
- George Follansbee Babbitt: Thinks he is a good
citizen. For a
while,
he tries to be “liberal.” Gets into the
Good Citizen League (G.C.L).
Lives in Floral Heights.
-
- His son, Theodore Roosevelt Babbitt (17): Marries Eunice
Littlefield at
the end of the book. George eventually wants him to live his own life.
- His older daughter, Verona (22)
- His younger daughter, Tinka (Katherine, 10)
- His wife, Myra Babbitt
- Vergil Gunch: A very conservative coal dealer.
- Paul Riesling: George’s only real friend. Shoots
his wife and
gets a 3
year jail sentence.
- Seneca Doane: Labor leader
- Tanis Judique: “Flapper” and one of the
“Bunch.” Only woman George
can talk to, have an affair.
- 280:
In matrimonial geography the distance between the first mute
recognition
of a break and the admission therof is as great as the distance between
the first naïve faith and the first doubting.
EXODUS
(1958)
Paperback
Bantam Books, New York City
Spring 1993
- Diaspora = 2000 year dispersion of Jews
- Mark Parker: Reporter, Nuremberg (covered it?)
- Katherine Fremont: Married Tom Fremont, moved to
Chicago. At
42,
he enlisted and was killed at Guadalcanal. Two months later
her daughter
Sandra died.
- Major Fred Caldwell: Of the British Army. Does not like
Jews.
- Brigadier Bruce Sutherland: His mother was Jewish. His
wife, Neddie,
left
him. Moved to Mount Canaan. Sympathetic to the Jews.
- Sabra: Native Jewish Palestinian named after a desert plant
that is
hard
on the outside but soft on the inside.
- David Ben Ami: “David, Son of My
People.” Loves
Ari’s sister Jordana.
- Ari Ben Canaan: “Lion, Son of Canaan.”
Member of
Mossad Aliya Bet. Head
taller than David Ben Ami. Son of Barak Ben Canaan
(“Lightning,” also Deborah’s
head general) and Sarah.
- Barak and his brother Akiva escaped to Palestine on foot a
generation
earlier,
but ended up leading organizations with divergent methods on achieving
the same goal. Akiva leads the splinter Maccabees.
- Hovevey Zion: “the Lovers of Zion,”
Jossi and Yakov
Rabinsky. Tel
Aviv (“Hill of Spring”)
- Shoshanna: First kibbutz in Palestine.
- Ein Or: “Fountain of Light,” North of
Rosh Pinna,
next kibbutz.
- Yishuv Central: Democratic.
- Avidan heads Haganah (secret self-defense army)
- Swamp converted at Yad El (“Hand of
God”)
- Muktar Kammal of Abu Yesha: Killed by Haj Amin el
Husseini’s
thugs.
- Ari buys passports in Berlin
- Palmach: Formed for guerilla attacks on Germans
- Mandria: Greek Cyprus resident.
- Bevin: British Foreign Minister.
- Zev Gilboa: Mossad.
- Joab Yarkoni: Has a farm called Sdot Yam (“Fields
of the
Sea”). Born
in Casablanca, Morocco. Lived in a mellah.
- Dov Landau (17): Polish Holocaust survivor. Forgery expert.
Son of
Mendel
Landau. First experiments on Tisha B’Ab (dest. of temples by
Babylonians).
ZQB = Warsaw Ghetto Jewish Resistance. Said “Shalom
l’hitraot” to
Mundek. “Redeemers” =
resistance. Sent to Auschwitz, #359195.
Became a Sonderkommando = worker in the German crematoriums. Has
“Little
Giora.”
- Exodus (Aphrodite):
Ship
captained by Hank Schlosberg.
Hunger strike. Suicide promise. Made it to Eretz
Israel on
the third day of Chanukah (the festival of lights). Landed in Haifa
Harbor
to the sound of “Hatikuah” (Jewish Anthem).
- Promised Land
- Two organizations: Mossad Aliyah (“Arise, go up,
ascend”) Aleph (“a”) =
legal side, immigration. Mossad Aliyah Bet (“b”)
– illegal side, Organization
for Illegal Immigration.
- Star of David (Karpathos):
Ship where Karen was caught.
Forced British to make Cyprus camp.
- Karen Clement (Hansen): Daughter of Professor Johann
Clement.
Born
in Germany, but escaped to Denmark. Dr. Werner Best lead HIPO
Nazi
sympathizers. Killed by Fedayeen.
- Bill Fry: American sailor. Died on Promised Land
(General Stonewall Jackson) to Toulon, France.
- 23rd Transportation HMJFC: His
Majesty’s Jewish Force on Cyprus.
- Major Allan Alistair: Intelligence Chief of Cyprus.
- Shimshon Bar Dror: Got Dov out of Auschwitz.
