Dear Book Lover: Books that Get Better With Maturity

To the farm J. Peterman once again goes,

What he does there no Villager knows,

So for his next contest let us suggest,

And this is most certainly not in jest,

That the winner gets invited there too,

And here’s hoping that lucky one is you,

Then you can tell the rest of us in a lengthy post,

What a weekend is like with the creative Kentucky host.

I think you may be wrong
although it could be just me
for not every prize  would I want that I see
what if winning this comes complete with a room
a bucket of paint,and a brush, and a broom
 
I'm sorry for throwing cold water on the deal
it may be like heaven,new clothes and a meal
with time standing still, letting us make the most
of the life of a gentleman, our hero,our host
sitting with him at table, following to stable,
and time in the library, hearing story and fable
 
I could go on,having thoughts most devine,
but I must go downstairs ,refill my cup with this wine

The air of mystery
Would be history.
Mr P is very lucky
To have a farm in Kentucky.
I guess it's for peace & quiet & privacy -
Not for entertaining you or me.
He highly suggests, in a polite tone
That if you want one, Get Your Own!

Books that mature - is it the book or the reader? I was highly amused reading books like Winnie The Pooh and The Wind in the Willows to my son to find another level of observation on the human condition that flies right over children's heads. I have enjoyed returning to books I hated as a youngster. I enjoy re-reading books I have read before. Somebody recently mentioned reading cereal packets - I'll read anything. The BBC does superb dramatisations of classic novels which are, for me, compulsory viewing.

Why am I hearing a Soliquy by Meryl Streep ??? (Her Best Part Ever, in my opinion)
 
Meantime:  Books will NEVER be repaced by Electronic Gizmos ... Not among the Truly Intelligent anyway ... its too hard to write in the Margins of an Electronic thing ... Books become Old Friends, and unlike most people, they are Constant ... Regardless of how many times one may have read the same Book, he can always find something New, in a familiar Tome ... When I'm a kid, and to this very day, a Book is my Favorite Gift to receive ...

I think its the same with movies, perhaps even with some travel destinations.
Yet the reverse is true too. To be able to see or feel the world through young eyes and heart, unadulterated by worldliness, weariness and experience can be a joyful , and learning, experience. I guess that's what its meant when a book or movie is "timeless"

I wish I had kept a journal of the books I read. Not just so I don't keep buying the same mysteries in airports, but because I love most of them so much and they deserve a place on my Honor Roll. Imagine if my granddaughter could look in my journal see the year when I was 12 and read Gone With The Wind and The Diary of Anne Frank followed by Catcher In The Rye! I love books much more than movies because I prefer to do my own casting of roles.

But I do have to say that this past snowed in winter for me would have been a torture without my Kindle! Of course it can't replace a book but there are many occasions that I rely on its portability etc (scrabble at the dentist). hmmmm I think we might have touched on this before....

Life and literature as well as tradition and technology are not "either/or" rather "All/and". Freedom of writers to create without inhibition as inspired as well as the reader to pick and choose what and how & when/where to indulge in the luxury of reading (a recent phenom in world history BTW) warms my cockles. I insert notes and dates in my printed books as well as my electronic and handwritten journals about what I read and what I am thinking at the time I am reading it. The Tommy at 10 or 20 and the Tommy at 40 or 50 are like 4 different people belonging to the same book club. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle just had a birthday this past week and we all raised a glass to his greatest creation, the flawed but brilliant Sherlock Holmes. When I am dusting, I sometimes touch my favorite books and like the scent of a woman, the feel of a hardcover book is quite addictive. May the game of great literature always be afoot! 

Tommy ~ You do dusting? Why do you live so far away? I can cure you of this affliction, curl upon the sofa and take turns to read aloud. The dust can gather.

I'm with Jalopkin.  There are books that are like friends; I've re-read them so many times that I have long lost count.  I am a science fiction fan and grew up reading Robert Heinlein.  I was young when he started writing and his first novels were juveniles.  As his writing matured, so did I.  I had a complete set of his writings, mostly in hardback.  One Christmas, I gave the whole collection to my son.  I told him if he ever tired of them, he had to give them back.  I now have paperback copies of those I like to re-read.  But that's not all I read.  And what I read has changed over time as I have changed.  My life's focus has changed at times to topics I never would have touched as a young man, items of philosophy, theology and psychology.  I would not have comprehended what they were about, much less seen any value in the tomes or even a reason to open them.  Oh yes, I also am with Jalopkin regarding electronic reading machines.  No way.  Give me a book, preferably hardbound, with wide margins.

