Classical Bookworm

A Message to Publishers

Click for full size...

Visit the Bureau of Communication to create your own memos on a variety of themes.

Tolstoy on Free Will

Why did millions of men set about killing each other, if it had been known ever since the world began that it is both physically and morally bad?

...

The contradiction seems insoluble: in committing an act, I am convinced that I am committing it according to my own good pleasure; examining this act in terms of its being part of the common life of mankind (in its historical significance), I am convinced that this act was predetermined and inevitable. Where does the mistake lie?

...

...there are two sorts of acts. One depends, the other does not depend on my will. And the mistake that produces a contradiction come only from the fact that I wrongly transfer the consciousness of freedom, which legitimately accompanies any act connected with my I, with the highest abstraction of my existence, to my acts committed jointly with other people and depending on the coinciding of other wills with my own. To determine the boundaries of the domains of freedom and dependence is very difficult, and the determining of those boundaries is the essential and sole task of psychology; but observing the conditions of the manifestation of our greatest freedom and greatest dependence, it is impossible not to see that the more abstract our activity is and therefore the less connected with the activity of others, the more free it is, and, on the contrary, the more our activity is connected with other people, the more unfree it is.

The most strong, indissoluble, burdensome, and constant connection with other people is the so-called power over other people, which in its true meaning is only the greatest dependence on them.

—Leo Tostoy, "A Few Words Apropros of the Book War and Peace" [The Russian Archive, March 1868]

The man was a genius.

One Long Trek is Over and Another One Begins

For the first time in two months, I didn't have to take any dogs (or cats) for a walk this morning. My tanned and travel-weary landpeople returned last night and the menagerie has moved back upstairs. As much as I adore these creatures, I have to say that I am completely ecstatic! It may not seem like much, but in my condition, not having to walk, feed, and care for my hairy housemates will free up a tremendous amount of energy.

So what am I going to do with all that energy? Set out on another gruelling trek, of course! Today I am starting War and Peace. I don't really expect it to be gruelling, since I found Anna Karenina to be a very enjoyable page-turner, but it is long; there's no denying that. I hope to finish it before the snow flies in the Valdai Hills. Wish me luck!

UPDATE: How do you say "serendipity" in Russian? I was at the thrift store today and came home with these two great tomes: Between Heaven and Hell: The Story of a Thousand Years of Artistic Life in Russia and A People's Tragedy: A History of the Russian Revolution. The latter is a whopping 900-page hardcover, and they cost a mere three bucks each. Obviously the book gods want me to know all about Russia!

Buckhead Library Update

In February I posted about the Buckhead Public Library, a modern architectural gem in the city of Atlanta, which was in danger of being replaced by a parking garage as part of a massive new development. Thanks to all the public opposition, the library board voted to reject the offer to purchase the property, and the County did not include the purchase in their new library plan, effectively quashing the deal. Moreover, they plan to spend $150 million to renew and expand their library system, including the building of eight new libraries. Way to go Atlanta!

Dante's Inferno Test

I saw this morally challenging quiz at So Many Books. Where would you end up in Dante's Inferno? Though Dante's theology is questionable, I'm glad to learn I'm headed for:

Purgatory

You have escaped damnation and made it to Purgatory, a place where the dew of repentance washes off the stain of sin and girds the spirit with humility. Through contrition, confession, and satisfaction by works of righteousness, you must make your way up the mountain. As the sins are cleansed from your soul, you will be illuminated by the Sun of Divine Grace, and you will join other souls, smiling and happy, upon the summit of this mountain. Before long you will know the joys of Paradise as you ascend to the ethereal realm of Heaven.

I wasn't sure how to answer the question about taking pleasure in other people's misery. Does laughing at Eastern Canadians when they get blizzards count?

Dante's Inferno Test

Etagère Pour Livres by Philippe Nigro

Etagère pour livres, Philippe Nigro, 2005 (France).
[VIA catalogue, p. 25]

I saw this wonderful bookshelf on the Bookshelf blog (where else?). I love it not only for its beautiful and interesting design but also because it reminds me of the "Books Spiral" at the Seattle Public Library. The Books Spiral is four connected levels of gently sloping floors holding the nonfiction collection in one continuous band. This allows for the easy rearrangement of books and prevents categories from being broken up on to different floors. Here are a couple of views:

Why I Haven't Been Reading Much Lately

Attentive readers may have noticed that I haven't posted much about my own reading for quite some time. There is a reason for this. Actually there are five adorable reasons:

For the last eight weeks these creatures have been my roommates and my responsibility. While their owners are gallavanting across southern Africa, I gallavant through the forest two or three times a day with my new posse. They are a constant source of delight and amusement, but having M.E. (chronic fatigue syndrome) makes walking them a serious challenge. In fact it pretty much flattens me. Once they have been fed and walked and petted and disciplined there isn't much left in the tank for anything else, especially anything requiring sustained attention. However I am glad to report that I will be released from my doggy (and kitty) limbo in a little over a week and should be posting something more substantive soon thereafter. In the mean time, I highly recommend clicking over to an impressive new classic book blog, What Do I Know? The title is a misnomer because J.D. obviously knows a lot, and expresses it very well. Do have a look!

Happy World Book and Copyright Day!

Loliad

Icanhascheezburger gets classical:

via Magna Soror

Anselm Kiefer: The Secret Life of Plants

Blood on Paper is a new book art exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. A new edition of The Secret Life of Plants (2001) by Anselm Kiefer, seen above, was commission to be the main piece of the show, but unfortunately I can't find a photo of it. Another variation on this theme can be seen here. If you can't make it to London, you can see a number of works from the exhibition online, and also browse through the V&A's collection of over 100 "artists books." Enjoy!

via Book Patrol

How to Solve Global Warming: Buy More Books!

I love this justification for having walls full of books:

In today's environment-conscious world, they also have another valuable function. "Books are the original insulator. A shelf of books along an outside wall works well to prevent heat escaping," says Joel Rickett. "If all the books were removed from the homes in Britain, our energy bills would rocket."

Works for me!

via Bookshelf

BBC Radio gets Juvenal

The subject of this week's Greek and Latin Voices on BBC Radio 3 is the Roman satirist, Juvenal. Though his name is not too familiar, some of his sayings are: "bread and circuses"; "rare bird"; "who will watch the watchers?"; "sound mind in a sound body" (mens sana in corpore sano). I think he would have laughed heartily at the blogosphere:

Since there are so many poets wasting paper and everyone’s time anyway – why not write? (Book I, Satire I, It is Hard Not to Write Satire, line 19)

Here are the programs for this week:

Monday: Maria Wyke sets Juvenal in a literary context and considers how Dr Johnson reworked Satire 3 into his poem, London.

Tuesday: Contemporary writer and satirist Alistair Beaton explains his admiration for Juvenal and how many of the morally questionable ideas of 2nd century Rome are still relevant to 21st century Britain.

Wednesday: Dr Fred Jones of Liverpool University examines Juvenal's literary techniques and discovers a collage of genres taken from both Roman and Greek literature.

Thursday: Dr Susanna Braund looks at recent re-interpretations of Juvenal's Satires and sets Roman satire into a wider context of Roman anxiety about masculinity.

The 15-minute talks will be archived for a week at The Essay.