The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson
©  Edited 1987, Alfred Ferguson
378 pages

Two summers ago I began to read Thoreau, and as I continue to find him philosophically compelling I wanted to read the works of Thoreau's contemporary and like-minded friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  They're available online, incidentally, and may be freely accessed here.  My volume contained "History" through to "Politics", and the nineteen essays between those two book ends have similarly austere titles that belie their far more flowery contents. Having mulled over them for four weeks, I come away feeling that most of the essays have escaped me entirely. "Self Reliance" riveted me, and as soon as I finished it I enthusiastically recommended it to several friends, and from other essays I gleaned a sense of Emerson's inner life and of the Transcendental worldview.

 Emerson is a poet at heart, a mystic; he values the inner voice of intuition more than beliefs based on thought-out syllogisms. Only the heart can realize the 'Oversoul', a vaguely pantheistic view of God. His prose reads  as poetry: "Dream delivers us to dream, and there is no end to illusion. Life is a train of moods like a string of beads, and, as we pass through them, they prove to be many-colored lenses which paint the world their own hue, and each shows only what lies in its focus."  Emerson can write pointedly, but the poetic influence in some essays imparts a subjective feel, as you would find in a collection of poetry. Having the essays available online is a boon, and I intend to keep chewing on them for a while longer.

For the moment, though, if you've an interested in Stoic philosophy or anarchist political thought, "Self Reliance" is an essay worth reading. Also,those few souls interested in Thoreau and Emerson's worldview (American Transcendentalism) will find "The Over-Soul" of most interest.

Related:

• Walden, Henry David Thoreau
• I to Myself, Thoreau
• On Civil Disobedience, Thoreau 

Caesar and Christ

Caesar and Christ
© 1944 Will Durant
752 pages

Ave, Caesar!

Athens' grip on my imagination is rivaled only by Rome -- Rome, navel of the world; Rome, which established the languages laws, and religion of western Europe. Like Our Oriental Heritage and The Life of Greece which proceed it, Caesar and Christ is epic in scope. Durant begins with the first civilization of Italy, the Etruscans, and after shifting to a little town on the banks of the Tiber falls it to Constantine. This grand history is partially interrupted by a hundred pages on Jesus and the first three hundred years of Christianity,  neatly introduced by a section on "Rome and Judea". Because Roman history is political history, politics is the backbone of Caesar and Christ despite the numerous sections on culture, architecture, and philosophy. The end result is just as thorough as preceding volumes, but more focused.

In Oriental Heritage,  Durant noted that civilizations constantly rise and fall in a philosophical pattern. Civilizations emerge over hardship through determination, strength, and cultural cohesion, cohesion typically established by a highly moralistic and hard-nosed religion. As these civilizations gain in power, prosperity sees a decay in values which leads to eventual decline and collapse. To Durant, Rome is a case in point for this view, and his concluding analysis of why Rome fell simply condenses the book into a couple chapters: the book is in a sense an extended explanation of Rome's decline and fall. In essence, he sees Rome's economic success as dependent on slavery undermining it. Slavery destroyed Roman citizen-farmers, which sapped the Roman political system dependent on such citizen-farmers, leading to an overall decline in public sentiment  and culture-wide decay that was slowed, but not stopped by religious rivals and the growth of Stoicism.  As Greece passed the torch of civilization to Rome in its dying days, so does Durant see Rome pass the torch to its successor -- Christianity. He makes the point that Christianity didn't so much as defeat Rome as inherit it, for medieval Christianity was the Roman church, all that remained of the German state.

Durant's views on Christianity are interesting; they appear to be in line with Marcus Borg's, who views the major religions of the world as being created by humans in response to a divine impulse. Durant appears to share this cheery universalism, and like Borg regards Christianity as his favorite, referring to it as the most attractive religion ever created and embracing it despite knowing -- and detailing -- its creation by people within a specific historical context.  While seating Christianity firmly among apocalyptic religions at first, Durant tracks its evolution into a general-purpose morality-building system of thought that breathed new life into the decline of civilization. He's a curious blend of skeptic and believer who probably discomfits fundamentalists more reliably than nonbelievers.