I re-read some of my favorite books, usually at 5-10 year intervals and am always facinated at what I never saw or understood before. For example: I read Chronicals of Narnia as a child, again as a required reading for a humanities course in university, and about every 10 years since. The richness of the content increases with my age.

I love my Kindle because I never run out of reading material any more when I am away from my own library. I also love it because I have been able to read ALL of the collected works of so many of my favorite authors. Many of these books are no longer in print, not in any public library, in fact, NO LONGER GENERALLY AVAILABLE. But they do show up in Kindle or electronic format.

I am currently reading a collection of 100+ mysteries, mostly British, all pubished before 1923, and which cost me $2.79. What a treasure trove. Some of them I have read, but most of them would probably never have been purchased by any US library or would have long ago been tossed out so that more recent literature could have shelf space. Plus I am now have more shelf space myself for my own books. I can buy the Kindle version of a book I already own and get rid of the (84+ boxes) of hardback books that have been taking up lots of space by donating them.

I will ALWAYS have physical books in my library, but I will also always have my electronic library to refer to for easy access to beloved books I have read in the past.

Mr. Peterman is certainly correct - in the idea that we need a get away place at some point in time. Whether that is a farm in Kentucky like he suggests or escaping into a novel that you have read for years, having that escape is good for anyone's sanity.  The book that gets better with age for me is Rebecca - I read it once a year, I have since I was about 15.  The first tiem I read it - The theme was a mystery, A few years it changed into a later a captivating story of escape, and as i matured the main theme of Jealousy and living up to "Pedistal Girls/People" has certainly come into my understanding of Daphne du Maurier's signature gothic novel.  I tend to use the phrasing - She's/He's your Rebecca when my friends talk themselves up against their boyfriends/girlfriends exes....  I will admit I have never fully read Moby Dick - but I do have it on my reading list.  The schools in the area tend to have the kids read Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych", Which confuses me greatly, I guess #1 on my list of books not to read until you have experienced life & some regrets in your life before you REALLY understand that particular piece of Literature.  
 Everyone have a great weekend - I am off with the Apollo Pup to my families get away place in the WI Northwoods until Tuesday. 
 
      

Haze- You busted me. Truthfully, I use the feather duster like a pipe, a brandy snifter or other stage prop- a diversionary tactic to give the semblance of actual work taking place. But as to reading aloud I can not think of a better way to spend an afternoon. I belong to a Reader's Theater Group that does Dickens' every Christmas and at neighborhood group I read C.S. Lewis. Blessings m'dear.

TT - Your 9 am post says it perfectly for me! Reading is not either/or, but all-inclusive. Likewise, the reader I am in my 60's is a different person from the one who read at those younger ages!
 
I did read all of Moby Dick, and loved it...the detail, the otherness, the quirky characters! I also read Dr. Zhivago, Tess of the D'Urbevilles, and all the Sir Walter Scott romances before I was 20. One of my favorites is Ben Hur, which resounds differently as one ages. I am bad to weep as I read poignant scenes, so you see the tragic tomes fill a big part of my reading.  But, then, I have wept at some touching commercials, so that says more about me than the content, I think!
 
Love, this topic, Mr. P! I printed the list above of the 100 chosen titles and am checking off the ones I have yet to experience:  a book bucket list....Thanks!

Mooseloop thank you for mentioning the list of 100 novels, I had forgotten to look at it. What a wonderful j ourney just reading the titles and remembering the essence of each one. I was surprised that I in fact had pretty much read them all but what a great list. I am going to reread A Prayer For Owen Meany today.

Safe holiday everyone! Watch out for pop flys..

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything.   

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything.   

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything.   

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

For me, there seems to be a precise moment when a book is "ripe."  I pick up various books over and over, can't seem to get interested in them; but then there comes this moment when I pick up the same book that I've been passing over for months, maybe even years, and suddenly, it's intriguing.  I'm finally ready for it.  But I agree that some books can be appreciated better with the reader's maturity.  And many books have different meanings when read at different stages in life.  "Catcher in the Rye" was hilarious and practically an instruction guide for life as a teenager and young adult; yet, in middle age, it was bittersweet.  As a young adult, "Out of Africa" was romantic; in middle age, I recognized for the first time how difficult it must have been for the author to be a landowner in Africa at that time, and to own and run a business.  Experience colors everything. 

