Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726)
A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality by Jean Jacques Rousseau (1755)
Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals by Immanuel Kant (1785)
On Liberty by John Stuart Mill (1859)
Exodus by Moses (6th century BCE)
At the end of the quarter, each member does a write-up of what we have read. At the beginning of the project, we chose a format that we all followed. As the project has progressed, each of us has adapted our own format. I am asking three questions of the texts: What is the author’s view of humankind, society, and God? These questions have helped me in identifying similarities and differences between the texts.
The question must be asked, why? Why am I doing this? This reading and writing is not coursework towards a degree, of which I have done my fair share. I am not writing a curriculum for a school. This is not part of a job description. So then, why? A friend recently said that her anxiety rises with the idea of ‘required’ reading each month. That is a fair assessment; why go back to university days of being held accountable for reading?
Tuesday evening, we had our first of two discussions of the texts we read this quarter. Something occurred during the discussion that could not have happened if I was reading alone. None of us are experts, yet we are curious. In this process, we are not searching the internet to see what the experts are writing; that is for later. This reading is our first run-through. At one point or another, each of us during the discussion said, ’hum...I did not think about that before.’ New ideas were forming while we talked, even though we all had worked extensively with the texts. It is the delight that comes from exploring ideas, wondering, and grappling that is satisfying.
John Stuart Mill in ’On Liberty’ despises the ‘despotism of custom.’ How can there be individual liberty when a person is addicted to his customs and culture? My friend, who I have known since my teenage years, and I have discussions about our lives. We have grown up in a similar place with similar backgrounds. We both have the desire to become more than what we were a year ago. This desire leads to a variety of books which we discuss, always probing our own lives; looking beyond what we have always known. And, at this point in life, there is no need to be anything but honest. This stretching of myself could not happen on my own.
John Stuart Mill also rails against the ’tyranny of opinion’. These tyrannies are worse than the long arm of the government. The Reading i Sverige group doesn’t allow me to stay stuck in what is comfortable from my own culture. When I am reading with friends from the world, I find myself looking at things from another perspective; how refreshing. This new perspective allows me to experience the world more richly.
There are many classics that I have not read. Several years ago, I asked my mom if she wanted to join me in reading the classics. Along the way, my brother joined us. We have read 23 books together. This experience has made these relationships fuller because of a shared history beyond our physical being. We can discuss the four girls in Little Women; the old man, did he win or lose by catching the fish; and Anna, who seemed to have everything and lost it all, including her own life. What memories we share.
Reading with others gives a shared history which includes the adventures, trials, triumphs of the books we have shared. I am always grateful to those who read with me. My life has a rich texture because of you.
Image from Hornborgarsjön 2020 by Andreas Stiebe
Currently Reading:
- Psalm (5th Century Bc) by King David and Solomon
- Averno (2006) by Louise Glück
- Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
- East of Eden (1951) by John Steinbeck
- The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (2020) by Erik Larson
Completed:
- The Correspondence (2017) by J.D. Daniels
- What Unites Us (2017) by Dan Rather
- Proverbs (8th Century BC) by King Solomon
- The Waves (1931) by Virginia Woolf
- High Achiever: The Incredible Story of One Addict's Double Life (2017) by Tiffany Jenkins
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