by Yoganandya
Well…an absolutely brilliant meeting last night. Certainly the most tempestuous discussion we have had to date and any misgivings I might have had about suggesting the book (yes, I stand over it as my offering) went out the door.
Thank you all for giving it such thought and coming with your thoughts – some more marshalled than others ;-). We have certainly never had such divided opinions and I have to think this is what we are all about. That all were able to hold to their opinions and share them in such a fervent but considerate environment makes me very appreciative of being privileged to have association with such a wonderful group as yourselves. Thank you.
I won’t comment too deeply on the work, mainly as I am the big outlier. However, I think it should be said that this work did depend hugely on the context in which each as a reader held it, read it and considered it – which is rather neat. Even if I bow to my other outlier (Joe’s) opinion and perception remarking that it remains a work that has had a rather significant impact on yogic practice (charlatanism) in North America and remains of contextual fascination if even product of a Snake Oil salesman (Jim). Fascinating to think about it in that context or to leave it out of context and attempt to sit with it on its own – suffice it to say it inspired strong feeling on both sides (repulsion or inspiration). So.
The grades ranged from 0-10 and Fergal has proposed eliminating those outliers. Nonetheless, on the average, it will rank lower than most books we have read – but interesting to consider that our grading clearly does not always capture the value of a book’s sparking of discussion (10,2,0,7,1,3).
The book for next month is Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Robert Harris proposed by Fergal.
It was proposed that Anna Karenina be considered as an ongoing read – but that was left undecided.
For the record, the following were considered: Napoleon in America (me), Pride, Prejudice and Zombies (Jim), A Spool of Blue Thread (Mike), and the Rosie Project/Experiment (Brian).