Plateye~ I'm not vey computer savvy, but that multiply of post happens to people. Nice post, don't go away!            

Plateye ~ You have unknowingly just set the world record for Berting.  It
could not have happened at a better time.  Your words and experience are warmly
welcomed  and quite frankly some posts bear repeating. 
I have had the same experience when picking up a book (the ripening not the
berting).  I will usually keep three or four going at one time and out of those
three or four is one that has been dragging along firmly in hand but unattended
like a distracted child.  In its own way it is screaming for attention, but I
know it will only appreciate that attention when the time is ripe.
 
As far as Book Berting, some books should be read more than once just
because there is so much in them.  Some that come to mind are the
aforementioned Moby Dick and Don Quixote, The House at
Pooh Corner, The Bible, The Life and Adventures of Miss Fanny Hill
and The Constitution of the United States of America.
 
A good morning to all, I've been on the road for a full week and after all
the work and adventure, it is so good to be back home again.
 

Plateye, as we mentioned yesterday computers have a personality sometimes.  Darn their hide.  They want to embarrass us sometimes.  Don't let it.
 
I can agree with TT about reading aloud. I enjoyed the short stories and books I read to my daughters as much as they did just like Hazel.  One of the first gifts I gave my God daughter was the complete set of Beatrix Potter stories (original editions) so she and siblings could enjoy thier mom and dad reading them.  Their parents are actors so can you imagine what a delight that must be. 
 
Also have discovered that those of us who like to read aloud even to ourselves are "audio" and often learn better when we hear it than when we just see it on the page.
 
One of the most beautiful "books" I have ever read aloud is The Song of Soloman, King James Version.   

"The Odyssey" is one of those books that I've picked up, put down, picked up, put down, picked up, put down......the yo-yo of my book shelf.  Once again I've picked it up--only this time I vowed to read it aloud and that has made all the difference.  I'm making progress by reading aloud, rageing aloud, declaiming and boasting aloud.....The mind can't wander as easily or be distracted so lightly when reading aloud, I've always found.

Top of my re-read list is Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy.

Rusty~ The Song of Solomon - Beautiful!

Welcome home, Paolos.

Today i would rather read thanwrite about reading. My internal gyroscope has been off kilter recently so settling in to a semi-reclined position with my nose in a book, or with a book on my nose, is just what the doctor ordered for a day such as today. The clouds are low and weighted down, just waiting for someone with a scythe to reach up and release the downpour.

I'm in the midst of a novel that just does not like it when i put it down, so the afternoon should pass quickly. Through my book i'll be hovering around the battlefield medical units of WWI France and late 1920 Wall Street/Manhatten trying to solve the crime of the century...... Relish your day, catch you on the flip side.

Peace out....

Thanks, Hazel, it is good to be here.
 
I'm with Rusty and you on this one also, The Song of Solomon is so
much more than just good reading.  The Psalms of David aren't too shabby either
for an old king's musings.
 
And in accordance with Ecclesiastes, it is now time to
tend the garden.
Lord willing, I should be back after sundown.

O Lord, Paolos, having been kidnapped into the church chior at an early age, the Psalms were my poetry.

I have to say more - reading aloud is good, but singing psalms in plainsong with a chior of assorted voices is ...... I don't know the word.

My book problem is that as I age, the books that I was sure I would tackle seem just as daunting. I was all set for them to be less daunting, Moby Dick is a case in point. I do have a book with all the Burma Shave slogans in it. Now if I could just remember where I put it ...
No snide MEMORY comments, please.  :)))

Hazel--Ecstatic..................

Hazel, sung psalms, read silently psalms, read aloud psalms are truly beautiful.  You reminded me of something the Rev. Peter Gomes once answered when he was asked how to get through grief because of a great loss.  "Read 5 Psalms a day till you read them all.  Read them with your heart and soul as well as your mind, and you will understand your grief and perhaps yourself better.  That is the best you can do with grief." 

Carol, Rusty Paolos~ I didn't expect this conversation from today's topic, but my love in our Lord to you all.