Caesar and Christ is the most thorough history of Rome I've read, and the scope is useful in understanding Rome's long-term trends and problems. Lay readers will benefit from being able to place Caesar into the context of his times, seeing him as an inevitability rather than a Palaptine-esque villain who single-handedly destroyed the Republic by sheer ambitious genius.Will Durant's elegant prose makes for enjoyable reading,  and I'd generally recommend the book to those interested in Rome, although those who are completely unread on the subject may want to whet their appetites with shorter histories aimed at casual audiences.

Related:

• The Roman Mind, M.L. Clarke
• The Roman Way, Edith Hamilton. I've never read it, but Hamilton is generally impressive.
• Rubicon, Tom Holland
• The Assassination of Julius Caesar, Michael Parenti. Parent places particular emphasis on Rome's class war, and the role that had in destabilizing Rome's politics. Parenti sees the assassination of Caesar as being similar to that of the Gracchai brothers in being motivated by crass economic motives instead of lofty Republican idealism. 
• Asimov's Guide to the Bible: Volume II, The New Testament; Isaac Asimov. I've owned this for over a year but haven't quite gotten around to reading it. 

Teaser Tuesday (12 October)

Teaser Tuesday -- going boldly where no man has gone before, except for last Tuesday.

"For the next few hours I don't wish to be disturbed by anything less than the arrival of a Borg armada in Earth orbit."

"If you'd like, I could contact the Borg directly and ask that they postpone any imminent actions so as not to disturb your evening," Decan said deadpan.

(p.44, Full Circle.  Kirsten Beyer.)

But the moment she reached the door and activated its sensor, [Torres] found herself facing Counselor Cambridge. 

"Is this a bad time?" he asked.

"Actually, it is," Tom said.

"Excellent," Cambridge said, stepping inside.

(p. 163, Full Circle.)

Full Circle

Full Circle
© 2009 Kirsten Beyer
576 pages

Following the success of the Deep Space Nine relaunch, both The Next Generation and Voyager's crews received new life in the form of book series. Voyager's series stalled after four books, but her characters have continued to make appearances in TNG as it and DS9 went boldy forward to Destiny. Now Voyager is sailing once more with a new author, who is tasked with catching a four-year-old story up with the new Destiny arc and advancing it further.

Full Circle begins before Nemesis, concluding the story arcs of the early relaunch books. The most notable arc is that of a Klingon religious conflict which ensnares the life of young Miral Paris, who is declared to be a Messiah figure by two obscure but well-armed religious sects. Her birth heralds the collapse of the Klingon Empire, and when she is kidnapped her parents must call upon their old Voyager crew mates to help them find and rescue her from death at the hands of fanatics.

While Klingons usually bore me*, Beyer makes this story come alive -- and yet it is only background for the rest of the novel, which sees the close-knit family of Voyager struggle against individual and collective problems in the wake of their beloved captain's death. Janeway perished in the early days of the last great Borg conflict, and through the use of flashbacks she haunts a story that is set in the aftermath of Destiny. Beyer is at her best portraying character drama, particularly for Captain Chakotay and Commander Tom Paris. Chakotay sinks into anger and depression following the death of his old friend and budding partner, and Paris is tasked with keeping his captain's spirits up and Voyager intact while the great powers of the Alpha and Beta quadrants are savaged by the Borg and his wife is on the run with Miral, hiding from Klingon zealots hell-bent on murder. Voyager's crew is put through hell, but there is hope that their mutual support of one another will see them through some of the darkest days of Federation history.

Like Destiny, Full Circle is a prime example of the increasing quality of Trek books. There's action to be had here, but it adds to the story without dominating it. Beyer's work is about her characters, and even her Chakotay is likeable. Tom Paris' various woes were most compelling for me, and I enjoyed seeing how the puckish ne'er-do-well  from the television show has grown into a family man and first officer of Voyager. While Full Circle is impressive as novel in its own right, considering that Beyer had to mesh two stories together and make the finished product her own speaks volumes of her talent. She closes off the old story neatly and sends Voyager and her slowly-healing crew into the future, where grand adventures await them.  Even Trek readers who dislike Voyager should give Beyer's opening voyage a try.

Related:

• Kirsten Beyer on Memory Alpha
• Full Circle on Memory Alpha

*Except for their ships and marriage vows. The funstarts at 3:54.

Packing for Mars

Packing for Mars: the Curious Science of Life in the Void
© 2010 Mary Roach
334 pages

It's a long way to Tipperary. 

