When I finished school a year ago I was in the mood to re-read a few of my "core" books, or the core books of friends that I had read and got something out of. I think after studying developing countries for five years, I wanted to go back to Yea Aulde Texts and see how I would now see them.
I decided to go in chronological order. So I started with a piece a friend wanted to read--an essay (on the brevity of life or something? For some reason I can never remember the title or author.) Then I re-read Walden (the best parts version) and some other Thoreau essays. Totally loved that. In for a lot of Thoreau. Next I re-read Siddhartha, but then I stopped, and I haven't gotten back on track.
Just now I was making a blog post and needed to check up on a Joseph Campbell quote, which reminded me of my Book Club For One--since it was leading to Campbell. Next on the docket was actually Ayn Rand's Virtue of Selfishness (should be an interesting re-read in the light of the current econ crisis)... I'll either stick to the Rand, or jump straight to Campbell. Either way, I think I'll make my next read a non-fiction one.
As I was flipping through the Campbell I kept coming across great bits. Here's one:
"There is a definition of God which has been repeated by many philosophers. God is an intelligible sphere--a sphere known to the mind, not to the senses--whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. And the center, Bill, is right where you're sitting. And the other one is right where I'm sitting. And each of us is a manifestation of that mystery. ... What you have here is what might be translated into raw individualism, you see, if you didn't realize that the center was also right there facing you in the other person. This is the mythological way of being an individual. You are the central mountain, and the central mountain is everywhere."
( The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers 111-12)
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