Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Today I finished reading "Siddhartha: An Indian Poem" by Hermann Hesse [translation by Susan Bernofsky, The Modern Library]. I think if you were going to read one "finding yourself" narrative from the first half of the last century, I'd skip this and read The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham. (great book, great Tyrone Power movie).With that being said, I thought this short novel was engaging and, at times, enlightening. Grade: B #61

“Siddhartha began to understand that it was not happiness and peace that had come to him with his son but, rather, sorrow and worry. But he loved him and preferred the sorrow and worry of love to the happiness and peace he had known without the boy.” - "Siddhartha: An Indian Poem" by Hermann Hesse

"[rejecting the philosophical concept that all is meaningless and illusory] Blue was blue, river was river, and even if the One, the Divine, lay hidden in the blue and the river . . .it was still the nature and the intention of the Divine to be yellow here, blue here, sky over there, forest here, and here Siddhartha. Meaning and being did not lie somewhere behind things; they lay within them, within everything . . . When a person reads something and wishes to grasp its meaning, he does not scorn the characters and letters and call them illusory, random, and worthless husks; he reads them, studies them, and loves them, letter for letter. But I - I who set out to read the book of the world and the book of my own being - I scorned the characters and letters in deference to a meaning I assumed in advance." - "Siddhartha: An Indian Poem" by Hermann Hesse

“To see through the world, to explain it, to scorn it - this may be the business of great thinkers. But what interests me is being able to love the world, not scorn it, not to hate it and hate myself but to look at it and myself and all beings with love and admiration and reverence.” - Siddhartha, Herman Hesse

The Case of the Caretaker's Cat by Erle Stanley Gardner

I just finished reading a Perry Mason novel by  Erle Stanley Gardner called  "The Case of the Caretaker's Cat". I've read Gardner before and enjoyed him, but this one, eh, not so much. The first third moved well, but the theatrics and the extended 'reveal' at the end were too much for my taste. I'd grade this a C #60

Congrats to Yankee Ichiro Suzuki on his 100th career home run.

Maeve Binchy

RIP author Maeve Binchy , aged 72.

My Day

Did jack-diddley-do-diddley on this, my only day off of the week. Well, I did go school shopping w/ Lisa. And I did backup the hard drive from our old computer. And I did go to Lisa's work to visit over her lunch break. And I walked the kids to and from school, which was a genuine treat for me. But mostly, it was sit on my bum and do nada.

Yes, please.

That'll Do it

With the firing of the Brewers bullpen coach, Lee Tunnell is now pressed into service. I'm sure a big, bad, fearsome looking guy like him will whip them back into shape.

Incredible

The MPD dropped off a flyer on my door today, stating that with the large number of foreclosures and abruptly vacated houses in the neighborhood, we should report any suspicious behavior we see, esp. scrap dealers. I've been up and about for 38 years now, and I never thought I'd see the day when financial disaster was so common place it would leech into every aspect of our lives. 

Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell

In the kitchen of our upstairs flat was a two door, white metal storage cabinet that was used for odds and ends and assorted storage. I remember borrowing this book, Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell, from my Dad's stash in that cabinet. From the contextual clues, that puts it at or before 1985, so I was no older than 11. 

I loved the book, which was full of action and history (I will always remember the description of the powdered hair of the soldiers.). While I always remembered the book, I long forgot the name of its author. 

Decades later, Bernard Cornwell would become one of my favorite authors, a name on the cover that guaranteed I'd read the book. Imagine my suprise when I found Redcoat on his resume, and learned that I'd been a fan for far longer than I thought!

Still, if it gets you to read, then read it anyway