50BC08: #4 Three Classics in the Aesthetic of Music

50 BOOK CHALLENGE #4
TITLE: Three Classics in the Aesthetic of Music (Dover, 1962)
AUTHORS: Claude Debussy, Ferruccio Busoni, Charles Ives
GENRE: non-fiction
PAGES: 188
4 out of 5 stars

One of the joys of reading about aesthetics, particularly as the field applies to music, is that there is such a variance of thought about what is beautiful. For all three of the authors included in this collection, beauty is not solely defined by consonance and dissonance. These composer-authors grapple with the role of inspiration, philosophical contexts, and music itself.

Claude Debussy, "Monsieur Croche the Dilettante Hater" (1927)
Debussy does not mince words and offers invective toward everything from opera to arts administration. It is more music criticism than a specific treatise on aesthetics. It is impossible, however, to read this group of essays without tasting the clear flavor of Debussy's own aesthetic agenda. For example, the Paris Opera, for Debussy, "...continue[s] to produce curious noises which the people who pay call music, but there is no need to believe them implicitly." (24)


Ferruccio Busoni, "Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music "(1911)
Busoni gives the reader a more straightforward offering complete with footnotes and musical examples. However, even Busoni likes to wax poetic: "Tradition is a plaster mask taken from life..." (n.1, p. 7). In another footnote, Busoni makes the case for microtonality, attacking the idea of musical "purity":


But what is "pure," and what "impure?" We hear a piano "gone out of tune," and whose intervals may thus have become "pure, but unserviceable," and it sounds impure to us. The diplomatic "Twelve-semitone system" is an invention mothered by necessity yet none the less do we sedulously guard its imperfections. (89)


Charles Ives, "Essays before a Sonata" (1920)
It is Ives' contribution that is the most beautiful read. He offers an essay that is one part program note (for the Concord Sonata (1915, rev. 1947)) to two parts philosophical and aesthetic treatise. Writing with all the passion and transcendental fervor he can muster, Ives presents various New England literary figureheads as aesthetes, blurring the line between the artistry of literature and that of music.

In Memoriam: Alain Robbe-Grillet

As this is a blog about books and reading, I will, from time to time, report on significant events in the literary world and in the related blogosphere.

I am sad to report the passing of Alain Robbe-Grillet, French author and filmaker.


As for my current reading projects, I hope to have a report on Ives' "Essay Before a Sonata" soon.

50BC08: #3 The Music of Chance (Auster)

50 BOOK CHALLENGE 2008 #3 TITLE: The Music of Chance AUTHOR: Paul Auster (Penguin, 1990, 217 pages) GENRE: Fiction Rating 3.5 out of 5 I appreciated what this novel was trying to do, but was bothered by my complete and utter lack of attachment to the characters. The premise (lives colliding by chance) is intriguing and the narrative is beautifully executed. What was missing for me was the answer to "why?." The main character seems to be a passive observer to his own life, with a few moments of real passion interspersed. Auster does have a gift for metaphor, using Pozzi and Nashe's wall as a symbol of perseverance and incarceration at the same time. There is a tenderness that while left largely unexplored, runs like a tiny stream throughout the story. It is this stream that saves the book. We learn how quickly solitude loses its freedom-like quality when faced with personal loss. (cross-posted)

Review: Bread Upon the Waters

50 Book Challenge 2008 #2:
TITLE: Bread Upon the Waters
AUTHOR: Irwin Shaw
YEAR: 1981
GENRE: Fiction
PAGES: 479

Stars: 3.5 out of 5

In the tradition of Agee's A Death in the Family, or Guest's Ordinary People, this is a book about a family's whose life changes drastically after their tennis-playing teenage daughter becomes an unlikely hero one evening in Central Park. Driven by this one catalyst, the events that play out for the Strand Family become like dominoes, each one building momentum as they fall against each other.

Shaw does a masterful job with the narrative rhythm, careful not to show his hand too soon. This might infuriate some readers with a lack of patience or a preference for plot-driven narrative. The plot picks up speed about two-thirds of the way into the book, and comes to a halt (but by no means a "grinding" one) only at the very end.

This is a portrait of a family and the lives that touch it (and vice-versa). It is beautifully lifelike it its messiness, but also in its portrayal of perseverance. Tragedy does not always beget tragedy, but in Shaw's world, good deeds are not always wholly good, either.

It is a book about the complexities of life. The characters are "everyman" characters in that Shaw keeps them at a distance, so we become attached more to their predicaments than to the characters themselves. While this is more instructive for the reader, it does steal something from the fictional experience, at least for me.

Overall, a very fine novel that captures the angst of everyday life with a certain refreshing objectivity.

Review: The Omnivore's Dilemma

Absolutely one of the best books I have read in a long time.

Michael Pollan is one of those writers who could probably draw any reader into any topic. Omnivore's Dilemma is a captivating and enriching narrative of Pollan's journey to

"look as far into the food chains that support us...and recover the fundamental biological realities that the complexities of modern industrialized eating keep from our view" (281).

