Former colleague Larry Romano e-mailed a few weeks back to congratulate me on writing daily blog entries during the month of May. I don’t know why he thinks a math guy like me should be as prolific as Rosie DiManno.
Larry is math head at Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School in Toronto. An optimistic visionary who freely embraces all forms of technology, Larry remains grounded in the teaching reality that the medium is only part of the message.
“What are you reading these days?” Larry asked in his friendly note.
“Well, I’ve got four books on the go right now,” I responded, probably sounding a bit like Ken Jennings or Sheldon Cooper.
I used to be a linear reader, that is, a one book at a time person. However, since retirement, I’ve had to change my ways thanks to the gifts and suggestions of good friends and relatives.
Currently, I’m reading A Brief History of Philosophy by Luc Ferry, a 267 page primer that traces prominent schools of thought from the ancient wisdom of the Greeks to the rise of Christianity, from the birth of humanism to the post modern thinking of Nietzche and beyond.
Viewing Christianily as just of many philosophies certainly has given me a new perspective on my faith.
A second book, How I Got This Way, an autobiography by Regis Philbin, was a birthday gift from my daughter Janice. It’s a fun read as Phibin chronicles life lessons he has learned from people like Ronald Regan, Bing Crosby and Steve Allen along his illustrious career.
My favourite book at this moment is called The Sun & Moon Over Assisi by Gerard Straub. An American television producer, Straub visits Italy to research and experience the medieval world of Saint Francis and Saint Clare. Not only does the author take you to the villages and shrines that Francis and Clare have made famous, he also gives you glimpses into the spirituality of these great saints and his personal reflections on their selfless lives.
This 600 page book is to be read slowly and thoughtfully and refreshes me whenever I’m tempted to approach my faith like a scientist.
Finally, I continue to read the four book series, Game of Thrones, by R.R. Martin. It’s my guilty pleasure and reminds me of Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. I’m currently reading book three and am fascinated how Martin has masterfully created a captivating cast of power hungry characters.
I might add that I recently finished a book by Blaine Harding called Escape from Camp 14. It’s a true story about a young man’s escape from a North Korean prison camp in 2005 where he had been born and raised under the cruel watch of heartless guards.
“ A tale of endurance and courage, survival and hope, Harden’s harrowing narrative exposes this hidden dystopia, focusing on an extraordinary young man who came of age inside one of the world’s darkest nations,” reads the paperback’s back cover.
For the most part, it’s a very disheartening story and shatters my belief that compassion is an innate quality. It also leaves me puzzled how the people of South Korea seem so indifferent to the suffering of their compatriots in the North.
Larry, let’s get together for a coffee soon and we can catch me up on your reading list. Judging from the title of your recent OAME (Ontario Association for Mathematics Education) conference presentation, Demystifying Frankenstein, you’ve been doing some interesting reading too.
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