Aloha Count Dracula!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I brought The Sea Wolf to read on my vacation, but finished it on the first day. The second book I brought was a 1909 edition of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. The problem was I didn't want to ruin in by taking it to the beach, and besides, I just wasn't in the mood for it. I rooted around iBooks on my phone for something good, and downloaded Robinson Crusoe. Much to my consternation however, what I actually ended up acquiring and reading from start to finish was Bram Stoker's Dracula! Go figure right? It makes no sense to me either. Especially after feeling like A Connecticut Yankee wasn't didn't provide the right "mood" during my Hawaiian vacation. Like Dracula was better suited?
Anyway, it was a pretty good book. I must confess, having never celebrated Halloween as a kid, and not paying much attention to stories like Frankenstein or the like, that I had no idea what Dracula was about except that he was a vampire.
As it turns out it was actually pretty good I thought. The writing style is typical of the era in which it was written (and that I am so enthralled with at present), and the imagery in the text was really contrasting. Good versus evil, light versus darkness, fear versus bravery were all well illustrated and repeated over and over again. Somehow the book projected onto reality a feeling of falling into shadows and then emerging from them as I was reading. But it wasn't the sun and clouds that were alternating the light as I read it was the words and mood of the story itself. It was weird, but cool. I am still trying to figure out if it was done on purpose or if it's just my imagination.
A lot of the text is heavily laden with Victorian England's version of romance and duty, which I find nauseating, but again, it worked well in contrast to the based nature of Dracula. The women in the story Lucy, and Mina, were likened to angels, kind and sympathetic. (Well, until Lucy turned into a vampire and they chopped her head off.) The men, were brave heroes and chivalrous. While the Count (Dracula) was a demon, sly and cunning, without morals, dark, dangerous, unfair and cruel. Classic good vs. evil stuff.
And just in general it was a pretty good story. Not overtly ridiculous, or dramatic. In fact it was written from the perspective of a skeptic which I found brilliant! It was ominous and creepy and the few startling descriptions of violence were very successful in sounding horrible and gruesome. In a word it's believable. In my opinion so few modern books (especially sci-fi) can claim to be even remotely believable these days. But this is a solidly written book. I really enjoyed it.
I know when most people think of vampires they think of Halloween or dark windy nights, but every time I think of Dracula from now on it is going to remind me of palm trees and Hawaii!

Life in the Woods

Reading at the Red Lantern, Fairbanks AK

I recently read Walden by H.D. Thoreau. It was my travel book on my Alaska adventure, and a well suited one I think. In some ways it was much better than I imagined, but in others well....I guess I should start from the beginning.
I don't think I would have liked Thoreau if I'd known him in real life. He seems (though his writing) to have been a bit of a douche bag, and frankly the first couple chapters made him seem pompous and arrogant. I think (at least in his early 30's) that he considered himself intellectually superior to everyone he knew, and apparently he wasn't afraid to say it, or write it in a book for everyone else to know.
The first couple chapters are a rant against society, acquisitions of wealth, fashion and the typical life of people in the 1840's. In one place he says "I have lived some thirty-odd years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of value or even earnest advice from my seniors." Ouch. And then he suggests that every person should be content to live in a 3 foot by 6 foot box (too coffin like for me) because that is all one man needs to protect him from the elements! He looked down on fashion in general, and called those interested in it "monkeys."
He was accurate in his observations I think, but his blanketed judgements concerning humanity were a little too harsh. And I don't think he had much of a sense of humor. One of my favorite lines he wrote was "I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion."And I thought that was pretty funny (because I get his point, but I don't think I've ever seen a pumpkin I'd be comfortable sitting on), but I believe he was being quite serious in saying it.
So at this point you'd imagine that either a.) I'd have quit reading the book or b.) I would at the very least not recommend anyone else to read it. But neither is the case.
There were a few hidden gems of insight in the earlier chapters that made the rest of his moaning and whining worth reading, and when he finally got to the part where he was living at Walden Pond, the reading came much easier,and the book came alive. Like I said he was a wonderful observer, and so the rest was actually a really great read. I loved every minute of it. (Especially when I was sitting among hundreds of stranded travelers at the Seattle airport!) It was entertaining, thoughtful, inspiring, thought provoking and not at all like the first few chapters!
Instead of paraphrasing I thought I'd just post a few of my favorite quotes and let that inspire you to either read the book yourself, or at least forgive Thoreau for his earlier comment about old people. Enjoy!

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

"A written word is the choicest of relics. It is something at once more intimate with us and more universal than any other work of art. It is the work of art nearest to life."

"I have, as it were, my own sun and moon and stars, and a little word all unto myself."

"I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time.To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was more companionable as solitude."

"I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for company, three for society."

"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature."

(I may add more here when I have more time. So check back periodically if you'd like to read more.)