- “Le chaim” = a toast.
- Gan Dafna: “Garden of Dafna,” named
after deceased lover of Ari.
- Dr. Lieberman: Slight hunchback. Works at Gan Dafna.
- SS Col. Eichmann: Architect of “Final Solution to
the Jewish Problem.” Created Auschwitz.
- SS Lt. Col. Karl Hoess: Auschwitz “shower
rooms.” C[Z]yclon B gas. Everyone given a stone,
but told it was soap. Gold Teeth, skulls = paperweight, Labor
Liberates “Arbeit Macht Frei.”
- SS Col. Wirthe: Treblinka
- Block X (Auschwitz): Dr. Wirthe, Dr. Schumann, Clauberg,
Dr. Dehring.
- Birkenau: One million poles, 50k Germans, 100k Dutch, 150k
French, 50k Austrian, Czech, 50k Greeks, 250k Bulgarians, etc. 250k
Hungarians.
- May 14, 1948: State of Israel reborn.
ANTIGONE
Translated into English verse by H. D.
F. Kitto
(From a literature textbook)
1993
- This play was originally produced in Athens in about
441
B.C.
- Antigone:
“Nobody loves the bringer of bad news.”
“Of all vile things
Current on earth, none is so vile as money.
For money opens wide the city-gates
To ravishers, it drives the citizens
To exile, it perverts the honest mind
To shamefulness, it teaches men to practise
All forms of wickedness and impiety.”
“...Nor could I think that a decree of yours—
A man—could override the laws of Heaven.”
“Have you no shame, not to conform with others?”
“I love not those who love in words alone.”
“This is the law: that in Man’s Life every success
brings with it some
disaster.”
“No man can rule a city uprightly
Who is not just in ruling his own house-hold.”
“The man
Who thinks that he alone is wise, that hi
Is best in speech or councel, such a man
Brought to the proof is found but emptiness.
There’s no disgrace, even if one is wise,
In learning more, and
Knowing when to yield.
. . .
Then I would say that he does best who has
Most understanding; second best the man
Who profits from the wisdom of another.”
“Invincible, inplacable
Love, O Love, that makes havoc of all wealth;
That peacefully keeps his night-watch
On tender cheek of a maiden:
The Sea is no barrier, nor
Mountainous waste to Love’s flight; for
No one can escape Love’s domination,
Man, no, nor immortal god. Love’s
Prey is possessed by madness.”
“Be warned, my son. No man alive is free
From error, but the wise and prudent man
When he has fallen into evil courses
Does not persist, but tries to find amendment.
It is the stubborn man who is the fool.”
“Prophets have always been too fond of
gold.”
“Of happiness, far the greatest part
Is wisdom, and reverence toward the gods.
Proud words of the arrogant man, in the end,
Meet punishment, great as his pride was great,
Till at last he is schooled in wisdom.”
SHERLOCK
HOLMES (1887)
Greenwich Unabridged Library Classics
Chatham River Press, New York
Probably read from 1989 to 1993
- A Study In Scarlet was published
in
1887. Stories printed
in Strand Magazine from 1891 to 1893. The collected
works have 357
illustrations by Sidney Paget. Books include:
- Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
(1892)
- Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
(1894)
- The Return of Sherlock Holmes
(1902)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles
(1905)
- Setting: London 188x – 190x
- Sherlock Holmes: Detective living at 221B Baker
Street.
“Killed”
in The Final Problem and
“resurrected” in 1901.
- John H. Watson, M.D.: Has a medical practice. Married.
Acted as
Sherlock’s
literary foil.
- Mycroft Holmes: Sherlock’s brother.
- Inspector Lestrade: of Scotland Yard.
- Irene Norton: Outsmarted Sherlock once during a case
involving:
- Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke
of
Cassel-Felstein,
King of Bohemia (1888)
- A quote by Dr. Watson from The Hound
of
the
Baskervilles:
“Evil indeed is the man who has not one woman to mourn
him.”
GREAT
EXPECTATIONS
(1860)
Illustrated
Greenwich Unabridged Library Classics
Chatham River Press, New York
Summer 1993
Later Hardcover Edition:
- Charles Dickens (a.k.a. Boz) was born 7 Feb., 1812 in
Portsea, England;
the 2nd child of 7. Worked at shoe-blacking
warehouse at 12.
Father went to debtors’ prison. At 15, became and attorney
office-boy.
Later reporter for papers. Died at 58 in 1870 while remaining popular.
- Pip (Philip Pirrip): Poor boy. Was nice to a convict.
Many
said to have
“Great Expectations” of him. In love with Estella.
- Tobias Pirrip & “Also Georgiana wife
of
the
above”: deceased parents
- Mrs. Joe Gargery: Pip’s sister. Beaten.
- Joe Gargery: Pip’s friend. Blacksmith.
