Hi All Y'all! I got my copy of Musicophilia in late October here in Japan, so I finished it in November. It's been really fun to read everyone's October comments and to think about musical genius and extremes. This book is technical, like you said, Rae. And Lynness, you read it with a nursing background. As for me, since I did my BYU Closure Project in 2004 on Neuroscience and Agency, the terms and topics and tales were so happily familiar! All of you, like me, must feel so much reverence for Heavenly Father as our Creator when you read about the capacity of our brains and think about each person's unique identity as shaped by their desires (including the music they love).
I think about my brain-damaged family members (ha ha) and various looney-tune cases I've encountered and I wonder sometimes if Heavenly Father is preparing me for special experiences (with people and neuroscience) in the future. I've already felt great compassion for Mom with her aphasia, Grandma Mary with her dementia, Blake's Granny with her repeating story-tracks, etc. But my closure project and several books like Musicophilia have hugely broadened my understanding and compassion. Don't you all find that a book can open up whole new comprehensions of things?
I'm pretty sure our brains would use a whole population of very specific neurons to tell the difference between a Stradivarius's sound and the sound of a less phenomenal instrument. Do you think any of us could hear the difference if someone played a painted violin? Because I remember an auction of beautiful painted violins at one of Kate's symphony performances. (Google-search "hand-painted violins" to see lots of cool ones.) I'm not sure I'd be able to hear the difference without a lot of training. At any rate, I'm sure I couldn't feel quite the same about playing one of them versus playing one with typical wood finish . . .
Well, my real November book was The Little Prince. Like Beccy's November choice, my choice was influenced by my kids. Maddie read it last month, and Kate's always loved it. And we all love the art. I think the author, the Frenchman Antoine de St. Exupery, must be one of those child-oriented people like Roald Dahl or Eric Carle or Edward Lear. So his book is very gentle, and very short. He does use a lot of dry humor, though, and that's adult-ish. His little prince puzzles over the adults' strange behavior, like the drunkard who's drinking to forget, and the thing he wants to forget is that he's ashamed, and the thing he's ashamed of is that he's drinking. There's also the geographer who doesn't leave his study, because "geographers are too important to go wandering about." Anyway, now I have another bond with Maddie and with any of the rest of you who've read The Little Prince.
In our Relief Society book group we read Pearl Buck's The Hidden Flower this month. It sparked all kinds of discussion because it's about Japanese-American relationships and all of us here are into those. That group hasn't always had a lot to discuss. But I love the way our online book group is Family and we all have lots to share. So what's the "mission" for our December books, Rae? Love you each! Mim
I think about my brain-damaged family members (ha ha) and various looney-tune cases I've encountered and I wonder sometimes if Heavenly Father is preparing me for special experiences (with people and neuroscience) in the future. I've already felt great compassion for Mom with her aphasia, Grandma Mary with her dementia, Blake's Granny with her repeating story-tracks, etc. But my closure project and several books like Musicophilia have hugely broadened my understanding and compassion. Don't you all find that a book can open up whole new comprehensions of things?
I'm pretty sure our brains would use a whole population of very specific neurons to tell the difference between a Stradivarius's sound and the sound of a less phenomenal instrument. Do you think any of us could hear the difference if someone played a painted violin? Because I remember an auction of beautiful painted violins at one of Kate's symphony performances. (Google-search "hand-painted violins" to see lots of cool ones.) I'm not sure I'd be able to hear the difference without a lot of training. At any rate, I'm sure I couldn't feel quite the same about playing one of them versus playing one with typical wood finish . . .
Well, my real November book was The Little Prince. Like Beccy's November choice, my choice was influenced by my kids. Maddie read it last month, and Kate's always loved it. And we all love the art. I think the author, the Frenchman Antoine de St. Exupery, must be one of those child-oriented people like Roald Dahl or Eric Carle or Edward Lear. So his book is very gentle, and very short. He does use a lot of dry humor, though, and that's adult-ish. His little prince puzzles over the adults' strange behavior, like the drunkard who's drinking to forget, and the thing he wants to forget is that he's ashamed, and the thing he's ashamed of is that he's drinking. There's also the geographer who doesn't leave his study, because "geographers are too important to go wandering about." Anyway, now I have another bond with Maddie and with any of the rest of you who've read The Little Prince.
In our Relief Society book group we read Pearl Buck's The Hidden Flower this month. It sparked all kinds of discussion because it's about Japanese-American relationships and all of us here are into those. That group hasn't always had a lot to discuss. But I love the way our online book group is Family and we all have lots to share. So what's the "mission" for our December books, Rae? Love you each! Mim
0 Comments:
Post a Comment