Waiting for God

By Simone Weil

"The love of our neighbor in all its fullness simply means being able to say to him: 'What are you going through?' It is a recognition that the sufferer exists... as a man, exactly like us"

Somewhat intuitively and intentionally, I've been learning about philosophies and philosophers who advocate that discovering the truth, is our primary obligation to others. The first step on that journey is to pay attention to reality, the our problems and to others. 

The chief enemy of excellence is personal fantasy. Free your self from being a slave to your reactions. Stay away from the desire to fix, help or set people straight until you deeply know the truth, until you are invited.

Many of these readings point back to Weils and her essay on attention. It was good to go back to the source. 

Weils deeply believed in God, though she declined to join a church. I need to reread that at some point. 

The Manticore

By Robertson Davies

2nd book in the Depford trilogy, following the Fifth Business.

A satisfying book, though it has a lot to say about Jungian psychology. Perhaps the book hasn't aged well since Jung is no longer as influential. 

We often see or interpret the world through simplifications and archetypes. Health comes from seeing beyond that, from seeing the truth, seeing people for who they really are. 

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

By George Saunders

I want to enjoy great literature, yet I struggle to maintain interest in great books and great authors. This was a great book to help me explore more.

Saunders discusses six short stories written buy the Russian greats. I appreciated the depths, this history, the callbacks, along the way he discuss the hard work of writing. 

"It's seams that much of the time we spend worrying would be better spent working though the problems. Don't worry, work."

Discipline and Punish

By Foucault

How did we get from being a society that publicly punishes, hangs, flogs its criminals, to a society that quietly hides them away? We become more efficient. The tools of that efficiency can be used to guide society as a whole.

Now we all live in a Carceral society where control is exercised, not through the threat of punishment, but through surveillance, ranking and the gentle pervasive insistence of the norm. Society has became more effective at standardizing its values. 

"Power and knowledge directly imply one another. "

Midnight In Soap Lake

By Matthew J Sullivan

A fun read. A thriller/mystery about a decades long conspiracy/organized-crimes in Soap Lake. 

I've been to Soap Lake. It's an interesting place to stop over if you are doing a road trip around easter Washington. 

The novel has two story lines, the story of the victim and the story of the detective. 

I've been reading Agatha Christie of late. Her characters are decidedly upper class. Sullivan populates his mysteries with junkies, ag workers, the poor and others living their lives of the margins. This is a refreshing change.

The Four Pillars of Investing

By William J Bernstein

Covers the theory, history, psychology and business of investing. 

No one can reliably predict or time the market. Invest with Index funds. Broadly diversify, including bonds, U.S Stocks, International Stock, small and large caps. Keep your expenses and taxes low Your stock mix depends on your risk tolerance.

The Fifth Business

By Robertson Davis

I grew up in Ontario and get back to it regularly, A high school friend of mine described this book as the most Ontario book ever. 

I agree. The village where the book begins could be the village where I grew up, with too many churches,  disrespect between their members, the gravel pit where all the parties happened, and the children who had no exceptional future unless they left for the big cities. 

The book is very readable and enjoyable. There are other books in the series. I'll go through them all.

Some other things for me to take away...

Even though the book was published in the early 70's, The author makes jokes about yet another business-man turned politician who runs on the platform of bringing sound business principles to government, yet finds once he's elected, that that is not the way a government can be run. 

There is also the mention of that low-level insecurity in the back of many Canadian heads, that they are not good enough, that they don't compare well to other citizens and other countries.