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Post by rogerbuck on Feb 3, 2022 13:56:56 GMT
After starting it in 2020 and letting it drop, I recently finished Julian Jackson's De Gaulle biography A Certain Idea of France.For someone who had never read a CDG biography previously, it was certainly very enlightening. Jackson's main idea that forms the pillar of the book is that DG viewed himself as France incarnated, which led to an autocratic political career, guided by absolute self-certainty and a feeling of destiny. This theme leads to a DG who seems to exist in a personal vacuum, in spite of being at the centre of political life for decades. There are no mentions of any friends, hobbies etc. Politics was his life. I certainly understand now why he and De Valera got on like a house on fire when DG fled here after his resignation. The other thing that forcibly struck me was how vacuous and empty the May 1968 student upheavals were. A lot of chaos and uncertainty with no real aim or purpose. An epic youthful bourgeois fit. On the whole, a good read if you're prepared to slog through 800 pages. As a counterpoint to Jackson, I'd like to suggest: Charles De Gaulle: Futurist of the Nation by Régis Debray Recommended because it is a) Short b) Written by a Frenchman and free of what I see as a lot of the Atlanticist bias in Jackson c) Brilliant, truly brilliant and very original in way I don't think Jackson is. Jackson, whatever his merits, toes a party line too much for my taste and doesn't appear to have ever let his thinking be shaken up much Debray, by contrast, certainly has had his thinking shaken up - which is part of his originality. He started out on the Left, but describes how De Gaulle helped him see how abstract and you could say "disincarnate" the French Left is. I repeat: book is genuinely brilliant and original. Few like it. I will just paste in the Amazon description with my own added italics and a link: I can't say enough how highly I recommend this to anyone wanting to really get De Gaulle ... www.amazon.co.uk/Charles-Gaulle-Futurist-Regis-Debray/dp/0860916227/
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Post by rogerbuck on Feb 3, 2022 14:17:14 GMT
I shall add to the above: Debray is not peddling a Gaullist party-line either or a standard French Right line. He still has sympathies with the Left, in fact, despite De Gaulle disillusioning him.
In other words the man is thinking for himself. Or so it appears to me.
In other words - it's not Groupthink.
It is original : - )
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Post by cato on Feb 3, 2022 20:05:07 GMT
Jackson is superb. Jean Lacoutures trilogy is a 1990s French perspective translated into a mere two hefty English volumes which I also enjoyed two decades ago.
The aptly named The last great Frenchman by Charles Williams is shorter and worth reading. I was disappointed by Debray's offering which is more a (very French) philosophical reflection on the meaning of De Gaulle who continues to haunt French politics. I will give it a read again however based on Rogerbucks recommendation.
I recently got a few copies of his war memoirs which are to be read sometime in 2022 God willing.
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Post by cato on Mar 6, 2022 10:01:17 GMT
I had resolved to read more shorter diverse themed books in 2022 but the bulk of my reading this Lent consists of papal biographies so that resolution has been modified somewhat.
Seewald's second volume on Benedict is good. I have got to the final days of John Paul's reign. There was a bit of tension between the two men about the great Jubilee with Benedict sceptical as to its wider long term impact. Paul Vallelys bio on Pope Francis is a critical but broadly sympathetic view of the current pope who everyone would admit is exceptional. I was recommended it by an Irish cleric in Rome.
I hope to start George Weigels large biography on John Paul after I complete the above mentioned book. I got it as a Christmas gift many years ago and only getting around to reading it now.
On a more spiritual note I am reading Fulton Sheen's 1958 life of Christ which is thought provoking , profound , insightful but also a bit rhetorical and florid. There is a strong streak of alarm at cultural and moral decline which is interesting given the date of publication. Sheen is an inspiring character who was a genuinely holy man.
For bedtime relaxation I dip into Edward Gibbon's Decline of the Roman Empire which is surprisingly good in parts. I might post on it specifically later. If any one wonders where I get the time I have managed to cut down on TV.
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Post by Tomas on Apr 6, 2022 8:12:59 GMT
This brand new title may be one of the best balanced takes on the old issue what to make of the secret relations between Freemasons and Churchmen within the Vatican. Firsthand in-depth account, evidences rather than speculations. Written by the secretary to the Cardinal who conducted the official investigation on the troubled topic in the 1970s.
