Reading Wednesday 9/11/19
What I finished reading
Freedom and Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull. I adore this book. James Cobham, a man involved in the Chartist movement wakes up with memory loss; he assumes it's due to attempted murder. Through letters and journal entries, his stepsister, his first cousin, and their second cousin work through the mystery. All four characters are delightful and I adore James/Susan.
What I'm reading now
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk. A very good book. But I'm really confused by this sentence: "The last things that should be cut from school schedules are chorus, physical education, recess, and anything else involving movement, play, and joyful engagement."
Chorus and recess, sure, but HOW THE FUCK CAN A TRAUMA EXPERT BE PRO-PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS? You tell us how survivors are out of sync with their bodies - those are the kids who do things wrong in PE and get bullied for it by both classmates and teachers. Which leads to them being in fight-flight-or-freeze mode and hypervigilance during all PE class, which leads to them messing up more, which leads to more bullying and walking into math class sobbing.
What I'm reading next
I'm not sure. The many Vietnam vets mentioned in The Body Keeps the Score reminded me that I want to learn more about the Korean and Vietnam Wars from the non-American point of view, so perhaps that.
This entry was originally posted at https://nocowardsoul.dreamwidth.org/48607.html
Freedom and Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull. I adore this book. James Cobham, a man involved in the Chartist movement wakes up with memory loss; he assumes it's due to attempted murder. Through letters and journal entries, his stepsister, his first cousin, and their second cousin work through the mystery. All four characters are delightful and I adore James/Susan.
What I'm reading now
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk. A very good book. But I'm really confused by this sentence: "The last things that should be cut from school schedules are chorus, physical education, recess, and anything else involving movement, play, and joyful engagement."
Chorus and recess, sure, but HOW THE FUCK CAN A TRAUMA EXPERT BE PRO-PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS? You tell us how survivors are out of sync with their bodies - those are the kids who do things wrong in PE and get bullied for it by both classmates and teachers. Which leads to them being in fight-flight-or-freeze mode and hypervigilance during all PE class, which leads to them messing up more, which leads to more bullying and walking into math class sobbing.
What I'm reading next
I'm not sure. The many Vietnam vets mentioned in The Body Keeps the Score reminded me that I want to learn more about the Korean and Vietnam Wars from the non-American point of view, so perhaps that.
This entry was originally posted at https://nocowardsoul.dreamwidth.org/48607.html