Books and more good reads

[Morticia NL.]

So here it is: the thread I promised to put up. I think there are more in this forum who are a 'book eater' like me. I don't read books, I swallow them whole
And next to that I love to read magazines and interesting articles on teh net. Anything of quality that will give me (background) information, makes me smile, gets me in a creative mood etc etc.

I wish to see here some propositions for books to read. Especially the ones by writers from the Middle East. It is hard to know where to start reading them when they are quite unknown in your country. Also I would love to see links to interesting articles on the net. I don't mean metal music only, but anything about the Middle East or another article that you think might be of interest to the rest browsing the forum. Could also be something about your county, your hometown.... you get my drift here :hotjump:

Looking forward to your links and propostitions

 

[Morticia NL.]

I'm going to kick off myself with some pieces from a journalist I found once whilst googling Orphaned Land. She is a Canadian/ Israeli freelance journalist and writes interesting stuff.

A wonderful and long article on Beirut:
http://ontheface.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/14/3158741.html

She also wrote an article on Orphaned Land in 2004 (the one I remembered her from)
http://lisagoldman.net/2004/10/21/crossing-the-divide-on-an-electric-guitar/

And this is the video she talks about: (we have the English subs yes!)

 

[FiveString]

I recommend anything written by A.B. Yehoshua.

Aside from being one of the greatest Israeli, Hebrew-language authors ever (this is his peers' assessment, not just mine), his passionate perspective is Orphan-Land'ish to the core.

He's also a very down-to-earth man, in spite of his immense success. A few years ago, I was in freezing Wisconsin, getting some degree. Anyhow, one of my professors was Mr. Yehoshua's nephew.

So said prof invites me over to his apartment for a Pesach (Passover) Seder... I walk in and say 'hi' to his wife, and then proceed to stumble and stutter as I see A.B. in-the-flesh sitting in the living room.

We all talked until dawn.

Once you read any of his books, you'll feel as if you know him, too, and you won't be that off on that.

Peace,

FS

 

[FiveString]

This is a very non-pretentious, eminently readable, mercifully brief pocket-book by a world-renown academic Israeli philosopher (at Tel-Aviv U) on the most perplexing matter of all: The Meaning of Life. If you ever read Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, you are certain to appreciate this little gem. The book, an existential-philosophy exploration geared toward the intelligent lay-leader, is Middle-Eastern to the core, in that it selects a few ideas from seminal ancient Jewish post-Biblical writings, and then modernizes them with respect and authenticity. I don't see why it would not interest anyone of any creed: The writer has no religious or political agenda. The book is graced with art that will make you think...about meaning. Here's the reference:

Asa Kasher (2002). A Little Book on the Meaning of Life. Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House and Yehoraz Association. Tel-Aviv, Israel.

I am reading it in Hebrew but I am sure it can be found at the very least in English. I am astonished at the beauty of the prose, and the originality of the thinking. Try it!

 

[Coon]

Literature is one of my passions together with music, but I'm afraid I'm not into Middle Eastern authors and books, so this thread would be great to get started!

By the way, there's a book I would like to recommend everyone "The Tale Of Genji", by japanese writer Murashaki Shikibu. It was written in the early XI century, during the Heian period and it's consider to be one of the oldest novels in history and, going into personal, one of the most fullfilling readings in a while.

 

[FiveString]

Literature is one of my passions together with music, but I'm afraid I'm not into Middle Eastern authors and books, so this thread would be great to get started!

By the way, there's a book I would like to recommend everyone "The Tale Of Genji", by japanese writer Murashaki Shikibu. It was written in the early XI century, during the Heian period and it's consider to be one of the oldest novels in history and, going into personal, one of the most fullfilling readings in a while.

Thanks, Metalcry!

I jotted down the book's name. Yeah, of course I'm going to read it. I'm like you and Morticia: I swallow books whole...better n' food :Smokin:

If we're talking Far East here, I've just started reading a book by a Chinese author, Jiang Rong. It's called Wolf Totem. I admit, I grabbed it because the wolf, is, in fact, my totem according to the characteristics we share. I ran that by an American Indian friend and he concurred. Plus I've had some beautiful encounters with timber wolves in the North Woods up in Wisconsin.

