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The Booksellers: Values Beyond Price

April 27, 2020 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

There’s something about the smell of a used bookstore that just makes me happy. That smell was missing from The Booksellers, but watching this documentary about antiquarian book stores in New York City and book collectors was an enjoyable experience in many other ways.

Director D. W. Young takes us into this world of books and book collecting through introducing us to various dealers and collectors. Some are very businesslike, others are, let us say, somewhat eccentric. All have a great love for books. The film moves smoothly among various aspects of books and the book trade. It reminds us of the value that we often find in books. We may think it is the story that we love, but often just a book in itself will have a special place in our hearts. One of the people in the film says that no one buys a first edition of Moby Dick because they want to read about whales.

My wife and I watched this via Virtual Cinema, since the theatrical release was cut short by the Corona lockdown. It turns out that might have been a good thing. It allowed us to stop and write down things for later exploration online. I also thought while we were watching that if we were seeing this in a theater, it would likely have been the art house we go to in Pasadena which is next door to a wonderful bookstore and we’d have had to go in after watching and left with empty wallets.

While books and collecting are the subject of the film, the underlying theme is value—what makes something important to us? Whether it is a bookdealer finding a great set of books at an estate sale, or a book being auctioned off for millions of dollars, or just the beauty of the binding, books are something that have great value. The people we see are not investors. They aren’t looking to make a killing when the price rockets up. Some never have any thought of selling what they have. They just feel a connection to the books they buy, sell, or collect.

I think this translates into other parts of life as well. For these booksellers and these collectors, there is something intrinsic to books that touches their lives. But we might want to consider what in our lives has such value that we would dedicate ourselves to with such relish.

Perhaps that smell I enjoy in used bookstores isn’t a combination of mold, leather, and paper. Maybe it’s the knowledge that within all these books are the words and thoughts that have enlightened minds and hearts. Even though the movie doesn’t deliver that smell, it does bring us that sense of wonder.

The Booksellers is currently available for rent through Virtual Cinema and will be available on VOD everywhere in June.

Filed Under: Film, Reviews, VOD Tagged With: books, documentary

Why I Love (and Fear) Jordan Peterson & Russell Brand

August 22, 2018 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

Jordan Peterson and Russell Brand

tldr version

Jordan Peterson
and Russell Brand
both see a
current crisis
and both see it as
primarily “spiritual”

however, for each,
there are issues
when it comes to how
*truth*
and “spirituality” relate

and how they relate
is vital

bit longer version

fanboying

i love me some
Peterson and Brand

always generally dug
Brand’s flicks
and standup,
and have been a
fan of his podcast/YouTube
for a year plus

(fun fact:
the pic above is
from once when
Peterson went
on said podcast;
and don’t they look
smashing together?
🙂 )

Peterson came to
my attention
more gradually,
but then like a
hurricane recently –
seriously:
give him a Google
and marvel at the
moment he’s been having

i have Recovery and
12 Rules for Life
on my bedside table
(along with some more
explicitly Christiany books
and a tablet, upon which
i theoretically read,
but mainly just
obsess over guitar gear
i don’t really need)

both are excellent texts
and both feel
supremely plugged in
to a zeitgeisty sense
that something’s amiss,
in general,
with ppl rn

(i agree)

both also,
and both men
in their public lives,
propose something
like a
spiritual cause
for this
“something amiss” –
what might be called a
“spiritual crisis of meaning”
stemming from
God
(or something like God;
more on this later)
no longer holding
significant sway
for so many

(i agree for sure)

caveating

please note here
that these gentlemen
are obv far more complex
than i’m making
them seem, as is
this whole topic
(and i’m not
even addressing
their politics);
i’m attempting to
essentialize here;
i considered deep diving,
but am refraining
for the sake of brevity
and also because i’m
kind of lazy

in any case, here are
some decent articles
related to this post;
go ahead and Google –
there’s plenty more:

“Jordan Peterson vs. Russell Brand”

“The religious hunger that drives Jordan Peterson’s fandom”

“Is Dr. Jordan Peterson A Gateway Drug to Christianity, Or Just A Highbrow Joel Osteen?”

here are two of my own,
also related:

“Get Re-Enchanted: Stranger Things 2, Pop Culture & God”

“What IT Means (and How *Any* Good Story “Means”)”

problematizing

but here’s the problem:
as much as i *love*
Peterson and Brand’s
respective approaches
to the significance
of the spiritual,
i *fear* that
neither approaches
*truth* sufficiently

what do i mean?

well, with Brand,
the issue appears to be
lack of specificity –
many manifestations
of spirituality
might address the
problems he sees
(note that his book
is based on the 12-steps,
which speaks of “God,
as we understand him”)

and while this is
well and good to a point,
of course,
in the end,
truth commonly understood
is *specific* and *exclusive*
by its nature,
and not addressing this,
it seems to me,
is a problem

for Peterson,
the issue is confusing
*truth*
with something like
“what works”

he tells us to live by a
certain ethic
and seek a certain meaning
grounded in
certain Jungian archetypes,
not because it is true
or because the
archetypes are –
at least not in
the usual
historical/correspondence
way generally meant –
but because it
just happens to reflect
how things have gone
re: humans
when it comes to
our psychology
from an
evolutionary perspective;
it is what is and
therefore what “works”
and therefore “true”

again, all well and good
to attach some
functionality to truth,
of course,
perhaps,
but conflating the two,
it seems to me,
is a problem

also, this is why
Peterson kind of
dodges/ducks/complicates
the question he’s
often asked:
“do you believe in God;”
he may or may not,
but he definitely
does not think of
that question primarily
as it relates to *truth*
commonly understood

finning

and so:
when it comes to
Peterson and Brand,
i love them,
but i also fear them

i find them both
engaging and articulate
and brilliant, etc.,
and *correct;*
but, concerningly,
on this point,
only to a point

i want people to
hear their message(s) –
i know good can come
of it –
but i fear ill may too

i see them as
important,
*prophetic* even
in this current moment –
both have
cut through the mix
in a way that’s so
unusual anymore,
given the noise –
but probably only
“part way down the path”
to the true destination
they both seem to
have glimpsed
(or, better,
which has glimpsed them):

not God
“as we understand him,”
not a “God” that
simply works,
but the *true* God

the true God
as He really is

 

Filed Under: Books, Current Events, Editorial, OtherFish Tagged With: 12 rules for life, 12 step, alt right, archetype, books, Canada, Christian, God, jordan peterson, jung, meaning, modern, politics, professor, Psychology, recovery, religion, russell brand, social justice warrior, spiritual, twelve step

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