The Charming Quirks of Others

The Charming Quirks of Others, the latest book in the Isabel Dalhousie series by Alexander McCall Smith, isn’t so much a book one reads as a book one savors. Think more of taking a long, warm bath or feeling the sun on your face on a cold February day. While my local library categorizes the book as a mystery, it is more about the mystery that is life. The book doesn’t have a lot of plot, but it is filled with character. It is a dramatic change of pace from the books that I have been reading lately—Science fiction & fantasy and fast paced mysteries.

The following quote will help you to better understand Isabel:

She looked up at the ceiling. One of the drawbacks to being a philosopher was that you become aware of what you should not do, and this took from you so many opportunities to savour the human pleasure of revenge or greed or sheer fanaticizing.

This next quote is a good example of the tone and flavor of the book:

We like predictability, she thought, and we are always satisfied when people behave as we think they will. It makes us feel…well, powerful; the world is not as complex a place as some might think—at least not complex for us.

Yet another side of Isabel:

…loving anything with all your heart always brings understanding, in time.

The Cow In the Parking Lot

Ican imagine the Sixth Sense version of Haley Joel Osment saying “I see angry people” and giving a look of horror for the camera. I see angry people everywhere: on the television, in public places campaigning, on the internet, on the magazine rack in the grocery store, even in the mirror. Such rampant anger can’t be good for society, and it certainly isn’t good for people’s health.

Evidently I am not alone in my experience. This week I read The Cow in the Parking Lot—A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger by Leonard Scheff and Susan Edmiston. Most intrapersonal change begins with awareness. The authors suggest we begin by observing when we are angry and then start looking at what unfulfilled needs might be triggering the anger. Using the Zen approach, they describe anger as an addiction and as a habitual way of dealing with life. This little book is packed with good advice.

Where does the cow fit in? The book begins with a story of someone waiting patiently for a particular parking spot and then, at the last second, someone in another car taking their spot. Grrrr!! Now imagine instead a cow taking the spot instead of the car. Huh? Different experience, eh?

To Fetch A Thief

This is my week for reading doggy drama, first The City, now To Fetch A Thief, the third novel in the Chet and Bernie Mystery series written by Spencer Quinn. Like the previous two books, Chet, the dog narrates the story. The effect is unique, sometimes humorous, but not corny. The plot is a serious mystery, just told from a unique perspective. For example, whereas we humans identify others in terms of names or faces, Chet perceives everyone, both human and critter, in terms of scents. His top priority is always being loyal to Bernie. On the other hand, being good usually takes a back seat to such doggy pursuits as Chet marking his territory, snagging a piece of leather to chew on or romancing a She dog in the mood. Chet’s literal interpretation of idioms adds to the humor of the novels.

I am not sure the novels technically fit all the criteria for “Dude Lit,” but they are definitely aimed at the male point of view. Bernie is a rugged PI, concerned about catching and punishing the bad guys, while still concerned about those who are less fortunate and need his help, in this novel his ex-wife, a gay clown, a kidnapped elephant, and a manicurist who lives in a trailer park. Bernie both gets beaten up and beats up. And, well, dogs and dudes just go together.

The latest novel did not disappoint me. Far from it, I am more aware of Quinn’s wonderful writing style. I admire the way that he can affect my emotions with just a few well placed sentences. And, of course, who can resist Chet?

The City

When I grow up—even if I don’t ever quite grow up—I want to write like Clifford D. Simak. In the middle of reading a lot of 2010 and 2009 novels, I digressed to his 1952 novel The City. The book is timeless, though somewhat folksy. In it Simak writes about one of my favorite themes, evolution. How could humans evolve? How could individuals adapt to the extreme environment of another planet and how would that adaptation change the species as a whole? Given a different start would humans evolve differently and be less warlike? What would happen if everyone could suddenly understand each other’s point of view? If dogs and ants were given a little help, could they evolve more rapidly? How would they be different from humans? How might robots evolve if left alone? The book is mostly sentimental, but has enough science to make it intellectually interesting. Best of all, it makes me think.

