BRAIN FUNCTION

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Secrets of Consciousness

By: Essays in Scientific American

Narrated by: Coleen Marlo

A lot of ground is covered in “The Secrets of Consciousness” but for many who are interested in the subject, little new is revealed. 

Many articles and books have been written about the easy and hard part of the theory of consciousness. 

The easy part is knowledge of the physical characteristics and mechanics of brain function–the “how and where” of information that is stored and transmitted by the brain. 

The hard part remains the explanation of what consciousness means, particularly the “whys”. Why are living things aware of themselves, others, and the world from information transmission within a brain.  Why do humans get angry?  Why do we love?  Why do we hate?  Why are we sad or happy?  Is everything in the universe conscious?

(It is somewhat surprising that “A Thousand Brains” theory is not revealed in “The Secrets…” but it may be timing of publication. Or it may be scientist’s discounting of an engineer’s qualification for understanding consciousness.)

Consciousness is explained as an all-encompassing part of nature.  There is an avenue for consciousness in A.I., once the mechanics of consciousness are fully understood. The focus of first chapters are on scientific experiments showing all living things exhibit consciousness through their actions. 

For example, bees show consciousness by seeing red and in choosing the site of their nests with an ability to consciously navigate the world.

Following chapters explain parts of the brain and the mechanics of brain function.  They explore the complexity and interconnections of the brain and how different parts of the brain have specific functions.  This is the easy part of understanding consciousness because it is something that can be physically measured through brain scans and experiments that correlate actions with brain stimuli.  

Next, there are explanations of how experiments with brain stimuli offers potential for reading one’s mind without verbal communication. 

It opens the door for a consciousness meter that may allow some level of predictability and mind control.  In a positive sense, stimulus experiments might hold a key to reawakening consciousness in comatose patients.  The negative sense is the potential for brain washing a non-conforming human being.

Section 4 of these “Scientific American” articles is about “Altered States of Reality”. 

A particularly bizarre and threatening chapter suggests someone who sleepwalks can murder another person without being legally guilty of murder.

The last two sections of articles deal with psychoactive drugs, spiritual belief, and their effects on brain function.  A listener might view these articles as incentive to experiment with consciousness in two fundamentally different ways. One is with the use of psychedelic’s. The other is to join a monastery or convent.

The last article deals with the end of life. It reveals a possible explanation of why some see a white light just before dying.

Science argues the end of life is the end of consciousness. There is nothing after death–no heaven, no hell, just nothingness.

As an introduction to consciousness, this compendium is interesting.  However, after completion, the hard part of consciousness remains a secret.

COWBOY TALES

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Trail to Crazy Man

By: Louis L’Amour

Narrated by: Jim Gough, Christopher Lane

Louis L’Amour (LaMoore) (1908-1988, Author.)

Louis L’Amour has been gone for many years but “The Tale of Crazy Man” is a good introduction to an entertaining storyteller.  L’Amour tells two short stories. Christopher Lane’s narration and twists of the second story make it the better of the two, but L’Amour’s skill pleases reader/listeners in both.

Recalling L’Amour’s Sackett family saga (seventeen stories) makes a reader/listener appreciate cowboy tales where honest, upright heroes always win.  

L’Amour’s stories are of an idealized American west where good always overcomes evil.  Though his heroes are preternaturally perfect, L’Amour satisfies a human desire for wholesomeness.

The first story in “The Trail..” is about a wild west gang leader’s adopted son who is to take over his criminal empire.  L’Amour infers the putative father lives in the American west when only the strong survive by being the most ruthless in the era in which they live.  The adopted son is shielded from that early western belief by being formally educated while being taught to be a great tracker who is fast and accurate with a gun.  As the father grows older, he grooms his adopted son to takeover the gang and a ranch that covers a wide area of the country.

The adopted son chooses not to follow his mentor’s outlaw ways. L’Amour implies the west is evolving, with education making a difference. By the end of the story, the father appears reconciled to the change. The adopted son seems destined to make future use of the former outlaw’s acquired wealth for peace and an improved society.

The second tale is about two cowboys that have been drugged and indentured by a tyrannical sea captain docked in San Francisco.  One cowboy dies on the ship with a commitment from the other cowboy to take care of his wife and daughter who he left in Wyoming. Before being highjacked, the dying cowboy had gone to San Francisco to pay off a mortgager on the ranch on which his wife and daughter were living.

