Know Your Library #2

A newsletter about the books of the TAOS PUBLIC LIBRARY

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     Our library has, in addition to reference materials, periodicals, computer access, DVDs, VHS, CDs about 63,000 books. Using the Dewey Decimal System of classification  we’re giving you just a taste. (The Dewey Decimal System, incidentally, was not invented by philosopher John Dewey, but by librarian Melvil Dewey in 1876.) Each month, we’ll review a non-fiction book and a novel. For September, we’re up to the 100s—the big artillery, since this classification includes philosophy and psychology—names such as Plato and Aristotle, Freud and Jung, among others. If you want to stretch those brain cells, turn right upon entering the library and march to the last row.

THE ANATOMY OF HUMAN DESTRUCTIVENESS by Erich Fromm, published in 1973 (152.5 F932a) is a thorough and thoughtful survey of this sorry aspect of humanity, certainly apropo at this moment of more looming war.

     A refugee from Nazi Germany, Fromm knew what he was talking about. His lengthy survey (547 pp.) begins with a section of those psychologists who think aggression is instinctive—“human nature” and thus unchangeable. Fromm points out, as others have, that there is considerable evidence that “primitive” humanity lived without war—certainly without the large-scale carnage that modern technology has made possible.

     Next up is a survey of the idea that it is environment that determines who we are and what we do, followed by a deep delving into the comparison of animal and human behavior.

     After this—if you’re still alive—he presents a close study of such (alas) influential figures as Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. He courageously tackles the knotty question of the undoubted appeal of Hitler to millions of Germans—as well as how millions of Russians were led to put up with Stalin for so many years.

     THE ANATOMY OF HUMAN DESTRUCTIVENESS is a tough read, no doubt about it, but in it there is ample food for thought—and thought certainly seems to be something we need more of in this era.

 SHARDIK

   Seldom has a book been so ill served by its cover as SHARDIK, the novel by Richard Adams.

   Adams is perhaps best known as the author of the bestseller WATERSHIP DOWN, a fable about rabbits.  So when SHARDIK came out with a picture of a bear on the cover, everyone assumed it was another animal story. There is a bear, and its name is Shardik, but that’s not the point.  The point of this brilliantly imaginative novel, in which Richard Adams creates an entire syncretic mythology, is one of the great themes of literature: sin and redemption. 

   How does one redeem oneself after a great sin?  For humans, it seems to be: suffering. And our very human hero goes through all sorts of it, along with mayhem and a long learning journey.

   The protagonist is a simple man, a hunter, who finds the bear, who is a Redeemer figure.  If you are a believing Christian, imagine how you would feel if you found Jesus, wounded, in the woods. Everything follows upon this moment.

   Of course, there’s the tempter, who wants to use the great bear for his own purposes. Does the hunter fall? What do you think?  He sins, big time, knowing he does so, spending the rest of the story redeeming himself.

   If this sounds daunting, don’t give up. There follows thumping adventure, as colorful as any. Adams creates a whole world, complete with maps; primitive, ridden with superstition and fear. He has a good time making up names for his places and characters, describing landscapes and customs.                        Our hero follows the bear across a wonderfully imagined landscape. At one point, he begs the bear to “send him a sign.” This too is probably familiar: how many of us, have waited for a sign, an intuition, something that will show us the way. And he is granted a sign—but he doesn’t recognize it. This too may sound only all too familiar.

   Adams used some of his own experiences as a captive of the Japanese during WW II, and assures us some of the things he shows us he witnessed.  

    Part of redemption is repentance, and our hero, like most humans, comes to repentance and self-knowledge. 

   Finally, the great revelation is this:  “to greet a girl…eat a meal…talk and listen…a man free to do these things should wear his blessings like a garland.” In common life is salvation.

Oh yes—there is a girl, and he does get her. So there is a happy ending. But it’s probably not be the one you expect.

C copyright 2013 by Joanne Forman. All rights reserved.