When I was about eight or nine I started getting books for birthdays and Christmas and have kept them for many, many years. Most are books for young boys and as I got a little older the books were geared  for my age age at that time so my interest in books has been a life long affair. Now those book are getting a second life as gifts to my grandson and they progress in maturity as does he. Our grand daughters get books every year for birthdays and Christmas. At some point I started to collect old and antique books a have a small collection with some from the 1880's. In addition to being kept in a special place I also read them. some more than once. Tommy T. we  just returned from a trip to Reno with a stay at the Silver Legacy and a side excursion to Virginia City where i drank a beer for you at the Bucket of Blood. Next time you go to the Silver Legacy they you could ask if you have any nights free because I left enough money there to pay for a couple nights. Also enjoyed a delicous dinner at Sterlings.                      

Hazel---Plainsong is an under-appreciated art.  Singing/chanting Psalms or other liturgical parts is not only an opportunity to uplift your voice and spirit in song, but to really think about what words you are using.  (Not unlike reading aloud, eh?)  I frequently do the cantor bit at our church and greatly enjoy leading a worship experience in this way.  Truly I will extend my prayers for you next time as I lift up my voice in song.

Carol~ We are singing off the same hymn sheet.

Hazel--I do believe we are!!

Plateye…welcome! It’s not your computer, it’s the software! Are you using Internet Explorer 9? If you are not sure, click on “Help” at the top, click “About Internet Explorer” and it will tell you. If you are posting in IE9, click “Send” just once. Then “refresh” the page – you will see your post has gone through. I found out when I berted the other day too (Bert is a postee here whose computer does it all the time, inspite and despite of. I swear its schizophrenic). I now post in Google Chrome and I don’t have that problem anymore. I’m guessing Mozilla Fox doesn’t have the problem either.

Here’s some college humour comparing the different web browsers..
http://www.favbrowser.com/the-difference-between-internet-explorer-firefox-google-chrome-opera-and-safari/

Moose,…I love that! A bucket list of books ! I missed that article at the top too, so have clipped it away now

To all you psalmists…have you come across the intriguing question of what lies in the exact centre of the Bible? Apparently it’s Psalm 118.8: "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man” (NIV). Preceding it is the shortest psalm, 118 and following it is Psalm 119, the longest psalm in the bible. Talk about divine instruction…..

Up until the time of his death, Mortimer Adler edited and produced an annual volume called "Great Ideas Today" that was meant to keep alive the spirit of his Great Books efforts. I know this because I had the pleasure and privilege of contributing a chapter to the 1996 edition.

Late in 1995, I was summoned to his home in San Mateo, California, to go over the final version. He was in severe congestive heart failure by this time, but nevertheless sitting at his desk in a bedsitter-type room, writing longhand a manuscript.

Adler's first comment to me was that he had decided not to publish my manuscript. I was completely shocked and stunned, and felt the blood run to ym feet. I honestly thought I might faint. I felt so shocked and humiliated and ashamed!

Slowly, however, I regained my footing. I began arguing with him, politely at first. He seemed to escalate the argument (in fact he was enjoying it). I began arguing the validity of my assertions, pointing out their philosophical underpinnings and even citing data and research that I had left out the "final cut" so as to keep the chapter's length under control.

I got fairly fierce in my own defense. Suddenly, Adler's face relaxed, and he leaned back in his chair. He stopped offering objections.

Finally, he said, "OK, well let's publish it then."

I came away feeling that I had actually won an argument with the great Mortimer Adler.

Sometime thereafter, I would learn that Adler used this technique with every single author whose work he published. He'd tell the author he'd decided not to publish the author's work, and would greenlight the publication only if the author got sufficiently impassioned in defending his/her work.

So I passed Adler's test. In a way that is meant as praise, I would say that Adler had unrealistic expectations of other people that were exceeded only by the unrealistic-ness of his expectations of himself.

Sometime last year, I mourned the fact that Christopher Hitchens had been diagnosed, just after publication of "Hitch-22." with widely metastatic esophageal cancer.

Ivan on this site promised to make it a matter of almost personal urgency to pray for Hitchens. Anybody with any doubts about Ivan's effectiveness at intercessory prayer should look at the new website, dailyhitchens.com.

Hitchens is back and seemingly better than ever! After six months of writing nothing and being at death's doorstep, he is churning out the essays as never before.

