Rotting Flesh and Intense Pain

I am pleased to announce that the Red Raccoon Book Club will next be reading "1984," by George Orwell (aka Eric Arthur Blair), published 1949. You are all welcome to join in. This was a particular request of Kevin, for whom it will hopefully be a distraction from life at sea. So, everybody, join in!

I have also just gotten "Fountainhead" from the library, so that will be coming up shortly as well.

Update...and Some Notes

Well, I am pleased to see that our little book club is starting to get some recognition form outsiders. I hope this will continue and allow for much lively discussion of relevant topics. I did finish reading "Anthem," by Ayn Rand. This one was on cassette, and I was pleased to hear the correct Russian pronunciation of her name. The more I learn about her background, the more interesting her novels become because of the historical/cultural context in which they are placed. I would very much like to get my hands on her book "We the Living." However, I can't seem to find it on CD at my library. This is currently my preferred media.

Back to "Anthem," though. I also really enjoyed this book. Is is quite short and is meant to be in the fantasy genre. She actually wrote it as a break from "Fountainhead." It is a fun little illustration about the corrupt nature of imposed socialism/communism. Also, as the name implies, it is an Anthem to the Ego, the individual soul of man, the unconquerable spirit of great men of all ages.

The great point of Ayn Rand's novels, as I see it, is to illustrate how seeking their self interest, men of great capacity will lift up all others around them. Also, that the proper place of government is only to punish behavior that threatens the physical safety of its citizens.

It is an interesting and important fact of history that the Great American form of Government is set up in such a way as to prevent the speedy alteration of laws. Men are required to engage in lengthy debates, compromising and convincing their peers of the merits of their point of view. Our government is set up to check the proud man who thinks he knows best for all.

It is wonderful when a great man works for the benefit of those less capable. It is even more wonderful when that lesser man shows gratitude for the benefit he has received. However, if a government forces a man to work for the benefit of another the great man is suddenly punished for his capability, and the lesser man rewarded for his baseness. He is told that he is entitled to what he cannot produce himself and this removes the gratitude he ought to have felt. Instead, if any gratitude is expressed, it is to the government who wrongfully stole one man's goods for the benefit of another.

We must never feel entitled to anything if we are to be happy, for it is gratitude and achievement that brings happiness. Entitlement only brings sorrow, for we will always desire more and work for it less.

If great men are left free to work for their own benefit, they will always require the assistance of other men to reach their greatest ambitions. If these men are also allowed to be free to receive form their employers what they are worth then all will work to the best of their abilities and everyone will benefit. The greatest motivator in the world is for a man to be justly compensated for a job he enjoys doing. It is when we seek to withhold just compensation where it is due that we cease to be our brother's keeper. We must be wary of government programs that would force one man to work for the benefit of others and not for himself, because that will only breed laziness and resentment. Laziness on the part of the unjust recipient, and resentment on the part of the uncompensated producer. Such a system will never inspire hard work and growth.

It would seem to be clear from her novels that Ayn Rand is not a religious person. I would not state this as a fact, but I would like to respond to it with my own perspective on theology. Some may say that God is the greatest socialist there is, because He labors for all of us with no reward. What reward can be granted One who possesses all? To those of this opinion I would quote a simple scripture to which I often like to refer myself. It comes from the first chapter of the Book of Moses contained in "The Pearl of Great Price," as revealed in vision to the latter-day prophet Joseph Smith Jr. It reads thus:

"For behold, this is My work and My glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

From this simple line it is elementary to see that the reward God gains for his labors is an increase in glory. There is no altruism here. I would submit that this is the reward gained by all parents who truly work for the benefit of their children. They gain their children's' gratitude and respect.

Well, let me get away from opinion for a bit and continue with the promised update. I am still working my way through the book on General Washington.

I also read Bernard Cornwell's novel "The Last Kingdom." First in the series of which "Sword Song" is the fourth.

I have already read "Sword Song" and it is my great pleasure to make my way through the preceding three novels. I currently have "The Pale Horseman" and "Lords of the North" waiting on my shelf.

I really enjoy these books, but would not recommend them to squeamish women or children as they are about a true warrior. Lord Uhtred fights for good, but also for love of battle. Those men out there who miss the significance of the sword as a symbol of manhood will, I think, enjoy this series.

I also have on my shelf the recently obtained finale to Orson Scott Card's Ender Wiggin saga: "Children of the Mind." I am quite anxious to finish it off. The previous novel, "Xenocide," really broke of without satisfactory conclusion.

I totally forgot to mention another novel I recently finished by Jeffrey Eugenides entitled "Middlesex." This refers to a geographic location within the book, but also alludes to the fact that the novel is the story of a hermaphrodite. It is a very funny novel, and very well written spanning several generations of a Greek household ending in the story of Calliope (girl's name) later changed to Cal (boy's name), who is male, but due to a genetic defect resulting in female exterior sex organs, is raised as a girl until the onset of puberty causes all sorts of problems.

Some of you may find this believable autobiographical type novel amusing, however those sensitive to sexual issues may want to leave it alone. I believe this book was enjoyed equally as well by my lovely and talented wife.

