Books and Ideas (16)

I read for ideas. Here are some of the ideas I have found in books.

The Scarlet Letter: A Romance. Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Why read it? A story of life in Puritan New England. Hester Prynne must wear the scarlet letter A on her breast to advertise her guilt as an adulteress, but she will not reveal the name of the father. It is Arthur Dimmesdale, a respected, godly, influential young preacher who has condemned publicly the very sin he has committed. Pursuing knowledge of the identity of the father is Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, an older man, a physician, who had remained in Europe when Hester had come to America. He continually baits Dimmesdale while gathering evidence that he is the father. The book represents Hawthorne’s favorite themes: secret sin and the unpardonable sin of using others for one’s own purposes.

The Schweitzer Album: A Portrait in Words and Pictures. Erica Anderson.
Why read it? The essence of Dr. Schweitzer’s life and thought is respect and reverence for all life. He believed that the idea of reverence for life is spread from person to person, not through the mass media. All life is one. The good preserves and supports life; evil destroys or injures life. Everything that lives is related to humanity. The fly knows anxiety, hope and fear of not existing any more. Has any man been able to create a fly? Schweitzer earned degrees in philosophy, theology and medicine. He dedicated the first 30 years of his life to scholarship and music; the rest of his life would be dedicated to the service of men, modeling his life on Jesus Christ.

Seabiscuit: An American Legend. Laura Hillenbrand.
Why read it? You will have a hard time putting this book down. My first impression is that the people who know horses treat them as individuals. Treating horses as individuals was important to the success of Seabiscuit, who would have resisted working for anyone who did not recognize his personal traits, his toughness, his heart, his rebelliousness, his determination and the absolute need never to use the whip. Tom Smith was a horse training genius who studied his horses, notably Seabiscuit, to learn what he could about them as individuals.

Selling Sickness: How the World’s Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All into Patients. Ray Monihan and Alan Cassels.
Why read it? Ordinary people with common complaints are being turned into patients by pharmaceutical companies who market drugs through doctors and directly to consumers. “Awareness campaigns” make people concerned abut conditions that are part of the fluctuations of normal living. Little known conditions are emphasized; old diseases are redefined and renamed; new dysfunctions are created. Drug companies market fear in order to sell medications.

Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen
Novel. Why read it? Two sisters have dramatically different personalities. Elinor is cool in crisis, objective, keeps emotion in check, sees and accepts the world as it is. Marianne is emotional, uncontrolled, blows apart in crisis. The two are jilted. How do they handle this disappointing turn in their lives?

Sketches by Boz [Rhymes with ‘nose”]. Charles Dickens.
Why read it? Dickens paints pictures with words. A collection of brief scenes of English life that are wonderfully entertaining and moving.

Solitude: A Return to Self. Anthony Storr.
Why read it? An in-depth analysis of the nature and uses of solitude. Interesting anecdotes. However, the author concludes that happiness comes from both personal interrelationships and solitude. Took a whole book to arrive at what appears to be plain common sense. Except that in today’s world, solitude is hard to come by. If you have never tried solitude, this book could cause you to try enjoying its advantages.