What are you currently reading?

[Perlodid]

I agree, I have re-read many authors at different points in my life and they have taken on new meaning.

This thread has put me on to a lot of great new reading material.

Living in Northern Michigan I have walked and fished over some of the same ground and water that Harrison and Hemmingway have. Pretty cool!

BTW the Two Hearted is not the water Hemmingway wrote of in the Nick Adams stories. Like any good fisherman he was a liar when it came to giving up his spots!

Ha yup, the "Big Two Hearted" is not really all that big when you're digging through the alders trying to wrestle a brookie out of that jungle. Spent a lot of time up there too. Miss that area a lot. The actual Two Hearted is a pretty great place in its own right, even if it isn't what he wrote about.

 

[Dan-06]

We’re reading smoke jensen. Good cowboy books.

 

[BrentD]

This is a really interesting discussion. I should just stand on the sidelines and watch, but I have to take one more attempt to swing @Elky Welky to my side

Here is a painting that's fine. Nothing great for sure, but interesting. The painter lived in NYC I believe. I don't think there is anything special about his life or his experiences that lend themselves to this painting. It's okay work.

But someone else took it and reproduced it on this rifle - and I REALLY like this rifle. I almost bought it, but I would have had to sell my truck, and I needed the truck worse. The engraving was interesting, but only so far as the picture goes. It's nice, but it does not provoke a particularly notable degree of emotion.

This got me to thinking I might like engraving more than I thought. But it had to be special

So, when I looked at these, they are way more than just "okay" These are Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Pablo rolled into one, PLUS. While the paintings are simple, the context of who made them, where they were made, when they were made, makes these far more stunning than they would be had the guy in NYC done them. We know nothing about the individual(s) other than they were Frenchmen before there were French, they did this by torchlight while hallucinating in low Oxygen, and things like Cave Bears and Smilodons had them on their menus for dinner. This context makes these paintings much more interesting and spectacular than anything a guy in NYC could conjure up.




These pictures are not just great brush strokes. They have emotional impact that far exceeds the waving of the camel hair or whatever they used to do this. And so, when I made my first custom rifle, this is what I chose.

And though not nearly so old, these paintings are equally fantastic and interesting and worthy of admiration (and duplication) because of who, when, and where they were made.




And, thus, they are worthy of being scratched into one of my guns.


At least for me, context and history are everything. The brush strokes are 1/2 the battle, but only 1/2. The other half comes from some other, relatively intangible thing that has to do with who did the work and the context of what that meant to them in that place in time and space.

 

[Nicoli7153]

Cool beyond words!!!!

 

[Elky Welky]

This is a really interesting discussion. I should just stand on the sidelines and watch, but I have to take one more attempt to swing @Elky Welky to my side

Here is a painting that's fine. Nothing great for sure, but interesting. The painter lived in NYC I believe. I don't think there is anything special about his life or his experiences that lend themselves to this painting. It's okay work.

But someone else took it and reproduced it on this rifle - and I REALLY like this rifle. I almost bought it, but I would have had to sell my truck, and I needed the truck worse. The engraving was interesting, but only so far as the picture goes. It's nice, but it does not provoke a particularly notable degree of emotion.

This got me to thinking I might like engraving more than I thought. But it had to be special

So, when I looked at these, they are way more than just "okay" These are Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Pablo rolled into one, PLUS. While the paintings are simple, the context of who made them, where they were made, when they were made, makes these far more stunning than they would be had the guy in NYC done them. We know nothing about the individual(s) other than they were Frenchmen before there were French, they did this by torchlight while hallucinating in low Oxygen, and things like Cave Bears and Smilodons had them on their menus for dinner. This context makes these paintings much more interesting and spectacular than anything a guy in NYC could conjure up.
View attachment 312509

View attachment 312510

These pictures are not just great brush strokes. They have emotional impact that far exceeds the waving of the camel hair or whatever they used to do this. And so, when I made my first custom rifle, this is what I chose.

And though not nearly so old, these paintings are equally fantastic and interesting and worthy of admiration (and duplication) because of who, when, and where they were made.
View attachment 312511

View attachment 312512

And, thus, they are worthy of being scratched into one of my guns.
View attachment 312513

At least for me, context and history are everything. The brush strokes are 1/2 the battle, but only 1/2. The other half comes from some other, relatively intangible thing that has to do with who did the work and the context of what that meant to them in that place in time and space.

These are really neat examples! It was a great swing, and this has been a great discussion, but I'm going to dig deeper just for fun. Thanks for being a good sport @BrentD.

Your example of cave art actually goes so far the other direction that it perfectly illustrates the exact error I was initially concerned about. If the same thing were painted on a cave wall today, and looked exactly the same, we'd simply call it graffiti and not ascribe any value to it at all. In fact we might try to track down the artist and prosecute them. So in your example, then, the only value that it has is the fact that it is so old. And thus you're conflating its artistic merit with its age, because its age is the only thing that actually gives it any merit.

