quote:

Originally posted by Translator:
I have the following books on my shelf (in this particular order):

...A Tale of Two cities. Therese Raquin. Justine (or the misfortunes of virtue). The Bible. The Holy Quaran. The Torah. Modern Chess Openings. The Kama Sutra...

Cheers, Translator

Well, now that's an interesting combination of books.

Translator:

How is "Justine?" I've always been intrigued by the Marquis and his madness...

Translator,
Interesting list, but I'm sure just a small section of a larger shelf, to which I would recommend the addition of something I've been re-reading of late, to wit: "The Indespensable Calvin and Hobbes".

Hobbes is on the shelf above it. Calvin I have not. And yes, this is a tiny section. There is this thing called Goodwill in Canada - a used things store - and it has the best book selection ever. I pay 1.50 (Can) for hardcovers, no matter what they are. By now, friends come to me as they would to a library. I only have one rule - they write in a book, or underline something, they die. (and I don't mean a simple death, no. I mean I torture them to death).

Justine was fantastic. It propelled me to explore le marquis, which was a bizzare experiance altogether. If you have the guts, go for his other works. The most disturbing I found to be "philosophy in the bedroom". Good luck with it.

Cheers, Translator

F.Y.I, There is an incredible reading by the late great Irish actor Patrick Magee: Selections from the Marquis de Sade: Justine (a selection), A Letter From Prison to His Wife, and The Mystified Magistrate (abridged)on an old LP (Caedmon, 1967) which is pretty hard to find. Some libraries may carry it.

Translator,

I won't lend my books to anyone, anymore, because there are several I never got back. They "lost" them....arrrrggghhh!!!

That has happened to me, too. Sometimes the people in question conveniently 'forgot' about ME as well. Or you finally manage to pry your prized possession from them, only to find they've used it in the capacity of a saucer.

"Hobbes is on the shelf above it. Calvin I have not." Translator, I think they were referring to the comic strip, "Calvin and Hobbes". This is a strip I use to start my Intro to Philosophy class with. There is some great stuff in these strips. It is no accident that Bill Watterson uses these two names. Calvin if the young boy, and Hobbes is his "pretend" but very-much-alive "stuffed" tiger. Some really great stuff in these strips. If you haven't seen them, I'd recommend getting some of the books and read them.

Calvin and Hobbes was a great comic strip, and I miss it. The last line ever, if I remember right, was "Let's go exploring." There's an RB philosophy. . .

Oops - my bad. I'll look out for the strip.
Cheers, Translator

Unfortunately, Watterson's retired the strip some years ago, until further notice.
Fortunately, there are collections available, "The Indespensible..." being one of the best. Enjoy!

Two Things:

1. I also have Modern Chess Openings on my shelf (wonder if it is by the same author) and

2. I, too, will never lend books as two I did lend were paper backs personally given to me by Ray when visiting with him in his home in March of 1967. He signed and gave me three and I have one left. But, over the years he has signed replacement books. But, oh, how horrible to lose a book of any kind!

MCO 13 by DeFirmian and Korn. You play chess? I'd love to challange you to some blitz over Yahoo.
Cheers, Translator

I love chess, but am absolutely no good at it. My father and a brother played very, very well and entered competitions. I was never any good, but still like the game.

One of my all-time favorite movies is, "Searching for Bobby Fischer". I have the book, but haven't read it, yet. I am anxious to read it. The movie, I thought, was fantastic.

Translator:

I haven't played for a while. Sort of collected sets for a while and then had to pawn some for a trip to California. Still have quite a few to play on though.

Richard Bach, through whom I got to meet Ray in the first place, was one heck of a player. I thought I had him one day, but he worked out of check and soundly beat me--as usual.

Now that I think of it, that book and a couple more that I have on chess and chess sets are in Minnesota in my sister-in-law's basement. Some day I will drag them down here to Florida. We have no basements here in Florida and now have Hurricane Jeanne bearing down on us. Basements in tornadoes were good, but you'd drown in one in a hurricane--I think.

[This message has been edited by biplane1 (edited 09-24-2004).]