Thursday, September 3, 2009

Some Books

Recently I've revised my opinion of the value of fiction over non-fiction books. In the past my thinking was that fiction was mostly worthless - perhaps a lowly three on the ubiquitous 1 to 10 scale (10 being the best/top/most valuable). My reasoning: the writer of fiction could manipulate and concoct any situation or events to drive the reader to his line of thinking, all possibly based on false, unreal scenes in the writing. Hence it was totally unreliable compared to non-fiction. Some modern fiction I read in the 1970s and 1980s supported this thinking. That writing was a waste of time.

[By the way, I always excluded potboilers like the mystery, spy and murder writing of people like Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler, Ian Fleming and Le Carré: those are read for fun, not learning.]

Mrs. B and some friends have battered away at that old prejudice for a couple of years. And then a few lectures on philosophical thinking of David Hume and Richard Rorty on matters of empiricism and pragmatism made the point convincingly that one must read "good" fiction" to understand the minds and feelings of others and also situations that one cannot experience with one's own senses. This thinking made sense to me, as my prior experience in reading Uncle Tom's Cabin supported it. To reduce the risks of being mislead by a fiction writer, the suggestion was made for me to just read older, established, well-regarded fiction. And I tried it, using suggestions of H. L. Mencken and some friends to make my selections.

Over the past two months, I read four books by winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature written before World War II and a few other well-regarded works. Of books by Sinclair Lewis, the first American to win that prize, I read Main Street, Babbitt and Elmer Gantry. Prior to these, I read the classic American novel, Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. I also read a collection of short stories by Joseph Conrad. Finally, I just finished Buddenbrooks by renowned German writer and Nobel laureate, Thomas Mann.

I now hereby, publically and unequivocally, state that I was wrong in my low valuation of fiction. All these works were very, very good and believable and helped me understand much about culture and experiences of peoples in different times and places and social settings. I'll raise the value of fiction to a 6 for now. Next on my list: Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Huckleberry Finn, all in audio book form for the iPhone/Pod.

By the way, my qualification on sticking to only old, established and well-recognized fiction stands.

Word of the Day

"Omphalophysite" - noun [$10,000]; a Mencken word
Omphalophysite is pejorative word from the Greek-based combining form, omphalo- meaning navel, boss, hub. Hence an omphalophysite would be an ivory-tower intellectual with no practical experiences who focusses on his navel (metaphorically) aka obscure core fields. A synonym might be a pedant.
Sentence: (from The American Language by H. L. Mencken, page 63 top referring to attempts to bring American into harmony with English) "To the latter, the humorless omphalophysites of the American Academy of Arts and Letters address themselves periodically, and with great earnestness."

59 comments:

Bud said...

i agree Bman...............i been changing my opinion on fiction too

it really shows our imagination............and what we think is fiction now...........could turn into reality years decades and centuries from today

i am sure guys who wrote about going to the moon and stars centuries ago were ridiculed

Bud said...

SEC report today sad


but as i suspected.........SEC is inept........not corrupt

Bud said...

Bman are you a fast reader ?? that's alot of books............how long it take you to read an avergae length book ( 250pages)

Bunkerman said...

no, I'm not a fast reader. But remember, I'm semi-retired.

I took a break on my language effort, so had lots of time for the past couple of months.

Lol, my average book length is more like 500 pages. Some are 700.

Bunkerman said...

I read a couple non-fiction books in that period, too.

Bunkerman said...

Buddenbrooks had 730 pages, but I got into it & read 100 pages a day.

Spin-em said...

are you a fast listener Bman? lol

Bunkerman said...

btw, notice that I publically admit errors, unlike the typical paid pundit.

Bunkerman said...

lololol

the listed books read in the past fe books were actually read, page by page.

When I re-start my language program, I'll shift some reading to listening as one's eyes get tired.

mfl59 said...

Bunkerman is "Invest Like a Shark" considered useful fiction?

Spin-em said...

So that means all these years...movies were out of the question...unless Stephen Hawking was starring????

Spin-em said...

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang????

POPPYCOCK!!!CARS CANT FLY!!!!

Bud said...

Kudlow did a good job slamming the trader tax last nite

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1238242993&play=1


Bman this sure doesn't feel like boob-bait for bubba's

Bunkerman said...

well, mfl, its pages have a use ... lining cat litter boxes.

Bunkerman said...

movies are just entertainment, like murder mysteries.

Bunkerman said...

one learns nothing real from "most" movies, even so-called documentaries.

The intellectual content is about the same as a simple magazine article.

And from personal knowledge, many are false or polemical.

Frosty said...

Bunky...spoken "unlike the typical paid pundit"....may I call you pundy for short sir.

Bunkerman said...

Lol

Non, nie, nyet, nein, no

Je n'est pas absolument un pontife.

[un pontife = a pundit]

Spin-em said...

one learns nothing real from "most" movies, even so-called documentaries.

The intellectual content is about the same as a simple magazine article.

And from personal knowledge, many are false or polemical.


poor bunky

mfl59 said...

Well the results are in ladies and gentlemen....the tally is complete...its unamimous....


Bud is a douche....

"Way to go Sal!"

Bunkerman said...

well, for an exception, I learned a lot from Thoroughly Modern Millie ... that modern life began in the 1920s & little has changed since then, except superficially.

Bunkerman said...

OK, Sun Boy, can you give us two movies that have significant intellectual content, that is in fact true ?

Part of the problme with movies is knowing what is true and what is propaganda or preaching diguised as drama. It can take years for the quality to show itself.

Most great movies are just excellent entertainment.

Bunkerman said...

One could be "All quiet on the Western Front" - the German original.

