Classical Chinese Poetry: An Anthology

Translated and edited by David Hinton/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2008

Before Thanksgiving I began a leisurely read of this “all-star” poetry collection which spans 2700 years (1500 B.C.E. to 1200 C.E.). The anthology of nearly 500 poems “focuses on a relatively small number of poets and provides selections that are large enough to recreate each poet as a fully realized and unique voice” (jacket).

Gradually absorbing the earliest to the latest, developing insight on poets influencing poets, understanding their distinctive voices helped me to put my previous readings of Chinese poetry into a more organized perspective.

Allowing myself to linger over these poems opens the doors of internal perception and conscious reflection, a process of slowing down the pace of life and perhaps even learning to be more present with the world around me.

Ezra Pound’s translations of Chinese poetry helped to break away from formalist rhetoric. In addition, he influenced and published expatriates in Paris during the 1920s. The use of “concrete language and imagistic clarity” can easily be seen in Pound’s publication of Hemingway’s In Our Time: It’s not what you write that’s important; It’s what you leave out (xix).

Reading a larger volume on a measured daily basis allows you to live with your reading experience, to become absorbed and allow the meaning of the text to ease into your life.

The above picture has nothing to do with the blog – I just like to post cute pictures of my kids. This blog is actually about the book I’m reading, Summerhill School by A.S. Neill. I’ve been reading parenting book s for a while, now I’m reading education books so I can figure out where to send the wee-tikes when the time comes. Apparently Summerhill School is the original Free School – the idea is that children learn best with “freedom rather than coercion”. Seems like a good idea – I mean after all who remembers liking the rules of school right? You don’t have to go to class if you don’t want, you can smoke, cursing is acceptable, basically anything that the students vote on goes – everyone has one vote regardless of age or rank, including teachers and administration. I’ve started this project to figure out what kind of school I want to send the kids to – and I’ve just started – don’t know where I’ll land, but I know it’s not going to be a Free School – it’s just too naive about human nature. I know that my children haven’t reached the age at which they would be eligible to attend Summerhill, but from what I know about them at this point we’ve got a ways to go before our votes are all equal. After all, these are the kids that think it’s a good idea to take eggs out of the fridge and break them on the kitchen floor.

A few weeks ago I bought a used Mazda Miata. I’ve been interested in them for a long time — aside from the reputation as a “mid-life crisis car” (Hi Joe!), they are great fun to drive and dead simple to work on. As with most things I take an interest in, the first step was to find some books about Miatas. I already had a factory shop manual, but other Miata owners recommended some additional books that covered basic maintenance and popular modifications for the car. Armed with this information, I headed to work, placed an order, and two days later my new books were in my hands.

All that is a roundabout way of introducing the topic of special orders. We pride ourselves on having the best books on nearly any subject, but of course we can’t carry everything. If there’s a book you have in mind, check with us — we might have it — but even if we don’t, most of the time we can order it for you. You can order in the store or over the phone. You don’t have to pay shipping costs (and most of the time we can get it in 2 business days). You don’t have to pay in advance, before you see the book. And when it arrives, we can gift wrap it or ship it for you.

We’re pretty good at figuring out what book you want, but it makes it really easy if you have the ISBN — that’s the 13-digit number near the bar code, usually beginning with 978. If you don’t know the ISBN, having the exact title and author (with the correct spelling!) is a pretty sure bet. And if you walk in and tell us that the book you’re looking for is blue, rectangular, and about people, we’ll still try our hardest to figure it out.

Sometimes, though, we’ll look up a book and find out that it’s no longer in print, meaning we can’t order new copies from the publisher or our distributors. Fortunately, we’ve got lots of practice looking up used books, too. We try to find nice-condition copies from other bookstores we know, but it’s not uncommon for the order to take a couple of weeks and for the book to have some minor wear. We’ll let you know the condition and price before we order, though, so you will have an idea what to expect.

If there’s a book you’ve been looking for, let us know what information you have about it, and see if we can’t find a copy for you — I bet we can.

As I was busily alphabetizing in the psychology section the other day, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud in sheer amazement at various book titles. Whoever said you can’t judge a book by its cover was wrong. The adage should be: Never underestimate the power of a good title.

Here are just a few examples:

The Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker. I thought this was a great reframe . . . very clever to grab the reader’s attention by saying that something painful and often times debilitating can be a gift! DeBecker studies violent behavior and helps people identify potential danger early by relying on our gut feelings.