Humans are not extremophiles. We have very specific environmental requirements for not dying in all manner of unpleasant ways, and space doesn't meet a single one. As a consequence, NASA has spent a great deal of time studying various aspects of life in space, asking questions and following up on them with studies: how does the lack of gravity effect human physiology?  What happens when you don't shower for two weeks?  How long can two people live together in a confined place without doing something unfortunate to the other?   Mary Roach, full of irreverent questions of her own, tags along while scientists try to find out.

Many of the experiments have already been done, and so Roach is left with digging through archives and asking questions, but there are still a few avenues open --  in experiencing zero-gravity, for instance -- for writers like Roach who prefer the direct approach.  Every human need on Earth -- including eating, drinking, resting, and excretion just for starters -- must be seen to, but life beyond Earth's bounds has its own unique considerations. The aforementioned lack of gravity atrophies the bones, but when NASA began running experiments they were concerned it would do more. What if our hearts require gravity to function properly? Gravity is just the beginning, as scientists and engineers have fretted over the effect of G-forces and an extended diet of 'astronaut food'.

Packing for Mars is a playful account of the history of human space exploration that contains more scientific discussion than either Spooked or Stiffed alongside Roach's usual offerings of zany, off-topic footnotes. Most of her information is gleaned from the American, Japanese, and Soviet space campaigns, and the book stands to be relevant for the next few decades, given the inevitability of further human space activity. If human space exploration is of any interest to you, then Packing is definitely of interest -- both illuminating and fun.

Related:

• Any book on Skylab, the main purpose of which was to see what happened to humans who lived in space for  prolonged periods of time. My high-school library had a copy of a Skylab book which I read several times: I think this may be it.
• Space Stations: Base-Camps to the Stars, a history of human attempts to establish habitats in space and a look at what the future might bring. I've read it in recent years, though it may have predated this blog. The book itself is a bit dated, having been written while the International Space Station was still in the planning phrase and known as "Freedom". 

The Life of Greece

The Life of Greece
© 1939 Will Durant
754 pages

Ancient Greece is the nursery of Western civilization, and has fascinated me ever since childhood. That fascination grew with age, especially after I began to study Greek philosophy -- so I dove eagerly into The Life of Greece. Like Our Oriental Heritage, it is impressively large, and for the same reason: it is a history of not only the political and martial history of Greece, but of its literature, philosophy, art, industry, and religion. Beginning with the migration of various peoples to the portion of the Med. that eventually became known as Greece, Durant follows the evolving cultures on the Greek islands and the cultures they influenced until the arrival of Rome. Nomads become farmers, trading posts become booming towns filled with industry and debate, and men sail into uncharted seas of thought.

Like Oriental Heritage, Life of Greece is most notable for Durant's wide approach. No section is without chapters on poetry, sculpture, music, architecture, industry, economic approaches, and literature. His approach gives the reader an opportunity not just to examine literature or philosophy within the context of their time, but to track their development as the centuries pass.  The scope of Durant's book allows the reader to gain a sense of a culture evolving through time, slowly changing. The book impressed upon me that every civilization is constantly haggling with the cosmos:  every approach the Greeks tried in ruling themselves had its   successes and weaknesses.

This is the essential strength of the book, although Greece remains a compelling subject no matter the approach taken. Additionally, Durant touches on the people the Greeks influenced, particularly the Egyptians and Jews in the days following Alexander. Greece has borne the world many gifts. Durant's pragmatic appreciation of religious primacy and monarchy are a touch distasteful to the modern mind, and he continues with his odd use of 'epicurean' and the nebulous 'stoic'. It's decidedly odd in a book that dedicates a chapter to Stoic and Epicurean philosophy, in which Epicures is described several times as living stoically and creating a philosophy that was Epicurean "in name only".  The poor man is denied his own name!

While not without weakness, the book's subject ought to remain of interest to modern minds, especially those of Europe and the United States who can look to old Athens as an intellectual and cultural ancestor.


Related:

• The Greek Way, Edith Hamilton. Hamilton uses literature to draw conclusions about the culture that created it. 
• The Echo of Greece, Edith Hamilton. Emphasis on Athens. 

Top Ten Favorite Authors

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is about authors, and I've listed my favorites below in count-down order -- not that this order is absolute.

Honorable mentions: Richard Dawkins, Steven Saylor. 

