Reading list

So I think I mentioned that I read a lot. Well, I'd like to take a moment to share with you the joys of the library.

First off, the library stinks. It really stinks, because I go to the downtown branch, which is where hobos congregate to keep warm. The "reading" area and the "computer" area stink. Up on the second floor where they keep fiction and it is like the Fortress of Solitude; quiet and stinky hobo free where a man of ability can focus his talents on learning. But over bye the first floor chairs or the computers and it is like a locker room; smelly and uncomfortable; don't look the other patrons in the eye or they will get surly. Or just surly your nose.

So, what have I been reading? Well, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Sometime while I wasn't looking they translated the Vampire Hunter D books into English, and the library has all the English translations. I think there are 9 volumes. I am half-way through book 3. I currently have Hobbes and Locke, because I wanted to read something that was a timeless classic. Short readings, not Leviathan. But also not without merit either. I haven't sunk into those yet.

Did I tell you that I read Fight Club? Well, I did. If you liked the movie, you will like the book. Two things to note, however. First, it is a really fast read. For a retired bum like me one afternoon. Second, I feel that a lot of the changes that were made for the movie made the story stronger, not weaker. This is in contrast to a lot of movie adaptations, which are weaker than the book.

Did I tell you that I read the Bhagavad Gita? Well I did. I was told, years ago, that to characterize the Hindu religion as polytheist is a misnomer, because most Hindu follow the Bhagavad Gita, which states that all gods are incarnations of the Supreme Being. Therefore, in a way they are really monotheists. And this philosophy is in the Bagavad Gita. So I read that book to find out for myself. So are Hindus really polytheists? Read for yourelf!

I read the Book of Mormon along with Doctrines and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. They were all in 1 book in the library. I wanted to read it because a friend of mine was skeptical when I described Mormon cosmology to him. Does the Book of Mormon really say that good Mormons will become gods of their own planets? I couldn't say for sure, it was just what I had read on the internets. And I know that the internets lies. So I read the Book of Mormon for myself, along with D of C and P of G P. So what does it really say? What is Mormon theology really like? Read for yourself!

Here is a funny anecdote; one reason I read the Bhagavad Gita is that it was referenced quite a few times in Thoreau's Walden. And I recently read Walden. One reason is that Walden has a lot of history with Dawn's family. Dawn's grandfather had a B.S. in Chemistry. In the 30s, during the Great Depression, he quit his job as a chemist and dragged his new petite bourgeois wife with him to a farm in Illinois to live off the land, much like Walden. It was a book that had inspired him to give up his life of comfort during one of the worst economic periods of in US history. It sounds like a pretty crazy thing to do. How could one book cause a man to do such a thing? So I read the book to find out.

As you can probably tell, I'm into finding out for myself by reading the book. Not a bad way to do things if you ask me.