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Post by Stephen on Apr 21, 2022 10:01:48 GMT
This brand new title may be one of the best balanced takes on the old issue what to make of the secret relations between Freemasons and Churchmen within the Vatican. Firsthand in-depth account, evidences rather than speculations. Written by the secretary to the Cardinal who conducted the official investigation on the troubled topic in the 1970s. <button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm">Attachment Deleted</button> Have you read the book
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Post by Tomas on May 2, 2022 11:36:53 GMT
This brand new title may be one of the best balanced takes on the old issue what to make of the secret relations between Freemasons and Churchmen within the Vatican. Firsthand in-depth account, evidences rather than speculations. Written by the secretary to the Cardinal who conducted the official investigation on the troubled topic in the 1970s. <button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm">Attachment Deleted</button> Have you read the book No (should have added that above, it is only secondhand assessment!)
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Post by Tomas on May 2, 2022 12:57:42 GMT
Right now reading Michael Kennedy´s great biography on Richard Strauss: Man. Musician. Enigma.
Lots of detail but balanced with enough "context" and well paced.
Listening to music in intervals makes it even more enjoyable.
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Post by Séamus on Jun 10, 2022 9:34:49 GMT
"Cow and sheep burps may be taxed in a novel plan to cut greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. The proposal would make New Zealand the first country to make farmers pay for emissions from livestock" the west australian june10
I finished a lavishly photo-illustrated book this week,The Natural Heritage of the World-A Journey Through UNESCO Heritage Listed National Parks,Protected Areas and Biosphere Reserves. For all the fair criticism that UN receives I appreciate their highlighting of the Earth's rare and unique beauty spots,with several areas even in the world's most populated country,China,that can be snapped without a human seen, seemingly for miles and miles.
Although there was a little introduction of a couple of paragraphs,I would have liked a bit more explanation about what natural heritage designation actually meant. It seems to be open to areas of interest to actual conservation, delicate archeological sites, geological interest; some places like Picchu Manchu have double designation as both cultural and natural heritage sites. It might be refreshing to note that some South American ruins now overrun with rainforest were once densely populated towns, showing, like the birds that land on Surtsey, that nature can be regenerative (although the text,which I thought was probably written by various persons, didn't state this).
And what protection does it realistically give? Western African jungle UNESCO sites are apparently still mined or 'hunted'(the latter possibly illegally). Why the need to designate volcanoes or uninhabitable mountain peeks or dunes? Surtsey is apparently corroding naturally,until it becomes like a Skelligs-like rock. Traditional farming,by Lapps for example, monastic buildings, Christian in Athos or Meteora,Chinese Buddhist in Mt Emei, ancient tribes living in the Amazon are all encouraged; the mission and exploratory journey of Fr Pierre deSmet SJ is mentioned in a positive way, while indigenous peoples are of course lauded also.
"We are familiar with the lives of the great saints,martyrs and confessors of Africa,such as Cyprian, Felicity and Perpetua,and the great Augustine. Who would have imagined that one day we would be adding to that list with names that are dear to us, the names of Charles Lwanga, Matthias Molumba Kalemba and their twenty companions?" Paul VI,used in office of readings for the martyrs' feast. We could now add another 50 Nigerian Catholics to this.
After reading the UNESCO book we hear President Higgins suggest that climate change caused the sectarian tensions. And Jacinda Ardern is possibly set to allow a tax which,if passed down the line,will shoot up the cost of mutton in the Eastern Hemisphere. I'm not sure how helpful either is. I've no doubt that Wadden Sea,Belovezhskaya Pushcha and Mount Kenya all need consideration, but even the experts acknowledge the need for some human stewardship.
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Post by Séamus on Jul 8, 2022 3:57:43 GMT
Reading a special edition National Geographic featuring the Sea scrolls,I was struck by the amount of great Israeli scientists who are obviously devoting much of their careers to the study of these artefacts (despite developing a softer spot through the years,for various reasons, for the Palestinians). They may not all be religious in practice, but obviously they view the scrolls as being vitally important.
