Late February, 2010 One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka

Fukuoka has the right sort of attitude towards the world. Trying to outsmart nature is a fool's errand. Instead, watch and learn. I read this while working on a farm in Auroville, India, doing a workshop on natural farming which made the lessons of the book much more apparent.

The first part of his book, discussing the pragmatics of his rice grouwing system was at first a bit of a bore--I don't ever intend to grow rice, I don't even like rice! It's interesting when compared with other systems to grow food. I simultaneously read Omnivore's Dilemma, and I'll be damned if Fukuoka and Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms weren't doing the same thing. Granted, it was with a very different flora and fauna, but both are avid students of nature.

The second, more philosophical part of the book, I have mixed opinions about. He explains the "modern" attitude towards the world which industrial agriculture arose out of. That I agree with. But his anti-technological rant seems to denounce even basic human curiosity at times. Yes, I like to take things apart and find out how they work. No, there is nothing wrong with that--as long as I don't delude myself into thinking I know everything about a given system that I've poked around with. I think Fukuoka would agree with this though. He was apparently a consummate experimenter. Reading Ishmael offered an interesting alternative angle on monocropping and the civilizational project that humanity is currently engaged in.

As a random aside, when he discusses "do-nothing" farming, I don't think he gives enough thought to truly doing nothing: being a hunter-gatherer. He has this assumption that you still have to do something. This is touched in two places: One, the prelude where it acknowledges that truly "do-nothing" is to be a hunter-gatherer. Two, his technique for growing vegetables is very hunter-gatherer. Scatter the seed in a field, collect the vegetables when they are mature...

This book is a good jumping off point for discussion of the issues of modern technology and agriculture, but not necessarily in and of itself.

Mid-February, 2010 I Am That by Nisargadatta Maharaj

Mostly annoying. He talks in circles without illuminating the issues at hand. Occasionally someone asks about the talking in circles, then he responds with the same circles. Imagine a good book on Buddhism thrown in a blender and pasted back together.

Mid-February, 2010 Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

Like Harry Potter, but better. I needed a fantasy book that was an easy read and where the good guys win. I blew through, craving opportunities to read any time I was away from the book. A very well told and creative story. I really like the idea of giant armored bears, and Iorek Byrnisson is awesome! I can't wait to read the rest of the series. The guy who gave me this had the third book but not the second. Asshole! :-)

Early February, 2010 Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

I've read bits and pieces before, but I'm glad I read it cover to cover. Being a foodie, I had the sensation that I had read most of Omnivore's Dilemma before--just in lots of different places, here it's all compiled together.

I'm appalled at the "conventional" industrial food system; as I should be, I gather.

The industrial organic system makes me question the value of buying "ethical" alternatives while still spending money in supermarkets. If everyone bought cage-free eggs, that would not mean space to roam free and be a chicken for hens. You have to do more. Mostly I want the Stonyfield vanilla ice cream with blackberries on top that Pollan had for dessert. Delicious.

Polyface farm's example of a local food production system that enriches the earth is an inspiration. I want to live and work on a farm like that. All the meat, milk, and eggs an Andy could want! Sustainably!

Last, the hunter-gatherer meal--I lust over this sort of meal. I'm glad he had the balls to kill an animal. His defense of eating meat against the likes of Peter Singer was fantastic. I'm also glad he didn't pull any punches when describing how exhilarating hunting is.

Pollan's voice comes through wonderfully. Having seen him speak (online, at least) I can hear every sentence in his voice, including the numerous and wonderful parenthetical asides.

This book is a classic.

Late January, 2010 Mastery by George Leonard

Yet another re-reading. This book deserves it. It is both concise and wise, if self-helpish. Persistence is the greatest determinant of skill. You cannot expect continual rewards for your practice. Sometimes you will work and work, and not see benefit for quite a while!

Late January, 2010 Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

Read it before and I'll read it again, I'm sure. Ishmael was not the start of my thinking about paleolithic humans, but it helped to crystallize my thought and give it more coherent form. Three observations:

First, the interpretation of the biblical story of the fall from Eden as a hunter-gatherer myth is pretty cool and clever. I'm not saying it's "correct", just that it meshes nicely with the story. I don't think that's the point of the book, but just an interesting aside.

Second, one of the points Quinn is trying to make is that fear of death is responsible for how things came to be the way they are. Seeking insurance from death by adopting agriculture, storing food, and killing our competitors changed our bargain with nature. I think this squares very nicely with the views of existential psychoanalysis. Starting with Freud's Civilization and its Discontents, people realized that civilization is a great neurotic project. This was then further explored by Rank, Becker, and Brown. I haven't read anywhere near enough of their stuff, but what I have read is quite persuasive. I think the idea is taken to its logical conclusion in David Loy's Lack and Transcendence, where he also explains the Buddhist approach to moving beyond the fear of mortality. There's so much to be said here.

