Saturday March 04, 2006 6:15 am Ballina NSW

A. Morning Musings

6:15 am There was steady rain yesterday from noon on through the night. We are in the middle of a weak cyclone that is causing flooding near Bellingen. Now to get a quick weather forecast for today off the web. The forecast is for rain through the weekend, then it appears to improve. 6:50 am

Chores: none

Literature: Make a few notes for "A Reading Diary".

Mathematics: continue making notes for "Dr. Riemann's Zeros".

C. Actual

6:50 am Literature: I enjoyed Alberto Manguel's book, "A Reading Diary". It was a light read but very pleasant. While acknowledging a book a month, he does not reveal any of the details of the plot that would ruin the book for another reader.

• "But why keep a diary? Why write down all these notes? The mysterious master of the island, Morel, explains his reasons form keeping a record of his memories: 'To lend perpetual reality to my sentimental fantasy.' ' [p. 8]
  • Manguel begins much like I began this web site, with a question about whether the coming exercise is worth the effort. He quotes from the novel he is currently reading to give a possible answer that applies to him as well. That is the main idea behind the book - to show connections between whatever he is reading and what is occurring in his life at the moment. My goal is different. It is to provide a record of what I am Learning as well as a record of how I went about it. I am not aware of anyone who has actually tried to do this, perhaps for good reason.
  • My approach is also different. My notes often consist of quotes from the material followed by commentary about the quote. Thus I have a record of what triggered the thought.
    
    
• "The English-speaking reader has not yet discovered the works of Bioy. Though his books are published in the United States, they are not read. ... The ignorance of the English-speaking reader never ceases to amaze me." [p. 10]
  • I do not recognize the name Bioy. Manguel raises a point, but a rejoinder would be that there are more books and more authors than there are minutes in a lifetime. One must choose a few and omit many. And my style of slow reading which includes making yellow highlights and, for some books, additional notes (like I am doing at the moment for "A Reading Diary") reduces the amount of time available to read another book. Each day consists of numerous decisions about what to do next. When to read, when to be on the Internet or the computer, when to be with friends and family, when to enjoy the moment, when to ... stop writing this sentence.
  • Nonetheless, it might be worth reflecting on how and why I make the decisions I do about what to read next. I primarily decide what to buy by browsing in bookstores. I also buy new books rather than used ones. Once in awhile I spend an hour on amazon.com following a set of threads about a nonfiction topic in order to locate a book that is considered excellent for the topic. This is how I have located some of the books I now have on calculus and number theory. Once in a bookstore I browse almost all the shelves. Like Manguel, I consider my tastes in fiction to be eclectic. I tend to notice books by authors that I have already read, and I notice authors whose names I see repeatedly while browsing different stores. I also will notice a reference to a book or an author while reading another book and will make a point of following it up. Sometimes a friend will mention a book and I will keep that in mind while browsing. Here are a few recent examples:
    • "The Story of the Stone" (5 vols.) by Cao Xueqin. I read somewhere that this was considered the Chinese classic, written around 1750. I have volumes 1, 2, 4 and 5 and have read the first volume. I have made detailed notes for this and am looking forward to reading the second volume in the near future. Then I must obtain volume 3, which I will do over the Internet when I return home.
    • "In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust. Once again, I have seen reference to this seven volume series on numerous occasions. I finally bought all seven volumes about 4 years ago and have developed the pattern of bringing one with me each time I come to Australia. I have now completed reading, and making notes, for the first four volumes.
    • "A Reading Diary" by Alberto Manguel. I have read his book "A History of Reading" as well as his "Reading Pictures" and have enjoyed them both. I noticed this book in a nearby bookstore while waiting for a friend to return from a scuba dive at Byron Bay. The book was read the same week.
    • "And on the Seventh Day" by Paulo Coelho. I have noticed his books on the shelves for a few years now and last April I bought about six of them while visiting a store in Coffs Harbour. I have now read them all, enjoyed them, but did not make notes.
    • "Teacher Man" by Frank McCourt. I have not read his previous novels "Angela's Ashes" and "Tis" but have been aware that they are very popular. I bought this book while waiting in an airport in Brisbane.
• A review of my ongoing web site for Literature indicates that I read 28 novels in 2002, 32 in 2003, 37 in 2004, and 49 in 2005. This year I have read 6 novels in the first 2 months. It would be possible to categorize these and form either a list or a grid that would illustrate the patterns. However this seems to be a futile exercise. If I tried to use a category such as nationality, I would run into the problem of authors such as Manguel who move from one country to another. There is no accepted set of categories for genre, nor could there be, as the lines blur between types as well as within a specific book. A good book often fails to categorize. However it is possible to review my list of 150 books and write a few sentences about how I came to read it. But why?

• "As I begin to glimpse the certainty of an end, I enjoy all the more the things I've grown accustomed to - my favourite books, voices, presences, tastes, surroundings ..." [p. 13]
  • I am about 10 years older than Manguel, and I would say that I am enjoying life immensely. I like my home in Lethbridge, my books, my use of the Internet as well as being with a few close friends and family. I like to travel and to drive. Much of the travel is to return to the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales. When we return to Canada we hope to get back to some camping with our 5th wheel. We also want to begin planning for a few more trips to Europe to see countries such as Italy, Germany and Switzerland as well as return to Scotland, Norway, Austria, Spain as well as a special trip back to Japan. I am beginning to think I would like to visit some countries in Central and South America (e.g. Costa Rica, Guatemala, Argentina, Chile, Peru). Fascinating how Manguel's one sentence got me going.
    
    
• "It is curious how readers form their own text by remarking on certain words, certain names that have a private meaning, that echo for them alone and are unnoticed by any other." [p. 26]
  
  
• "The books I take up to my bed at night and the books I sort out in the library during the day are different books. The former impose on me their time and length, their own rhythm of telling before I fall asleep; the latter are ruled by my own notions of order and categories, and obey me almost blindly (sometimes they rebel and I have to change their place on the shelf)." [p. 27]

There is no need to continue these notes. I have yellow highlighted a number of additional passages and I know I can find them if I want them.

The weather is still windy and raining. 9:00 am

From lookout at Lighthouse beach	Wow!
From path at Lighthouse beach lookout	From Lighthouse beach

D. Reflection