- Mr. Wopsle: Actor in Hamlet.
- Mr. Pumblechook: A fraud.
- Miss Havisham: Reclusive. Still wears a wedding dress
from
when she was
stood-up at the alter. Adopted Estella. Hired Pip
to “play”.
- Estella: Brought up to hate men. Heartless to Pip.
- Mr. Jaggers: Lawyer. Pip’s guardian.
- Mr. Matthew Pocket: Pip’s tutor.
Havisham’s
half-brother.
- Biddy: Lived with Pip and Joe. Married Joe.
- Herbert Pocket: Fought Pip as a boy. Later his best
friend.
- Wemmick: Jagger’s coworker. Pip’s
friend.
- Orlick: Pip caused him to lose his jobs. Beat Mrs. Joe.
- Compey: Caused Provis to be caught.
- Bentley Drummle (a.k.a. Spider): Marries Estella. Dies.
- Satis House: Havisham’s manor.
- Abe Magwitch (a.k.a. Provis): Estella’s
father.
Pip’s benefactor.
Convict. Returned from Botany Bay, New South Wales, at the risk of his
life.
- Molly: Estella’s mother.
- A quote:
In the little world in which children have their existence,
whosoever
brings them up, I am convinced there is nothing so finely perceived and
so finely felt as injustice.
HARD
TIMES
For These Times (1854)
Illustrated
Greenwich Unabridged Library Classics
Chatham River Press, New York
Summer 1993
- Coketown, Great Britain
- Thomas Gradgrind: Schoolmaster. “Facts,
Facts,
Facts.” Eventually changes.
- Cecilia “Sissy” Jupe (Girl #20):
Her
father
leaves. Lives with Gradgrind
family. Understands Louisa.
- Mr. McChoakumchild: Teacher.
- 17: After listing all the varied bodies of knowledge of
which he has mastered:
Ah, rather overdone, McChoakumchild. If
he
had only learnt a
little less, how infinitely better he might have taught much more!
- Thomas Gradgrind (Jr.): Resents father. Robs bank.
Called
“Whelp”.
- Louisa Gradgrind-Bounderby (a.k.a. Loo): Forgives her
father for his
“system”
and being married off to a 50 year old Bounderby.
- Josiah Bounderby: Supposedly had a bad
childhood.
Banker.
- 40: My Bounderby relates:
I haven't always occupied my
present station in life. I know
what these things are. You may be astonished to hear it, but my mother
ran away from me.”
E.W.B. Childers replied pointedly that he was not at all
astonished to hear it.
- Mr. Sleary: Horse-performer. Knew Sissy’s
father.
Pronounces
“s” as “th”.
- Mr. E. W. B. Childers & Master Kidderminser
(a.k.a.
Cupid):
Assorted
circus performers.
- Merrylegs: Sissy’s father’s dog.
- Mrs. Sparsit: Bounderby’s worker.
- Stephen Blackpool: Hones worker who is
ostracized. Framed for
bank
robbery. Falls down “Old Hell Shaft”.
- Rachel: Stephen’s friend and a good person.
- Jane Gradgrind: Younger sister.
- Bitzer: Bounderby’s employee.
- Mr. James Harthouse (a.k.a. Jem): Tries to elope with
Louisa.
- Mr. Slackbridge: Union leader.
- Mrs. Pegler: Bounderby’s mother
- 76: Dickens presents the theme:
So many hundred Hands in this Mill; so many hundred horse
Steam Power. It is known, to the force of a single pound weight, what
the engine will do; but not all the calculators of the National Debt
can tell me that capacity for good or evil, for love or hatred, for
patriotism or discontent, for the decomposition of virtue into vice, or
the reverse, at any single moment in the soul of one of these its quiet
servants, with the composed faces and the regulated actions. There is
no mystery in it; there is an unfathomable mystery in the meanest of
them, forever.—Supposing we were to reverse our arithmetic for material
objects, and to govern these awful unknowing quantities by other means!
Age, especially when it strives to be
self-reliant and cheerful,
finds
much consideration among the poor.
It was but a hurried parting in a common street, yet it was
a sacred remembrance to these two common people. Utilitarian
economists, skeletons of schoolmasters, Commissioners of Fact, genteel
and used-up infidels, gabblers of many little dog's-eared creeds, the
poor you will always have with you. Cultivate in them, while there is
yet time, the utmost graces of the fancies and affections to adorn
their lives so much in need of ornament; or, in the day of your
triumph, when romance is utterly driven out of their souls, and they
and a bare existence stand face to face, Reality will take a wolfish
turn and make an end of you.
-
278 - 279: The Whelp explains how and why he can justify stealing:
“I don't see why,” grumbled the son. “So many people are employed
in situations of trust; so many people, out of so many, will be
dishonest. I have heard you talk, a hundred times, of its being law.
