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Austin Athenaeum

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Austin Athenaeum

Tag Archives: two cultures

Athenaeum reads Wendell Berry, mayhem ensues

18 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by JeffreyM in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

authorial license, ecology, environment, farming, industrialization, science, technology, two cultures, wendell berry

Seems like a distant memory when we warmly ruminated in the placid cockles of shared bonhomie of the fair Barbara Tuchman and her maiden ballad retelling the epic tale of the opening days of The Great War.

But when a farmer waxes curmudgeonly about things scientific, the Athenaeum battle lines are drawn, gauntlets are thrown, sabres rattled. Tobacco smoke roiled and plumed, and the beer in every glass churned like a storm tossed sea.Obama Confers Nat'l Medal of Arts And Nat'l Humanities Medal To 20 Honorees

“The elder hermit from Kentucky speaks rightly,” quoth one. “The sins of the scientists hath brought woe and ruin over all the land.”

“The cad!” quoth the other. “Thinks he to know the hearts and minds of others? Aye, and mine own heart forsooth! This gray-haired earthworm speaks beyond his ken.”

The melee continued throughout the night until dawn. In the swirling clouds of rhetoric and phraseology the night creatures cowed and fled: the graceful doe shielded her young, the jackal and she-ass sought shelter, and the great horned owls gasped and covered their mouths, as vorpal blades went snicker-snack.

But happily by the lights of rosy-fingered dawn, a cooler temperament prevailed. The reckless blanket statements and dismissals of the farmer, as well as the unwarranted reductions, were both forgotten. Men of goodwill found dispassion and humility. Grace was extended. Offenses laid by the wayside. And all fell upon one another’s neck, shedding tears of reconciled brotherhood.

The vote for November went to a three-way tie between Bleak House, The Last of the Mohicans and The Dispossessed. The Last of the Mohicans won the tie breaker vote to general approval.

October’s book is The Grapes of Wrath. Submit your t-shirt ideas to John ASAP.

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Other Documents

  • Reading Record
  • Meeting Procedures
  • Lido, Venice – photo
  • Lido, Venice – map
  • Winter Palace in St. Petersburg
  • Peter’s Original Winter Palace

Essays

  • William Howard – Madam Bovary Dec ’20
  • Chris Mack – The Sunset Limited Mar ’20
  • William Howard – Cousin Bette Oct ’19
  • Chris Mack – Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Aug ’19
  • John Mays – Going After Cacchiato Aug ’17
  • Jeffrey Mays – The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao April ’16
  • Eli Pickering – Under The Volcano March ’16
  • Chris Mack – The Radicalism of the American Revolution July ’15
  • Bob Bardister – David Copperfield Jun ’15
  • Tony Hurson – The Jew of Malta Apr ’15
  • Noah Sloan – The Dispossessed Feb ’15
  • Jacq Loock – American Pastoral Dec ’14
  • William Howard – Grapes of Wrath Oct ’14
  • John Mays – A Handful of Dust July ’14
  • Eli Pickering – Ulysees Part 2 Feb ’14
  • Eli Pickering – Ulysees Part 1 Jan ’14
    • Chris Mack – Ulysees contribution
  • John Mays – Lanterns on the Levy Sept ’13
  • Jeffrey Mays – Ender’s Game July ’13
  • Trey Graves – The War of the End of the World, June ’13
  • Randy Meek – Peter the Great, May ’13
  • Eli Pickering – Song of Solomon, Apr ’13
  • Jeffrey Mays – The Good Soldier, Mar ’13
    • Diagram of the Family of Ford Mattox Ford
  • Chris Mack – A Camus Tryptich Jan ’13
  • Matt Thomas – Great Expectations Dec ’12
  • Chris Mack – Steppenwolf, Nov ’12
  • John Mays – Wise Blood, Aug ’12
  • John Mays – One, No One and One Hundred Thousand, July ’12
  • Randy Meek – Tennessee Williams 3 plays, May ’12
  • Matt Thomas – Foucalut’s Pendulum Mar ’12
  • Eli Pickering – All Quiet on the Western Front Dec ’11
  • Eli Pickering – Henry V, Aug ’11
  • Eli Pickering – Two Years Before the Mast, Apr ’11
  • Jimmy Martin – Slaughterhouse 5, Mar ’11
  • John Mays – Herzog, Feb ’11

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