Birds and book, day 38 of 2012
I'm tired and it's definitely getting more difficult to get the "day of" portion of the subject line correct. It's lucky I jotted down all the birds I saw immediately upon arriving at work this morning.
Birds
crows
American goldfinches
northern flickers
yellow-rumped warblers
dark-eyed juncos
black-capped chickadees
house sparrows
starlings
robins
golden-crowned sparrow
song sparrow
gold-crowned kinglet
Steller's jay
pigeons
peregrine falcon
Canada geese
common goldeneye (male)
cormorant
Anna's hummingbird
The peregrine falcon was on top of the bridgetender's tower, aka moving closer to the nesting box. I guess I'll see over the next few weeks if this is actually significant.
Book
The Prague Cemetery page 351
This isn't going to be my favorite Eco (not by a long shot) but it's got its moments. For example:
There's no point looking for an enemy among, I don't know, the Mongols or the Tatars, as despots have done in the past. For the enemy to be recognized and feared, he has to be in your home or on your doorstep. Hence the Jews. Divine providence has given them to us, and so, by God, let us use them, and pray there's always some Jew to fear and to hate. We need an enemy to give people hope. Someone said that patriotism is the last refuge of cowards; those without moral principles usually wrap a flag around themselves, and the bastards always talk about the purity of the race. National identity is the last bastion of the dispossessed. But the meaning of identity is now based on hatred, on hatred for those who are not the same. Hatred has to be cultivated as a civic passion. The enemy is the friend of the people. You always want someone to hate in order to feel justified in your own misery. Hatred is the true primordial passion. It is love that's abnormal. That is why Christ was killed; he spoke against nature. You don't love someone for your whole life -- that impossible hope is the source of adultery, matricide, betrayal of friends . . . But you can hate someone for your whole life, provided he's always there to keep your hatred alive. Hatred warms the heart.
from page 342 of The Prague Cemetery
I like this paragraph, cynical bit of observation from a despicable character though it is, but it also sort of illustrates the book's flaw for me. It's a clever book with intelligent insights into the nature of prejudice and belief. One recurring note is that people will believe all sorts of nonsense if it agrees with their existing preconceptions: A person accepts, and indeed embraces, the authenticity of ancient documents that demonstrate X to be true if said person already believes X to be true. But I don't care about any of the characters and it doesn't really seem to be a story. There are some clever narrative devices and I'm sure the author's observations about humanity are true (because I already believe them to be true?) but I don't care about anything or anyone in these pages.
Birds
crows
American goldfinches
northern flickers
yellow-rumped warblers
dark-eyed juncos
black-capped chickadees
house sparrows
starlings
robins
golden-crowned sparrow
song sparrow
gold-crowned kinglet
Steller's jay
pigeons
peregrine falcon
Canada geese
common goldeneye (male)
cormorant
Anna's hummingbird
The peregrine falcon was on top of the bridgetender's tower, aka moving closer to the nesting box. I guess I'll see over the next few weeks if this is actually significant.
Book
The Prague Cemetery page 351
This isn't going to be my favorite Eco (not by a long shot) but it's got its moments. For example:
There's no point looking for an enemy among, I don't know, the Mongols or the Tatars, as despots have done in the past. For the enemy to be recognized and feared, he has to be in your home or on your doorstep. Hence the Jews. Divine providence has given them to us, and so, by God, let us use them, and pray there's always some Jew to fear and to hate. We need an enemy to give people hope. Someone said that patriotism is the last refuge of cowards; those without moral principles usually wrap a flag around themselves, and the bastards always talk about the purity of the race. National identity is the last bastion of the dispossessed. But the meaning of identity is now based on hatred, on hatred for those who are not the same. Hatred has to be cultivated as a civic passion. The enemy is the friend of the people. You always want someone to hate in order to feel justified in your own misery. Hatred is the true primordial passion. It is love that's abnormal. That is why Christ was killed; he spoke against nature. You don't love someone for your whole life -- that impossible hope is the source of adultery, matricide, betrayal of friends . . . But you can hate someone for your whole life, provided he's always there to keep your hatred alive. Hatred warms the heart.
from page 342 of The Prague Cemetery
I like this paragraph, cynical bit of observation from a despicable character though it is, but it also sort of illustrates the book's flaw for me. It's a clever book with intelligent insights into the nature of prejudice and belief. One recurring note is that people will believe all sorts of nonsense if it agrees with their existing preconceptions: A person accepts, and indeed embraces, the authenticity of ancient documents that demonstrate X to be true if said person already believes X to be true. But I don't care about any of the characters and it doesn't really seem to be a story. There are some clever narrative devices and I'm sure the author's observations about humanity are true (because I already believe them to be true?) but I don't care about anything or anyone in these pages.