#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 4

Today's event asks participants to present a book with a beautiful spine. Appearance and content are
inextricably linked in the minds of most readers. One book with a beautiful spine? I must have read hundreds. And then there are all those ancient tomes I've perused on the shelves of crumbling stately homes. How to select a single volume, and display it here? Well, it clearly has to be a book from my own shelves. Most of these are relatively modern. And, scanning my shelves, seeking out those spines that make me tingle (sorry for the pun) I recollect that I went through a period when I removed the dust covers from most of my hardbacks. That means a lot of the good 'uns have now vanished into the paper recycling bin of history. Which leaves me with a rather smaller selection from which to choose.
But I can't select a single book. I find a group, whittle that selection down to a handful and then further reduce to a few. Here they are. Please forgive the inclusion of my own book here: I didn't design the cover, my publisher put it out to a brilliant cover designer. As for the rest, I think they speak for themselves.
Don't forget, if you want to get involved as reader or writer, or both, here's the link to the website.
And don't forget to use the #tag, #bookadayuk for any tweets you send out there. Let's get support going for our high street bookshops, eh?

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The Analects, Confucius, Reviewed

Disappointing. That's a bald statement and perhaps not the most expected, considering the reputation of this Chinese man of…wisdom? I didn't find that, to be honest. From several hundred short passages of supposed erudition I listed ten I thought worthy of spreading to the wider world.

All the Confucianists will, of course be screaming abuse and possibly foaming at the mouth, because Confucius, rather like other famed wise men, has taken a role close to that of a god for many.

I found him conservative, unimaginative, intolerant and a man who seemed to express a singular self-preservationist philosophy, no doubt intended to keep him alive in what was a very violent society. I gleaned this, by the way, from this book, not from a reading of history.

It's clear that his insistence on the 'Way' is a plea to men (he has no time for women, who were clearly no more than playthings and servants in his time) to be of good character. By which he appears to mean, obey those set above you socially and politically. That a man so revered could be such a supporter of the tyranny of his time and yet accrue disciples merely serves to underline my own impression that there are those in society who'll accept leadership and direction regardless of its merit or otherwise. Faith, in general, is an illustration of this.

It's likely that, in common with Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed, his actual words have been usurped and deliberately distorted to suit the ends of those who wished to make capital from his aura of celebrity. I found little to admire in the words I was offered here. Much, rather like the Qur'an, is banal, repetitive and uninspiring. There is a deal of meaningless, to the modern western mind, ceremonial and social reportage that would require a deep knowledge of Chinese history to appreciate. I felt disinclined to spend the time and effort necessary to extract any worthwhile meaning from these passages, since the rest of the supposed words of wisdom were, in fact, anything but.

So, it was, for me, a disappointing read. I can't recommend it. There are, however, a round ten short sayings that carry some resonance in the modern world and I'll happily spread those, in the hope that the reputation of the originator will, at least, lend some authority to these aphorisms for those who might otherwise discount them out of hand.

The Writing Week

A busy and relatively productive week, though not quite as good as I'd hoped.
The NaNoWriMo novel, An Unseen Avenger, continues well with the edit; up to Chapter 10 of the re-write now.
Another blog post completed and scheduled for a couple of week's time. This one on the dangers of distraction.
Managed to finish reading and to review three books this week. First was Tyler Brentmore's Dead Men's Fingers, a western novelette that's a good read. Second was Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well. And, finally, came Michael Frayne's Alphabetical Order, a humorous stage play script. All are reviewed below.
I started writing a short story, got to 2000 words, and realised it wasn't a short story at all, but something quite different. It gave me an idea for more regular posts on the blog. I intend to start this series next Saturday, so watch this space, and please feel free to comment, since I'm looking to start some serious and lively discussions with this item.
That was all this week. Had the final appointment with the dentist on Wednesday afternoon after work, so I'm now crowned and no longer have a gap in my teeth. Took a pleasant walk with Valerie on Thursday, when we visited the local canal at Pocklington; placed a few pics on my Facebook album, My Homeland. This series has attracted a lot of comment and many people have been inspired by the pics. Many are of the same county that inspired David Hockney's recent exhibition.
Felt a little under the weather Friday and Saturday (I have a long-standing condition that occasionally come up and bites me when I'm not looking. Tiring rather than seriously harming, but it makes concentration difficult).
This morning turned out so bright and clear that we decided on another walk, just our local saunter this time.
And, of course, Valerie's team was involved in the FA Cup competition, so I watched that with her.
Started reading Confucius, The Analects, which I suspect will take a little longer than a week to read, so probably no reviews for a little while. Still, I'm ahead of my reading target, so that's not bad.
I hope I find all of you well and active. Those who write, keep at it. Those who read, thank you and keep buying and reading those books, and reviewing them to encourage and inform others.