books: what are you currently reading?

[Strings4Him]

This was fascinating.  Loved his Chet Atkin's styled song.  Paul David's song on Phi interestingly is 3:14 long.  As a Christian this stuff enlarges my faith in God. Design implies a designer in a Psalm 19 kind of way.

Thanks for posting.


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[Silence Dogood]

I've decided to go through the Tolkien books this year via audio.  Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings films, has recently recorded most of the Tolkien catalog for Recorded Books.  Right now I'm about a third of the way through THE HOBBIT and his reading makes an already-excellent book even better.  Highly recommended. 

[Silence Dogood]

Took a break from Tolkien after THE TWO TOWERS (will get back to LOTR soon) to read MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING by Viktor Frankl.  Wow, what a book!  I took lots of notes and will definitely re-read soon.  I've heard Jordan Peterson reference this book many times and have wanted to check it out for a good while.  A whole thread could honestly be devoted to it, but I will say it has the ability to be paradigm-shifting if one is really ready to embrace what it teaches. 

[ryler]

Took a break from Tolkien after THE TWO TOWERS (will get back to LOTR soon) to read MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING by Viktor Frankl.  Wow, what a book!  I took lots of notes and will definitely re-read soon.  I've heard Jordan Peterson reference this book many times and have wanted to check it out for a good while.  A whole thread could honestly be devoted to it, but I will say it has the ability to be paradigm-shifting if one is really ready to embrace what it teaches. 

Agreed!  It is contains so much wisdom and is riveting to read.  I, too, plan on a reread.

[Silence Dogood]

Agreed!  It is contains so much wisdom and is riveting to read.  I, too, plan on a reread.

I'll probably try and get to it again in the next month or so while it's still fresh on my mind.  I've rarely found a book to be as helpful as this one has been.  Here are some takeaways in case anyone is interested:

One of the big ideas in MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING is to stop asking about the meaning of life, but rather to realize that life is asking something of you.  In this way we begin to see how meaning is directly connected with responsibility (i.e. responsibility actually leads to meaning, not the other way round).   This leads to inner freedom which cannot be lost or taken away by anyone else.  But freedom is only half the truth or part of the story: the other half is responsibility.  At some point Frankl says the Statue of Liberty on the east coast should actually be balanced with a Statue of Responsibility on the west.  This is a profound idea.  I learned from Chesterton many years ago how freedom is only possible within the rules, and Frankl makes it even more clear.  

Another:
Man does not need a tension-less state (i.e. an easy life), but rather needs the struggling and striving for a worthwhile goal, a freely-chosen task.  

Modern man's dilemma:
No instinct tells him what he has to do, and no tradition tells him what he ought to do.  Sometimes he doesn't even know what he wishes to do.  

Probably the most famous quote from the book is this one:
"...everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms: to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

The main theme of the book is really to fully take responsibility for one's life, attitudes, and actions as the path to meaning.  Considering all this comes from one who survived a concentration camp and lost his young wife in another, it's flat out amazing.  He definitely had skin in the game and learned this all first hand.  I highly recommend the book.  

[StringPicker6]

That summary really helped, thanks! I'm going to get that book today. 

[Silence Dogood]

That summary really helped, thanks! I'm going to get that book today. 

That's great, and thanks for letting me know.  It makes my day to know that someone else will read this book and get helped by it. 

[Silence Dogood]

I went through Frankl's book for a second time last week.  Took a few more notes.  I've got another one of his in the queue now from my library: MAN'S SEARCH FOR ULTIMATE MEANING.  Hopefully I'll get through it this week.

[StringPicker6]

I'm a quarter way into his first book, based on this thread's recommendation.   

[Silence Dogood]

I'm a quarter way into his first book, based on this thread's recommendation.   

That's great.  I hope you'll post some thoughts of your own when done.  The first half (or maybe like 2/3) is about life in the concentration camp.  Tough stuff to read and think about for sure.  The last bit is where he gets into his conclusions and when he introduces "logo therapy," his own particular approach to treating people.  Absolutely fascinating stuff IMO.  Enjoy!

[Silence Dogood]

This week I started MAN AND HIS SYMBOLS by Carl Jung, my first time with any of his work.  This book is largely about dream analysis and the unconscious mind.  It's "written down" to make it accessible to the masses, but still much of it is over my head and I find so many of the concepts hard to grasp.  Parts of it are fascinating enough for me to know I'll definitely be doing (at least) a second reading. 

[Hooked]

Back to "Man's Search for Meaning" I recently reread this (thanks to this thread) and remembered something we were taught back in POW/Evade and Escape training many years ago. The gist is that you always have a choice at some level. Talk/don't talk, cooperate or not. Frankl found his core where he chose to live, despite the circumstances. Often the choices are bleak, and any consequences severe, but we always choose.

[StringPicker6]

I started reading the book but got sidetracked. Thanks for reminding me to pick it up again!

[teh]

Just started listening to audio book "Paddle Your Own Canoe" by actor, author, woodworker and guitar player Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation). I also read his latest book "Where the deer and the antelope play" which was thought provoking and entertaining.

[Silence Dogood]

I finished a recent revisit with Tolkien's LOTR and had a great time.  I dragged out THE RETURN OF THE KING for a good long time, and even read several other books at the same time. 

Recent:
I'm a sucker for musician memoirs and my local library had Dave Mustaine's (of Megadeth fame) autobiography and I gave it a go.  It's always fun reading about the life of musicians for me, even if I'm not a fan of theirs.  I'm not a Megadeth fan, and reading Mustaine's ego-driven ramblings did nothing to point me in the direction of becoming one.  Still a somewhat fun read. 

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Stephen King's REVIVAL.  A story about a small town New England kid who becomes a lifelong working musician, but whose life is interwoven with a minster-turned-maniac that keeps popping up in his life.  It's got the typical King feel, which I like a lot.  I think I'll go through a few more of King's novels during this season.  We shall see. 

[Silence Dogood]

I recently started Stephen King's THE STAND via audiobook.  Oh my!  Quite the time investment (even via audio) at around 47 hours.  But wow, what an amazing tale it's turning out to be! Anyone else read this one?

[Silence Dogood]

Might as well keep the book thread going...

Ok, I finished THE STAND by Stephen King.  Man, what a let down!  It started out strong and I really loved the plot (deadly virus wipes out most of humanity, struggle to carry on with life for those left alive, etc.).  I thought it was going to be a story about how the world would be rebuilt, and it sort of was, but King puts in all sorts of goofy supernatural elements that really spoiled the story for me.  His character of "the dark man" wasn't even scary, and actually turned out to be silly.  The character of the old woman (Abby) didn't add to the story either.  It seemed like a jumbled up mess.  I've read other stories by Kind and it left me wondering why this one is considering a classic work of his. 

I'm currently reading THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH by Ken Follett, a novel about how the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages were built by hand by stone masons.  It started out strong as well, but after a few hours in it's getting bogged down in the political life of the clergy, etc.  I might not finish it. 

[eded]

Almost finishing In the Court of King Crimson by Sid Smith.

Next up is Jingle Jangle Morning by Ritchie Unterberger

Ed

[StringPicker6]

I went to my local library last week and picked up The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron.  It's a famous book that helps you to re-discover your creativity. It's so fascinating I will probably end up buying a copy. After too many years of internet, smart phones, computers, binge watching tv on too many available tv services, I'm desperate to find my inner creativity again.  This book is helping me a lot, so far. 

[StringPicker6]

I had to return The Artist's Way the the library since it was due, and then went out and bought a copy. It's a fantastic book if anyone wants to discover or re-discover their inner artist.