Bookish version of pdotb@todon.eu
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Success! pdotb has read 77 of 52 books.
Eihei Dogen (1200-1253), among the first to transmit Zen Buddhism from China to Japan and founder of the important Soto …
Writer, filmmaker, and organizer Astra Taylor takes a curious, critical, and ultimately hopeful look at the uniquely modern concept of …
A searing analysis of health and illness under capitalism from hosts of the hit podcast …
I'm about a third of the way in and just not really getting anything out of it.
I'm about a third of the way in and just not really getting anything out of it.
Einst war Shizuka Satomi ein Star, heute ist sie die gefragteste Geigenlehrerin der Welt. Wer bei ihr studiert, dem ist …
Einst war Shizuka Satomi ein Star, heute ist sie die gefragteste Geigenlehrerin der Welt. Wer …
I took forever to read the first half of the book, then put my head down and read the rest inside a week and loved it!
A case for friendship as a radical practice of love, courage, and trust, and seven strategies that pave the way …
"This fantastically varied and exciting collection celebrates the great Japanese short story, from its modern origins in the nineteenth century …
A searing analysis of health and illness under capitalism from hosts of the hit podcast “Death Panel”
In this …
Two activist journalists present a progressive, intersectional approach to the vital question: What can we do about antisemitism?
Antisemitism …
Two activist journalists present a progressive, intersectional approach to the vital question: What can we …
Content warning antisemitism
Really good introduction to antisemitism, from its origins in early Christianity through to today. Lots to think about in its coverage of antisemitism on the left (see Bebel's 'socialism of fools'), including the easy tendency to contrast financial capitalism with a more productivist capitalism. Sensitive handling of the controversy around Corbyn's Labour Party. Good coverage of links between antisemitism and anti-Communism, including how William Lind generated the spectre of 'Cultural Marxism' in 2012 to replace the defunct fear of the Soviet Union. Explains well how White Nationalism and the Christian Right use antisemitism, especially as part of conspiracy theories. Probably the most challenging part (both to read and, presumably, to write) concerns Israel/Palestine and Zionism (including the world of Christian Zionism). I think they did a good job of tackling this, and it's certainly left me with lots to think about. The remaining quarter or so of the book concerns how we fight antisemitism, especially in a way that ties it in with other battles.
A case for friendship as a radical practice of love, courage, and trust, and seven strategies that pave the way …
"This fantastically varied and exciting collection celebrates the great Japanese short story, from its modern …
This, then, was the scene that had lived in the fondest part of my memory for so many years. In none of its details had I found anything to wonder at. And then one day -- in fact, just two or three days ago -- as I was gazing blankly at the view from my window, it struck me with such force that, for a moment, I was unable to breathe. Peaches in the winter? Frogs and mud snails in the winter? How could I have failed to notice that until now? And, stranger still, what had inspired me -- possessed me -- at this one moment to seize upon the vital clue? For it was this that lay bare the hoax that memory had played on me year after year. Now, for the first time, I saw the wildly impossible connection that memory had made: carting a load of peaches on a cold winter night! Nowadays, perhaps. But back then? Unthinkable.
— Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories by Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin (Page 193)
Wonderful reflection on the nature of memory, by Abe Akira
"This fantastically varied and exciting collection celebrates the great Japanese short story, from its modern …
For his part, my father would have found it a stain on the family honour were his son to become known as a reporter or a clerk or a servant or some other lowly worker. 'Fortunately we have a spare room,' he said, 'and food. You can just live here quietly and keep to yourself.' With that, he brought the discussion to a close.
— Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories by Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin (Page 70)
Living the dream...