But, back to the book: I couldn't put it better than the publisher did. Maybe this will whet your appetite, with your interest in various cultures. "An epic Chinese tale that depicts the dying culture of the Mongols--the ancestors of the Mongol hordes who at one time terrorized the world--and the parallel extinction of the animal they believe to be sacred: the fierce and otherworldly Mongolian wolf."

The book's been a massive bestseller in China since it was published (yeah, in Chinese) in 2004. Sadly, I don't know Chinese, so what I've got is the 2008 translation, and the critics say it's really, really, true to the source!

Kirkus Reviews captured it best: "The Call of the Wild meets Dersu Uzala in the wilds of Inner Mongolia in this sweeping debut novel by retired Chinese academician Jiang. In China, it has emerged as a zeitgeist novel, outselling any other in Chinese history short of Mao's little red book...A treasure."

Ever read Call of the Wild? It's my favorite book; I recommend it to anyone, b/c everyone's a little changed after reading it. It's so packed with content that, even though it's rather short, it takes a few readings to really get it and, each time, you come away a little wiser (I hope). This book is about 5 times longer and, IMHO, it's just as good. But I'm in the beginning, so we'll see. Oh, I'll see. I hope one read will suffice for now

If you can, buy this from your local mom n' pop store.... That's what I did; every so often I get some social conscience and support local small biz :Smokin:

Be Good,

FS

 

[FiveString]

Nacht und Nebel

Forgive me, but I snipped comment from the "Urban Legends" thread, because it pertains to both threads and I'm eager that those who swallow books whole read it. Tayeb? Tov? Good? Gut?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Postmodernist
"An urban legend which is not a legend, from Oslo.

During the Nazi occupation of Norway the Nazi officers were accommodated at local school and university buildings. So, once me and many other students from the whole world were living at on old dorm of University of Oslo, and the popular quiz was to guess 'Which Nazi criminal stayed at my room during 1940-1945?.' No ghosts were detected though... or summoned by my pagan-black-folk metal fan neighbor."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Yes, Quisling (right?) let the Nazi filth in to Norway. As with Poland, the Norwegian military was no match to the Third Reich's war-machine.

Check out a book called "Night and Fog." It was written by a Norwegian man decades after WWII. He had been a teenage member of the Resistance until his "terrorist cell" was ratted out. This heartbreaking-but-inspiring (he survives in every way!) biography tells everything about what he endured, the torture by the SS, the "execution" (murder's the word) of his schoolmates by the SS, his experiences in the Death Camps. He then candidly writes about the immense torment he endured during many years after the Liberation, and how he ultimately prevailed over, well, unspeakable PTSD.

The book title is a direct translation of what the SS-monsters called the Death Camp inmates: Nacht und Nebel. They made sure to bring home the gruesome meaning of this new status, and I assure you, this is a must-read, unless you're faint-hearted.

Elie Wiesel, no less, gave the highest praise to this book.

Let the black metalists you mentioned look for ghosts and good luck to them. This is infinitely better, because you'll actually find living ghosts in the pages of this book, in the form of human "fog" in perpetual "night."

Never Again.

FS

 

[Morticia NL.]

Thank you all for the suggestions so far. Seems like there are some new gems waiting to be discovered.

I snapped up some books from Amazon. Starting to read two of them. (I like to read 2 or 3 books at the same time- like a 'negative' and a 'positive' book) The first is by an author called Linda Grant and is called "The people on the street" - a writers view of Israel. She is a writer (diaspora Jew) who lived in Israel for a couple of months on and off and is pening down her witty view on Israel/ Israeli- every day life stuff and what is typical about the place. I'm only reading the first chapter, but can say I enjoy it very much and find myself nodding in agreement and recognition a lot of times. Like when the speaks about the way a street looks, how people talk, dress, behave.

The other book is by a Palestinian writer called Samir El-Youssef and is called "the illusion of return" It is a retrospective from a man who grew up in a Palestine refugee camp in Lebanon and left to live in the UK. It is describing life there and how his life is now. But it is not a political story, it's a personal story.
I'll write more about both books after I finihsed reading them.

 

[Ollo-San]

Hagakure

written by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

It's about the samurai philosophy.
Here ismy favourite quote of the book:

"There is something to be learned from a rainstorm.
When meeting with a sudden shower,
you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road.
But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses,
you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning,
you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking.
This understanding extends to everything."

 

[FiveString]

Hagakure
written by Yamamoto Tsunetomo.....It's about the samurai philosophy.
Here ismy favourite quote of the book:"There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything."

