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This post must go in the perhaps better late than never category. It was drafted over the weekend and the fact it is being posted today reflects just how far it got with the various work and home activity that’s going on.
Anyway, twenty-two years ago this past weekend, my then less than three month old daughter was present when I graduated from law school. The situation was reversed last Saturday as my wife and I (and middle daughter) attended her undergraduate commencement ceremonies. Let’s just say she graduated in less time and with (deservedly) more honors than my undergraduate career.
Surprisingly, seeing her graduate didn’t make me feel any older or seem as . It seemed like just another step in the ongoing process of watching her grow up and become independent. Here’s what made me feel old: how tired I feel from helping her move stuff back home for the summer (before she heads off this fall for grad school at the U of Missouri), the small party we had for her Saturday evening, the return of middle daughter for the summer and the addition of a new dog to the house, all in the course of about three days.
Despite the delay in getting this posted, I’m proud of her accomplishments so far and the fact her career choice is aimed at helping people. That and the joy of seeing her finding her own way in the world far outweigh what it (and the aches and pains) say about how old I’m getting.
Teach your children well
“Teach Your Children,” CSN&Y, Déjà Vu
I received a call at home Tuesday night from an outfit in Michigan whose name I do not recall saying they were looking for a certain number of registered voters to participate in a political focus group. I was initially inclined to tell them to go away but thought maybe it would be interesting to do as I’ve never participated in one and it would take less than three hours one evening this month.
After indicating I would be interested, the woman began gathering general information, such as educational level, age and whether and how I was employed. When I told her where I worked and that I was a lawyer, she said she was sorry but no one associated with the legal system or the courts was eligible to participate.
In hindsight, I wonder if the focus group was for the proposed abortion law or one of the other initiated measures on the November ballot. It makes some sense to my simplistic mind that they may not want a focus group on an initiated law to get caught up in a discussion of legal issues when they’re looking for what concerns and what sells to the average voter.
Or, then again, maybe I’m wrong and they just don’t like lawyers.
It is a besetting vice of democracies to substitute publick opinion for law. This is the usual form in which masses of men exhibit their tyranny.
James Fenimore Cooper, The American Democrat
Corey V. asked last week, “Which book would you save?” At first, I was just going to post a comment on his blog. Then, I thought maybe it was worth a quick blog post. I realized, though, that a question like that is far, far too difficult for a comment or quick post.
Corey’s post hits one of the core issues on the head: am I saving the book for society as a whole or is it going to be my “desert island book”? At first blush, you might think the book you save would be the same regardless. But I’m not so sure. For example, I’ve never liked Shakespeare. But do my personal tastes mean that the only book future generations have shouldn’t see Shakespeare’s collected works (or something by Twain or Dickens or Tolstoy)?
I ultimately opted for a blend. I figured I’d pick something I know I’d read but that undoubtedly has both literary and social value. Thus, my choice would be George Orwell’s 1984. If we’re in a situation where we need to talk about saving books, then plainly we would be much closer to Winston Smith’s world than we are today. Society undoubtedly will need both literary quality and useful social/political commentary.
Of course, ask me next week or next month and the answer might well be different.
Orthodoxy means not thinking — not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.
George Orwell, 1984
The spring installment of the National Book Critics Circle’s Good Reads list is out and, once again, neither of the books I voted for made the top five. For the first time, though, I’ve read books that made the top 10 in both the fiction and nonfiction lists, even reading the top vote-getter in nonfiction.
Nicholson Baker’s Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization was the No. 1 book in nonfiction. Baker’s book is an atypical look at World War II. Not only does it advocate the pacifist view, it raises the question of whether our “white hats” were all that white. Part of Baker’s problem, though, is that by challenging traditional views in asking if the Allies really held a moral high ground over Germany and Japan, he can be viewed as winking at Nazism or being indifferent to the Holocaust. (Although the book reinforces that the U.S. and Great Britain were themselves fairly indifferent to the plight of European Jews before and during the war.)
I actually thought about casting my vote for Human Smoke. I didn’t because of the issue I struggled with in reading it — a feeling some of the statements and quotes Baker cites were not necessarily in context. Still, I can understand why it might reach the top of the list.
His Illegal Self by Peter Carey was the only work I’d read of the top 10 fiction selections. It tied with six others for fourth in the voting. I have to say, though, that it wouldn’t have come close to being in my top five. His Illegal Self tells the story of a young boy who is the son of 1960s radicals who have gone underground. A visit from the woman he believes to be his mother leads to the two of them going to ground in Australia. Despite the praise it has gathered in the mainstream reviews, I found it inconsistent and ultimately unsatisfying.
Given that the books I voted for again didn’t come close to the top 10, it seems fairly clear that if and when the book I vote for finishes at the top of one of these lists, it’s gotta be one helluva book.
I am strongly in favor of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes.
Winston Churchill, quoted in Nicholson Baker’s Human Smoke
Several worthy book-related items have passed by recently so here’s a round up:
- The 2007 Nebula Awards were announced last weekend. Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union won Best Novel. Since it is also nominated for the Hugo Award and the Sidewise Awards, I picked it up from the library yesterday.
- Those awards came on the heels of the announcements of the winners of the 2007 LA Times Book Prizes. None of the winners show up on my list of books that I’ve read.
- Richard Morgan’s Black Man won this year’s Arthur C. Clarke Award, given for the best SF novel published in the UK the prior year. For whatever reason, the book was published in the US as Thirteen. (Via.)
- In light of Chabon’s Nebula win, io9 gives a crash course in alternate history novels.
- Also showing there’s more to SF than sometimes meets the eye, io9 provides a list of 20 science books every SF fan should read. I’ve actually read three: Cosmos, The Coming Plague and The Code Book.
- Speaking of prize winners, The Millions has an interesting analysis of the winners of and finalists for six major international book awards since 1995. Based on C. Max’s methodology, The Known World leads the pack.
- Not all books receive awards and praise, regardless of their quality. Thus, John Scalzi collects a variety of authors doing something he did: posting some of their one-star Amazon.com reviews.
I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
Anna Quindlen, New York Times, Aug. 7, 1991
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