How can I help laws? You have comforted others with such things, Father. Comfort yourself!”
A
TALE OF TWO CITIES
(1859)
Illustrated
Greenwich Unabridged Library Classics
Chatham River Press, New York
Summer 1993
It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct
the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present
period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its
being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree
of comparison only.
- Set in London and Paris (St. Antoine) from 1775 to 1792.
- Mr. Jarvis Lorry of Tellson’s Bank: Friend of
the
Doctor.
- Mr. Cruncher: Bank worker. Hates religion, unlike Mrs.
Cruncher.
- Sidney Carton: Lawyer. Gives his life from Charles
Darnay.
Drinker.
- John Barsad: Spy. Helps exchange Carton for Darnay.
- Roger Cly: Barsad’s servant.
- Mr. Stryver: Lawyer. Married a widow.
- Lucie Manette: Married Darnay. French.
- Miss Pross: Maid. Kills Mm Defarge. Deafened.
- Dr. Alexandre Manette: Wrongly imprisoned for 18
years.
Learned shoemaking.
- Theophile Gabelle: Person Charles comes to France to
save.
Postmaster.
- Monseigneur: Evil Marquis. Runs over child. His country
estates are
burned.
- Charles Evremonde, called Darnay (Mother’s
name
D’Aulanais): Renounces
uncle (Monseigneur). Marries Lucie Manette. Went to France.
Imprisoned.
Released. Sentenced to die. Switches with Carton. Taught
French.
- Foulon: Evil nobility. Hanged.
- The Vengeance: Patriot.
- Jacques Three: Patriot. Juror.
- Monsieur and Therese Defarge: Jacques is a wine store
owner.
Patriot.
Stormed Bastille. Hates the Darnay family. She was always
knitting.
- Famous last lines:
It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I
have ever done;
it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.
PRIDE
AND PREJUDICE
(1813)
Paperback
Summer 1993
-
- Jane Austin was born in Steventon Parsonage, Hampshire,
England on 16
December,
1775. Died in Winchester, Hampshire on 18 July, 1817.
- Setting: Netherfield Park.
- Famous first lines:
It is a truth universally acknowledged
that a single
man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
- Mr. Bennet: Father.
- Mrs. Bennet: Wants daughters (Catherine, Elizabeth,
Jane,
Lydia, and
Mary)
to marry.
- Elizabeth Bennet (a.k.a. Lizzy): Known for her
forthrightness. Rejects
Collins and Darcy before seeing Darcy’s true character.
- Jane: Marries Bingley.
- Lydia: Elopes with Wickham.
- Mr. William Collins: Mr. Bennet’s cousin.
- Lady Charlotte Lucas: 27. Lizzy’s friend.
Accepts
proposal
from Collins.
- Mrs. Long
- Mr. Morris
- Mr. Bingley: Suitor.
- Caroline Bingley: Mr. Bingley’s sister.
- Mr. Hurst: Mr. Bingley’s brother-in-law.
- Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Bingley’s friend.
Formerly
too proud.
Falls in love
with Lizzy and eventually marries her. Nice guy.
Wealthy.
- Miss King
- Sir William Lucas
- Mr. Robinson
- Colonel Forster
- Mr. Jones
- Mr. Denny: Officer.
- Mr. George Wickham: Slimy but appears agreeable. Bribed
by
Darcy to
marry
Lydia.
- Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Thinks highly of herself.
Lizzy
has the guts
to talk to her. Does not want Lizzy to marry Darcy, in favor
of his
cousin.
- Lady Anne Darcy: Sister of Lady de Bourgh.
- Georgiana Darcy: Darcy’s sister.
- Mr. Gardiner: Agreeable despite working for a living.
- Mrs. Gardiner: Young and pretty.
- Mrs. Jenkinson
- Colonel Fitzwilliam: Darcy’s cousin
- Mrs. Annesley
THE
PRINCE (ca. 1513)
Translated from the Italian by W.
K. Marriott
Summer 1993
- From Monticello public library.
- On revenge:
Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well
treated
or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of
more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done
to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of
revenge.
The wish to acquire is in truth very
natural and common,
and men always do so when they can, and for this they will be praised
not
blamed; but when they cannot do so, yet wish to do so by any means,
then
there is folly and blame.
From this a general rule is drawn
which never or rarely
fails:
that he who is the cause of another becoming powerful is ruined;
because
that predominancy has been brought about either by astuteness or else
by
force, and both are distrusted by him who has been raised to power.
- Discussing Julius the Second:
For men injure either from fear
or hatred.
Yet it cannot be called talent to
slay fellow-citizens, to deceive
friends,
to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; such methods may
gain empire, but not glory.
