Ceremonial Time - John Hanson Mitchell

John Hanson Mitchell – Ceremonial Time (1984)
History – 220 pages – my copy (paperback; 1991) purchased from Amazon and read during May 2012
#44 of 2011-12 – #165 of All Time
- 4 nods out of 5 -

The tagline of this book alone should wet the appetite of serious book worms out there amongst us: ‘Fifteen thousand years on one square mile’. The Worm came across the name of this book when recently reading Earth In Mind by David W. Orr; Orr recommends the changing of education with students getting involved in their local communities and to see what people and nature around them has to offer. It is a well recommended read: in the course of little more than 200 pages Mitchell takes the reader from the time of the last age ice, through mythology of the Native American, to end up at the end of the consumerist driven age of the late twentieth century.

The one square mile in question is located in a town in rural Massachusetts, USA. The author names it Scratch Flat, and it is the area surrounding his own home. But rather than a place in built up modern America, it becomes a pre-historic area of ice, of a Never-land in which the reader can immerse themselves and think: this place could be anywhere, in a land that time has forgotten. The author takes on Peter Pan-esque qualities, walking through the forests at night, trampling across fields whilst the town is asleep. It is all part of Mitchell’s attempt to bring nature back to the average Joe; as he comments on the reactions of those who heard about the proposal of his book: ‘Wilderness and wildlife, history, life itself, for that matter, is something that takes place somewhere else, it seems.’

Mitchell acts as unbiased reporter of the various anecdotes, theories and speculating of his cast of characters, from the Native American folk-lore of Nompenekit and Tonupasua (particularly the stories about the mysterious and powerful entity known as Glooscap), the forward thinking approach of Peter Sarkesian, the speculative theories of Toby Beckwith, and the visits of the wonderfully named Red Cowboy. Mitchell even puts into practice an experiment of living off the land: eating berries in the forest, and attempting to kill wildlife… Mitchell truthfully accepts the near possibility of this week, reflecting on renewed respect for the Native Americans who lived such a life for centuries. Throughout it all, the author maintains a respect for those who came before him; when discussing the local history of the post-1700 settlers in the community, he eloquently writes:

‘I confess to a pronounced interest in these near-nameless individuals. They are not heroes, nor are they, as you might imagine, the muscle and blood of Scratch Flat, the work force without who assistance the place could never yield a single bushel of produce. They are not necessarily the salt of the earth; they are not anything but individuals who lived their time and who, in their time, died. But that, it seems to me, is the real story of Scratch Flat, the real history of the world.’

But just what is Ceremonial Time, the Worm hears you cry out! The author explains:

‘Indian time stretches itself out on occasion, on occasion contracts or reveres its apparent flow. It is not exacting, not measured by dials or digits on a lighted screen, and at the base of this system is the concept of ceremonial time. It is then…that you can actually see events that took place in the past. You can see people and animals who have been dead for a thousand years; you can walk in their place, see and touch the plants of their world. And more importantly, when ceremonial time collapses, the spirit world can be seen, the gods, ghosts, and monsters of the Indian manifest themselves’.

Ceremonial Time is one of the most original books the Worm has read in a long time; to deem it ‘History’ does not give it full justice. It is more than that: science, folklore, topography and much more. It is a book for those who enjoy living and for those who wish to dig a little deeper in attempting to find the answer as to who we are, as humans.



Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ceremonial-Time-Fifteen-Thousand-Square/dp/0201149370
 
Find out more about the author here:
http://www.johnhansonmitchell.com/pages/books.html

Sir Winston Churchill: Selections from his Writings and Speeches - Guy Boas (ed.)

Guy Boas (ed.) - Sir Winston Churchill: Selections from his Writings and Speeches (1966)
Biography – 270 pages – my copy (hardback; 1966) purchased from the best second-hand bookshop in Plymouth during 2008, read during May 2012
#43 of 2011-12 – #164 of All Time
- 2 nods out of 5 -

‘Well, Mr Churchill says
“We gotta fight the bloody battle to the very end”’
The Kinks, 'Mr Churchill Says'

Sir Winston Churchill has been proclaimed time and again as the greatest Briton to ever sit foot on the earth. Such a legend is based, mainly, on his exploits and position during the Second World War. But it goes much deeper than that: his lifetime saw the expansion, glory and bust of the British Empire, from the late Victorian age of hidden piano legs to the swinging sixties of the Rolling Stones. His position is secured by his love of a good drink (and the many related anecdotes surrounding this), to his mammoth figure – both figuratively and literally – gracing the halls of Westminster.