When the deceased cowboy’s friend and some fellow captives escape their indenture, two of the cowboys stay together to travel from the west coast to Wyoming to fulfill the dead father’s last wish.  What the friends find is a small town, in which the wife and daughter live, is controlled by two men.  One of the men is the mortgage lender that had been paid off. He pocketed the payment without telling the wife and daughter that the mortgage had been paid. Then, he arranged for the dead father’s kidnapping by the San Francisco Sea captain. 

These two town leaders are evil men but their evilness is different.  One is an uneducated thug who relies on violence to control the town.  The other is an educated thug who relies on stealth and cleverness to control the town.  The two thugs do not like each other but are partners in control of the town. 

The deceased father’s wife is dead.  The educated thug plans to marry the daughter who views the lying mortgage lender as a benefactor by not foreclosing on their ranch.  The uneducated thug plans to take the daughter by force. There are several plots in this second short story.    Both thugs are indirectly and directly dealt with by the cowboy who had made the commitment to the deceased father.

L’Amour writes with clarity and concreteness.  His stories are simple allegorical tales about good and evil.  They are wonderfully entertaining and leave one happy with the thought that good always overcomes evil.

U.S. PRESIDENTS

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Means of Ascent

By: Robert A. Caro

Narrated by: Grover Gardener

Robert Caro (Author)

Robert Caro is a great biographer but his history of the early years of Lyndon Johnson is diminished by his political idealism. 

Politics is the pursuit of power.  Some pursue that power by any means necessary.  Others may be less constrained, but the goal is the same–To Be Elected to Rule. 

Caro shows the young Johnson as a Machiavellian politician in the vein of Donald Trump but without a silver spoon.  History shows Johnson and Trump are willing to lie their way to power.  Both are willing to do whatever it takes.  Caro shows Johnson, like Trump, are bullies who intimidate subordinates to get what they want.  There is no moral or ethical line that these two ex-Presidents would not cross to stay in power.  Trump lost his second term because of rejection by the voters, and Johnson resigned because of embarrassment by Americans who opposed the Vietnam war.

Caro reveals Johnson’s bullying treatment of his wife and people who report to him. 

Caro shows Johnson is far superior at getting his way when compared to Trump. Caro notes Johnson stole his first election to the Senate from former governor of Texas, Coke R. Stevenson. 

Coke R. Stevenson (1888-1975, Former governor of Texas, died at age 87.)

Without big money contributors like Brown (of Brown and Root) to pay monitors to stuff ballot boxes in San Antonio, Texas, Lyndon Johnson would have lost.  With a legal maneuver by Johnson’s friend, Abe Fortas, and illegal help from election monitors, Johnson beats Stevenson for election to the Senate by 97 votes. (Fortas became an Associate Supreme Court Justice appointed by Johnson in 1965. He resigned in disgrace for unethical practice in 1969.)

In every election, the elected is beholding to someone.  Caro notes Brown and Root received a great deal of federal and State financed work in Texas because of Johnson’s support.

Johnson is shown to be a consummate politician, a good storyteller with the ability to persuade superiors like the leader of the House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn, to support his ideas.  This is no small thing because Rayburn is history’s longest serving Speaker of the House, with possibly more power and influence than any past or modern Speakers of the House.

Sam Rayburn (1882-1961, 43rd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.)

President Johnson, as the Senate Leader kissing the head of Sam Rayburn.

Caro notes Johnson uses his 6-foot, 2.5-inch height, to dominate associates who are either reporting, beholding, or superior to him. 

Johnson is shown to be extraordinarily energetic when pursuing power.  Caro explains how Johnson uses helicopter visits to Texas communities when he runs for the Senate against Stevenson.  Johnson works himself into a frenzy that makes him ill (recurring kidney stones) because of an indefatigable need to do everything he can to be elected. 

In Johnson’s presence, many were awed by his stories, even when they knew the stories were lies or gross exaggerations.  During the war years, Caro notes how Johnson appeals to Texas voters by claiming he will go to the front to fight Germany and Japan.  To fulfill that pledge, he accompanies a “band of brothers” flying a bombing mission on a Japanese island off the coast of Australia. 

Johnson’s (Observer Mission in Austrailia during WWII.)

Caro explains Johnson’s only direct combat experience is as an observer in Australia.  