Third, I think Ishmael is a good first attempt at a psychological correlate to Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel I must admit that I haven't read it (yet!)--as I understand it GGS explains the material circumstances which allowed the middle eastern/European civilizational project to take over the world. Ishmael begins to answer the "why?". My girlfriend read it and said that the "fear of death" thing doesn't go far enough to explain why. Why did this attempt to beat death emerge in the fertile crescent and not elsewhere?

Late January, 2010 If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him! by Sheldon Kopp

An awesome and worthwhile read. I really wish I had known about this book during some of the more difficult, dark, and depressed periods of my life. The subtitle is "the pilgrimage of psychotherapy patients", but it is not just for those in therapy. The subtitle should be "the pilgrimage of life". Kopp explores the stories of psychological growth both from great literature and from his psychotherapy practice. Hell, as often as not, there is no growth and that's ok. That's really the point that the book makes, there is no secret and perfect way to live life.

One of my favorite sections is the "Eschatological Laundry List" at the back of the book. Some I especially like:

1. This is it!
2. There are no hidden meanings.
3. There no way of getting all you want.
4. All important decisions must be made on the basis of insufficient data.
5. You are free to do whatever you like, you need only face the consequences.

If there is any flaw, this book is too humble. In one chapter Kopp contrasts his hedging, intellectual Jewishness with an Italian patient's big, loud bravado. This book is also very much an expression of that same Jewishness. One of the really instructive quotes:

As the [Hasidic] saying goes, a man must have two pockets into which he can reach at one time or another according to his needs. In his right pocket he must keep the words: "For my sake was the world created." And in his left: "I am dust and ashes."

This book draws more from the left pocket, yet is still deeply comforting.

December 28, 2009 The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Holden's immaturity pisses me off. He's unwilling to like or enjoy anything. After going to a jazz bar he decides that everyone there is a "phony" and promptly leaves. During a date that he arranged with a girl, he decides that he isn't enjoying himself and that she's "phony". He always has to find something wrong with his personal situation. Hypocrisy is especially evident when he declares something "phony" but then does exactly that the next day, multiple times. Holden keeps a safe, cynical distance from everything. Would it kill him to enjoy something for once!?!

When I was in high school I attempted to read Catcher at some point, can't remember when. I could relate a little more to Holden at that point, but I was still turned off and did not finish the book. I'm glad I finished it this time--the first three quarters of the book only show what a mess Holden is. Salinger only offers some analysis of Holden's situation at the end, in the form of Phoebe and Mr. Antolini. The title is funny in light of Holden's desire to be the Catcher. The Catcher is a pretty clear metaphor for his unwillingness to accept adulthood.

Two analyses that influenced my thoughts:

• Immaturity: A Meditation of Sorts by Jon Lee
• The Fallen Idol: The Immature World of Holden Caulfield by Peter J. Seng

October 24, 2009 Blindsight by Peter Watts

I don't know where I stumbled across this, but it is pretty cool. It's an exploration of the nature of consciousness, in the guise of an encounter with smart aliens with intelligence vastly different from our own. The writing is typically sci-fi, and I don't know if I'd give it to someone who wasn't committed to reading it for the deeper subtext. What I really have to give Watts props for is all the research that has gone into this. Reading the well cited notes at the end is a treat in and of itself. He discusses a plausible biology of vampirism, bugs in the human sensory system, space travel, his unique alien's nervous system and biology, and finally consciousness. He's clearly very smart and there's a lot to explore from here!

October 2009 Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Not a bad book. I'm glad I've finally read it somehow managing to miss it all through high school. Golding's prose is choppy and vague, but the book offers a fantastic allegorical substrate.

The wikipedia page takes the angle that it's about the nature of civilization and savagery, unfortunately equating savagery with evil. There's an alternative way to read it though. Something interesting to note about the boys' rescue was that it was a navy officer who rescued them and he arrived in a gunship. This juxtaposes the adults' "civilized" war with the "savage" war the boys are having. Just as the fear Hitler stirred up mesmerized Nazi Germany and allowed him to channel it towards his own ends, Jack used fear of the Beast to win support from the other boys (Roger as the SS).

I think it's interesting that the bearers of truth, Simon and Piggy, are killed for doing so.

Meh. Golding fetishizes civilisation too much for my taste.