Reading

Recent Reads: Broken Foot Edition

Daniel 1 Comment

A broken foot begets a lot of free time. My climbing accident gave me the most spare time I’ve had since Covid – at least the most spare time with no athletic activity to fill it. At first I read a couple climbing books – since I’ve been buying and selling this genre, I have a tremendous amount on hand. But most climbers aren’t great writers, and the genre does not excite when you can’t actively dream. I turned to fantasy.

The Witcher is a Polish fantasy series, although it really reach an international audience through the video game adaptations, especially The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which was a worldwide hit. Indeed, playing The Witcher 3 during Covid quarantine is what got me interested in the world.

Embarrassed after such cheap fare, I finished up my recent reads with a more nutritious Roberto Bolano novel, in Spanish.

A bit more on each of these, below.

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Zen and the Art of Mountain Climbing

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Although once a hip and trendy book, few people today seem to read and connect with “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert M. Pirsig. First published in 1974, this philosophical novel celebrates its 50th birthday this year. My attempts at forming an anniversary book club within my family have been unsuccessful; only I have done the readings.

I read this book at the crag in Indian Creek, suffering through a sandstorm. Every time I come to the Creek I promise I’ll read at the crag – this past trip was the first time I’ve ever done so. Conversation in Indian Creek, when not being made impossible by howling wind blowing sand between your molars and into your cavities, consists of general ego stroking: “Oh you did that crack? Have you tried this crack? Someday I want to try this other crack!” And so on.

It’s tedious, and unavoidable.

In that context, this excerpt felt appropriate. What do you think?

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Book Review: “Standing in the Light”

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Standing in the Light Pantheist book

“Standing in the Light” by Sharman Apt Russell is a mediocre, book-length personal essay. The book is a history of pantheism told through a personal lens.

Using the braided structure popularized by creative nonfiction and personal essayists, Russell weaves back and forth between the story of her own life as a naturalistic, pantheist Quaker, and the story of pantheism and its key thinkers through the ages.

Pantheism, here defined as: “Everything is connected and the web is holy.”

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