In Caro’s telling, the mission did occur.  There is great danger.  The plane is damaged by enemy gun fire.  Caro’s research shows Johnson maintains a cool demeanor during the flight. Johnson plays no combatant role in the mission. But, he was an observer on the plane when it is strafed by the Japanese.

Caro notes the story of the flight is changed many times. In Johnson’s retelling he explains he is a hero who fought in many bombing raids, a lie.  Caro dispels Johnson’s brave hero characterization by telling of Johnson’s childhood that shows him to be a physical coward.  Caro interviews former childhood friends who recall Johnson’s cowardice.  When confronted with violence, Johnson is reported to lay down and kick his feet out to ward off anyone who might attack him.

Caro notes Johnson’s will power is extraordinary when it comes to doing whatever it takes to be elected to public office.

Caro’s research suggests Johnson is a focused and relentless seeker and user of power.  Johnson could use his position for either good or bad depending on whether it increased or diminished his power.  One example Caro gives is Johnson’s rejection of an oil interest offered to him by a constituent.  It could make him rich.  Johnson’s concern is it would diminish his chances for election to higher office if he were recognized as an oil interest’ owner. 

In contrast to the oil interest rejection, Caro shows how Johnson acquires a radio station to become a source of income for his family and a tool for his political ambition.  Johnson had been appointed to the FCC as a junior congressman.  He used his influence with the FCC to acquire and grow the radio station, with his wife as the holder of record.  A competitor is shut out of buying that station through Johnson’s influence with the FCC.  The FCC also expedites the gift of a popular frequency that widely expands the radio station’s area of coverage in Texas.

Lady Bird and her ownership of KTBC in Texas.

“Means of Ascent” is not Caro’s finest work.  Johnson is painted too harshly in the context of American Democracy. 

Like America’s experience with Trump, there is much to hate about Johnson’s rise to the Presidency. 

No President of the United States has been totally bad or totally good.  Democracy remains, and will always be, a work in progress.

The reality is–Democracy is a messy process that brings both good and bad leaders to the world. 

WHAT THE DEVIL

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Living with the Devil ( A Meditation on Good and Evil)

By: Stephen Batchelor

Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor

Stephen Batchelor (Author, Scottish Buddhist, teacher.)

Stephen Batchelor offers a view of religion and reality in an attempt to move beyond the “let it be” implication of a meditative life.  Batchelor places Buddhism in the context of most religions’ beliefs.  He explains Buddhism personifies the devil as a master of seven dimensions of heaven. 

The devil assigns one of the seven heaven’ disciples to inspire sin in human life.  That disciple is Mara who is directed by the devil to seduce Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism. Mara assumes the visage of a woman but fails to distract Siddhartha from “the way” and, like Christ in Christian belief, Siddhartha becomes a symbol and guide for humanity.

Image of Mara who takes the image of a woman to seduce Gautama Buddha, (Siddhartha).

Batchelor explains Buddhism is the door to “the way” which recognizes the devil as a part of life’s yin and yang.  Hardship and death are part of life.  Those seeking eternal life delude themselves.  It is not possible to have life without death.  It is not possible to have “the way”, a path without evil because evil defines good by being its opposite.  This leads to a “let it be” mentality of those who meditate on “the way”.  Batchelor is not condoning the evil of violence, destruction, or death but explains its role in defining “the way”. Therein lies a criticism by some.

Buddhist guidance is described as “the way”  by Batchelor. 

One presumes, it is the same “way” referred to in the adventures of Disney Studio’s “The Mandalorian”. 

Batchelor describes the path that most of humanity takes is deflected in the same way as a human walking with one leg shorter than another.  The path of humanity is circular which suggests why history seems to repeat itself. (To paraphrase Mark Twain–history may not repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes.)

One who is not a Buddhist is not comforted by Batchelor’s explanation of “the way” or his acknowledged acceptance of living with the devil.  Batchelor, like Buddha, Jesus Christ, and a Divinity, may be correct in their knowledge about human life but it does not give one comfort.  It proffers fear that violence and destruction is to be tolerated by humanity because it is a part of living life as a human being. 

Batchelor implies homelessness, despair, and human degradation are incurable and acceptable because the devil’s work helps define “the way”. 

