I'm reading and really ENJOYING the book, A Gathering of Old Men . Thanks so much for recommending this UPLIFTING book to me. Causes me to want to "STAND TALL"...for MY ANCESTORS...

You are welcome. It STANDS TALL on my list of all time best-reads ever.

I absolutely love how each chapter is written, don't you?


I don't want to give it away here. But very unique in voice and character.

When I finished that book, I sat by my pool and just stared at the water. I needed time to process, to think, to delve into my prejudices and own them. I had always considered myself as "not a racist". That book made me just understand many of my minority friends so much better, in that, yes, to some degree, it IS always about race.

I learned more than that - it is always about culture, about upbringing, about where you have been in your life and background. About where you lived, who your parents were and THOUGHT they were. What they gave you as a person, and how much you believed of yourself and who believed in you. It speaks to race, yes, but deeper and richer than that. So much deeper and richer.

That book was a gift to me on many levels, more complex than its seemingly simple story appears to offer on the surface.

I love to pass this book forward. I wish I could meet the man who wrote it, hear his story of life, know him. What a man this must be...............

SB

I'm in the MIDDLE..but it BUILDS and GROWS on me...and is having a major EMOTIONAL EFFECT as you say...

Why are you LEAVING?

Anymore BOOKS that I MUST READ?

What are some of your OTHER FAVORITES?

I just finished Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston. Great read. You've probably already read it.


It was a movie with Halle Berry. I'm not big on movies, but the book, ohhhh. I savored it.

Another Gaines book - A Lesson Before Dying. Very different from the Old Men book, and more of a very straight up story. But written with depth and feeling, and made me mad and made me cry, too.


I'm not sure if you read non-fiction, science-based books. But I read a book over the summer by the Dalai Lama that discussed the issues of how science and Buddhist thought compare and contrast. He covers a variety of areas, including quantum physics, evolution, and basic scientific research approaches, to name a few. It's called The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality.

I was fascinated at how many aspects of Buddhist philosophies actually had many similarities with areas of science, and some of the approaches of Eastern thought toward science. The differences in cultural/religious thought processes is an area I am interested in, due to the way the brain maps thought and the relationship to language/culture and those influences. He gives an interesting perspective, being a religious man, and not being from a particularly scientific background. However, the philosophical background he brings to the table is downright overwhelming in its depth and clarity.

Of course, it takes awhile to read this book, and I had to stop and think a lot! But, well worth it for me. It's what I do, think a lot. That's what they pay me for, and I suppose I need to earn my keep.



I will talk about my leaving in the new thread....

SB

Yes..I have read THEIR EYES ARE WATCHING GOD..loved it...Did it bring to your mind ADDICTIVE, CRAZY LOVE which characterizes AFFAIRS?

I also read A LESSON BEFORE DYING..can't recall it..must not have resonated with me like THE GATHERING..I told myself that I would go back to it...I recall LOVING the AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN which GAINES also wrote..read it many, many years ago...

YES..I LOVE to read NONFICTION as well..MEMOIRS...SPIRITUALITY..PERSONAL GROWTH..even BUSINESS and LEADERSHIP...

Please share more..before you leave...

I REALLY APPRECIATE BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS..

I call my reading BIBLIOTHERAPY...