Learning many things from Mr Maolsheachlann's articles about Catholic converts for St Martin dePorres Magazine- I hadn't heard of mystery writer Koontz,I knew little besides the name of influential lady mystic VonSpeyr, or knew that Muggeridge once debated John Cleese on BBC- the thing that reverberated the most was the great intellectual capacity of all the converts; brilliant in different ways of course, artistically,in the case of Guinness, academic in Hopkins' case, but, while bearing in mind the many simpler persons who have found profound Catholic faith also, the subjects of the articles are certainly not people desperate for opium.
Maybe Fulton Sheen's remark about the shepherds and Magi can be paraphrased- the very intelligent and very simple find God, not people with one book. I'm not sure how we'd define a one book person today when information oozes out of screens at everybody, but one does wonder somehow how real decision the crowds of my-body-ladies (and gents and 'others') currently taking to the streets around the globe have really put into their positions. One celebrity openly talks of aborting Don Henley's child, Joan Collins mentions aborting Warren Beatty's...it makes me wonder just how many talented individuals are missing from today's society but lemmings don't even think of that aspect apparently.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jul 8, 2022 8:22:37 GMT
Reading a special edition National Geographic featuring the Sea scrolls,I was struck by the amount of great Israeli scientists who are obviously devoting much of their careers to the study of these artefacts (despite developing a softer spot through the years,for various reasons, for the Palestinians). They may not all be religious in practice, but obviously they view the scrolls as being vitally important. Learning many things from Mr Maolsheachlann's articles about Catholic converts for St Martin dePorres Magazine- I hadn't heard of mystery writer Koontz,I knew little besides the name of influential lady mystic VonSpeyr, or knew that Muggeridge once debated John Cleese on BBC- the thing that reverberated the most was the great intellectual capacity of all the converts; brilliant in different ways of course, artistically,in the case of Guinness, academic in Hopkins' case, but, while bearing in mind the many simpler persons who have found profound Catholic faith also, the subjects of the articles are certainly not people desperate for opium. Maybe Fulton Sheen's remark about the shepherds and Magi can be paraphrased- the very intelligent and very simple find God, not people with one book. I'm not sure how we'd define a one book person today when information oozes out of screens at everybody, but one does wonder somehow how real decision the crowds of my-body-ladies (and gents and 'others') currently taking to the streets around the globe have really put into their positions. One celebrity openly talks of aborting Don Henley's child, Joan Collins mentions aborting Warren Beatty's...it makes me wonder just how many talented individuals are missing from today's society but lemmings don't even think of that aspect apparently. Muggeridge is an interesting case in that, although he was obviously an intellectual, he insisted that his own faith and conversion were very simple, more heartfelt than rational. He said that the arguments for God's existence left him cold, though I forget his exact words
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Post by hilary on Jul 8, 2022 14:16:12 GMT
Reading a special edition National Geographic featuring the Sea scrolls,I was struck by the amount of great Israeli scientists who are obviously devoting much of their careers to the study of these artefacts (despite developing a softer spot through the years,for various reasons, for the Palestinians). They may not all be religious in practice, but obviously they view the scrolls as being vitally important. Learning many things from Mr Maolsheachlann's articles about Catholic converts for St Martin dePorres Magazine- I hadn't heard of mystery writer Koontz,I knew little besides the name of influential lady mystic VonSpeyr, or knew that Muggeridge once debated John Cleese on BBC- the thing that reverberated the most was the great intellectual capacity of all the converts; brilliant in different ways of course, artistically,in the case of Guinness, academic in Hopkins' case, but, while bearing in mind the many simpler persons who have found profound Catholic faith also, the subjects of the articles are certainly not people desperate for opium. Maybe Fulton Sheen's remark about the shepherds and Magi can be paraphrased- the very intelligent and very simple find God, not people with one book. I'm not sure how we'd define a one book person today when information oozes out of screens at everybody, but one does wonder somehow how real decision the crowds of my-body-ladies (and gents and 'others') currently taking to the streets around the globe have really put into their positions. One celebrity openly talks of aborting Don Henley's child, Joan Collins mentions aborting Warren Beatty's...it makes me wonder just how many talented individuals are missing from today's society but lemmings don't even think of that aspect apparently. Muggeridge