However, this collection is one based on another familiar Churchillian favourite of the British public: his writing and speeches. It is a fast cobbled together project published in the immediate aftermath of Churchill’s death in 1965. Guy Boas is the editor of this particular edition, pooling together snippets from Churchill’s surprisingly vast back catalogue; surprising due to the great weight of the ministerial offices he assumed during half a century of life in Parliament.

The reader takes a journey through Churchill’s early, and often humorous, memories from My Early Life; his experiences in India and as a correspondent in the Boer War; illuminating segments from his books detailing the First World War; and even greater selections from the books that comprise his series on the Second World War. Alongside this, towards the end, are somewhat perplexing pages on painting as a hobby. The Worm’s very own musty copy has been well thumbed, the pages folded throughout; most notably the war-time speeches:

‘No one can predict, no one can even imagine, how this terrible war against German and Nazi aggression will run its course or how far it will spread or how long it will last. Long, dark months of trials and tribulations lie before us. Not only great dangers, but many more misfortunes, many shortcomings, many mistakes, many disappointments will surely be our lot. Death and sorrow will be the companions of our journey; hardship our garment; constancy and valour our only shield. We must be united, we must be undaunted, we must be inflexible. Our qualities and deeds must burn and glow through the gloom of Europe until they become the veritable beacon of its salvation.’

Despite Boas’ over-abundance of back-patting (as to be expected in the aftermath of the death of such a colossus), this volume retains a semblance of importance in the twenty-first century. Undoubtedly, it would be a rarity to come across a person who has read the entirety of Churchill’s previous works; but a selection of some of his finest, courage building, morale boasting words he committed to paper. The Worm recommends buying a similarly updated edition today, to really find out what one of the greatest Britons was about.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Churchill-Churchill-Selections-writings-speeches/dp/B000WTKPJ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340291092&sr=11

Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Love in the Time of Cholera (1985)

Novel – 350 pages – my copy (paperback; 1988) purchased from the best second-hand bookshop in Plymouth a decade ago, and recently read during May 2012
#42 of 2011-12 – #163 of All Time
- 5 nods out of 5 –

The Worm has recently considered how reading books has its own life and timeline, separate from reality. A decade ago the Worm was working in what turned out to be one of many faceless, pointless work environments and came across a person who turned out to be reading the very same author, very same book, and very same publication date pages… down to the same faded cover. It was the reading equivalent of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, and the connection was down to a book rather than anything else.

A decade of “real” time has since passed, but a return to Gabriel Garcia’s Marquez’s novel of love and hope appears to overcome such boundaries; the reader is taken back to earlier connections with the novel, to experiences seemingly long forgotten. Perhaps it is the strength of the writer, and the Worm feels obliged to Mr Marquez’s ability to fascinate in his prose.

Love in the Time of Cholera was originally written in Spanish, and given the somewhat exotic – to English eyes anyhow – title of El amor en los tiempos del colera. The novel is set in a coastal town of Colombia, and takes place during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It features a love triangle surrounding the characters Florentina Ariza, Fermina Daza and Jurvenal Urbino. Florentina and Fermina are feverish correspondents during their youth, hoping one day to marry; however, Fermina instead renounces her young love and marries Juvenal. Both male characters are seen as opposites: Juvenal a modern and dynamic doctor, searching for material gains; whilst Florentina is an old romantic, attached to dying ideals. At different points the novel focuses on each of these characters: on the death of Juvenal near the book’s beginning; the disputes in Fermina’s life; and the long wait endured by Florentina as he never gives up hope of one day winning Fermina back. At risk of spoiling the ending – as this book is more about the idea of love rather than mere plot – the old romantic’s dream does come true as they reunite in old age.