Cosmotheoros

I can't even remember why I decided to read Cosmotheoros by Christian Huygens. I think it was partly because I was intrigued at the idea of reading a scientific work written over three hundred years ago, partly because the thesis of the book is the probability of extra terrestrial life elsewhere in the universe, and lastly because I found a free English translation of the book on the Internet.
It was pretty interesting, but more in a "history of science" kind of way than a technical one. Cosmotheoros was Huygens last book, and it wasn't even published until after he died. It was his most controversial book, which is why he probably saved it for last. In it he discusses all the reasons why he believed that life existed elsewhere in the universe (well, solar system actually, but in the late 1600's that pretty much was the universe). He laid out his arguments , and explained his reasoning quite thoroughly I thought. It was a strange mixture of accurate science, and divine interpretation. He would, for example, discuss (more or less accurately) the length of a day on Jupiter, and say something like "But in the length of their years, that is in the revolution of the Planets around the Sun, there is an exact proportion to their distance from the Sun followed. For the Cubes of their distances, so are the Squares of their Revolutions..." blah blah blah... And then further down the page he would shift gears and say something to the effect of why would God create moons around other planets if there were no people there to appreciate them?
It's weird to contemplate because in a way his reasoning is sound. Based on scientific understanding at the time, no one questioned whether or not God made the universe. People actually believed that everything was made by God for the sole benefit of man. The moon didn't just exist for no reason, it existed to light the sky at night, keep track of time, usher in the tides, and provide direction to sailors wandering the ocean at night.
It's amusing to think that Huygens had greater expectations for extra terrestrial life than our modern day scientists do. Especially because he claims he was a Christian. (I say "claims" because while reading I couldn't help but notice many of his references to God seem like  they were added to appease others, not himself. It was like he was saying "OK calm down. Put your pitch fork and Bible down and give me a chance. Yes, God is awesome, and we are the best thing He ever made, but...") Anyway, that's pure conjecture on my part. It's pretty impossible to know what someone who lived 300 years ago really thought. But I'd still like to share a couple quotes with you from the book that either struck me inspirationally (or spiritually some might say) or as modern, and applicable to the world we live in today.

"There's one sort who know nothing of Geometry or Mathematicks, will laugh at it as a whimsical and ridiculous undertaking. It's mere conjecture to them to talk of measuring the Distance or Magnitude of the Stars...What should we answer to these men, but that their ignorance is the cause of their Dislike , and if they had more Sense they would have fewer Scruples?" SNAP! (Just to be clear, I added the "snap". I am pretty sure it was implied though.)

"For here we may mount from this dull Earth, and viewing it from on high, consider whether Nature has laid out all her cost and finery upon this small speck of Dirt....We shall be less apt to admire what this World calls great...when we know that there are a multitude of such Earths inhabited and adorned as well as our own."

"If anyone is resolved to find fault with it (meaning the truth of what Huygens is arguing) let him first be sure he understands it."

"Certainly when I consider all these things, how great, noble, and useful they are; when I consider what an admirable providence it is that there 's such a thing as Pleasure in the world, I can't but think that our Earth, the smallest part almost of the Universe, was never designed to monopolize so great a blessing."

OK, last one:)

"But there are other pleasures which men enjoy, which their Soul only and Reason can relish: some airy and brisk, others grave and solid, and yet nevertheless Pleasures, as arising from the Satisfaction which we feel in Knowledge and Inventions and searches after Truth."

Much of what I read in Cosmotheoros was ridiculous, and technically untrue, but I can't deny the respect I feel for the scientist who wrote it. Christian Huygens may not have had all his facts straight, but what he wrote is still (in my humble opinion) a great work of science. He wrote a book in the 1600's hypothesising about aliens for crying out loud!  AWESOME! I'll never know who he really was, but from quotes like the ones I mentioned above, I like to think that if he were living now, or if I'd been born three centuries ago (and a man I guess) we would have been kindred persons. We'd have sat having tea (or martini's depending on the century) and  he would have shouted "There's got to be life elsewhere in the universe right?!? I mean how could there not be!?!" And I would have responded by raising my hand in the air, and saying "High five dude. You are awesome!"

Need A Laugh?

I spent the weekend, well, half the weekend, reading several of Mark Twain's short stories. And let me tell you something. I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud while reading! The stories range from hilarious to ironic, and the majority of them would be considered "tall tales" on the grounds that they often recount events which could never occur, like having conversations with skeletons, or cats that are experts in placer mining.
But I thought I'd pass along a couple of the stories that I believe would truly improve your day, if not your whole literary life. So if by chance you have a few moments to spare (perhaps over a cup of coffee and a scone?) give these a read!

A Day at Niagra

Political Economy

(Note: In Political Economy the funniest part is toward the end, so don't give up half way through!)

Mark Twain on the Brain

Have you ever discovered something that was right in front of you the whole time but for some reason you never saw it? Me too. What have I discovered? It's more of a who: Mark Twain!
I can't say for absolutely sure, but I spent an hour yesterday reading some of his short stories and I totally love them. I like the ol' west accent he uses in his writing, and I like the subjects he writes about and his (sometimes) irreverent humor. Makes me think of the gold rush days here in California, and for some reason I have always had a soft spot for that era in the states history.
I tried Borders yesterday for a specific book entitled "Letters from the Earth" but they didn't have it. They had fourteen editions of Huck Finn, but not any of Twain's less known works. I am going to try the used bookstore today.
Have any of you read any Mark Twain? Any thoughts on specific books, or whether or not you liked him? Let me know!