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| Wednesday, 16 June 2004 |
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Glimpses of valuable books Gleanings by K.S. Sivakumaran Among some outstanding books I recently glanced and gleaned is " Ideas That Changed The Word ". One of the internationally known and respected historian, as we know, is Felipe Fernandez - Armesto. This academic has served in both the U.K. and the U.S. holding distinguished professorship. Some of his erudite analytical essays appear frequently in such reputed newspapers and journals as The New York Times, The Economist and such classy media like the BBC. Some of his earlier books include " Millennium ", " Civilizations ", and " Food ". One agrees with the Publishers ( DK ) blurb : Over 175 of the world's most pivotal ideas are crystallized and clearly explained - from cannibalism to zen, from time to the unconscious, from logic to chaos theory. This 400-page illustrated compendium includes colour plates. Apart from its usefulness, the book also provides excellent cross references on related subjects. For instance, take a subject like the idea of a Global Village. Writing on the idea of cultural pluralism, the author says this : " The 1970s pop group ' Village People ', adopted a plurality of American archetypes to promote their hit song " YMCA ". It also became a gay anthem,marking a stage in the acceptance of gay culture into the mainstream ". Again mentioning as " Astride the divide ", he says that " The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has led to the assimilation of the communist culture of the former Eastern Bloc into the dominant capitalist culture of the West. But there is still no cultural consensus, and deep differences remain between the German peoples " . The writer clearly explains his criteria in compiling this book: " ideas as I understand them are purely mental events. I have tried to focus exclusively on ideas that constitute new ways of envisioning the big picture: of humankind, of the cosmos, or even of other, transcendent worlds." Writing on "The Age of Sages", the writer says that " ...In India civilization gradually re-emerged far from the Indus : in Sri Lanka, where monumental irrigation works and buildings arose, and in the Ganges valley, where logic, creative literature, mathematics, and speculative science emerged around the middle of the next millennium... " Talking about ' Perfect Soul ', the writer says that ' the Buddhist idea of a purposeful incarnation - governed by a principle of justice - was one solution to the eternal problem of what happens to your soul when your body dies. " and in another short essay he says that Ganesha ( Pillayar or Gane Deiyo for us Sri Lankans ) is the Lord of the Beginnings and adds that Hinduism displaced Buddhism in India, and continued to make enormous contributions to culture. Calling Raja Rammohan ( 1772- 1833 ) as Father of Modern India, the writer says that Roy " founded the Brahmo Samaj, a movement that promoted a vague theism. He viewed Western Enlightenment values as part of a continuum of ancient Eastern traditions " . Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, I believe, specifically condemns once popular existentialism of the 1950s and 1960s. This is what he says : " Sexual promiscuity, ' revolutionary ' violence, indifference to manners, defiance of the law, and drug abuse were all characteristic existentialist vices. Beat culture and sixties permissiveness-ways of life adopted or imitated by millions- as well, perhaps, as the late 20th century's libertarian reaction against social planning would have been unthinkable without it. " Published in 2003, this book is a wonderful production of analysis of ideas as mental activity. Existentialism I really don't know whether the philosophy of existentialism has lost its flavour amidst postmodernism. Three decades ago, I was an avid reader of existentialist writing, but now my interest seems to be shifting to knowing many things which I really don't know. Existentialism was exciting when I first read an English translation of Jean-Paul Sartre's collection of short stories from French titled ' Intimacy '. This was in the late 1950s. Almost a few years later, I saw the New Wave film ' Breathless '. I was curious. Camus' The Stranger ' was adapted as a film with Marcello Mastrianni. And so were Sartre's ' The Respectable Prostitute ' and 'Condemned of Altona '. Existentialism, as we all know, places emphasis on individual responsibility and the importance of passion and freedom. Awareness, commitment and passion for freedom is the bottomline. Then there is the religious existentialism of Soren Kierkegard, militancy of Nietzsche, approach to life of Hiedegger and of course the literary works of Albert Camus (The Stranger, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Plague, The Fall ), Sartre and even the classics of Dostoevesky, Kafka and Hesse. As a prelude to reading these works, I first read Colin Wilson's ' The Outsider '. I like very much the fiction of John Updike. He is a sort of existentialist writer from my point of view. Perhaps the most advanced ancient civilization prevailed in Egypt more than 3000 years ago. Art and architecture of ancient Egypt is amazing. Monumental architecture, medical science, monotheism and mummification, the pyramids are all fascinating as we scan through the pages of the history of ancient Egypt. Shakespeare moralized the Egyptian beauty, Cleopatra in Anthony and Cleopatra in particular. Lost civilizations Rediscovering ancient sites through new technology will enhance our knowledge of lost civilizations. That is what Austen Atkinson has done for us in a book published in 2002 under the title ' Lost Civilizations '. This book has 192 pages with 192 colour pages and selected reading list. The author is a journalist, TV script writer and producer. He introduces 20 civilizations and the publishers ( Watson-Guptill ) claim that this is the ' fist book to combine new knowledge such as satellite and land-based remote sensing images with archaeological discoveries to reveal the secrets of civilizations past. " Nirvana The book has four distinct sections: Americas, Mediterranean, Middle East and Asia. I was pleasantly surprised to find Anuradhapura described along with Angkor and Mohenjodaro in the group classed as Asia. Calling it as ' Sinhalese Nirvana '. It was the seat of Sinhalese kings from the fourth century to 1017. On page 174 he writes: ' The Sinhalese of Anuradhapura developed a culture capable of great architectural and scientific achievements. In the third century B.C., the Sinhalese engineers created vast irrigation systems to provide the city with water Anuradhapura, according to Dr Robin Coningham , had been ' an urban settlement much earlier than had previously been believed ' The civilizations in Americas include Anasazi, Cancuen, Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu and Tiwanaku. In the Mediterranean, we find descriptions on Atlantis, Halicarnassus, Helike, Knossos, Pompeii and Troy. Middle east features Babylon, Mahram Bilqis, Nimrud, Persepolis, Ubar and Ur. A glossary, Further Reading and Index are also included. In the 1950s and 60s, one of the intellectual journals was Encounter founded in 1953 by Irving Kristol. I became interested in this journal only in the late 60s. Melvin Lasky and Stephen Spender ( one of the finest British poets I like ) were the co-editors at that time. Melvin Lasky ( 84 ) died recently. An American, Lasky had served the U.S. army as a historian and later worked for The New Leader and Partisan Review (very fine academic pieces on Literature and the Arts are published. The acceptable critic Philip Rahv used to write for this Review, Frank Kermode, critic ( I do not much enjoy his writing ) was the co-editor of Encounter later. Everything was fine until 1966 when the New York Times reported that this prestigious journal was indeed partially funded by the CIA and the British Foreign Office. This came as a surprise to many readers because the facade that it was a neutral intellectual journal was shattered. Frank Kermode resigned. Prominent men of letters like Jean- Paul Sartre, Lionel Trilling ( another American critic I admire ), V.S. Naipaul and A.J. Ayer dissociated themselves with this magazine. Melvin Lasky continued to edit the Encounter until 1990. And that was the end. Contact : [email protected] **** Back **** |
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