Re: What book are you reading? #4

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Ridgerunner said:
“Kingdom of Speech”, by Tom Wolfe. I’m not finished with it yet, but it seems to be about how human speech defies every “natural” analysis people have tried to apply to it. In particular, he seems to be heading to a conclusion that speech pretty much casts Darwinism and its offspring into the ash can of bad ideas.

Just a little comment on it. All humans who are not somehow physically or mentally prevented from it, can speak. And speech, which is pervasive among humans, is far, far beyond anything “natural selection” can explain, because its capabilities are vastly beyond anything “natural selection” would have demanded for survival. It’s an overwhelmingly gigantic “overimprovement”, so to speak, that has no natural explanation precisely because it’s a gigantic overimprovement over all other natural capabilities, and its limitations always seem out of reach. It’s still beyond the necessities of even the complex world we have devised for ourselves. So, of course, is the human brain. We have not yet “hit the wall” in either case, which requires the question whether there even is a wall. All animals have discernible “walls”. A jaguar can only jump so high. It can only conquer so many kinds of animals. It can make only so many sounds. It can eat only so many things and thrive. It can make itself a bedding of sorts, but only to a clearly discernible degree. No jaguar has ever so much as built itself a mud hut, let alone composed a poem.

Its “walls” are easily evident. But ours? Where are they if they exist, and do they exist at all, other than in a purely physical sense?

I’ll see where he ends up with this. But so far, I recommend it.
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It’s funny, but there are a lot of examples of things in the biological world that apparently have ‘evolved’ over time but for which I have a hard time imagining what got the ball rolling: such as skunks’ ability to spray musk at animals that they regard as threatening.
 
Exiled_Child said:
Oh, I almost bought that a couple days ago. How is it, anyway? I’m thinking I should probably go back and buy it…
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So far so good, but then I like Carl McColman and his previous books. I’ve only finished the first chapter, but I looked ahead to see who he chose for the 108 mystics. Personally, I’m pretty familiar with the lives and works of 58 of them, and 18 I’ve heard of but am not very familiar, and 31 appear to be new to me, so I’m hoping to learn a little something. I say little because each mystic only gets one or two pages, but that seems to be the idea: an introduction to whet one’s appetite and hopefully prompt further study.

One thing in particular I appreciate about Mr. McColman, he tries to be respectful and inclusive no matter where you are as a Christian: Catholic or Protestant, liberal or conservative. He acknowledges our differences when some other authors I’ve read tend to disparage or dismiss those with whom they don’t agree. I find Carl’s approach refreshing. Hope that helps.
 
Timeless Mexico, Hudson Strode. Gotta love a history book that prefers to historic personalities as ‘nincompoops’.
 
Nearing the end of a Baldacci… “Absolute Power”. A reread as all are just now as I cannot get to the library and am sorting all my charity shop books as I clear the house for moving…

Issues it deals with are very topical,
 
I’m reading “The Awakening of Miss Prim” by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera.
 
Timeless Mexico, a history of Mexico from the Toltecs until 1944. I didn’t realize how early the church was targeted there by quasi-socialist strongmen.
 
Some Historical Reflections on the Catholic Church in California, by Msgr. Francis J. Weber
(Monsignor Weber is the archivist for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles)
 
Finished The Word “Desire” and The Fan-Maker’s Inquisition by Rikki Ducornet, currently working through The Sot-Weed Factor.
 
The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel by Melissa de la Cruz

By daughter loves these and has two of the books. I have to read before I fall asleep and this book was nearby.
 
West of the Revolution, about goings-in in North America’s western half, mostly about Russian and Spanish colonial competition so far.
 
Return to the Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel by Melissa de la Cruz
 
I just finished Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott. It is a biography of four women who played rather unusual and unexpected roles in the Civil War, two on each side of the conflict. Interesting, especially given the current contentious political environment.

I have started A Powerful Mind: The Self-Education of George Washington by Adrienne Harrison. I’m hoping to be inspired to improve my approach to self-improvement.

I probably should stop watching C-SPAN Book TV. So many books, so little time.
 
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