is an interesting case in that, although he was obviously an intellectual, he insisted that his own faith and conversion were very simple, more heartfelt than rational. He said that the arguments for God's existence left him cold, though I forget his exact words I'm reading Mattias Desmet's "The Psychology of Totalitarianism" and this interview with Ivor Cummins includes a beautiful passage around 1.02 where Professor Desmet relates how, at 35, when he became familiar with the mathematical basis of systems theory, he had the realisation that life around him was not rational. But the whole video includes great insights - I can't recommend listening to the man and reading the book highly enough. youtu.be/dPisp_VgEO8No doubt many will be familiar with Mattias Desmet, Professor of Clinical Psychology, also with a Degree in Statistics. He explains the phenomenon of mass formation, deconstructing the societal conditions that allow collective hypnosis to take hold, with particular reference to the coronavirus crisis. He gives hope, certain as he is, that if people speak out, calmly and clearly, that enough people can be convinced to question the narrative so as to prevent a slide into totalitarianism. He also talks about how, when working in a university, he went to do research into an area of psychology and discovered that the measurement techniques didn't work very well. He then did research into the quality of the research methods used and found that most research in psychology is not reproduceable and there are serious methodological problems. The "replication crisis" emerged in the sciences - it became clear that up to 85% of published research findings are not reproduceable and therefore have little or no scientific value. There was forced conclusion drawing, sloppy science and a lot of fraud.
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Post by Séamus on Jul 10, 2022 9:49:47 GMT
"Germany has been dubbed the 'sick man of Europe' after it was forced to dim street lights and ration heating and hot water due to it's energy crisis. The country remains heavily dependent on Russian gas.....Vonovia,which owns 490,000 apartments,is limiting central heating between 11pm and 6am to 17°C... Dusseldorf has closed a swimming pool complex and Cologne it's street lighting" Sunday Times July 10 2022
Earlier this year I read Rand's Atlas Shrugged, after hearing so much about it's supposed relevance for today, people thinking particularly of shops closing and supplies delayed during covid isolation (and for other reasons.) Actually,while governments wielded tremendous authority during the covid restrictions,I don't think we could be further from Ayn's fictional world of government control than we are today when multinational companies make or break governments, cultures and economies, and organisations like WHO seem able to influence governments worldwide to impose identical measures.
But one thing about reading it- I can never look at a scrap of copper in the same way again; while situations like this unthinkable happening in Germany (remember Ireland needing EU loans and Angela bailing half of Europe out just over a decade ago?) reminds one of the fragility of modern society embodied in some ways in the saga. Appreciate every bit of scrap metal. And some chapters do make fantastic reading- usually the pieces that are slightly divergent from the main characters,like the hapless officials washing their hands as they send a packed train to it's destruction or the scientist who was horrified at the sight of what was being made from technology that he himself helped to develop,but who nevertheless refused to dissent from the party's line.
Apparently several film versions have been tried. I can't see them working. It has to be both dystopian and unambiguously 1950s-era at the same time. The principal character can only hold her lustre if she lives in a world where businesswomen are a rarity,and certainly not in a world of female quotas. The making immorality-into-morality of some aspects is not shocking in a world where the Australian, New Zealand and,until they married,British Prime Ministers happily show off their unwedded partners. But the warning, secular humanist as it is, of what can occur if checks and balances go, makes absolute sense today.
Thank heavens there's several months to go before the European winter.
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Post by Séamus on Jul 31, 2022 12:10:57 GMT
"To Miss Wiles- As a mark of love and appreciation of her work as Director of the Sutherland Methodist Girl's Comradeship 18-3-35" is written in calligraphy on the fly-page of a book I've just finished,which was first printed 1927, In Search of England.
H.V.Morton had apparently already published over ten travel books by the 1930s reprints,all about his native Britain (five about his native London!) one exception titled In Search of Ireland. He would later publish books about further locations (I've come across the Northern Italian volume) but somehow his driving from cathedral town to cathedral town,from ancient Roman outpost to ancient Roman outpost,from disappearing village to disappearing village is no less interesting than his knowledge of the feuding dynasties of the Italian Renaissance.