For those unfamiliar with Hitchens, he is most well-known for advocating atheism. Hitchen's atheism has proven to be no match for our very own Ivan's believership!

Ivan, I had meant to send you a personal e-mail about this, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

CHEFDEB....................I was in a book club several years ago & we had picked A Prayer for Owen Meaney to read. I was not enthused because I thought Waiting for Garp was NOT my cup of tea........................Prayer ended up being one of the best books I have ever read. It is a stunning book w/ so much visual imagery..........an incredible read.
 
KSS............Richard Avedon has photograph of Renata Adler that is beautiful..............it's from the 70's; it's one of my many favorites of his. I believe she is Mortimer's daughter...............His photographs celebrated women when they looked like women & not plastic, injectable freaks...........their laugh lines were so sexy................
 
MOOSE..............I have been meaning to read Tess, but I have not. I think the movie w/ the deliriously gorgeous Nasstajia Kinski is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking movies ever made.................and at the very end of the credits in small letters it says, "for sharon".................he made it after his wife Sharon Tate was murdered......................
 
PL............your, "See you on the flip side", always makes me feel happy & sad............I don't know why.........................

Bebe...... Just be happy, i insist!

Somebody, Ummy, maybe- said it: books, e-reader, whatever- it's reading.
We have a lot of books, some on computer and I don't think it makes any difference how you choose to get your material as long as you get it and use it.
I don't think we are better or smarter or in any way more more useful than today's kids and the notion that we are is getting under my skin.
They are, in case the science is too obscure, the children of our children educated under a system put in place by people we voted for working within tight budgetary limitations we imposed.
No generation, including ours, is fairly judged by what the least appealing of its members accomplish.
I am proud of our kids. They are smarter, more thoughtful and more capable of sustained effort than I ever was and their kids are great- er.
Here's a little something to consider before one more condescending outburst: when we are better and wiser, if we are, somebody else will say so... until then, consider this: we didn't come up all the good stuff, it isn't all used up and self-proclaimed superiority is boring and worn out.

Because I taught some of the "classics" for years, I cannot really be objective about the ones that were read, analyzed, compared, essayed about, and finally tested. For years I taught the following --chapter by chapter or act by act, groups discussing symbolism, themes, characters, motifs, metaphor, and all the usual literary devices: To Kill A Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, A Separate Peace, Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, The Red Badge of Courage, The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, The Crucible, Our Town, The Glass Menagerie, MacBeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet.
 
There may have been others, but those are the ones that leap to mind. Sometimes the students let me know they thought the work was old fashioned and "boring," and sometimes they picked up on the universal human themes and saw the point in the study.
Aware of the "drudgery" to them, I tried to make the writings as relevant to their lives as possible, questioning them, asking them to explain what the character had done. I can only hope that they collectively are better people because they studied those works. I know I am.

Ooops, I forgot the years of tenth grade lit with Julius Caesar and The Odyssey!!
 
After reading the book, the class then saw the film and we had good discussions comparing the two forms and letting them give reasons they favored one or the other (all except "The Catcher in the Rye" - Was there ever a film of that? I don't think I knew it, if so). They learned that Hollywood sometimes changed the book story, and not for the better, e.g. ,The Red Badge of Courage (or The Scarlet Letter in the Demi Moore version). I have been told that films today are pretty much forbidden in the old high school where I worked. Too bad. I think it is a valid genre, if used judiciously.
 
(If you have not seen the 1953 Julius Caesar in black and white with Marlon Brando in a bedsheet/toga, you have not smiled that much lately!) Actually, the film was well cast with James Mason, Edmond O'Brien, Sir John Guilgud, Deborah Kerr, and Greer Garson, and won some awards in its time.

Stoney~RE 10:18     if you think you're smarter,or even as smart as, try helping a kid with homework- - you will be hard pressed to find a similarity between what we learned as the 3 "R"s...try arithmatic for a starter.....or music

RY ~
So true.
I've worked with some smart kids, one in particular for the last year or two and I have confidence-- we all better because that generation is going to slave to get out of the economic quagmire ours has saddled them with.
Entitled seniors would all do well to do the arithmetic regarding SS and see how much more we collect than was ever paid in.
Guess who's going to be paying?

GOOD  ON  YOU  LYNN !!!!!!!
 
 
PAOLOS:   "Berting???"  You Crack me Up !!!!!!!