“Reading liberates the reader and transports him from his book to a reading of himself and all life…..What matters is how we feel, how we see, what we do after reading; whether the street and the clouds and the existence of others mean anything to us; whether reading makes us , physically, more alive.” Gabriel Zaid, So Many Books (2003).
Misha, pictured right, spends quite a bit of time pondering the world outside. For those wondering whether cats read when their humans are not looking–given how smart and sophisticated they (the cats) seem– see Stirring Trouble Internationally article–Do Cats Read?
Happy peaceful holiday reading!
Peter Singer, A Vegetarian Philosophy: “To convert eight or nine kilos of grain protein into a single kilo of animal protein wastes land, energy, and water. On a crowded planet with a growing human population, that is a luxury that we are becoming increasingly unable to afford.”
In her newest book, Harvest for Hope: a Guide to Mindful Eating, Dr. Jane Goodall encourages us to consider the significance of our daily food choices. She and her coauthors, Gary McAvoy and Gail Hudson, demonstrate a variety of ethical issues related to the sustainability of natural resources, the well-being of animals and our own health.
Borislav Pekic, The Time of Miracles Written by Pekic after spending six years in prison for student activism in the former Yugoslavia. His only reading material was the bible. The Time of Miracles, his first novel written 10 years following his pardon and release, is a brilliant outrageous re-imagining of the key parables of the bible –from the perspective of those upon whom Jesus worked his “miracles”. Ultimately it’s a powerful indictment of the costs of institution-building and ideology.
Richard Flanagan, Gould’s Book of Fish Every sentence flashes –with anger, fury, brilliance –an exploration of history, art, imperialism, human cruelty and stupidity– wrapped around a story that is oddly, painfully, hilarious in moments, and in the end — a powerful reminder of our human capacity for endurance and beauty.
Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible–for its enactment of the moral power of literature; for messages of hope about living with our complicity and responsibility for history.
Poets: W.S. Merwin for the dark hope embedded in so many of his poems; Bei Dao for writing from exile as if his life depended upon it; and Mary Oliver for her celebration and honoring of the natural world, paying witness to the survival necessity of awe.