Other books awaiting my reading:

"1984" by George Orwell

"Predator" by Patricia Cornwell

Selfishness

So, a few years ago Micaela bought a copy of Ayn Rand's defining novel "Atlas Shrugged." I was meaning to read it at that time, but never got around to it. It wasn't until last month when a friend of Micaela's was visiting who had started reading it for a book club. She mentioned that one of the issues in the beginning of the book is centered around oil in Colorado. Well, seeing as I now live in the Carbon Valley of Colorado, and there is a derek in the entry to our housing development, I thought I better get on with reading this book. I did, and I enjoyed it very much. I have since read more about the author herself, which has made it even more interesting. I have just started reading an earlier book of hers entitled "Anthem." Have any of you read her work? Please tell me your thoughts...especially if you understand the title of this blog.

Many, Many

I have been reading many books. I just havn't been posting them. I would like to get back to it, though. Right now I am just starting a biographical book about George Washington. It is entitled, "General George Washington: A Military Life." It is an interesting picture of late colonial America. I'd be interested to hear of anything the rest of you have read about George Washington.

The Mighty Hunters

We had a cute little baby bunny that was living in our yard. For weeks we've been watching it nibbling on our grass; scurrying away at the slightest sign of danger and hiding in the smallest of spaces. Unfortunately, Idgy and Lucy finally caught sight of it and launched a relentless pursuit. Having lasted so long unscathed, I had high hopes of the bunny surviving for some time. Alas, just the other day I came home to find Lucy defending her prize against Idgy, who was trying to come in the doggie door. The Mighty Hunters had finally taken their prey. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I ought to feel sad, or proud...

Theories on the Evolution of Man.

So, I finished "Clan of the Cave Bear." I really enjoyed the book, although it seemed to have a rather abrupt ending. The strange mind reading thing in the book was a little spooky, but interresting. It also appears that the author is of the school of thought that Neanderthals disappeared due to interbreeding with Homo Sapiens. This would indicate that they were not actually different species since they are capable of having fertile children. My personal uneducated opinion is that the differences between Neandertal and Homo Sapiens were great enough that interbreeding could not have occured. The differences were real physiological traits, including drastically different brains, not superficial variations in unimportant characteristics. The two lines had diverged long enough ago to have developed superior changes in their brains, but in different ways. That type of genetic distance is likely to preclude interbreeding. So, that part of the book was somewhat unexpected to me. However, I don't think it really took anything away from the story, but rather was an essential part of the plot advancement. As I mentioned before, I love to read of other people's speculations on how other "intelligent" species might differ from ourselves. "Clan of the Cave Bear" did not disappoint in this respect.

"Fantasy books have forests on the cover, and science fiction books have metal with rivets"

OK, I have been listening to several tapes. I completed "Ender's Game," by Orson Scott Card, and also the sequel, "Speaker for the Dead." Most of that was during a road trip to Utah and back. I really enjoy this series. I also have enjoyed listening to the author interviews/commentary at the end of the tapes. It is really neat to hear about how books come to be. Orson Card is LDS, and I have enjoyed his unique perspective coming out in his writings. I think it is interesting that he has a lot of Portuguese and Brazilian references in his works. My suspicions were confirmed when I found out that he served a mission in Brazil. Among the references are a colony of Catholic, Portuguese speaking Brazilians populating the planet that is the setting for "Speaker for the Dead" and "Xenocide," which I have yet to read. Also, in the parallel series he wrote following the life of Bean, from "Ender's Game," Bean and a Catholic nun hide out in a Brazilian town for quite a while. His love of the culture really came out in that section of the book. I thought it was neat. Brazil also becomes the capital country in his new world Hegemony in that series. I always enjoy books about other intelligent life forms, and the speculation of how they may have come to be.

The other book I am now making my way through (thanks to Micaela who is kindly copying it from CD to her iPod each night) is Clan of the Cave Bear which I was reading a while back before my CD player broke and I got a job. It is quite enjoyable still. This is another instance where the author has license to speculate about another intelligent species. However, she is somewhat restricted by real scientific theories dealing with early species of man, I think the author does a good job of filling out the threads of theory in an interesting way. Particularly interesting is the issue of different advanced brain styles. In the book, the ancestors of modern man became advanced due to an enhanced cognitive abilities allowing complex abstract thought and problem solving. The Neanderthals achieved their limited reign of superiority through an over developed instinct structure. Memories of earlier ancestor were passed on as permanent pathways in the brain. This meant that there really would be specialized hereditary lines within the species because their parents and grandparents knew certain things that were passed on to there line only. The species are limited, though, by the size of their brains. After a while, there was no more room for new knowledge to be included in the memory banks and innovation was stagnated. Eventually, the newly arrived, but evolutionarily superior Homo Sapiens advanced beyond them and took over. The differing brain style allowed for only the important things to be relearned by each generation, leaving room in the brain to deal with new, unique situations and develop an advanced culture including written records to deal with the issue of passing on knowledge. At any rate, it makes for a good read.

Let me know your thoughts if you have read any of these books. I am eager for some discussion.