The chief foundations of all
states, new as well as old or
composite,
are good laws and good arms; and as there cannot be good laws where the
state is not well armed, it follows that where they are well armed they
have good laws.
Therefore, do not let our princes accuse
fortune for
the loss of their principalities after so many years’
possession, but rather
their own sloth, because in quiet times they never thought there could
be a change (it is a common defect in man not to make any provision in
the calm against the tempest), and when afterwards the bad times came
they
thought of flight and not of defending themselves, and they hoped that
the people, disgusted with the insolence of the conquerors, would
recall
them.
WAR
AND PEACE (1865 –
1869)
Translated from the Russian and Introduction by Rosemary
Edmonds
Greenwich House Classics Library
Crown Publishers, New York
1993-09 to 1993-10-20
Paperback:
- Count Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 (28 August of the
old
style, or 9
September
in the Gregorian Calendar). Married in 1862. Died in 1910 (7 or 20
November,
in old and new style, respectively).
- Edmonds points out a few inaccuracies. For
example, Natasha
is 13
in 1805 and 16 in 1809, while her sister went from 17 to 24.
- Pierre (Piotr Kirillovich) Bezvhov: Gets a
title.
Marries
Hélène.
Joins Freemasons. Later marries Natasha.
- Count Ilya Rostov: Left family in financial debt.
- Countess Natalia Rostov
- Nikolai (Nicolas): Eldest Rostov son. Joins
Hussars. Loses
bet. Marries Maria.
- Piotr (Petya): Younger Rostov son. Joins
army.
Killed while
liberating Pierre.
- Vera: Eldest Rostov daughter. Marries Lt.
Berg.
- Natalia (Natasha): Engaged to Andrei. Almost
elopes. Eventually
marries Pierre.
- Sonya: Rostov’s neice. Very devout.
- Prince Nikolai Andreyevich Bolkonsky: Prince
Andrei’s father.
- Prince Andrei: Meets Napoleon.
Wounded.
His first
wife, Lisa
(Lise), dies. Re-enters service and dies of wounds.
- Maria (Marie): Prince Andrei’s
sister.
Marries
Nikolai.
- Mm Bourienne: Maria’s French companion.
- Prince Vasili Kuragin
- Hippolyte: Kuragin’s eldest son.
- Anatole: Kuragin’s younger son.
- Hélène: Kuragin’s
daughter.
Marries Pierre. Dies.
- Osip Alexeyevich Bazdeyev: Prominent Freemason
- Vasska Denisov: Friend of the Rostov family.
- Princess Anna Mihalovna Drubetskoy: Friend of the
Rostov
family.
- Boris Drubetskoy: Son of Princess Anna.
Marries
Julie Karagin.
- Alexander I: Tsar of Russia. Allied with
Napoleon
in 1809.
- Napoleon: Invades Russia in 1812.
- Kutzov: Commander-in-chief of Russian army.
- Rostopchin: Governor-general of Moscow.
- Book I, Chapter VI, 27: Prince Andrei:
“If everyone would only
fight for his own convictions,
there would be
no more wars.”
- Book I, Chapter VIII, 30-31: Prince Andrei:
“Marry when you are old and good for
nothing.
Otherwise everything
that is fine and noble in you will be thrown away.”
- Book I, Chapter XXVII, 115: Prince Andrei:
“Buonaparte was born with a
silver
spoon
in his mouth. His soldiers are first-rate. Besides,
he began
by attacking Germans and one would have to be half asleep not to beat
the
Germans. From the very beginning of the world everyone has
beaten
the Germans. They never beat anyone- except one
another. He
made his reputation fighting against them.”
- Prince Andrew thinks that he will single-handedly save
Vienna.
- Rostov wants above all to have the honor of dying for
the
Tsar. He
just might get his wish.
- In the midst of battle, two soldiers play tug-of-war
with a
cannon-loader.
- Prince Andrew is wounded holding up a
flagstaff.
While laying
on
the ground, he cannot help but notice how lovely the day it.
- He meets his hero Napoleon.
- In the story, Emperor Napoleon presents Emperor
Alexander
with the
Légion
d’honneur and Napoleon received the Russian Order of St.
Andrew of the
first degree on June 27, 1806 after a preliminary peace agreement.
- The French declared war on Austria soon after making
peace
with Russia.
- Prince Andrew wants to make Russian military law more
like
Napoleon’s code.
- At a ball in St. Petersburg, Andrew is the only one who
does not agree
with what Napoleon is doing in Spain.
- Book III, Chapter II: French
Proverb:
“Marriages are made in
heaven,”
- 574: Interesting analogy about idleness and the
military.
- Finally, Pierre realizes the hypocrisy of the Church
and
the Order of
the
Freemasons.
- Book VIII, Chapter V: Julie Karagina and Boris
Drubetskoy
gain
enjoyment
lamenting to each other how unhappy they are.
