Dear Bookclub,
Terry's trepidation about her suggestion, our July read, Douglas Murray's "The Madness of Crowds" dissipated as we eagerly expressed our gratitude for the enlightenment. As our heads and hearts swirled while we recounted the various examples and themes, the question of how to move forward with this knowledge emerged. Education, balanced sensitivity, a mindful awareness were mentioned. Agreeing that the internet stirs the insanity, the recent CIF basketball-tortilla-throwing incident that happened in our own little SD, just won't go away (see above). The link above is weeks old and new developments seem to crop up daily. Horrible behavior from the coach, a competition rife with tension and the aftermath is off to the madness of crowds.
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| Gleefully gathering at Vintana's |
Douglas Murray's reading of "The Madness of Crowds" was a great listen.
'cnn TROvesee*
Listening to the content, I found many pronunciations distracting. Generally, charmed by the author's accent, some moments had me sidelined by odd sounding words that, upon delayed processing, became clear and I could move on. But a lingering inner conversation had me wondering, is this speaker so ignorant? How could I harshly judge this intellect that was teeming with insight based on something as innocuous as accent? A constant in daily interpretation: listening and absorbing but with judgement....is this a madness or an anthropological hangnail? 'Covid' sounded like 'comet'; *controversy, a word surely used more than any other, screeched. Yet, how could I pause to waste any energy in judgement. What a glaring example of the obvious. Be kind. Just try to understand the message, I reminded myself. More on speech and judgement (a short and thoughtful piece):
http://linguaeast.com/dont-judge-others-based-on-their-speech/
To hear an excellent interview of Murray by Peter Robinson on the continuing fight against "The Madness of Crowds" please enjoy this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp4XhZytdD0
I especially appreciated his point of the wasted time and resources into the misguided energy.
Trudy's recommendations for an upcoming read:
"Great Circle" Maggie Shipstead *chosen
"The Tipping Point" Malcolm Gladwell
"The Last Bookshop in London" Madeline Martin
Our luncheon was topped with the gripping suspense of Val's decision: would she bring Jim a new car or leftover lunch?
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| Jim enjoyed the burger. |
Up next:
Read and Be Kind,
LK
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