From This Valley

By Pete Steiner

BOOKSHELF 2021

Ienvy Bill Gates. No, not talkin’ about all his billions. I envy his professed ability to read 750 words a minute – that’s a page every 20 seconds – with 90% retention.

Were that gift mine, I could have gotten better grades in school, not had to cram for tests and kept the size of my pile of unread books to an untippable height. But depending on the book, and the distractions (email notifications, robocalls, the usual suspects), I do about one page per minute.

So reading my current main novel, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Love in the Time of Cholera,” I will need about six uninterrupted hours. Nevertheless, it’s worth it to immerse oneself in the immense talent and insight of a Nobel prize winner, one of the founders of “magical realism.”

Preferring to have more than one book going at a time, I also returned to another of my favorite novels, from back in college, Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment.” That’ll take about 10 hours, at my rate! I read a commentary in which a professor called “Crime’s” protagonist, Raskolnikov (one of the great and most complex characters in literature) “a very modern man.”

That analysis points out that Raskolnikov, in mid-19th century Russia, was engulfed in vast economic, social and political turmoil, not unlike what we’re experiencing today. Then, at Pages Past Bookstore at the library downtown, I grabbed a copy of J. M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan” (cheap –two dollars!). Oh sure, I know the Disney version almost by heart, but being a boomer and being male, I wanted Barrie’s more complete insight on not ever growing up.

Ever since an eye-opening class with Marty Wiltgen, a teacher many ‘60s and ‘70s Scarlet alumni fondly recall, I have been drawn to philosophy – you know, books by those thinkers who try to figure out, “What’s it all about, Alfie?”

I ordered “The Book of Dead Philosophers” by Simon Critchley. It’s breezy as well as insightful, maybe a good start for anyone who’s not ready to plow head-on into, say, Hegel. I had read some Sartre but never anything by the most important woman in his life, Simone de Beauvoir. Check out her analysis and apply it to your favorite boomer: “Aging opens up a gap between one’s subjective existence and how that existence is viewed objectively. In old age, one’s being is defined by the way in which one is seen by others, regardless of how one might feel subjectively.” You mean to say, 70 is not the new 50?

If you’re a member of a book club (congratulations), or if you’re one of those people I envy who can read two or three books a week, you’re thinking: You, Mr. Peter, are listing mostly old books, nothing from the bestseller lists. And you are right. Heck, I just read Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” for the first time. Bought it on impulse during a foray into a favorite Twin Cities bookstore. Amazed at the economy of Papa’s writing and what he can do with dialogue. So yeah, it may be five to seven years before I get to “Where the Crawdads Sing” (my wife read it; the hardcover is in my pile).

Still I was pleased when I checked a display in a local store for Oprah’s picks. Of those maybe dozen featured books, I’ve actually read two – Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” (very dark, but you might relate) and “100 Years of Solitude” by, yes, G.G. Marquez. I then looked at, and decided to skip “Pillow Thoughts” by pop-psychology poet Courtney Peppernell. I have no idea if she knows Mike Lindell. Maybe if they put it on sale, two for one?

Occasionally, I’ll pick up a scary book — but here we’re not talking Stephen King. I am working my way through a nonfiction bestseller, Calvin Newport’s “Digital Minimalism.” The renowned tech philosopher delves deeply into how social media have literally enslaved us, and it is frightening in its own way.

All those “likes” we get on Facebook? A blatant, calculated, out-and-out Pavlovian stimulusresponse mechanism. Newport interviews many leading Silicon Valley scientists who have developed these devilish techniques, along with people who have employed various strategies to free themselves from “digital bondage,” from spending too much time on gooey stuff on Facebook or angry rants on Twitter.

Let me leave you with this: I am endorsing a bestseller. In fact, I bought it for Jeanne for Christmas. Barnes and Noble chose Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s “World of Wonders” as “book of the year.” A huge honor for Minneapolis’ small independent literary publisher Milkweed Editions.

Complete with beautiful illustrations, it could be just the thing if you’re still trying to recover from too much 2020 doom scrolling.

READY FOR YOUR ARRIVAL

Gathering with loved ones means more than ever. Laugh, hug, play and relax. The eight hotels and resorts along Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail offer legendary locations to safely reconnect. From the shores of the Tennessee River to Mobile Bay, come experience world-class hospitality in picturesque settings. Plunge into resort pools. Relax in luxury spas. Play RTJ golf. Enjoy farm-to-table cuisine. We are open and will be here waiting for you. Visit rtjresorts.com.