Currently reading
The Book of the Dead: The Hieroglyphic Transcript and Translation into English of the Ancient Egyptian Papyrus of Ani
Tao Te Ching: A New English Version
"To be free from repulsion and attraction, or from the wish to take or to avoid - to enter in the mood of complete impartiality - is the most profound of arts."
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
1
On Being Ill
"We do not know our own souls, let alone the souls of others. Human beings do not go hand in hand the whole stretch of the way. There is a virgin forest in each; a snowfield where even the print of birds' feet is unknown. Here we go alone, and like it better so. Always to have sympathy, always to be accompanied, always to be understood would be intolerable."
The Sorrows of Young Werther
"When I consider the narrow limits within which our active and inquiring faculties are confined; when I see how all our energies are wasted in providing for mere necessities . . . and then that all our satisfaction concerning certain subjects of investigation ends in nothing better than a passive resignation . . . when I consider al this . . . I am silent. I examine my own being, and find there a world, but a world rather of imagination and dim desires, than of distinctness and living power."
1
The Seed
While reading this book you get caught up in an atmosphere filled with dreams, symbols, and adventure. You travel with the author through many countries and ages experiencing the different cultures and thoughts. This book is a combination of many genres; fiction, philosophy, history, and mythology. An unsual book that makes you look at the world from an entirely different perspective... It is one of those rare books that inspires you every time you read it. So far I have read it three times, and I definitely plan to read it again...
Eugene Onegin & Four Tales from Russia's Souther Frontier: A Prisoner in the Caucasus; The Fountain of Bahchisaray; Gypsies; Poltava
I was not at all impressed by this book. Could not wait to be finished with it and begin something a little bit more interseting. Most of the stories were fine, but there were a few extremenly boring ones. I've been hearing for a long time about how a great author Pushkin is, and so I decided to read something for him, but I don't think I'll be reading any of his other books... For me, 'Eugene Onegin' and 'Gypsies' were the best of the five stories. I'd give 3 stars for each...
1
The Idiot
I seem to admire Dostoyevsky's book titles which leads me to buying his books! However, the books turn out to be boring and I cannot get his point. 'The Idiot' was the first book I read for him, after it I read 'Notes from the Underground' and other short stories, all because of the titles... There are other of Dostoyevsky's books that I was looking forward to read like 'The Gambler' but decided not to after reading these two novels.I dont know if I dislike Russian literature as a whole, but so far I dont like either Pushkin or Dostoyevsky. However, I stiil want to read many books by Tolstoy...
