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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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An amusing, satirical anti-war novel, written in 1921 about a brilliant idiot's enthusiastic adventures in the First World War.
Overly long, but on occasion laugh-out-loud funny. And, as with any good satire - its' not that the author has confabulated, it's merely that he has that ear for the absurdity of existence. This was - I strongly suspect - one of the principal inspirations behind "Catch-22".
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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Which is the first person narration of Cabeza de Vaca's 8 years in North America. One of only 4 survivors of the 1527 Narvaez expedition (from 400 initially) he became one of the first Europeans to cross North America, his odyssey saw him taken slave by various of the Native tribes as he worked his way from Florida to Mexico City - plain speaking, he embellishes nothing - yet, given his ordeal he is remarkably precise about locations, times and distances, as well as offering some cultural insights into the peoples he met.
I love this sort of stuff - History is much more interesting when told to you through the eyes of it's witnesses.
Chapter 21
Five Christians quartered on the coast came to the extremity of eating each other. Only the body of the last one, whom nobody was left to eat, was found unconsumed. Their names were Sierra, Diego Lopez, Corral, Palacios, and Gonzalo Ruiz.
Chapter 23
THE ISLANDERS wanted to make physicians of us without examination or a review of diplomas. Their method of cure is to blow on the sick, the breath and the laying-on of hands supposedly casting out the infirmity. They insisted we should do this too and be of some use to them. We scoffed at their cures and at the idea we knew how to heal. But they withheld food from us until we complied.
Chapter 35
They said that a little man wandered through the region whom they called Badthing [Mala Cosa]. He had a beard and they never saw his features distinctly. When he came to a house, the inhabitants trembled and their hair stood on end. A blazing brand would suddenly shine at the door as he rushed in and seized whom he chose, deeply gashing him in the side with a very sharp flint two palms long and a hand wide. He would thrust his hand through the gashes, draw out the entrails, cut a palm's length from one, and throw it on the embers. Then he would gash an arm three times, the second cut on the inside of the. elbow, and would sever the limb. A little later he would begin to rejoin it, and the touch of his hands would instantly heal the wounds.
Read the Wiki Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvar_N%C3%BA%C3%B1ez_Cabeza_de_Vaca
And, should you be stuck finding the book read it online here: https://www.google.ca/books/edition/The_Journey_of_Alvar_Nu%C3%B1ez_Cabeza_de_Va/RMQRAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover or here: http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/cdv/rel.htm
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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How have I not discovered him sooner?
This is great, reminiscent of Calvino or Borges, somehow perfectly suited to my current tastes and mood. I will have to discover more books by him.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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An amusing satire on the Soviet Occupation of Czechoslovakia. Except, of course, despite the farcical events and personages depicted it takes very little to realize that the events described probably occurred in very much that order, it is less the writer's job to confabulate than it is to shine a light on those absurdities we've come to take for granted.
I enjoyed, a palate cleanser as it were from the internet and other readings that have me somewhat less engrossed.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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And so I've begun reading Manly P. Hall's "Self Unfoldment", which is in the genre of New Age Self Help books, actually probably one of the first to pioneer the genre.
If you're unfamiliar with Manly P. Hall I'd suggest you read the Wiki here:
Link: Wikipedia on Manly P. Hall
And note his absolutely amazing photo.
Now - if you were too lazy to click on the link I'll briefly sum it up here: Manly P. Hall, one of the espousers of the Theosophist movement, formidably educated himself at a young age and distilled the essential "Truths" he discovered into a variety of books and manuals. Even if you've never heard of him, chances are you've been influenced by his thinking. I've wanted to read him for a long while and was lucky to finally find one of his books.
To read it - a pragmatic approach to spirituality tailored for western adepts, the disciplines it sets out for you - the changing of your thinking - refinement, evolution, etc. - is good. Nothing I didn't know, but he lays it out in plain speech, and it's interesting to see how at odds it is with the New Age movement, Vision Boards, Etc. - that evolved from it. His is, of course, the right path - the New Age movement that succeeded it is focused too much on the acquisition of useless things and external change, whereas his book focuses primarily on changing the reader from within.
I'm impressed, although I knew I would be, and he doesn't need my recommendation.