Accepting Buddhism seems to encourage meditation at the expense of human effort to give succor to those in need.  All religions and societies should be focused on social and economic equality for all.  Accepting less is failure. “The devil made me do it” is a cop out. 

BUDDHISM

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Being Peace

By: Thich Nhat Hanh

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerrini

Thích Nhất Hạnh (Author, Buddhist Monk, Zen Master, Political Activist.)

“Being Peace” is a layman’s introduction to Buddhist belief.  Thích Nhất Hạnh offers a “let it be” philosophy of life while being a political activist.  Hanh’s philosophy of peace comes through meditation. Hanh finds through meditation human life is found to be neither good nor bad. 

There is no evil in Hanh’s world.  In one sense that reminds one of Christian’s belief in “turning the other cheek”.  The difference is that Christian’s believe there is evil in the world, and it must be punished.

Hanh tells a story of a Sudanese pirate that rapes a girl-child and throws her into the sea to drown.  Hanh suggests he could have become a Sudanese sea pirate by having experienced Sudanese poverty and depredation.  Hanh’s view is that the circumstances of life and environment create miscreants, rapists, and murderers.

Contrary to belief in evil and punishment for moral transgression, Hanh finds empathy for those who pillage, torture, murder, and rape. 

Hanh’s solution is to accept Buddhist belief in peace through meditation.  In accepting life as it is, evil doers disappear.  This is certainly an oversimplification of Hanh’s teaching. 

Hanh notes world leaders squander world resources that could be used to create and sustain peace for all people in the world.  He decries wasted dollars for military defense.  His argument is predicated on abundance that is unevenly distributed.

Hanh lives through the French and American atrocities in Vietnam.  

Hanh undoubtedly observed the senseless murder of innocents by both western powers and communists.  

Ironically, until more recently, Hanh was banned from Vietnam because of the crowds he attracted to his teaching.  Fear of competition from someone independent of the government frightens communist bureaucrats.  Hahn is now allowed in Vietnam, but his forums are restricted to small groups of believers.

Money, power, and prestige seduce the poor, middle class, and rich, whether in a democracy or autocracy.  There are few exceptions–maybe only Buddhist meditators, and Socratic philosophers–not the general public.

Hanh’s book is insightful but inadequate when measured against the innate nature of humankind.  On a personal level, one can accept the value of meditation in seeing things as they are and how they should be.  However, on a global level, it is difficult to imagine broad acceptance of meditation.

POLITICAL LEADERS

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

A Christmas Carol

By: Charles Dickens

Narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi, Kenneth Cranham, Roger Allam, Brendan Coyle, Miriam Margolyes, Time Mcinnerny, Jamie Glover, Emily Bruni, Jenna Coleman, Joshua James, Hugh Skinner

Charles Dickens, Author.

Dickens appeal in the 21st century is magnified by economic change.

The industrial revolution, like the tech revolution, put people out of work. In Dickens’ time, Great Britain’s and the world’s industrial growth demanded change. 

Today’s tech revolution demands the same.  The change required is different in one sense and the same in another.

The industrial revolution occurred in a time of scarcity while the tech revolution takes place in a time of abundance.  Both revolutions require training for new kinds of jobs.

Smog plagued Great Britain as it grew in the18th century. 

(This is smog in today’s Beijing.)

Dickens is born in 1812 and dies in 1870.  He witnesses and writes of the squalor that existed in London during his adult years.  “A Christmas Carol” is one of many stories he wrote that reflects on the human cost of economic change.

London fog 1952

In 1952, the streets of London were enveloped in a fog caused by coal used for domestic heat and industrial production. 

An incident of London fog in the 20th century is comparable, on a local scale, to the world’s pollution crises today.  An estimated 4,000 people were said to have died, with 100,000 made ill because of unusual windless conditions in that year. 

Today, air pollution is compounded by global warming. 

“A Christmas Carol” is a reminder of the damage world leaders can do by ignoring the plight of those who are most directly impacted by economic change.  Too many American leaders are acting like Ebenezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley by ignoring the Bob Cratchit s and Tiny Tim s of the world. 

For those who may not remember, Scrooge and Marley were capitalists who believe all that matters in life is personal wealth.  Marley comes back as a ghost to offer Scrooge a picture of past, present, and future Christmases, based on how he lives the remainder of his life.