How to Change Anybody by David Lieberman. Talk about the power of positive thinking. Nothing like hope to send us straight to the cash register. The book flap says, “Don’t let crazy people drive you crazy. Don’t let annoying, obnoxious, petty people get under your skin whether it’s your kids, spouse, friend, client, patient, or co-worker, you have the power to make it better.” (What was that part about co-workers?)

Building a  Home with My Husband by Rachel Simon. Need she say more? (Why? jumps into my mind but I continued reading further.) Simon lives in an imperfect house . . . it has charm but it’s small, dark and has a huge hole in the dining room ceiling. It won’t sell so she and her husband decide to renovate. This experience forces her to confront memories and inspires her to repair fractured bonds with those closest to her. I imagine that would be her husband. (You know those home repair shows on TV that have a husband and wife working together and they are unfailingly nice and patient with each other? They are actors . . . )

The Trouble with Thinking by Lauren Powers. Aren’t these titles great? Powers explains “the dangerous trip thoughts take from inside our heads to out of our mouths!” This book takes an important look at the way our minds work and could work better. It is a fantastic journey through our thought processes and reactions, drawing a map for us to find a better route.

The Soulmate Secret by Arielle Ford. There are so many Mark Sanford jokes running through my brain but I really like Jenny Sanford so I will leave them there . . . but the gall of that man. Anyhow, Ford shows how to take control of your romantic destiny by using the Law of Attraction. She says finding your soul-mate is possible if you are willing to prepare yourself on all levels to become a magnet for love. (Ummm, a magnet for love? Wow, at least Sanford didn’t use that line. Not to say that he won’t, however.)

The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout. Talk about a great title. There is no way you are going to see that title and walk away without reading just a little! The book is actually about what makes good people good and bad people bad and also how good people can protect themselves from these bad people. The author asks: “Who is the devil you know? Is it your lying, cheating ex-husband? Your sadistic high school gym teacher? Your boss who loves to humiliate people in meetings? Furthermore, Ford states that four percent of ordinary people have an undetected mental disorder. She encourages us to learn to identify a sociopath and protect ourselves. (I had a man come in a few months ago and buy two copies of this book at once. I was dying to follow him home and see who lives on the other side.)

And lastly, a real husband favorite . . .

How to Improve Your Marriage without Talking about It by Patricia Love. The author states that talking makes women closer but makes men move away. Even with the best of intentions, talking about your relationship does not bring you together and will eventually drive you apart. Love is not about communication; it is about connection. You’ll never get a closer relationship with your man by talking to him like you talk to your girlfriends. Patricia Love asserts that there are four ways to connect with a man: touch, activity, sex, routine. When men feel connected, they talk more. Male emotions are like women’s sexuality: You can’t be too direct too quickly.

Not a whole lot to say after that . . .

I owned Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 for close to a year before reading it.  I’ve been uncertain about the “post-modernists,” unsure as to whether or not I was ready for the ride.  I’m pleased to say that the experience wasn’t altogether unbearable, and that I may in fact be ready to try for some bigger fish (i.e. Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow, Gaddis’s J R, and Gass’s Omensetter’s Luck).

Lot 49 is a wild ride.  It is the story of Oedipa Maas, who becomes the executor of the estate of her former lover Pierce Inverarity.  She travels to San Narciso, Inverarity’s hometown, to carry out the process of receiving the estate.  What she discovers are some hilarious and eccentric characters, small societies previously unheard of, and a conspiracy against America known as the Trystero…or does she?

In Lot 49, Pynchon delivers a linear (basically) narrative rife with ambiguity.  The reader is never certain whether Oedipa is really uncovering a conspiracy, dreaming up circumstance, or is the recipient of a massive joke played by Pierce Inverarity.  Oedipa (taking her name from Oedipus Rex–a most famous truth seeker), never ceases in her effort to uncover the truth.  However, Pynchon’s message is that our world is complex, ambiguous, and uncertain, and that the more truth we uncover, the less we know.

The book is more difficult to read than the average novel.  However, it is a slim 152 pages, and every word is geared towards Pynchon’s purpose.  I encourage readers to step out of their comfort zones, stick with it, and read this book in its entirety.  You will be a richer person for doing so.