Certainly the British Isles hold a lion's share of world history,but there's also an undercurrent of contentment; even the upper middle classes could still feel happy keeping to their own backgardens at the time. He comes across two vicars of small chapels who spend their days gardening. And meets the workers of four or so trades that are,no doubt, extinct at this stage- bowl-turners near Winchester,flint-chippers in Ely,cockle-gathering women in Stiffkey....all the centre of the world in their own right. Perhaps the saddest part was the description of the peaceful monastic ruins of Glastonbury and the old St Michael chapel/pilgrimage site, before anyone would have considered making the place synonymous with hippy debauchery.
The wireless was a modern marvel and buses were still charabancs,but despite significant international travel already existing- Americans filled every building he visited- there's a clear message that one can be happy without climbing Everest or stopping in Dubai, contrasting recently with much chaos in airports and with travel requirements around the globe, nowhere greater than in Britain. Perhaps re-seeing closer surroundings through the eyes of an earlier generation could make air travel much less necessary.
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Post by Séamus on Sept 18, 2022 9:31:47 GMT
One of the many recent newspaper spreads celebrating the life of ElizabethII included a column of front pages covering the monarch's late-70s visit to Western Australia. I couldn't help noticing how her mere presence dwarfed a lesser heading which broke news of a plane disaster in Tenerife which killed nearly 300 people. It would be impossible to find any real winner were anyone to debate whether lives like that of the Windsors unfairly eclipse the struggles and disasters of the everyday or if,on the contrary, people like the Queen serve to remind us of all the people,great and small, of the eras they passed through.
I went through a coffee-table book last night, Abandoned Castles (Kieron Connolly 2017), full of captioned lavish photos of,not only castles,but also fortresses and towers (including the original martello tower, apparently an English mispronunciation of Mortella Tower,Corsica). Ireland,as can be expected,is well represented; like the edifices shown from Great Britain,there seems to have been more destruction from the time of Cromwell and the parliamentary wars than any other conflict. Four pages of Dunluce in Ulster makes it the most important in Ireland to Connolly and/or his editors. A martello tower in New Brunswick, Canada was built to repel American invaders (1812) and in the 1860s "received two 32 pound guns intended to defend the city in the event of attacks from Irish nationalists"
It might seem surprising that more of the European examples seem to have been destroyed by Swedish armies than any other.
Curiousities include an indigenous North American edifice, some Japanese Shogun residences, several edifices in Ghana, pentagonal Krzyztopor Castle,built by a Polish occultist who included twelve ballrooms to complete the seasonal or zodiac cycle- thankyou Sweden for burning that one- and ruined Muslim palaces containing several mosques in India that prove how all faiths can know retreat in adversity.
I'd finished reading Dune earlier; after three expensive productions now I was anxious to know what the fuss is about. I can see what the fuss is about- it's an extremely well-written book,with a lot of interior thought that will obviously be unfilmable. Whereas no effort is made in Star Wars to really express how hard life would be in a hypothetical planet like Tatooine, Musk and his likes might take note of Frank Herbert's depiction of Arrakis,where Fremen are constantly desalinizing their own sweat and urine. And can't cry in time of mourning lest water is wasted. Noting the recent stabbing of Salman Rushdie, I can't help wondering whether the Islamic communities have ever had a slight objection (even) to the obvious parallels between jihadist spirituality and the fictional Fremen?
As well written as it is I couldn't see myself following up with all the sequels (I just looked up an overview of each one on the phone after!),the final book apparently featuring a community that practices Judaism. I read a review last year of a modern science fiction novel based on a community of spaceship-flying Catholic nuns that perform works of charity throughout the galaxy. Although spiritualist and confused,Herbert writes about something neglected by many futuristic authors- man still being religious after conquering space.
An original idea of Mr Frank's was the inclusion of a pseudo-historical introduction to each chapter by a figure who we're not introduced to until the last pages,and even then she plays only a cameo (apparently Irulan appears in the next volume as an anti-heroine who adds to the downfall of Paul and most of his dynasty). The mysterious figure of Princess Irulan can serve as a symbol of the likes of the shadowy people that walked through the doors of Mr Kieron's abandoned buildings or the passengers who died in the Canary Islands plane collision,perhaps remembered as individuals in their own spheres,but a distant memory, almost like the leftover walls of Dunamase Castle, to many of us.
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