Temeraire Series

The Temeraire Series, written by Naomi Novik, is alternative history that premises what would have happened if dragons had been present during the Napoleonic Wars. Somewhere between book 1, His Majesty’s Dragon, and book 6, Tongues of Serpents, I metamorphosed from a causal reader to a fan. I don’t remember the first day I began to think “I wonder…” but this is probably the biggest clue to the start. “I wonder what Temeraire would have thought of this.” this thing that just happened to me in real life. This weekend as I was reading the latest book, which takes place in Australia, I thought: “I wonder what is happening to little Perscitia (a scholarly little dragon who doesn’t like to fight) back in Britain. I hope she is happy. I wonder what is happening to Admiral Roland, too. Will we ever find out what happens to Emily? Will she be a good captain?” I had to reel myself back in when I was wondering whether I could find a Perscitia costume to wear to Tai Chi this weekend, although dragons are very thematic to martial arts.

The Temeraire series hooked me in emotionally because of the characters, especially the bond between captain and dragon. It is about as close to unconditionally love that one can find. The series hooked me in intellectually because it tackles interesting and sometimes difficult topics: ethics, loyalty and duty, genocide, slavery, Imperialism. I am not a great history fan, but it has made that period come alive for me. In some small way, I feel like I have been a part of it, if only in my imagination.

First Be Aware

Change comes, not by struggling to change or by fighting or by disciplining oneself, but by becoming aware of what we are feeling and how we habitually act.

From The Cow In The Parking Lot by Leonard Scheff and Susan Edmiston

Of Jung, Spock, and Revolution

Experiential and Participatory, those are some of the words that describe how we have changed in the last 40+ years, continuing on with some of my thoughts from my last blog entry, Stand On Zanzibar. We are no longer satisfied to passively watch an entertainer. We are less concerned about finding the right teacher or guru.

In the world of entertainment we want to have an active role. At the very least we want to choose when we watch a television program or vote for the winner of a reality TV series. Many of us want and expect our entertainment to come from multiple platforms. We want more than a book or a TV program; we want a larger experience. [Last night I finished Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik, and one of my first thoughts was “I wonder which dragon I am" and made a mental note to see if there was a personality quiz on-line.] We twitter, blog, Facebook, YouTube. If we can’t be discovered by a talent scout, we put our art out on the internet and let the “public decide.” We write fan fiction, create avatars, roleplay our favorite characters. It used to be only a bunch of nerds wearing Mr. Spock ears; now a larger percent of us want to be immersed in our entertainment.

The authority figure role has also diminished over the last 40 years. Instead of a staff of paid encyclopedia writers, people from all over share their knowledge on sites like Wikipedia. We ask questions in internet groups. We share recipes and helpful hints on websites. We are more likely to actively seek out the answers ourselves from multiple sources, rather than looking to one expert and, we are more likely to want to make the final decision ourselves.

I am reading Jung on Active Imagination by Joan Chodorow. Carl Jung drew mandalas almost every morning in 1918 through 1919. Finally one day he realized: “One could not go beyond the center. The Center is goal and everything is directed toward that center,…the self is the principle and archetype of orientation and meaning.” This profound idea helped change psychology. But the point is that Jung actively participated in the process. He needed to experience hundreds of mandalas to reach his conclusion. He was an unusual man. Now, more and more people want to interact with life experientially, whether directly or virtually, to find their wisdom.

I hear friends and family lamenting about how few people attend Sunday services. Many churches are filled with old congregates. Part of the situation is that traditional churches are working on the old model. Younger people want an experiential religion. They are less likely to want someone with impressive credentials standing in front of them. Yet, I also hear of churches bucking the trend and creating new experiences for their members, some taking full advantage of social media.

Part of the revolution of the last forty years is where we put ourselves. We are no longer playing follow the leader. We are putting ourselves in the center of our world and then creating the picture of our lives by reaching out to the larger world around us. The idea is not so different from Jung and his mandalas.