Ataraxia

  Islam – Religion, History and Civilization by Seyyed Hossein Nasr – a great book on this subject is Islam, A Short History by Karen Armstrong and my note on it is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/10/islam-short-history-by-karen-armstrong.html   8 out of 10   Reading about Islam and other religions can be illuminating, sometimes frustrating, and could lead to redemption, Insha’Allah, which is why I dedicate some attention and time to this topic, however, I am not sure you will gain much, if anything by reading these lines, so here is my spoiler alert, you have been warned…   And there go my two potential readers, I have this blog where there is nothing but an isolated Accidental Tourist https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-accidental-tourist-by-anne-tyler.html landing on my pages, but resilience, as in that Serenity Prayer, which has some stoic undertones, and sounds so sage, if only we apply it ‘Lord, Give Me Wisdom “God, grant me the serenit...

  Empire of The Sun by JG Ballard, author of Crash – my note on this is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/07/a-novel-with-some-unfavorable-reviews.html with a few thousand more reviews   9 out of 10   While the encounter with Crash was a disaster for this reader, Empire of The Sun was a delightful read, which gives me (some) courage to try the other two books by JG Ballard that are included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, along with the aforementioned, Millenium People and The Drowned World   Three out of four are Science Fiction, and that could be the root of the problem with Crash, and maybe the others, since I am not a big fan of this genre, Empire of the Sun may have worked because it is a War and Travel Book, that is we find it in that section, and it deals with the war experiences of Jamie aka Jim Graham The name of the hero is in fact borrowed from the author, JG stands for James Graham, indeed, the narrative is inspired from wha...

  Memed, My Hawk by Yasar Kemal is included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, in the Family and Self Section   8 out of 10   Memed, My Hawk aka Ince Memed is impressive, very good, albeit not satisfying enough for a five star rating from this pretentious reader – by the way, one of the shortest, good jokes I know is from Fawlty Towers https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/11/waldorf-salad-by-john-cleese.html and it is: ‘pretentious, moi?’   For my (bad) taste, it is too long, but then this is the problem with these reviews, blown out of the pen of amateurs, with different moods, unprofessional attitudes, you do not get to the value of the book, you just have some impressions, subjective, flawed takes on what are often magnum opera, supposedly, in this case as well I am wondering if it has to do with my bias against Erdogan – if they elect such a disgusting fellow, then Turks must be amorous of his defects, obviously such a stupid interpretation,...

  Caesar and Christ – The Story of Civilization by Will Durant   9 out of 10     It depends on your view, notwithstanding the fact that there are new discoveries, whether you support one or the other of the parties in conflict, and furthermore, it is said that we only hear from the winners, even if sometimes there are outré occurrences, for instance, The Fall of Constantinople, in 1453, when the ottomans took it   We have documents from the losing side, albeit there is an increased interest on the Turkish side, they now have a nut job (so many in the world, there is an epidemic, besides the fact that some bad people are attracted to power, they want to be in front) as president, Erdogan, a would-be despot, friend of Putin, an obnoxious fellow When this Hamas leader died recently, the one killed with a time bomb in Teheran, Erdogan has placed flags at half mast, but this is just one of his idiotic beanos, I understand that they now haunt the stary...

  Zen Master Tales by Peter Haskel   8 out of 10   I am more concerned with a Happening https://realini.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-happening-written-and-directed-by.html than the alleged subject of the note, so feel free to close this, and skip the Sagesse included hereafter   This is my Zen story, which took place a couple of days ago, when I took part in a running competition, 10k, ten kilometers, finished in a little over 56 minutes, due in large part (for the most part probably) to my Zen Master The start was at 9.30, for the largest part, there were some people in wheel chairs, and it was 9.20 for them, and then Family Run, I don’t know when they were off, and they had some other coordinates online   We had to be there at eight, though with hindsight, I wonder what was the point, especially given some of the issues, the most pressing one for me…the toilets, they had maybe twenty, forty, still, there were eighty people in front of each Yes...

  The Shining by Stanley Kubrick, writer and director of Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/09/dr-strangelove-aka-red-alert-by-peter.html   9 out of 10   Stanley Kubrick was one of the greatest, and films like A Clockwork Orange https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-clockwork-orange-by-anthony-burgess.html are on my Top 100 Favorite list   Indeed, some are on the top 20, the issue I have with The Shinning though is that it is not my favorite genre, on the contrary, I avoid horror films, ever since I had some unhappy experience about forty years ago… Ergo, this note is not about The Shining, this being a motion picture directed by Kubrick, and furthermore, with the glorious Jack Nicholson in the leading role, there is a lot to see there, but that is about all I have to say on the film   From here on, it is not interesting, worse, unrelated, although we could say that, eve...

  Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler –‘In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Darkness at Noon number eight on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century, even though Koestler wrote it in German https://realini.blogspot.com/2012/05/top-100-modern-library-books-that-ive.html   10 out of 10   Darkness of Noon is one of the most important masterpieces, The Modern Library says it is at eight, among the Top 100 Best Novels, describing the horror of the communist regime of the Soviet Union, although the country is not named, Stalin is just Number One, the government is just called the party, and there are other code names   I have lived under such a regime, and therefore, my spoiler alert is right here, this note will veer towards the feelings that such a book provokes in this reader, my conclusion is up there, however insignificant, and moving forward, there is the need to share some of what has happened in this place, an echo of Darken...

  Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrick, writer and director of 2001 – A Space Odyssey – my note on this is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/06/2001-space-odyssey-screenplay-by.html where I have another few thousand reviews   10 out of 10   Stanley Kubrick was one of the greatest film makers of all time, his magnificent talent is behind masterpieces like Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/09/dr-strangelove-aka-red-alert-by-peter.html and the aforementioned films   What is also extraordinary is that the glorious director and writer covered almost every genre, from Science Fiction, with the landmark 2001 – A Space Odyssey, to Comedy, Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb is both a science fiction tale and a comedy, showing us what Armageddon might look like A rogue general decides to launch an attack on the Soviet Union – today, it is more likely to be...

  The Children of The New Forest by Frederick Marryat   8 out of 10   This is embarrassing, but I have seen that this is a children’s book only now, after I have (sort of) finished it, having said that, it is not as if this was cherished, set aside as one of the masterpieces that I need to read again, no, I did not think much of it, indeed, I just sailed through quite a few chapters, without much interest   The Children of The New Forest was published in 1847, hence this is available at https://librivox.org/ where you can listen to the audiobook, which I did, until it got out of the interesting, captivating zone, to give you an idea, Dune has about one and a half million ratings, and an astounding number or reviews on Goodreads… Mine is to be posted in the next couple of days, at the same time, very few readers took the trouble with The Children of The New Forest – only a few hundred ratings – notwithstanding the fact that this is included on the list ...

  The Adventures of Roderick Random by Tobias Smollett, author of The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom, my note on that is at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-adventures-of-ferdinand-count.html   7 out of 10   Tobias Smollett has four books on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, and The Adventures of Roderick Random is the second that I tried to enjoy, alas, without much, or any success, coming on the tails of The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom, which was another failed launch into Shangri La, or some other paradisical land   Which does not bode well for The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle and The Expedition of Humphry Clinker both by the same Tobias Smollett, included on the aforementioned list, ergo on my to read list, but considering my criminal record with this novelist, since I have killed his first two recommended works, it might be another misfire On the one hand, it is not good to have too high expectations, I hav...