Back to Hemingway, I maintain that it does his work a disservice to say it must be read only with his biography in mind and not judged on its merit alone (terse sentences, narrative structure, form, function, meaning, etc.). The work is capable of standing alone because it has intrinsic artistic value, and we don't need to ascribe the author's life to it for it to have any worth. This goes back to my Sistine chapel example. Knowing nothing about Michelangelo's life does not diminish the awe it inspires. It could add to the experience, sure (this is why I talked about looking at something through many lenses: deconstruction, feminist theory, ecocriticism, etc. Each lens adds insight and value, but is not necessary for the understanding of the work). But the experience is not diminished for not knowing about Michelangelo's (or Hemingway's) life.

 

[Salmonchaser]

I set Islands in the Stream aside this morning. An appropriate vacation novel on my first trip to Florida.
Read Lincoln's Lyceum address from 1838.
Found it compelling given current political climate.

 

[Nicoli7153]

These are really neat examples! It was a great swing, and this has been a great discussion, but I'm going to dig deeper just for fun. Thanks for being a good sport @BrentD.

Your example of cave art actually goes so far the other direction that it perfectly illustrates the exact error I was initially concerned about. If the same thing were painted on a cave wall today, and looked exactly the same, we'd simply call it graffiti and not ascribe any value to it at all. In fact we might try to track down the artist and prosecute them. So in your example, then, the only value that it has is the fact that it is so old. And thus you're conflating its artistic merit with its age, because its age is the only thing that actually gives it any merit.

Back to Hemingway, I maintain that it does his work a disservice to say it must be read only with his biography in mind and not judged on its merit alone (terse sentences, narrative structure, form, function, meaning, etc.). The work is capable of standing alone because it has intrinsic artistic value, and we don't need to ascribe the author's life to it for it to have any worth. This goes back to my Sistine chapel example. Knowing nothing about Michelangelo's life does not diminish the awe it inspires. It could add to the experience, sure (this is why I talked about looking at something through many lenses: deconstruction, feminist theory, ecocriticism, etc. Each lens adds insight and value, but is not necessary for the understanding of the work). But the experience is not diminished for not knowing about Michelangelo's (or Hemingway's) life.

That's what I like about literature ....... it personal to each reader, they all paint their own unique picture in the minds eye of the settings, characters and meaning.

 

[Steiny77]

Just read a great short story this morning, I'd recommend.
Leiningen Versus the Ants
by Carl Stephenson 1893-1954

You can find it online

 

[Irrelevant]

Two of the more underwhelming books I've read in a while. And I so wished they'd have been great. As they're both set in one of the cooler places on the planet.

 

[Zak]

Books I read in January:

A Time for Truth by William Simon - Former Treasury Secretary discussing free markets and economics, nice quick read
Eye of the World by Robert Jordan - First book of the fantasy series 'The Wheel of Time', fantasy world is huge and it was a nice escape. I picked up the sequel
Story of my Life by Hellen Keller - Impressive overcoming of her deafblind disability, can read in a few hours. The edition I had included many of her personal letters, they were worth the read
A History of the American People by Paul Johnson - Spent most of the month reading this, huge book which covers the history of the United States, 1000 pages but I was sad to see it end
Atomic Habits by James Clear - Read in a few hours, good motivation and tips on how to develop good habits and end bad habits

 

[MT_Fin]

Reading this one:


Listening to this one:

 

[Southern Elk]

Two of the more underwhelming books I've read in a while. And I so wished they'd have been great. As they're both set in one of the cooler places on the planet.
View attachment 313428

I enjoyed Ron Mills’ book. I haven’t read the other one.

Did you listen to him on the BHA podcast? Hal had him on there twice. Great story teller.

 

[Trial153]

The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross
John M. Allegro

 

[2rocky]

Just in the final stretch of Undaunted Courage on Audible. There were many things I didn't realize I was going to like:

• The political situation, and partisan bickering between the Revolutionary war and War of 1812.
• How amazing it was that Napoleon just "Fire Sale"ed the Louisiana territory.
• The origins of John Coulter in the Corps of Discovery
• The degree of help the Corps received from natives.
• How Lewis had to scramble to publish his manuscript and what that meant for his financial situation.
• The number of people who were pushing into the West well before the emigrant trails were established.

Now i'm looking for the next Audible selection to read. My progress so far has been:
Jim Bridger
Kit Carson
Jed Smith
Lewis and Clark

Who's next?

 

[Irrelevant]

I giggle to myself every time I see the cover. My wife is really sick of my jokes as we lay in bed and I remind her I'm studying for "her" benefit... she'd better get herself ready.

 

[noharleyyet]

View attachment 316493
I giggle to myself every time I see the cover. My wife is really sick of my jokes as we lay in bed and I remind her I'm studying for "her" benefit... she'd better get herself ready.

First stop?

 

[Irrelevant]

First stop?
View attachment 316494

and only. for now.

 

[ismith]

Just picked this up in Dillon this weekend. Interesting read!

 

[SaskHunter]

Another great read by Pierre Berton.

 

[noharleyyet]