Top Ten Tuesday : Books Assigned to Read in School

HURRICANE MILTON UPDATE

As I write this post, I am in hurricane Milton recovery mode. Apparently, that was the worst storm/hurricane to come through this area (Sarasota/Tampa) in as many as 100 years. And only two years ago, we experienced hurricane Ian, which, to my family, was powerful enough for our first hurricane in Florida. 

Like Ian, Milton hit between 9PM Wednesday and left kicking and screaming by 3AM Thursday. Gusts were probably between 90-100 mph at one point. In one word, it was: ROUGH. 

Now that we are in the post-storm period, it's been a little painful. It is best for me to describe it this way: we have no power, no hot water, no A/C, and crappy internet connection. We have a generator roaring all day, though it is off between 9 PM - 5 AM. It powers the fridge and freezer, runs water, and charges phones, a few lights, and a couple of ceiling fans. Gratefully, we have propane for the grill. 

Until yesterday, gasoline was hard to find. My son was able to fill up at midnight on Saturday, after waiting two hours, and my husband filled up our gas cans for the generator at 5 am on Sunday morning. 

It's a little boring, especially for my elderly father, who cannot watch his internet TV or listen to his internet radio. We are expecting the power to come on any day now, but for sure by Thursday, three days from now. 

We have much to be grateful, and we are. Though it rained fifteen hours straight, we did not flood anymore than a typical Florida downpour. Before the hurricane arrived, we started to leak from the hallway ceiling. I panicked, but my husband put a bucket under the leak for the night. (It's already been fixed by the roofer, by the way.) 

By 5 AM, the morning after the storm, my husband and I took flashlights to survey the damage. The worst were the giant tree limbs that broke off and crashed onto our entrance gate, damaging it. Before the sun was up, my husband had it in pieces using his chainsaw. Another gate was slightly damaged from being blown open. The chicken fence and netting was down. But chickens were safe and sound, though terrified. And finally, my garden was demolished. 

Some homes and neighborhoods are flooded, and almost everyone who has a tree in his yard has a fallen tree that just barely missed his home. Amazingly, trees fell away from homes, in between homes, or aside the home. Many trees fell into power lines, and we saw a tree that had fallen onto a passing vehicle two days after the storm. 

You should see the work that these linemen and arborists are doing. They come from all over the U.S. and Canada, and they are restoring power like lightning. They are cutting up those fallen trees and removing them just as quickly. My community is almost back to normal. 

Just in time for another storm? I pray not!!!

UPDATE (as of 8 AM PST): Power was restored in the middle of the night. YAY!

NOW, onto today's Top Ten Tuesday:

Books I was required to read in school (as I remember). Interestingly, I remember more from elementary school, which was a Catholic private institution, in Brooklyn, where we studied classical education.  

Junior high and high school I remember almost nothing, and I am tempted to say, I was not required to read anything in high school, except what I chose to read for a biography. So sad. Both schools were public schools in California. 

Finally, for college, I know I read more, but these are the ones that stand out most. (I was supposed to read The House of Seven Gables, too, but I just used the Cliff Notes for my report. So that does not count.)

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - this was my favorite in 3rd grade.

Old Man and the Sea - I loved going through the analysis in 4th grade.

The Scarlet Letter - I cannot believe I read this one in 5th grade!

The Pearl - this one left an impression on me. I may have read it in 4th or 5th grade.

Of Mice and Men - I am shocked that we read this one in school because it contains curse words and blasphemy! I may have read this in 6th grade. 

JUNIOR HIGH:

Where the Red Fern Grows - I remember the teacher was crying while she read this to us in class. I liked this one enough that I read ahead to finish it before everyone else. 

HIGH SCHOOL:

The Diary of Anne Frank - read this in 9th grade, and it is still a favorite to read. 

COLLEGE:

Kaffir Boy - read this book for English, and it shocked me. It is about apartheid, which I knew nothing about.

The Fountainhead - read this for architecture, and it was my first intro to Ayn Rand. I immediately related to her ideals. 