- 717: Tolstoy describes how naïve historians
are in
thinking
that Napoleon’s
1812 invasion of Russia would have been avoided if any one of the many
causes were avoided.
- 749: Prince Andrei concludes that deeply deliberated
plans
are
meaningless
because it is the unforeseen enemy movements that matter.
- 757: Tolstoy describes the different reasons that
people
from different
countries are conceited.
- 775: After Rostov leads a charge against French
Dragoons,
he finally
begins
to question what he is doing.
- 789: Pierre becomes interested in Biblical numerology
and
“discovers” his
forecasting in the Bible. He believes he is destined to do
something
with Napoleon.
- 810-811: While French historians say that Napoleon was
aware of the
danger
and tried to avoid it, Russian historians claim that they lured the
French.
In reality, the French tried their hardest to get to Moscow and the
Russians
tried their hardest to stop them. On Napoleon’s
need to invade Russia:
Such is the inevitable lot of men
of action, and the higher they
stand
in the social hierarchy the less free they are.
- 921: Tolstoy reveals his main thesis through the words
of
Prince
Andrei.
Andrei argues that neither side should take prisoners. If you
are
going to travel to a far off land to kill your fellow human beings,
then
you should do it right. War is vile and evil, not heroic and
romantic.
If every country fought wars without rules, each side would eventually
be so disgusted as to quit altogether. He compares it to a
lady who
faints at the sight of a calf being slaughtered,
but fricassée of veal
she will eat with gusto.
- 932: Historians claim that Napoleon was on total
control of
his troops
throughout 1812. Tolstoy maintains that if Napoleon
hadn’t ordered
his troops to go, they would have revolted and gone to Moscow anyway.
- 944: Tolstoy paints a gruesome picture of the Battle at
Borodino.
Pierre watches on as the Russian artillery sadistically enjoy watching
their munitions extract that most gruesome carnage, whether on the
French
troops, or anyone else who happens to get in the way. These
people
enjoy their jobs a little too much.
- Book III, Chapter III, 974: Tolstoy makes an extended
analogy between
history
and calculus. Just as how calculus studies instantaneous
velocity,
history should also be studied at instantaneous intervals, not between
two given points of time.
- 1184: Similarly, he compares the flow of battle to that
of
multiple
vectors
in physics. He has an interesting way of transposing math and
science
to the humanities.
- 1198-1199: It is only while he is imprisoned that
Pierre
experiences
inner
peace. He makes the point that the simple things in life
(like eating
and warmth) are much more appreciated when given in small
doses.
Pierre...
forgot that a superfluity of the
comforts of life destroys all joy
in
gratifying one’s needs
- 1123-1124: Again, Tolstoy describes an abstract concept
in
concrete
mathematical
formulae. He wants to define an unknown factor (X)
that allows
a small force to gain a victory over a much larger one.
- The last several chapters try to explain what causes
nations to do what
they do. Tolstoy first asks, “What is
power?”
Power is the relation of a given
person to other persons in which
the
more this person expresses opinions, theories and justifications of the
collective action the less is his participation in that action.
- 1425: He then answers the question of, “What
force produces
the movement
of nations?”
The movement of nations is caused
not by power, nor by intellectual
activity, not even by a combination of the two, as historians have
supposed,
but by the activity of all the people who participate in the event, and
who always combine in such a way that those who take the largest direct
share in the event assume the least responsibility, and vice versa.
- The book ends with a deep philosophical discussion
about
our freedom
verses
necessity. Tolstoy’s final scientific comparison
generally says that
we are subject to forces we do not recognize (such as society), just as
we cannot feel the motion of the Earth in space. We cannot
truly
comprehend history (or science) until we become aware of the existence
of these forces.
-
THE
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF MALCOLM X (1964)
Paperback
Ballantine Books, New York
1993-10-20 to 1993-10-29
- This book grabs your attention right away with the
nightmarish
conditions
surrounding Malcolm’s birth.
- His father was influenced by Marcus Garvey’s
“Back
to Africa” movement.
- His childhood is marred by his father being murdered
and
his mother
being
committed to a mental hospital.
- You get a sense of racial intolerance from when his
mother
(whose light
complexion is often mistaken for Caucasian) is fired on the spot when
one
of her children went to see her at work.
- Surprisingly, Malcolm’s family trouble did
not
hinder his
school life,
where all the other students were White. He received about
the third-highest
grades in the class and was even elected seventh grade class
president.
Eventually, he realized that people thought of him more as a mascot
than
a person.
- Malcolm has always been very resentful of the
“house
negroes” like in Roxbury.
- Life in Boston first opened his eyes to the
world’s harsh
realities, then
Harlem opened his eyes even more.