What I take away from your quote is: (a) Fleeing, whether literally or figuratively, is never the answer even in the name of self-preservation, because it will fail; it will naturally fail. (b) Instead, one reaps great benefits if s/he is prepared for what is to inevitably occur, understands it fully, and faces it with informed courage, not necessarily without trepidation.

Am I getting this? The final sentence from your quote, "This understanding extends to everything" fascinates me, for the obvious reason that advice with universal applications is the best advice one can get.

So? Thank you.

FS

 

[FiveString]

Thank you all for the suggestions so far. Seems like there are some new gems waiting to be discovered.

I snapped up some books from Amazon. Starting to read two of them. (I like to read 2 or 3 books at the same time- like a 'negative' and a 'positive' book) The first is by an author called Linda Grant and is called "The people on the street" - a writers view of Israel. She is a writer (diaspora Jew) who lived in Israel for a couple of months on and off and is pening down her witty view on Israel/ Israeli- every day life stuff and what is typical about the place. I'm only reading the first chapter, but can say I enjoy it very much and find myself nodding in agreement and recognition a lot of times. Like when the speaks about the way a street looks, how people talk, dress, behave.

The other book is by a Palestinian writer called Samir El-Youssef and is called "the illusion of return" It is a retrospective from a man who grew up in a Palestine refugee camp in Lebanon and left to live in the UK. It is describing life there and how his life is now. But it is not a political story, it's a personal story.
I'll write more about both books after I finihsed reading them.

Although for vastly different reasons, I lived in Israel and I lived in Lebanon. Two small adjacent countries the West knows everything about; of course it does. Reading both books interests me for immensely different reasons. The observations of Ms. Grant, the frequent-flier-tourist in Israel pique my curiosity b/c I will recognize a great deal of what she describes, albeit from a very different angle; this seems like a low-risk read, a fun one. Mr. El-Youssef's observations, which I strongly suspect (thanks to your written input here) are lighter on the witticisms and heavier on the introspective, present me with a higher-risk read. And I welcome that.

I appreciate the recommendations. I will start with the second book. That's where it's bound to rain. I want to test the Samurai principle kindly offered by Ollo-San from France under the same metaphoric conditions.

Best,

FS

 

[mrwizard]

i have read many many psychology and behaviorism books that keeps me from reading now ! and since i have so little time ... im reading 2 books lately
1- Emotional Alchemy from Tara Bennett-Goleman
2- The lost symbol from Dan brown

 

[FiveString]

i have read many many psychology and behaviorism books that keeps me from reading now ! and since i have so little time ... im reading 2 books lately
1- Emotional Alchemy from Tara Bennett-Goleman
2- The lost symbol from Dan brown

Right, I know. School has a tendency to kill one's desire to read further. You hand in the papers, get the grades and "later, professor!"

No, I didn't git my hands on the books you mention. I'll certainly check 'em out. Ask Morticia NL.: I read because I live; I live because I read. And metal helps, plus a pile of basses, amps and effects

People think shrinks are crazy. Well, the job does have its stressful moments and, after some time, their cumulative effects can drive a person prone to psych-trouble plumb nuts.

However, I was insane before I got into psych, and it ain't One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest insane. Now, because my profession forces me to read more and more psych (there's no end to the new books, articles, ya know), I'm stark raving mad but the meds help

But aren't we all nuts in some sense? The correct answer is "yes."

Did you attend the American University of Beirut?

Take Care,

Hill

 

[mrwizard]

Shrinks Roks ....

i have my degree from the Lebanese university .... and i have'nt had a patient since then ... coz i mostly work in business... started with construction then real estate ...and now in FMCG ! ....so ive been quiet busy ! ....

 

[FiveString]

Shrinks Roks ....

i have my degree from the Lebanese university .... and i have'nt had a patient since then ... coz i mostly work in business... started with construction then real estate ...and now in FMCG ! ....so ive been quiet busy ! ....

Well, that's generous of you. THIS shrink rox, so Help me God and my basses et al. I skip meals to buy these things; I've lost 35lb--good riddance; I'm not anorectic.

The university is called The Lebanese University? I'm curious merely because I find visiting university websites abroad and corresponding w/their faculty much more enjoyable and useful than sticking to the local ones, no matter how big their egos are.

Ego? It's not uniquely American, but it's disproportionately so.

Let It Snow!

Hill