The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

We never completed any of the other reading groups, did we?

The threads seemed to all tail off not very far into the books in question.

I think that we should take a vote on the current proposals.

I vote no to the very hungry Caterpillar, it's full of holes.

Suggest instead the I Ching.

I consulted the I Ching about this idea and it voted in favour, in these terms:

Ta Yu is formed when Fire moves over Heaven. The idea of mental clarity or the sun in the sky shows its auspiciousness in describing your current condition. The sun sustains life and if we rise like the sun, we need only activate our hidden powers of expansion. Like the sun, by simply being, we set off a chain reaction of abundance. Obstacles disappear because of the hidden influence of Breakthrough. We cultivate the seeds planted in the dark of winter that break through the soil of difficulty and emerge stronger and wiser. This is Great Possessing. Perhaps we learned to play the guest of life and not strive so much to fight against what can never be. Where the underlying cause of Union was a time of joining and partnerships, Great Possessing is a time when our star shines or our sun is rising as an individual. Life has offered you its greatest gift – the power to shine with an inner certainty that need not be defended. Strength and clarity unite and you can move forward in the knowledge that Grace is your teacher and power is merely aligning your will with the way. The message can be about wealth, success or just a sense of knowing you have arrived.

See here if you would like the I Ching to advise you whether to participate or not. https://cafeausoul.com/oracles/iching

We never completed any of the other reading groups, did we?
The threads seemed to all tail off not very far into the books in question. — Terrapin Station

Reading groups

I do declare that I have never read so many discussions about discussions or threads about threads in all my life.
Why can't it just be about someone starting a conversation about whatever book that interests them.
If 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' is something that S wants to discuss, then S can just go ahead and share the joy and enthusiasm with all.

The very idea of chewing a book to death slowly and tediously, over 15 pages or more in an Ongoing thread...
What did that text or philosophy ever do to deserve that ? Where does the initial enthusiasm go ?

There must be a better Wu Wei ?

I think that we should take a vote on the current proposals. — S

I vote you should start a conversation on The Very Hungry Caterpillar :up:

Why can't it just be about someone starting a conversation about whatever book that interests them.
If 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' is something that S wants to discuss, then S can just go ahead and share the joy and enthusiasm with all. — Amity

Alas, not all of us are secure enough of our identity to initiate without consultation and approval. The humiliation of starting a thread and getting little or no participation could send a delicate soul into a major depression.

To put it another way, one who converses with no consideration of the interests of his audience is known a crashing bore.

I thought you were being serious :smile: and then came the Oracle :sad:
Shame :down: — Amity

I'm perfectly serious. I'm not going to pretend that it's oracular use is not as much a part of it as its philosophical use. One can discuss the New Testament without being a Christian, but not without recognising that it is a religious text.

Suggest instead the I Ching.

I consulted the I Ching about this idea and it voted in favour, in these terms: — unenlightened

I thought you were being serious :smile: and then came the Oracle :sad:
Shame :down:

Alas, not all of us are secure enough of our identity to initiate without consultation and approval. The humiliation of starting a thread and getting little or no participation could send a delicate soul into a major depression. — unenlightened

Yeah. That's what I figured. Whatever happened to Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway :starstruck:

To put it another way, one who converses with no consideration of the interests of his audience is known a crashing bore. — unenlightened

Well, that would be a good Stoic exercise now wouldn't it.
It would then be up to the audience to make it more interesting by asking questions.
Or throwing rocks.

I'm perfectly serious. I'm not going to pretend that it's oracular use is not as much a part of it as its philosophical use. One can discuss the New Testament without being a Christian, but not without recognising that it is a religious text. — unenlightened

Indeed you can discuss anything in the Bible without believing it. But to pray about an understanding or the way forward in any discussion would be ridiculous. To listen to any 'divine' responses even more so.

And your adding your responses to my follow ups by editing your original post is putting carts before horses and upsetting the apples.

