Kafka on the shore

15. Kafka on the Shore (audio). Haruki Murakami.

One third into it, I’m discovering a different Murakami. Any novel has changes of scene and narrative arch, but on this one, the tone (the so called ‘author’s voice’) and the narrative is so different in each plane that makes me think of an experiment worth of Italo Calvino... but it also reminds me a bit of the few anime films / shows I’ve seen, where the silly, the heroic, the romantic, the erotic and the elegant come right after each other. In a way, the same way that the streets of Kyoto have a Buddhist temple crammed in between a fish store and a sex shop, right next to a fashion boutique.  

The story of the main character, Kafka, is so far the slowest one, full of reflection, introspection, and excruciatingly detailed descriptions and dialogues. In that story, the characters are all logical, sensible, un-relatable and unbelievable; no 14 year old uses that language, has those perspectives on life, at least not in the western world (maybe in Japan is it more plausible?) It does sound too similar to his character on “Norwegian wood”.

the other narrative archs, however, are fascinating, I was particularly impressed on how the school teacher letter to the psychologist, the episode about the erotic dream and the period not only put together two of the narratives (which the reader can see coming anyway) but gives a new layer of depth to both of them. He brings the mundane into a context where it suddenly becomes a catalytic agent, and it works wonderfully.

More to come when I finish the book.

Contact

14 Contact (audio). Carl Sagan. 

Disclaimer, I love Sagan, his Cosmos series and book are cornerstones of my intellectual development, I would call him my shaman, if the term wouldn’t likely make him churn in his grave. It is a very clever book, but Sagan, like most sci fi writers, doesn’t do a great job on character development. The movie is better than the book in a few aspects, more personal drama, more believable technological billionaire. There is one, just one thing the movie didn’t include, but is such a crucial thing that makes a gigantic difference. And I actually understand them, it would have been a completely different movie had they included it, so I believe they made the right choice of leaning it out so only those who read the book (or this blog) discover it. 

So here I go, the one immense thing the movie leaves out, is the question Ellie asks the extra-terrestial contact right before comes back, she asks for any bit of information she can bring back to mankind. She is told by that this extra-terrestrial civilization has been playing wit Pi and found, deep into the millionths of figures into Pi, a statistically impossible number of ones and zeros, that are spaced out by prime numbers, just like the message to earth was hidden into prime numbers. In these, or other words, she affirms that this impossible, as since Pi is intrinsic to the fabric of the universe, hiding a message within Pi would only be possible if you could dictate the nature of the Universe. 

Exactly. In an infinite irony, the scientist gets the answer to the questions all religious people wanted to ask “is there a God?” But the answer is both an affirmation and a denial. An affirmation as, in Sagan’s message, a God does exist; but a denial, as a God so subtle contradicts every major religion on earth and makes them look utterly absurd.

It is one of the best meaning-of-life divertimentos I’ve read in quite a while. It did made me think, just as many years ago I realized I could not believe in an anthropomorphic deity, now I wonder if my expectation of a deity with volition as we know it is too infantile too. worth to think about it.

Born to run

13. Born to Run. (audio) Christopher McDougall

This book had a drastic impact on me, and I hope it lasts. In the second half of 2011 this book made me a runner, with few exceptions, I’ve kept to a running discipline, getting i shape, loosing weight (with the right light you can kind of see I have a six pack now), and on the process connecting with other runners, talked about it  at length with anyone who would hear. Furthermore, it made me feel I take advantage of living in High Park, as at least three times a week during the fall and start of I’ve been there, going through every trail, getting familiar with each area of the park, seeing how it changes with the seasons, the leaves changing colors and then starting to fall, the light, the pond, the sunsets, the other people who uses the park. To be outside with a purpose is a beautiful thing.  But ok, what if you are not a runner, nor you’d like to become one?

It is still a must read for several reasons. First, is well written and documented (except one minor assumption about why drug lords kill singers); second, it tells it like it is, no ‘bon savage’ myth; third it does expose not one, but two very interesting theories, one about the the capitalist society (we all buy running shoes because of the advertising, even if is likely those cushioned expensive shoes are the cause of most running injuries), and the second is the theory that persistence hunting is the explanation to a few of the reasons of why humans evolved the way they did.

Ah, forgot, there is one more very important and interesting theory: am open and loving hearth being a requisite to become an endurance athlete.

There are so many things I loved about the book that I don’t know where to start, the story of the Chech athlete, who loved to run above everything, and who gave away his gold medal. The description of the first ultramarathon where Tarahumara runners participated is one of the most exciting description of a sport event I’ve heard or read in a while. Of course, the narrative of his trip to canion del Cobre for the Tarahumara race. the individual stories of the other ultramarathoners and how they got started. I can see myself re-reading this to motivate me again to run. And if you know me personally, chances are I have already told you to go and read this book. So, go and read it!