Of course, the book ...

Frosty might nominate, "Birth of a Nation" ... ;))))

Bud ... maybe "Pride of the Yankees" ;)))

Bud said...

Pride of the yankees..........good movie...........lou gehrig a great player.......wasn't a cheater


that was a different era............the yankee fans i talkin about developed in the 90s

scum sucking jizz swallowing man beaver eating faggots........their wives/girlfriends/mistresses/daughters/grandaughters/sisters/cousins/aunts/nieces all gonnorhea infected whores



no wonder ace is a yankee fan.........he fits the criteria

Bunkerman said...

mfl ... hmmm New Jersey ...

Goodfellas ?

Or is there a "The Dan Gable Story"

Bunkerman said...

true, Bud ... the Babe trained on beer & hot dogs ... then Aroid, etc. -> scum.

Bud said...

Birth of a nation............another good flic

mfl59 said...

Bud isnt "Shelter" one of your favorite movies of all time?

Spin-em said...

facts and figures;;;;sooo much "knowledge" but hasn't learned the secret of life by now??......sorry bunk..I cant help you..lol

Frosty said...

the clansman "another good flic"...gesh Sal, want to join our KKK fantasy college leauge...you can follow your Iowa State players on line, full year only $80.

Spin-em said...

Rudy

DONT GIVE UP DONT EVER GIVE UP!!

dont let anyone tell you ya cant

work hard and you will be rewarded

dont take any crap from an ahole who think he/they know everything or you(Coach Devine wink..lol)

dont be a douche..support your brother no matter what

significant intellectual content??? pfftttt gimme a break

you can learn something from POLICE SQUAD if thats the goal

Spin-em said...

good morning tank!!!..Im a fake douchebag

go Vick this year.....how convenient to change teams when the going gets rough(add that to Rudy)

mfl59 said...

MVP MVP MVP

Bunkerman said...

hmmmm sounds like Sun Boy is calling me an omphalophysite

;)

Frosty said...

omphalopsychite or omphalophysite...google omphalopsychite it is only defined at "view from the bunker"...god lord you are a PUNDIT.

Spin-em said...

LOOOOL...not at all...youre "humble" ego would enjoy that too much....I do respect the Bman however......

Bunkerman said...

Checked ... my spelling is correct from H. L. Mencken in the place cited. Maybe he coined the word, generalizing from the other variant. The latter sounds a bit like a tranliteration from Greek.

Pundit ... nein ...

Maybe a sage ?

;)

Bunkerman said...

Movies are more akin to art or music than to books. They aren't comparable.

Frosty said...

"Maybe a sage ?" perhaps a sausage...your are what you eat.

Spin-em said...

ROFLMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Bunkerman said...

OED has "omphalopsychite" as one of a sect of quietists who practised gazing upon the navel as a means of inducing hypnotic reverie.

Related adjective is omphalopsychic.

Btw, the Greek root for "-Psychite" means soul. So the combined is sontehting like "navel-soul"

Ps and ph are from different Greek letters - so it's not a simply spelling change.

I think Mencken coined it, probably generalizing from omphalopsychite.

-physite comes from the Greek root meaning "nature".

Bunkerman said...

lolol touché.

Bud said...

Bman what are your expectations for tomorrows jobs number ?? consensus is -225k


when do you expect the job losses to stop? shouldn't we be adding jobs......you know ......since the recession is over


'gdp growth is gdp growth'

Bud said...

listen frosty


didn't i tell you yday not to address me by my name???............we ain't friends...........we ain't never gonna be friends..........f'ng douchebag



PS......still wanna be 'friends' ?

Spin-em said...

tip of the deli hat has to go out in the Jersey direction for one helluva market call... b4 anybody was talkin.... thank you sir...thank you

Bud said...

that is a sweet deal.......80bux......'the clone zone'


are you comin over bob ?? come on.........i promise we won't........uhhhh......'behead' you

Frosty said...

'the clone zone'
OMG....LMAOOOOOO

Bunkerman said...

jeez Bud ... "Are we there yet"

you asked me that last month.

Q4 - near end of year.

I have no thought on this months report - next month is more important.

Many plants, etc. shut down in August - and that number might be skewed up this year. Not a key month, as is September.

Bunkerman said...

working on my German.

Verstehen Sie mich, Punker ?

You understand me, punk ?

Bud said...

lmaooooooooooooooooo Bman


hey frosty...........don't ever address me by my name


Verstehen Sie mich, Punker ?

Frosty said...

Sal...GROW up.

Spin-em said...

comprende??pendejo!



looooool

Frosty said...

now go CRY yourself to sleep Sal.

Bud said...

listen you prick


i hate doin this but frsoty leaves me no choice...............you are a retroactive know-it-all slime-ball..............take your 'opsexpo open interest spreadsheet' and shove it up your ass...........i don't care about your GROW ..........or your CRY...........if i have to listen to your picks...........Bman shoot me.................f'ng douchebag




PS.......still wanna be friends ???

Bud said...

" hey Sal............why you gotta be like that..........why you gotta talk shit...........why you gotta be so rude......so vulgar.....so nasty ? "



cuz i'm a nasty motherfucker !!!!!!

Frosty said...

way to MAN up Sal

Bud said...

lemme guess.............you bought MAN today at 49.............wow bob..........you're the best........you're also a f'ng douchebag


and stop f'ng addressing me by my name !!!!!!!!!!!!

Verstehen Sie mich, Punker ?

mfl59 said...

Sal who do you like tonight? Frosty's Oregon Beavers or Boise State?

opposite indeed....

mfl59 said...

Oregon Ducks...my bad Frost