moneil
Red Fish
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Location: Pullman, Washington, United States, North America
Posts: 2,132
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« Reply #1260 on: April 06, 2012, 10:05:AM » |
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I'm listening to Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens (again) on Sundays, and James Herriot's books, courtesy of Audible, every other day of the week. This is getting old. :/
I read the Herriot books during my Peace Corps service (Colombia 73-76) and thoroughly enjoyed them. As I work in the Animal Sciences I probable picked up on more of the technical themes than the average reader and found the changes in veterinary therapeutics across time fascinating. I've recently downloaded them from Audible and they will be a summer listen. Both audio books:
A couple of weeks ago I finished Mysteries of the Middle Ages by Thomas Cahill. Yesterday I finished Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
I'm still deciding what book I'll start after Holy Week.
How did you find Cahill? Generally I like his work, but his attitude towards Bernard of Clairvaux in that particular work upset me. Like so many other historians, he falls into the trap of lionizing Abelard and demonizing Bermard. His only other work I've read (listened to actually, though I also have a hard copy), How the Irish Saved Civilization I loved and will listen to it again. I enjoyed Mysteries of the Middle Ages for giving an insight to a period of time I knew little or nothing about. Of course that also means I had no real background of knowledge to critique the work against. Off the top of my head I can't recall how he treated St. Bernard of Clairvaux (I did especially enjoy his sections on St. Francis of Assisi and Dante). That does point out a disadvantage of audio books (at least with a mind like mine, more of a sieve than a trap  ). Depending on the nature of the book (I rarely read novels, prefering history or biography) I find it useful to also have a hard copy to review a certain section after listening to it, which is difficult to do in audio format. |
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CollegeCatholic
Banned for snarking meanness, disrespect toward the Holy Father, twisting what others say in order to mock them, etc.
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Location: Terre Haute, IN
Personality type: ISTJ
Posts: 8,998
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
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« Reply #1261 on: April 06, 2012, 11:33:AM » |
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How We Developed the Lunar Module by Thomas Kelly. He was chief engineer on the project.
Omg soooooo good!
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Pilgrim
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« Reply #1262 on: April 06, 2012, 03:03:PM » |
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Moneil:
Cahill's sections on Francis and Dante are indeed quite good. If I recall correctly, he pretty much says that, in his eyes, Bernard was no saint. Basically, Bernard is the religious fundamentalist to Abelard's more "scientific" approach, which is a radical oversimplification of that relationship.
Cahill is a liberal Catholic, so although his books are insightful, they do tend to have a bit of a slant. If you can read (or in your case, listen) around that, he's an excellent writer and researcher.
If you're interested in pursuing your study of the Middle Ages a little further, may I suggest Richard Rubenstein's Aristotle's Children? It's a great and eminently readable book about medieval intellectual history.
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"And so, Lord, do you, who do give understanding to faith, give me, so far as you knowest it to be profitable, to understand that you are as we believe; and that you are that which we believe." -- St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)
"But Christianity preaches an obviously unattractive idea, such as original sin; but when we wait for its results, they are pathos and brotherhood, and a thunder of laughter and pity; for only with original sin we can at once pity the beggar and distrust the king." -- G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." Baudelaire and Verbal Kint from The Usual Suspects
"I'm a practicing Catholic; I'm practicing until I get it right." Martin Sheen
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Phillipus Iacobus
Blue Fish
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Posts: 11,297
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« Reply #1263 on: April 07, 2012, 11:42:AM » |
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The Cheese and the Worms - Carlo Ginzburg
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drummerboy
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Location: Wisconsin
Personality type: phlegmelancholic
Posts: 1,662
Who best knows time is most grieved by delay.
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« Reply #1264 on: April 07, 2012, 12:47:PM » |
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Phaedo: Plato
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"This much I would have you know: so long, I say,
as nothing in my conscience troubles me
I am prepared for Fortune, come what may"
"We sleep here in obedience;
When duty called, we came;
When country called, we died."
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Starry Plough
Gold Fish
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Posts: 1,342
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« Reply #1265 on: April 08, 2012, 09:39:AM » |
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"The Beautiful and the Damned: A portrait of the New India" - Siddartha Deb
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"It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry"
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ecclesiastes
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« Reply #1266 on: April 11, 2012, 06:15:PM » |
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Adam Hochschild, King Leopold's Ghost: A story of greed, terror and heroism in colonial Africa, which is very well written.
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Phillipus Iacobus
Blue Fish
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« Reply #1267 on: April 11, 2012, 06:57:PM » |
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Adam Hochschild, King Leopold's Ghost: A story of greed, terror and heroism in colonial Africa, which is very well written.
I remember this book. What did you think of it? |
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ecclesiastes
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« Reply #1268 on: April 12, 2012, 03:01:AM » |
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Adam Hochschild, King Leopold's Ghost: A story of greed, terror and heroism in colonial Africa, which is very well written.
I remember this book. What did you think of it? I've only read about 70 pages so far, so I can't really judge yet. But what I've read I liked. The subject matter is, of course, rather disturbing, but the author writes really well, and really did his research. Occasionally, I find he psychologizes a bit too much, but in general I think he offers a compelling picture of the times and the people involved. |
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Pilgrim
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Posts: 3,707
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« Reply #1269 on: April 12, 2012, 03:41:PM » |
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On the iPad -- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
In true book form -- The Everlasting Man
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"And so, Lord, do you, who do give understanding to faith, give me, so far as you knowest it to be profitable, to understand that you are as we believe; and that you are that which we believe." -- St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)
"But Christianity preaches an obviously unattractive idea, such as original sin; but when we wait for its results, they are pathos and brotherhood, and a thunder of laughter and pity; for only with original sin we can at once pity the beggar and distrust the king." -- G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." Baudelaire and Verbal Kint from The Usual Suspects
"I'm a practicing Catholic; I'm practicing until I get it right." Martin Sheen
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