Todays’ political leaders are in Jacob Marley’s ghostly presence with a chance to change the future for the Crachits, Tiny Tims, and wage earners of the world.  The world needs leaders who are not blinded by the allure of money, power, and prestige at the expense of the jobless, homeless, and disenfranchised.

AUTISM

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Uniquely Human

By: Barry M. Prizant PhD

Narrated by P.J. Ochlan

Barry M. Prizant, Phd. (Author, adjunt professor at Brown University, authority on autism disorders.)

Many are familiar with the existence of a neurodevelopment disorder called autism.  In a 2015 “Global Burden of Disease Study”, it is estimated that 1-2 people per 1,000 may be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. 

Prizant notes it affects more males than females and has a wide range of exhibited symptoms.

“Uniquely Human” is an excellent introduction to autism.  Prizant explains how symptoms are manifested, and how parents, teachers, and the public can help those within and outside the autistic spectrum. 

Autism is believed to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.  Faulty synaptic connections in an autistic person’s brain affects their way of thinking and acting.

Prizant notes the importance of listening to a person on the autistic spectrum and asking questions to understand their thought and action. 

Prizant becomes an investigator by asking parents, teachers, and acquaintances of their experience with a particular autistic person.  By questioning, Prizant can find why an autistic person acts or reacts in a particular way. 

Prizant explains that a person on the spectrum is no different than any human being. An autistic person is thinking and acting based on facts they perceive and how they interpret those facts. 

If something is thought of as a threat, all people act in similar ways.  The principal difference is that one on the autistic spectrum may be interpreting information differently and reacting in accordance with their unique perception.    

When one realizes how information is being interpreted by someone on the spectrum, it is possible to work on reactions that seem wrong for the circumstances.  Prizant goes through several examples.  Being fearful of a boat ride, a particular corner of a street, or meeting strangers may make one who is on the spectrum act out.  With understanding of an autistic’s perception, one can desensitize and change behavior through explanation, environment change, or avoidance. 

In the case of the boat ride for the autistic child, Prizant suggests explaining the safety measures to be taken, adding a comfort toy on the trip, and showing that many friends will be on the boat.  In the case of a scary corner, Prizant discovers that a white building at the corner reminds the autistic person of a trip to the doctor when he was ill and in pain. Explaining to the frightened child that all white buildings are not the same abates fear of the corner. With more careful understanding of an autistic person’s perception, the object of fear can be addressed directly.  Being afraid of strangers is true of many people whether on the spectrum or not.  Knowing there is fear means one can address that fear by gradually introducing friends that do not have to be feared.

The difficult realization in Prizant’s book is that there are so many commonly understood social conventions assumed by people that are not comprehended by those on the autistic spectrum.  Social conventions are often poorly defined or not taught. 

Social conventions like not saying what you think when it embarrasses a person in front of other people comes from experience, not teaching.  This is just one example of how difficult it is for an autistic person to cope with life because societal norms are not precisely defined.  Those not on the spectrum, take societal norms for granted based on their experience.  Prizant notes a person on the autistic spectrum experiences life differently.  They may be completely unaware of social conventions.

Steve Silberman gives one some understanding of how difficult and rewarding it can be to have a child who is on the autism spectrum.

Prizant offers tools for understanding and working with all human beings, not just those on the autistic spectrum.  Whether one is autistic or not, it is important to listen, investigate, and understand why people think and act the way they do.  It might be because that person is on the autism spectrum.  That does not mean those who are not on the spectrum may also interpret facts in a way that is inconsistent with most people’s understanding.

Many experiences early in one’s life have consequences later in life. A child remembers a father’s or mother’s rebuke as an eternal judgement when the reality may have been to protect a child from harm.  The shadow is created and remains with the child for the rest of his/her life.

Understanding human beings can only come from listening and questioning what a person thinks and why they act the way they do.  Easy to say, but time consuming and unlikely to be done in this increasingly fast-paced world.

WINE

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

A History of Wine in Ten Glasses

By: Paul Wagner

                                                    Narrated by : Paul Wagner

Paul Wagner (Author, Podcaster, Lecturer)

“A History of Wine in Ten Glasses” is a journey around the world of wine. 

Paul Wagner is a wine instructor at (where else?) Napa Valley College. 

There are several revelations about wine for us amateur wine drinkers.  Thomas Jefferson tried and failed to create a good wine in his home state of Virginia.  

