Welcome to bookchat where you can talk about anything...books, plays, essays, and books on tape. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down, and chat with us.
I always enjoy the humorous drawings of cat brains. Here is one:
http://www.marshu.com/...
I sometimes picture my brain as an amoeba stretching out and engulfing bits of knowledge. I imagine a large part of my brain being labeled “curious about everything”.
Just before Christmas, I mentioned that one of my Challenge Books for 2015 would be A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance - Portrait of an Age by William Manchester.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
From tales of chivalry and valor to the barbarity of the Inquisition and the devastation of the plague, no era has been a greater source of fascination and horror than the Middle Ages. With extraordinarily crafted prose, acclaimed historian William Manchester takes us on a vividly painted journey into the medieval mind.
We travel from the depths of the Dark Ages to the heights of the rebirth that spawned some of history's greatest artists and thinkers—and that eventually ushered the West into the brilliance of the Renaissance. For Manchester, the man who best epitomized this new quest for knowledge in a changing world was Ferdinand Magellan, the great circumnavigator, whose inspiring story Manchester dramatically recounts, along with the stories of countless medieval men and women from every walk of life who influenced and changed the course of history.
A couple of readers warned me that this book had received a lot of push-back from other writers as to his views. I appreciate that and will keep it in mind as I read. Keeping an open mind while reading does not mean being blind to a book’s defects. It means keeping a sharp eye out. I try to do that with all the books I read.
The important things that I hope all readers do when engaging with books they read are these:
1. May we find new ideas to consider. May we choose books on purpose that will open us up to new ideas.
2. May we compare what we know from other books, articles, and discussions with the new material offered by a book which if non-fiction hopefully has footnotes and a bibliography.
3. May we argue with the author and question the premise and views presented in the book and read other sources for answers and other viewpoints. I read Exodus by Leon Uris as a young adult and I had so many questions that I have read more than 200 books trying for answers. Of course, the other books also raised new questions.
4. May we learn to organize what we read into major points and lesser points to consider.
5. May we become a stakeholder for viewpoints we have carefully considered from books and experience and not be too wishy-washy. I have stakes down in a circle from many years of reading, but I still will challenge the points I have decided to own when I get new information.
6. May we consider what has changed since the book was published. For example, as I read An Intimate History of Humanity by Theodore Zeldin which was published in 1994, I wondered what he might say now in 2015 after the growth of the internet and social media. As I read Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader published 1997, I considered what had happened in the years since and wished for an update to the book. Still, I learned many things that were important that I had not known. The books made me think and raised my curiosity which is always a good thing.
The first book I chose to read from my challenge list this year is The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones by Thomas Asbridge, and I am already learning things about the Middle Ages to compare with Manchester.
(pg. 40)
In the course of the eleventh century, however, the Roman (or Latin) Church became increasingly concerned by the violence and disorder caused by well-armed, mobile, mounted warriors across Western Europe. As a result, the papacy began to consider how the life of a knight might intersect with the Christian faith.
What books have you read that raised questions in your mind and sent you searching for other viewpoints? What questions do you always have in your mind as you settle down to read? Do you often pull up a stake you have hammered into the ground when you get new information?
Besides footnotes and bibliographies, what do you look for to help authenticate a book?
Is a book with problems worth reading anyway? Have you ever been burned by a book?
May we all be wise and fearless readers in the New Year!
Diaries of the Week:
Self-publishing 101: Why Indy Publishers are Smart to Use Two Printers and Not Just One
by skywriter
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Write On! Of Character Flaws and Achilles Heels
by not a lamb
http://www.dailykos.com/...
What duty to historical accuracy does a film have?
by Doctor RJ
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Note: Thursday at 2:00 PM is
Self-Publishing 101 by akadjian
NOTE: plf515 is taking a break from WAYR for now.
I am sending him best wishes and hope he will be back soon.
bookgirl hopes to return to her series on Tuesday as she has had the winter crud. I am sending her vibes for feeling better soon.