Walden - Also for architecture. I wanted to live like Thoreau for awhile, but today, roughing it like this, nah. I'm over it. 

Emerson - Another book for architecture. I remember liking Emerson's work very much, but I have to revisit it because I do not remember any of it. 

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - I had to read this for philosophy, but today I remember nothing from it. 

Ayn Rand: Anthem

 

Anthem

Ayn Rand

Published 1961

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Unread Shelf

RAND'S INTRO

Anthem was written in 1937, but was first published in 1961. It is astoundingly similar to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four. Great minds think alike. Or these two were just paying attention.

Rand understood collectivism as a devastating, evil lie, at least the way it was and still is presented to the masses. She pointed out that collectivists believed that the ideas of collectivism were not properly portrayed (in literature), and that nobody advocated for such ideals. 

But Rand demonstrated that the masses had already accepted that "man's work must be the need of others, not his own need, desire, or gain." 

She said: "The greatest guilt today is that...people who support plans...designed to achieve serfdom, but hide behind the empty assertion that they are lovers of freedom, with no concrete meaning attached to the word; the people who believe that the content of ideas need not be examined, that principles need not be defined, and that facts can be eliminated by keeping one's eyes shut. They expect, when they find themselves in a world of bloody ruins and concentration camps, to escape moral responsibility by wailing, 'But I didn't mean this!' " 

And she declared:

Those who want slavery should have the grace to name it by its proper name. They must face the full meaning of that which they are advocating or condoning; the full, exact, specific meaning of collectivism...of the ultimate consequences to which these principles will lead. 

Basically, people are pushing collectivism and they know what they are doing and they need to be honest about it. Collectivism is a form of slavery. If that is what you want, embrace it wholly. 

THE STORY

Anthem is under 100 pages, and most humans could finish it in one sitting. If you like dystopia, this is really satisfying.  

The story takes place in the distant future, and all humans live for the state. They are assigned names - like Equality, Freedom, Democracy, and Union - though none of the words mean what they should because they are just words. Everyone is assigned a vocation, and no one works for himself. All work is for the gratification of the group, though you'll never know what gratification truly is.

There is no word I. Everyone thinks for the group. No one is able to think for himself, imagine for himself, write, speak, or dream for himself. It is the "root of all evil" to do anything alone, even in private. There is no privacy. 

But Equality, the protagonist, was cursed since birth. He has always been able to think private thoughts. Learning came too easily. He asked too many questions. He desired to be a scholar when he grew up, but at 18, he was assigned by the state to be a street sweeper.

Obviously, men and women were not permitted to be together or even think of one another until they were assigned for mating at the proscribed age. This, too, was a problem for Equality because he could think for himself and determine whom he was attracted to and interested in. He had secret conversations with Liberty, and she was very much like him, too. We'll get to her later.

One day, Equality made a discovery of a hole in the street (probably a manhole or entrance to an old subway from previous modern civilizations), and determined to enter it and explore. For two years he secretly visited this underground space where he found manuscripts (books) written by the "Ancient Ones," which he studied and learned about the past.

As time continued, Equality learned that the Ancient Ones had power to make light, which we know as electricity. In Equality's world, man lived in darkness. How Equality wanted to share this truth with the scholars, as if it would reach the state and the state would want to advance civilization. Equality shared his discovery.

He was brought before the collective (judges) and ridiculed for breaking all their laws and boasting of his own infamy. He "dared" to "think that [his] mind held greater wisdom than the minds of [his] brothers. He was told that what was not conceived by all men cannot be true; what was not done collectively cannot be good, and that men exist to toil for others. Finally, the World Council banished him to the Uncharted Forest.

In the Uncharted Forest, a man is punished to live out his days alone. Most would probably starve to death. But for Equality, it was like a rebirth. He learned how satisfying it was to eat food made with his own hands. 

Of course, Liberty, she followed Equality to the Uncharted Forest, and they became a human family. Together they learned that there was "no danger in solitude." They came to understand the word and meaning of "I". 