Jefferson’s failure is related to a grapevine disease in Virginia’ soils that attacked the roots of plants he brought with him from his diplomatic mission in France.  The root disease is discovered after Jefferson’s death.  Once the disease is diagnosed and treated, Wagner notes Virginia began producing some fine wines.

Wagner dates the production of wine back to 6000 BC in what is now known as Georgia.  Some would dispute that and suggest China had a rice and grape mixed fermented wine in 7000 BC.  Others suggest Iran may have been the origin of the first wines on the the Persian Gulf.  In any case, wine has been with us for centuries.

Wagner argues the Roman Empire is the primary disseminator of the art of wine making.

Rome’s conquest of countries surrounding the Mediterranean spread wine making throughout the known world, sometime between 27 BC and 476 AD.  Even today, the greatest wine volume comes from Italy with France and Spain, the second and third biggest producers

More than ten glasses are identified by Wagner, but the primary libations are from Italy, France, Spain, U.S., Australia, Greece, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, and Germany.  However, Wagner takes side trips to smaller countries like Portugal and New Zealand. 

Having traveled to some of these countries, his assessment of their wines seems spot on. Interestingly, his assessment of Chile’s inexpensive Malbec is a favorite of mine. In Italy, the selection of wine at dinner seems the simplest of all decisions.  Rarely is red wine in Italy served that is too bitter or too sweet.  Retsina in Greece is a horrible drink but adding water makes all the difference.  Retsina remains an acquired taste but with water it becomes palatable. Traveling to Argentina and New Zealand confirms Wagner’s assessment of the quality of their wines.

The idea of adding water to wine is a surprise but Wagner notes added water was often the habit of early wine drinkers. (Of course, watered wine is common in religious ceremony.)

Wagner also notes that a pinch of salt can smooth the acidic taste of an inexpensive wine.  Potassium chloride, not salt, is what is recommended by some wine connoisseurs.  

German wine Labeling system.

A surprising note by Wagner is that German and New Zealand wines are tightly controlled by a labeling system to assure the quality of their wine. 

Wagner reports on Germany’s and New Zealand’s precise label certification. One suspects precise wine labeling is a characteristic of the precisionist culture of Germany.  However, New Zealand’s labeling is a result of some Marlborough wines that were contaminated by runoff from lumber harvesting activities in 2005.   Both countries labeling assures the quality of their wines.  Undoubtedly, there is a concomitant cost for the right label.

Wagner lives in Napa Valley and, not surprisingly, suggests many of the best wines in the world come from Napa Valley’ vineyards.  Blind wine testing in Paris confirms his opinion.  What he says is true about many Napa Valley wines, but prices of those great tasting wines are often higher than many can afford.

“A History of Wine in Ten Glasses” is a nice introduction to the vagaries and mysteries of wine selection. For we amateurs wine selection remains hit and miss because it is only our personal taste and affordability that matters.

DISAPPOINTING FICTION

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

My Year Abroad

By: Chang-Rae Lee

                                                    Narrated by : Lawrence Kao

Chang-Rae Lee (Author).

As a first exposure to Chang-Rae Lee, “My Year Abroad” is disappointing.  Lee is an accomplished novelist with many awards, but this latest book is long, and in too many places, ponderous.  

In some sense “My Year Abroad” is a stereotypical story of an Asian immigrant capturing the American dream by working hard.  It outlines the life of a person who is industrious and intelligent who works in a restaurant while earning a college degree in chemistry.  Somehow, this immigrant’s success becomes tainted in using his education to delude himself and others to believe in immortality. The idea of a chemical formula to extends one’s life seems to trigger a greed that destroys rather than preserves lives.

Lee’s fictional story reminds one of Elizabeth Holms and her belief in the blood test technology of Theranos. The only question being–does motive come from self-delusion or greed?

Lee shows an industrious young man who games the American immigration system to stay in New Jersey past the date of his limited visa.    A large part of his story reflects on the success of an immigrant who flimflams fellow investors into a scheme to sell an elixir to cure death.  This is not the first time an American has bilked the public which is why Lee’s story loses its way.

Lee puts aside, rather than explains, the poorly managed and unfair American immigration system that shuts out an important part of America’s prosperity.

What keeps one interested in Lee’s story is Tiller, a young boy who gets caught up in the elixir fraud.  Tiller enters the story by helping a mother and her son in a chance meeting at the airport.  The mother has been put in a witness protection program.  She testifies to the illegal activity of her husband who is pursued by the American government.  This introduces the threat of discovery by her husband’s associates who might kill her. 