And your adding your responses to my follow ups by editing your original post is putting carts before horses and upsetting the apples. — Amity

Yeah, sorry, I forgot I was editing not posting.

Meanwhile, I going to just leave this here so as not to lose it, as relating in a vague way to the I Ching and your comments as well as offering a resource in case someone wants a thread on Pirsig. https://archivehumanitas.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/ah.-a-critical-reading-of-r.p.-1-3.pdf

Mythos and logos... Yang and Yin.

...offering a resource in case someone wants a thread on Pirsig. https://archivehumanitas.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/ah.-a-critical-reading-of-r.p.-1-3.pdf

Mythos and logos... Yang and Yin. — unenlightened

I would have mixed feelings about discussing Pirsig's 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'.
It would be like airing the sense and sensibility of my first love affair in public.

Then again, some books might be worth an analytical revisit. To test against what one has learned since...how does it stand up...

The first time, I travelled alone. Zooming along. Don't know if my journey would have survived a zoom in.

Suggest instead the I Ching. — unenlightened

I'm all for it. Sound edifying.

I have tried to start a thread on Poetics in order to then deal with Nietzsche’s work.

Some interest in Nietzsche was expressed by a number of people and if there are enough people serious enough to deal with this I’d be willing to ‘manage’ the discussion to some degree.

Reading Poetics is essential (in my view) to understanding The Birth of Tragedy which would be the first book to start off with after Poetics. Then I was going to go through Beyond Good and Evil and then On the Genealogy of Morals - all of which I have read, but BG&E I read probably 2-3 years ago now so it’s a little shadowy in my mind.

I am just about to start my second attempt at Thus Spake now after all this background reading.

I’ve not read The Gay Science so if I get a chance to squeeze that in after dealing with The Birth of Tragedy I will ... depending on interest?

So? Anyone want to commit?

The Poetics is a relatively short piece and there are different trans. of it. I think it is important in relation to Nietzsche because he deals explicitly with Tragedy as being important to his ideas surrounding the whole Apolline and Dionysian view of the world of art, religion, thought and, broadly speaking, human culture its entirety and its future coarse course :)

I imagine we could get through Poetics in 2-3 months well enough - could also branch off into interesting discussions regarding art critique in relation to ancient Greece and how such artistic endeavors were entwined within the cultures and day-to-day lives of the Greek inhabitants (something I’d love to learn more about).

I am not particularly interested in following ‘guides’ written by other people. I’d much prefer to approach the text as is because I expect the person who wrote their works assumed their readers would be up to the task of understanding their points - that said historical references and footnotes are often worthy of deeper analysis.

My personal view of Nietzsche is of someone who was quite sensitive and I enjoy his violent bombast. He clearly wants to shock the reader, to rouse them into action, and to force them to question their own preconceptions in regard to a vast array of categories.

Note: I’d also be willing to get hold of a copy of Ecco Homo at some point - I have read it, but it was around 6-7 years ago.

I vote for Meditations on first philosophy by Rene Descartes himself.

Would anyone be interested in Kripke's Reference and Existence?

Hegel Texts and Commentary, Walter Kaufman, 1986. ISBN 0-268-01069-2

A translation of the preface, with commentary, of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. Not an easy read, but supposedly a road map and guide to the larger text. The translation itself about sixty pages. Did I say not an easy read? Definitely not an easy read.

We never completed any of the other reading groups, did we? — Terrapin Station

If it's not a requirement to finish reading a book before joining the club, and discussing the book, then I'd like to join. But I must put forth that I am a lousy reader, I can't read more than 3 pages at a time, and those three pages take me noramlly two weeks, with several passes of the same three pages.

All in! Lemme check if I can find a PDF online. Would you like to start such a reading group?

Yeah, same issue here. Though I compensate for that in perseverance and persistence. I'm a stubborn bloke.

Problem with me I'm lazy. I don't have perseverance. Only have persistence when it's not something like work. Reading is like working in the salt mines. It's painful, it's irritating, and it makes no sense.