10. John Grisham (fiction, notably legal thrillers set in the American Southeast)

Grisham has a reputation for churning out popular legal thrillers. I first read him through The Firm, a mob story, and later read everything else he'd written. It's become a tradition in my family for my parents to give my sister and me copies of Grisham's latest on our birthdays or Christmas -- whichever follows Grisham's latest release day first.  (This works because our birthdays are only a week apart.) I can probably attribute some of my cynicism about the rat race to Grisham. My favorites? The Rainmaker and The Last Juror. 

9. J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter)

I didn't grow up with Harry Potter. There were kids in my high school class reading the books,  but we were a few years ahead of him. I picked the books up in 2007, at the behest of several persistent friends and promptly fell for the books. They were funny, charming, and offered adventure that didn't take itself too seriously. The latter books were more serious, but by then I was hooked proper and as big a Potter geek as I am a Star Wars fan.

8. Robert Harris (historical fiction, mysteries)

I first encountered Robert Harris with his Fatherland, an alternate history detective mystery set in 1970s Berlin.  Mystery-thrillers in diverse settings followed this, and I understand that one of them, Ghost, is being converted into a film. I prefer Harris' Roman novels (Imperium, Pompeii, Lustrum/Conspirata) 

7. Ray Spangenburg and Diane Kit Moser (science, history of science)

They're on the list as a pair because I've only read them as a pair. Spangenburg and Moser are a married couple who've written series on the history of science, series which also serve as a way of introducing lay readers to their given subjects. 

6.  David Sedaris (humor)

In 2006 I heard David Sedaris speaking on This American Life, describing his life living in Paris, and I nearly had to pull the car humor lest my laughter force me into the opposite lane of traffic. I looked for the book he was reading from, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and was reduced to tears. Sedaris has numerous essay collections about his life, and they combine dry humor and pathetic situations superbly. My favorite Sedaris collection is Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. 

5. Frances and Joseph Gies (history)

Five or six years ago while wandering aimlessly in a bookstore, I encountered Life in a Medieval City and purchased it.  I learned while reading Gies that the medieval world was far more livelier than I'd ever imagined, and I resumed reading from this couple a couple of years back. They have continued to enrich my perspective on the medieval period.  Especially notable is their Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel which toppled the idea that medieval Europe was intellectually stagnant. 

4. Neil Postman (social criticism)

I picked up a Postman book while reading on the Enlightenment (Building a Bridge to the 18th Century) and later moved on to his Technopoly and Amusing Ourselves to Death.  Both of the latter take issue with pitfalls in modern culture, the latter addressing the rise of an entertainment mentality which trivializes everything  it touches, particularly political debate and intellectual discussions.

3. Howard Zinn (history, social criticism)

I first read Zinn in a book on American imperialism and followed that with A People's History of the United States, Marx in Soho, The Zinn Reader, and A Power No Governments Can Suppress. Zinn focuses on the downtrodden of history, and the role of direct action in forcing governments to respond to the needs of their people.

2. Carl Sagan (science, Contact)

There were other pictures, but I chose this one because it makes Sagan look like a Skeptical Superhero. 

I imagine most people know Sagan as the host of Cosmos, but I first met him in the library. During my first year as a skeptic, I began looking for related books to read and was recommended The Demon-Haunted World. I've noted through the years that this book on the importance of skepticism and the virtues of the scientific method (the book's subtitle is "Science as a Candle in the Dark") remains a top recommendation for skeptics, but the book that sold me Sagan was Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors,  his take on anthropology and human evolution. 

1. Isaac Asimov (science fiction, science, history, mysteries, literature, etc.)

I never imagined having a favorite author until one summer I started reading Asimov and couldn't stop. I'd read Asimov before -- a book on our solar system in high school, and a book on extraterrestial civilizations a year or so prior -- but his short stories took me, utterly. I enjoyed his simplicity and humor, and the 'retro' feel of his futuristic stories.  Scarcely a week went by without my reading one of his collections of short stories or one of his novels:  I started the Foundation series that summer, and finished it in the fall.  Asimov's personality as revealed in his introductions and short-story forwards  made me an ardent devotee:  I loved him for his wit, his passion for humanity and his broad, general approach to learning. Later, I started seeking books by Asimov out because they were by the author: now I collect them, and gaze admiringly at my shelves of books by the good doctor. 

Works of interest: the Black Widowers, a six-book series of short story collections about the Black Widowers, a club of middle-aged intellectuals who get together for a monthly dinner and generally wind up having to reason through a mystery.  Familiar Poems, Annotated. 

So, who are your favorites?