I AM. I THINK. I WILL.

In the end, Equality learned how to master his own will. Equality's "lodestone" pointed the way, in one direction, to himself. He declared that "For I know what happiness is possible to me on earth. And my happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose."

"I am a man. This miracle of me is mine own to keep, and mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before." (Yikes!)

He continued, "I do not surrender my treasures, nor do I share them...I guard my treasures, my thought, my will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom."

In this new found freedom, Equality will choose his own friends and whom he will share his love and respect. Each man bears his own inner temple of his spirit, where he is alone, and each is a guardian of that temple. 

He said: "Now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride. This god, this one word: I" (Oh, boy.)

Finally, Equality writes how he will live by his own truth. That he will find all those whose spirit is still alive in them and call them to follow him. 

He asked, "What is freedom? There is nothing to take a man's freedom away...save other men. To be free, a man must be free of his brothers."

At first, man was enslaved by the gods. But he broke their chains. Then he was enslaved by the kings. But he broke their chains. He was enslaved by his birth, by his kin, by his race. But he broke their chains. He declared to all his brothers that a man has rights which neither god nor king nor other men can take away from him...for his is the right of man and there is no right on earth above this right. 

But then he gave his freedom and fell lower than his beginning. Why? What took away man's ability to reason? What caused man to worship the word WE? 

Equality proclaimed: "I still wonder how it was possible, that men did not see whither they were going, and went on in blindness and cowardice, to their fate. I wonder, how men who knew the word I, could give it up and not know what they lost." 

"Perhaps there were a few among men...of clear sight and clean soul, who refused to surrender that word. What agony must have been theirs before that which they saw coming and could not stop! They, these few, fought a hopeless battle, and they perished...they chose to perish, for they knew.  To them, I send my salute...and my pity." 

"For that which they died to save can never perish...the spirit of man will remain alive on this earth. Man will go on, Man, not men." 

"For the coming of that day shall I fight...for the freedom of Man. For his rights. For his life. For his honor."

A LITTLE OPINE

This is one of those stories that I cheer for the winner, the good guy. Yes, the protagonist is free from wretched enslavement. I get Rand's arguments every single time. Every warning she gives is true. So much in this book is true about the current society in the United States. Today, she could say, "I told you so."

However, I always have this problem with Rand because she was an atheist. Instead of knowing God as the Savior, she believed man had the potential to be his own god, and that was his highest liberty. That was why happiness was Equality's end goal, and his purpose; why he could say he will live by his own truth; and why he could worship himself. 

These are problematic and, in many ways ,why society is in the plight that it is because man has not recognized God as Savior. Man rather be his own god; his own happiness his highest regard, despite  whom he has to hurt to obtain it; and worship self and expect others who do likewise. 

If Ayn Rand had a Christian perspective, her philosophy would look much different. While her arguments against slavery, collectivism, communism are right, her solution for man would be more defendable to me.  

* * *

Listen to Argentina President speak about the lies of collectivism pushed by the U.N.

Top Ten Tuesday : Books on My Fall 2024 To-Read List

I am resigned to adhere to and complete my unread books. Therefore, this is the most boring list of projected books I have for fall. I can't even list ten because I cannot add more books to my list since I am reading less than ever, and I am behind seven books from my goal of fifty for the year. Realistically, the best I can do is to finish a few of these before the end of fall. LOL.

1. Hardy : The Woodlanders - going to try one more time. If Hardy doesn't re-captivate me with this one, then I know it wasn't to be.

2. Dana: Two Years Before the Mast - an unread. A true story about going to sea.

3. Morris : The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - continue reading. Gratefully loving this tome; and when I am done, I have a second one by Morris to begin. 

4. Hughes : Unmet Expectations - continue reading for book club. We have about six more chapters.

5. McGee : Thru the Bible - continue reading. Will always be reading this, forever and ever. 

6. McCullough : 1776 - picking up where I left off. I should be ok to finish this one now. 

7. Oursler / Armstrong : The Greatest Faith Ever Known - an unread. Really interested to read this story version of the New Testament. 