- He descended further and further in Harlem, but the
drugs
were he
largest
problem.
- He met many famous people while hustling, such as Red
Fox.
- What little money he made was quickly gambled away.
- He realizes the stupidity of playing the
“numbers”:
Let this very book circulate
widely in the black ghettoes of the
country,
and—although I’m no longer a gambling
person—I’d lay a small wager for
your favorite charity that millions of dollars would be bet by my poor,
foolish black brothers and sisters upon, say, whatever happens to be
the
number of this page, or whatever is the total of the whole
book’s pages.
- People in Harlem considered Malcolm to be from Detroit
and
people in
Detroit
considered him to be from Harlem.
-
- The story of how he avoids the Draft is hilarious.
- He worked his way from menial jobs to dealing drugs to
armed robbery.
- When finally caught, he received the maximum sentence,
not
because of
the
crime, but because it involved White women.
- In prison, he was so anti-religous that his nickname
was
“Satan”.
- It was his relatives who “saved”
Malcolm by getting
him to follow Elijah
Muhammad.
- They told him something that made sense to him and he
wanted to hear:
“The
White man is the Devil.”
- Malcolm points out that best place to learn (besides
college) is prison.
- He read a prodigious amount in prison, including
copying
the entire
Webster’s
dictionary by hand.
- It was not jail that got him off drugs. That
was
how prison
guards
made most of their money. Rather it was the strict rules of
Islam.
- While working as a minister for Elijah Muhammad, he
really
believed
that
the darker your skin, the better person you were.
- Talk of integration (which he considered impossible)
always
got Malcolm
X angry. He made a good point to a highly educated Black who
was
defending Whites: “Do you know what a white racists call
black Ph.D’s?”
The man replied that he did not happen to be aware of the answer, so
Malcolm
X told him loudly: “Nigger!”
- It was his pilgrimage to Mecca that showed him that not
all
light-colored
people were bad. He was surprised at the differences between
“Black”
Islam and “True” Islam.
- Malcolm X was convinced that Elijah Muhammad wanted him
dead after his
break from the Nation of Islam.
- The epilogue by Alex Haley explains some very important
things about
the
circumstances under which the book was written. First, Haley
had
to gain his trust (or at least 70% of it) by writing truly objective
pieces.
When Malcolm X devoted his life to Elijah Muhammad, one might have
assumed
he was exaggerating from reading the autobiographical
account. However,
Haley showed that Malcolm X was even more thoroughly dedicated than he
admitted. We get an idea of some of the things left out of
the book.
Also, it explains why the language at the beginning was praiseful of
Elijah
Muhammad and was not changed after the split.
- Malcolm X knew his revelations would cost him his
life. Near
the
time of the assassination, he began to suspect that it was someone
other
than the Nation of Islam that was trying to kill him.
MAIN
STREET (1920)
Signet Classic Paperback, New York
1993-11-08 to 1993-11-11
- While in college, the main character, Carol (Milford)
Kennicott, dreams
of improving some small town. She gets her opportunity in
Gopher
Prairie after she marries Dr. Kennicott.
- The townspeople make it clear that they do not welcome
change.
- First, she wants to beautify the appearance of Gopher
Prairie, but
nobody
is willing.
- Next, she thinks they should help the poor.
Carol
is afraid
to even
call it charity. This backfires, but the well-off people in
town
do not even think that there is any poverty in town.
- Next, she suggests performing a play. She
knows
it is
terrible, but
everyone else is proud of their performance.
- Because there is little money for the town library to
buy
books, Carol
suggests that everyone on the library committee pay a small amount to
buy
some. They cannot even do something that simple.
They are afraid
to set a precedent for future library committee members. Her
dream
is shot down when seventeen cents is unaccounted for.
- Chapter 22: What puzzles someone else about
another is:
the manner in which he contrives
to put in twenty-four hours a day.
It has not yet been recorded that
any human being has gained a very
large or permanent contentment from meditation upon the fact that he is
better off than others.
- He thinks that every small town in the world wants to
dominate it:
But a village in a country in
which is taking pains to become
altogether
standardized and pure, which aspires to succeed Victorian England as
the
chief mediocrity of the world, is no longer merely provincial, no
longer
downy and restful in its leaf-shadowed ignorance.
- The perfect illustration of this is how a traveling
salesman goes to
China
and puts cigarette ads over the arches that are dedicated to the
writings
of Confucius.
- Lewis points out that virtually every “Main
Street”
in the nation looks
the same.
- Cy Bogart who, “...if he could just poke a
bayonet into one
big fat Heine
and learn him some decency and democracy, he’d die
happy,” feels obliged
to pick on a German farm boy (during World War I). While Cy
stays
at home, the farm boy fights and dies in Europe.
- Dr. Kennicott claims to be a model patriot while trying
to
avoid income
taxes.