Her savior is Tiller who comes from a broken family.  His mother left her family early in Tiller’s life.  He does not know what happened to her.  Tiller misses her presence. 

Tiller has a telephone relationship with his father who is a professor who supports him while he works in a restaurant as a dishwasher while going to college.  Tiller is a teenager, nearing 20, when he meets the witness protection mother and her son.  They begin a troubled life together.  The trouble is multifaceted based on age differences, guilt of the mother for having ratted on her husband, and a son bereft of a father, showing behavioral problems.

To some reader/listeners this is a lot to accept as credible.  Lee manages to keep the story together with the endearing qualities of Tiller.  Tiller deals with life as it happens.  He is industrious and has an inner compass that guides him through whatever circumstances life presents.  One admires Tiller’s grasp of the circumstances of the mother and her son.  Tiller makes their lives better.  One grows to care about Tiller, the troubled mother, and the son who needs help in coping with life.

Many of the things that happen to Tiller fail to suspend disbelief.  This is a long story without the qualities of good fiction.  One comes away from the story in disappointment with an author who is obviously gifted.

MUSIC

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Chopin’s Piano

By: Paul Kildea

                                               Narrated by : Mathew Waterson

Paul Kildea (Author, Austrailian conductor, Artistic Director of Musica Vivia Australia.)

Paul Kildea is a multifaceted talent who has written an interesting biography of Frederic Chopin and a lesser-known Polish musician, Wanda Landowska, who revivified Chopin’s  music. 

Frederic Francois Chopin (1810-1849, Composer and virtuoso pianist.)

Whether one knows anything of music or history, Kildea expertly entertains listener/readers with “Chopin’s Piano”. 

What is not realized by many is that Chopin’s work is written with early-stage pianos that made composition as much a work of mind as performance. 

Chopin is noted as a Romanticist composer considered among the most creative of all time.    For that reason, the sound of Chopin’s work has changed with the times.

There are several ironies in Kildea’s history of Chopin.  Chopin is shown to have been pleased by being considered French though he was Polish.  Chopin is characterized as anti-Semitic though at times financially supported by Jews and resurrected by a world-renowned harpsichordist, Wanda Landowska, a proud and nationalist Pole who escaped Nazi persecution and extermination. Landowska, a woman of the Jewish faith, flees Paris when Germany invades France. 

Wanda Landowska in front of the Bauza piano owned by Chopin.

One of her treasured pianos is the Bauza piano used by Chopin to create his greatest masterpieces, the Preludes.

George Sand (1804-1876, French novelist and 10 year companion of Chopin)

Kildea reflects on Chopin’s diminutive physique and self-effacing nature. Chopin never marries but has a ten-year relationship with George Sand, a divorced woman with a broadly libertine reputation. 

One wonders what Sand’s influence is on Chopin’s creativity.  What Kildea explains is that Sand admires Chopin’s dedication to music and supports Chopin through his frail health during the most productive period of his life.  However, at the end of their ten year relationship, Sand leaves because the burden of their relationship is either too much or she just chooses to return to a life of independence.

The thread of Kildea’s history is the Bauza piano’s location in the 21st century. It’s whereabouts remains unknown.

This piano was used by Chopin between 1838-39 when living with  George Sand in Majorca.  A striking point in Kildea’s story is that the Bauza piano is a crudely formed instrument carved from local softwood.  Its innards are made of felt, pig iron, and copper but its cultural importance is extraordinary and its provenance unquestioned.  It disappeared when confiscated by Nazi Germany when they ransacked Landowska’s home in Paris.

Wanda Landowska in 1953.

The last half of Kildea’s story is about the trials and achievements of Wanda Landowska.  In reflecting on Landowska’s rise to fame, the Bauza piano is a symbol of Chopin’s creative genius. 

This flawed instrument is used to create compositions that are endlessly translated by pianoforte (soft and loud sound) from the use of harpsicords to modern Steinways.  Landowska, and many pianists of the 19th through the 21st century are listed by Kildea, showing the brilliance and variety of Chopin’s compositions.  Only a musical conductor turned author like Kildea could explain this to the public.  “Chopin’s Piano” is a small opening to a big world.