From a family meal at McDonalds to a meal wherein he "hunted and gathered" all the ingredients himself (or mostly), Pollan details how we face a much larger question than simply "meat or no meat." He reveals how shopping at Whole Foods presents its own dilemma, even for those who are already conscious about what they eat.

In the end, Pollan doesn't really come to a conclusion in terms of a choice. His point is to start a conversation that needs to happen because we are allowing the USDA to dictate our eating habits. We have taken for granted that while we may be on the top of the food chain, we are still a chain, linked to countless other forms of life and ecosystems. Pollan hopes for a day when

"...we would no longer need any reminding that however we choose to feed ourselves, we eat by the grace of nature, not industry, and what we're eating is never anything more or less than the body of the world." (411)

Book 1/50 for the 50 Book Challenge 2008

Library/Networking Sites Comparison

In search of the ideal cataloguing website for my personal library, I have been using, for the past several weeks, three different services: Goodreads, Shelfari and most recently, LibraryThing. I offer a brief analysis and the pros and cons (according to my opinion) of each service. Feel free to chime in about the service(s) you like and why!

CRITERIA
Interface/user-friendly
Price
Features*

*My list of features for each service is in no way exhaustive. I simply point out a few really good or bad features. And because a feature is listed under one service does not make it exclusive to that service unless stated.



LIBRARY THING
INTERFACE/USER-FRIENDLY: 5/5

• Multiple options for viewing

• use of simple icons in list view to access information

• generally good layout/layout options
  

PRICE: 4/5

• You can upload 200 books for free, but then can buy a yearly subscription at $10 or a "lifetime" which is really more of a suggested donation, $25 is typical. Given the lack of ads and useability, I can't really complain.

FEATURES: 5/5

• Uploaded list easily (took awhile, but that was ok--especially since they give you an approximate timeframe...and they use a queue, so you can go do other stuff while you wait)

• Ability to do "half" stars

• Can report your handle/username for other networks/resources such as BookCrossing, LiveJournal, Blogger, etc. Other library sites (like GoodReads and Shelfari) are noticeably absent, however.

• Will work with a barcode reader (available for purchase)

• options for including date purchased, started, and completed

• option to include BCID #

• Indicates how many users/reviews for each book

• "tagging" operation not ideal as pre-existing tags not listed, nor are your own tags readily accessible

• tag clouds available for viewing, however and author clouds!!
• blog, social networking widgets available
  

SHELFARI
INTERFACE/USER-FRIENDLY: 2/5

• While they have made some improvements, the server is often slow or non-functioning.
  
• The new "shelf" layout is cute and pretty user-friendly. The overlaid menus are ok, but don't always work that well (I'm using Mac/Firefox). There need to be more options immediately available when you put your cursor over a given book.

• Other problem...a lot of less popular titles don't show up on Shelfari...even when using ISBNs (whereas they show up at GoodReads or LibraryThing). I'm assuming this means Shelfari doesn't have access to as many databases.

• Tried to import a list of books. Said the import was successful and was "processing." Maybe I didn't wait long enough (an hour??!), but there should be some indication of how long processing will take.

PRICE: 5/5

• Free, can't beat that.

FEATURES: 3/5

• Cute "shelf" design
• Shelves for Reading, To Read, Own, Favorites, Wish List
• Tells you other users who have the book
• Indicates groups who have the book
• Will let you customize your copy of the book, including spaces to say if it is signed, loaned out, etc
  
• while tagging involves a separate operation, they do provide a list of the tags you've used from which you can select

GOODREADS

INTERFACE/USER-FRIENDLY: 5/5

• Attractive and minimalist
• Self-explanatory, and easy editing features
• good server speed
  

PRICE: 5/5

• Free

FEATURES: 4/5

• tags, but calls them "shelves" which then become part of a drop-down menu for easy cataloging
• recommendation feature
• easy export (haven't tested import, but I used my GoodReads created file to import into LibraryThing
• good customized widgets
• book data almost as good as LibraryThing
  

SUMMARY

If I had to pick "the best," I'd probably go with LibraryThing. GoodReads comes in at a close second, but Shelfari trails behind. I know Shelfari is looking to make constant improvements, so I will stick around and I applaud their efforts (they are a smaller operation, unlike LT, which has shares owned by companies such as AbeBooks, etc).

4/13/08 UPDATE:
For further reading check out Ray Sims' comparison of Shelfari and LibraryThing here.

EDITED 1/15 to strikethrough inaccurate statement (see comments).

In the Blogosphere: À mon chevet

Charles Downey, over at Ionarts, has begun a series of blog posts entitled "À mon chevet" wherein he provides a quote from a book sitting on his nightstand and some commentary. In this most recent post, he offers a selection from John Dos Passos' 1919, the second volume of the USA Trilogy.