Top Ten Tuesday : Books That Provide a Much-Needed Escape - LATE EDITION!

If I could choose books to read RIGHT NOW as a way to escape -- a much-needed escape -- these are the books I would read, with a brief simplification of why. Of course, The Little House Books are a staple, so no explanation there. 

1. The Little House Books : you know

2. Don Quixote : hysterical, carefree, and fanciful

3. The Pilgrim's Progress : a beautiful reminder of the Christian walk

4. The Wind in the Willows : delightful, cheerful, and at times, reckless 

5. The Great Gatsby : wild, complex, and a car wreck...like you cannot turn your eyes away.

6. Letters of a Woman Homesteader : valiant, fearless, and audacious (I live through this woman.) 

7. Walden : America's first tiny house experiment (I want to live in a tiny house.)

8. Far From the Madding Crowd : love, revenge, and boy gets girl (A Hardy story with a happy ending. Strange, but happy.)

9. The Handmaid's Tale : an entertainingly far stretch of the imagination (Entertainingly dystopian.)

10. Persuasion : a pleasant, charming, mature love story (The best love letter.)

* * *

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Involving Food

This TTT topic is about books involving food (but not cookbooks). Have you ever read a book that inspired you to try a recipe? Here are some books I've read that involved food, even some that inspired me to put on an apron. 

1. Melville : Moby Dick : clam chowder

I had to make clam chowder after reading the chapter "Chowder" in Moby Dick. Yummy!

2. Stowe : Uncle Tom's Cabin : pound cake

I wish I had taken a picture of this delicious pound cake I made for our book club discussion of Uncle Tom's Cabin. It is a shame I did not save the recipe either. In chapter four, Aunt Chloe made a little pound cake for Tom one evening. So it seemed like the right thing to do, too. 

3. Ingalls Wilder : Little House on the Prairie : 

heart-shaped cakes

These were my favorites. Ma made little heart-shaped cakes to put into the girls' stockings at Christmas.  I made these for our Little House Christmas Party.

4. Ingalls Wilder : The Long Winter : pumpkin pie

Actually, Ma made a green pumpkin pie for Pa because they had to salvage the pumpkins before the winter, and Ma was always creative and resourceful. And of course, Pa loved it. We used the recipe from the Little House Cookbook and made our own pumpkin pie. 

5. Ingalls Wilder : Farmer Boy : taffy

Speaking of the WILDer family, Almanzo and his siblings were left home alone for a week while their parents went out of town. The kids ate all the sugar, but not before making taffy. Then Almanzo gave some to his pig, which was hysterical. Therefore, my kids and I arduously made taffy using The Little House Cookbook recipe. 

6. Ingalls Wilder: On the Banks of Plum Creek : 

vanity cakes

Ma made vanity cakes for Laura and Mary and their friends from school. Ma said they were called vanity cakes because they were puffed up and hollow inside, just like a vain person. My kids and I made these, too, and sprinkled them with powdered sugar. 

7. Barrows/Schaffer: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

If I remember correctly, this book-club/potluck met in secret during WWII. They had to hide the roasted pig, too. They made potato peel pie, a wartime inspiration, obviously. I felt like some of the descriptions were not very appetizing; however, when food is scarce, you are grateful for anything. That was why it was a feast. 

8. Dickens: A Christmas Carol

The foods served at Christmas brought out some of the joys of the season, even for the Cratchits, who lived in poverty. Stuffed goose, potatoes and gravy, fruit, soup, and even fish. And don't forget that huge turkey that Scrooge sent over to the Cratchit's on Christmas Day!

How in the Dickins can I lose weight?

9. Hemingway: A Moveable Feast

This is NOT a book about food. But it definitely could be. 

10. Alcott: Little Women

Of all the books that mention food, I think Little Women is the closest to a whole foods diet. Fruits, veggies, meats, and fish. Nothing fancy, but everything that is good for you.