Alongside the main theme of love, is that of death: the youth of these characters is seen in the focus of old age. The majority of the characters – due to the passing of time within the novel – die: indeed, the first section is devoted to two such deaths; including one of the main characters, Juvenal Urbino. Such a combination – of love and death – is shown within the book’s very title, with there being the joy of love at a time of intense suffering. Such suffering can be seen nowhere more clearly than in Florentino’s voyeuristic vigil, awaiting the day when he has a chance to claim his former love as his again:

‘The years of immobilized waiting, of hoping for good luck, were behind him, but on the horizon he could see nothing more than the unfathomable sea of imaginary illness, the drop-by-drop urinations of sleepless nights, the daily death at twilight. He thought that all the moments in the day, which had once been his allies and sworn accomplices, were beginning to conspire against him….So it was reasonable to think that the woman he loved most on earth, the one he had waited for from one century to the next without a sigh of disenchantment, might not have the opportunity to lead him by the arm across a street full of lunar grave mounds and beds of wind-blown poppies in order to help him reach the other side of death in safety’.

For readers familiar with Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s work, you will already applaud the writer’s skill at telling a story. Yes, the focus is on the characters and how they are neatly interwoven across decades of personal and national history; but also unravelled is the character of the nameless town: its pull – wanted or not – into the modern age. It is similar commentary alluded to in the epic One Hundred Years of Solitude; however, within this novel, the heart of these thoughts remain wed to central characters who remain and expand during the unfolding of the pages.

Call it the magic of this book, the magic of reading, or of chance and mere fluke: but Love in the Time of Cholera has quartered a special home in the reading memory of the Worm. On its second reading – ten years later – it retains the power to entrance and amaze. The Worm looks forward to a third reading, perhaps ten years from now.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Cholera-Gabriel-Garcia-Marquez/dp/014012389X

The Nazis: A Warning From History - Laurence Rees

Laurence Rees – The Nazis: A Warning From History (2005) History – 390 pages – my copy (paperback; 2005) bought for £8.99 from Plymouth Waterstone’s
#41 of 2011-12 - #162 of All Time
- 3 nods out of 5 -

Before the Worm hears the chorus of groans – “No, not another book on the Nazis” – how about a recall on the importance of Hitler, the Nazis and their period of History? It is a topic in which Laurence Rees has made a highly distinguished career creating documentaries, most notably Auschwitz: The Road to the Final Solution. Yes, this is another book on the Nazis, but coming from the pen of Rees and based on his documentary research, it is one worth a closer look.

The Nazis: A Warning From History was initially a successful TV documentary for the BBC. It charts the rise of the Nazis, from minnows in Bavaria, to gain control of Germany, and – for a time – mastery of Europe. The book charts a similar path, from the years of rule of chaos and consent (the euthanasia policy, the formation and working of the Gestapo, the growing anti-Semitic legislation), the world war and the road to the Holocaust. Interwoven into the narrative are the comments of the vast hours of interviews Rees conducted with survivors of the war. This particular feature is a valuable asset, separating Rees’ work from the countless other books on the book shelves.

However, this particular version of A Warning From History suffers from a case of the Writer’s Return: revisiting material from the past in order to update with fresh interpretations. It is an event rather common to historians, and although updated research can sometimes help further conclusions, it can also warp the original narrative with bulked material. This book is a case of the latter, with Rees injecting much material from a different book, War of the Century, which recounts the gruesome war between the Germans and the Russians. In the introduction, Rees argues that this war is needed for a full assessment on the Nazis: to reach into Nietzsche’s abyss to find what they are really made of. But its appearance sways the narrative from the Nazis, their rise and dominance, to the rooms of the Soviet government and the disputes between Stalin and Zhukov. This is not to doubt that the material is exciting and griping, but rather that it should remain part of its original book.

The wealth of Rees’ material confirms his eminent place in recent historical research; however, this position is much due to his documentaries, rather than the resulting books. The documentaries, harrowing and well edited, benefit from being the first and foremost of the products. The books can never escape their truncated purpose, and as such, the Worm strongly recommends readers watch the DVDs before turning to the page of Rees’ large and informative back catalogue.



Buy it here:http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Nazis-Warning-From-History/dp/056349333X