- Erik (who is just entering college) claims to be in
love
with Carol,
and
vice versa.
- On the desire for sympathy:
There are two insults which no
human being will endure: the
assertion
that he hasn’t a sense of humor, and the doubly impertinent
assertion that
he has never known trouble.
- Fern Mulling is practically run out of town when gossip
gets out of
hand.
She did not really do anything.
- When a labor union organizer is run out of town, Carol
speaks out:
So the whole thing was
illegal—and led by the
sheriff! Precisely
how do you expect these aliens to obey our laws if the officer of the
law
teaches them to break it? Is it a new kind of logic?
- She says that they are using the war as an excuse to be
against labor
unions
by calling them “pro-German”.
- Finally, Carol cannot take the town’s
intolerance
any more
and moves to
Washington D.C. for two years.
- Carol points out their absurdity by suggesting that
they
arrest the
babies
before they can make trouble.
ANIMAL
FARM (1945)
1993
- After doing some research about the Russian Revolution,
I
came up with
a list of parallels to this book:
|
Animal Farm
|
Russian Counterparts
|
1
|
Old Major
|
Karl Marx / Lenin
|
2
|
Boxer & Clover
|
Hard-working peasants
|
3
|
Benjamin
|
Cynics (won’t get involved)
|
4
|
Moses
|
Orthodox Church (Rasputin)
|
5
|
Mr. Jones
|
Czar Nicholas II
|
6
|
Mollie
|
the Bourgeoisie (middle class)
|
7
|
Beasts of England
|
Internationale
|
8
|
Picture of Queen Victoria
|
Czarina Alexandra
|
9
|
Napoleon
|
Joseph Stalin
|
10
|
Snowball
|
Leon Trotsky
|
11
|
Sheep
|
Masses
|
12
|
Pilkinton of Foxwood
|
England
|
13
|
Frederick of Pinchfield
|
Germany
|
14
|
Squealer
|
Pravda
|
15
|
Cat
|
Sneaky opportunist
|
16
|
“Animalism”
|
“Communism”
|
17
|
Wild Comrades’
Re-education Committee
|
Communist Third
International (Comintern)
|
18
|
Seven Commandments
|
Communist Manifesto
|
19
|
Dogs
|
KGB
|
20
|
Hoof and Horn
with green flag
|
Hammer and Sickle
with red flag
|
21
|
Battle of Cowshed
|
“Green” and
“White” Revolt
|
22
|
Rebellion
|
Bolshevik Revolution
|
23
|
Meetings on Sundays
|
Soviet Councils
|
24
|
Windmill
|
Five Year Plans
|
25
|
Chickens go on strike
|
Sailors revolt at Kronstadt
|
26
|
Snowball accused of
being a traitor
|
Revisionism
|
27
|
Pig confessions
|
Great Purge
|
28
|
New Song,
“Animal Farm”
|
“Socialist Realism”
|
29
|
Bad Harvest
|
1932 – 1933 Famine
|
30
|
“Our Leader,
Comrade Napoleon”
|
“Great Wise Father”
|
31
|
Slogans for Napoleon
|
Cult of Personality
|
32
|
Battle of the Windmill
|
World War II
|
33
|
Slain animals
|
Stalingrad
|
34
|
Sugarcandy Mountain
|
Heaven
|
35
|
Sending Boxer to
the knocker
|
Killing WWII
Veteran Officers
|
36
|
Moving into Farmhouse
|
Moving into Kremlin
|
PYGMALION
(1914)
George Bernard Shaw
1993
The English have no respect for
their language, and will not teach
their
children to speak it. They cannot spell it because they have nothing to
spell it with but and old foreign alphabet of which only the
consonants—and
not all of them—have any agreed speech value. Consequently no
man can teach
himself what it should sound like from reading it; and it is impossible
for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other
Englishman
despise him. Most European languages are now accessible even to
Englishmen
and Frenchmen. The reformer we need most today is an energetic phonetic
enthusiast: that is why I have made such a one the hero of a popular
play.
If you can’t appreciate
what you’ve got,
you’d better get what you can
appreciate.
ENVIRONMENTAL
OVERKILL
(1993)
Whatever Happened To Common Sense?
Hardcover
Regency Gateway, Washington D.C.
to 1993-12
- This book claims to hold facts above all else in
dealing
with
environmental
“problems”.
- Why do we consider asbestos to be
“bad”
when most
of it is harmless?
- While casting this in light of a contest between the
needs
of humans
and
Nature, appeals are made for a respect to property rights.
For example,
farmers lose control over their own property when they are declared
“wetlands”.
The authors put these property rights above collective needs.
RED
DWARF: INFINITY
WELCOMES CAREFUL DRIVERS (1992)
Paperback
ROC
to 1993-12-24