Book meme

This is a book themed tag that Alun posted, instead of tagging people he just left it for people to take the tag themselves. I happen to really enjoy most tag memes. However, I don't much like the word meme, but that will make for a future post, no doubt...btw cat lovers...Alun has a post today titled something like..."there's a 25% chance bloggers are infected with cat germs"

1) One book that changed your life. Man's Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl

Frankl was a psychotherapist who was sent to a concentration camp. This book talks about how horrible existence actually delivered Frankl into a life affirming man. He writes that even the SS guards came to him for help reconciling their vocation as soliders under such a regime. Fascinating book.

"Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible."

The “existential aspect of Frankl’s psychotherapy maintains man always has the ability to choose; no matter the biological, or environmental forces. An important aspect of this therapy is known as the “tragic triad,” pain, guilt, and death. Frankl’s “Case for a Tragic Optimism” uses this philosophy to demonstrate… “optimism in the face of tragedy and in view of the human potential, which at its best always allows for”

* Turning suffering into human achievement and accomplishment
* Deriving from guilt the opportunity to change oneself for the better
* Deriving from life’s transitoriness and incentive to take responsible action.

2)One book you have read more than once. Hamlet's Mill I have read this twice, and also refer to it and look things up in it all the time. I think it may very well be one of the most amazing books and discoveries EVER. It might even be a book that changed my life, I was already well aware that mythology,ancient art and religious stories were codes for astronomy in pre-literate societies...but this book was the grandparent of the concept.

From the back cover:

Ever since the Greeks coined the language we commonly use for scientific description, mythology and science have developed separately. But what came before the Greeks? what if we could prove that all myths have one common origin in celestial cosmology? What if the Gods, the places they lived, and what they did are but ciphers for celelstial activity, a language for the perpetuation of complex astronomical data? Drawing on scientific data, historical and literary sources, the authors argue that our myths are the remains of a preliterate astronomy, an exacting science whose power and accuracy were suppressed and then forgotten by an emergent Greco-Roman world view. This fascinating bookk throws into doubt the self-congratulatory assumptions of Westernscience about the unfolding development and transmission of knowledge. This is a truly seminal and original thesis, a book that should be read by anyone interested in science, myth and the interactions between the two.

3)One book you would want on a desert island. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Is that cheating?

4)One book that made you laugh. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.

5)One book that made you cry. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. This book was also huge in influencing me about almost everything. I would have said it was life changing except that I read it while still a kid.

6)One book you wish had been written. Writers In Love about the love affair between Simone de Beavoir and Nelson Algren. Someone should write that one.

7)One book you wish hadn't been written. A twist, because my first answer was Mein Kamp. But if Mien Kamp hadn't been written...and Hitler still was a sick leader...then perhaps many Americans might not have agreed to enter WWII. Along with Pearl harbour the English translation and distribution in America of this book aided with the move to go to war to save europe from dictatorship. many people forget that America did not enter the seond World War for years after it began. Mien Kamp was given away and it was law in Germany to own it...but almost no one read it, as it is almost unreadable. I've tried. Even SS guards often had not read it. But a copy was obtained and rich Americans paid to have it translated and once the public realized what was actually being said inside it's covers the shock helped instigate participation in saving gays, Jehovah Witnesses, poets, social activists and Jews from death in concentration camps.

8)One book you are currently reading. No Go The Bogeyman by Marina Warner. I love her works. If you are a fan of David Lynch, here is a taste of her incredible style and thinking process. A review of Lost Highway called Voodoo Road. You will see why I love her work so much just from this article.

9)One book you have been meaning to read. Bleak House by Charles Dickens. This is embarrassing. I started this blog with my first post saying I was just going to post about books...in particular I was about to read Bleak House. Still haven't and that was almost six months ago. Sheesh.

10)Now tag five people...

I am going to follow Alun's lead and just say...take this tag if it interests you...but please let me know if you are going to take it, and I'll link you here for others to read this interesting list.

Does anybody even read books anymore?