A sonnet a day keeps the cobwebs away!

-
Reading is to be a big part of my year.

I plan to start each of the first 154 days with one of Shakespeare's sonnets. The rest of my reading list will all sorts of novels, plays, poems, etc. One source I am using as a guideline of reading material is the Literature syllabus for Yale's amazing Directed Studies program (http://directedstudies.yale.edu/literature-books).

I welcome any and all reading suggestions!

I recently finished Rand's The Fountainhead and am just starting Hawking's A Brief History of Time. (See a complete reading list on the right.)

Comments

  1. KateAugust 25, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    Ratna!! (a) I just love your sonnet idea. Can I do it too?! Which one are you on? We should coordinate and discuss. (b) You should post your thoughts on the Fountainhead -- it totally consumed me when I read it at about your age (I remember sneaking away from Christmas festivities so I could hang out in my room and read it... not that Chang would say that's out of character, but I swear, I was addicted more than I usually am) and then I felt like I was awakening from a weird and not necessarily benign spell once I finished. Maybe I'll read it again. (c) I've been wanting to read A Brief History of Time too! Okay, I may just totally copy your reading list. And you. Can I just be you, please? (d) Have you read anything by Richard Russo? (e) I miss you Flint Hillions (like hellion, ha, ha, get it) so much!!! <3

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ratna GillAugust 29, 2011 at 6:44 PM

    KATHERINE JESSE! YAY! (a) I haven't started yet, so we can totally do it together! How about I let you know when my "official" first day is (either September 3rd or the first day of my first internship) and let you know? (b) AHHH THE FOUNTAINHEAD. I was planning to post responses to each piece I read, but I have no words for this one. I completely ...get what you mean. (c) Hawking is so engaging and understanding that I forget it's science he's talking about. READ IT! You ARE being me, Miss GAP YEAR! You should make a blog! (d) Nope -- do you have any suggestions? (e) Your babies miss you, too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nizar ZahedSeptember 2, 2011 at 6:46 AM

    Hey Ratna. The FHS summer reading book that I read is actually pretty interesting. you might like it. Socrates Cafe by Christopher Phillips. Phillips goes around the nation to different cafes, schools, and libraries looking for people who are interested in philosophizing with him. He deals with numerous questions and never reaches an answer. That is not the purpose of the group but rather it is the opportunity to learn from the different beliefs and thinking of the people around you. Read it and then we can talk about it. I liked the book and the idea so much that I am inspired to start a Socrates Cafe club in school.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ratna GillSeptember 2, 2011 at 9:46 AM

    Thanks, Nizar! That sounds awesome! Socrates is the man, to say the least.

    Wow, that club idea sounds really interesting as well--let's discuss that further!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ratna GillSeptember 4, 2011 at 11:35 PM

    I also found a great list of "life-changing books" in the Economist:

    http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=4600

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bygones -- by Marina Keegan

-
Image
I had a dream the other night that I was checking my email. That dream sucks. And woke to woes of seniors writing love songs for tomorrow and Tomorrow and the melodies That flirt us forward, whispering the next thing and the next thing and  – so we beat on birds flocking south until we circle round and realize maybe maybe all that running wasn’t worth it. Maybe we should build a cabin. Or teach high school. Or use our hands. My palms are smooth as words – Weak with fashion and double spaces. I want everyone else’s club and job and class The grass I sleep in always browner than Than that around erasing dreams To sit and breathe because you Only bank for two years then it's over And twenty two is nothing new It’s just another chance to build For when we’re twenty three And twenty four And time begins to sell for more than Any 9 a.m. to never. We’re not stuck. That's the thing, we're not stuck. We owe no o
Read more

Day 97: I might steal your clothes and wear them if they fit me.

-
Image
After reading Sonnet 97, I finished writing the birthday gratitude messages I had started over the weekend. I then launched into a few hours of chores. Not the least exciting of these was the Psyche-like task of organizing our family's drawer containing a variety of small change from many different countries my dad visits for World Bank missions. FUN. Next, I sent a message to some of my blog followers, requesting that they help me to publicize a video I recorded with Melvin Taylor on Day 87 . As I explained in the email, we are trying to broaden our base of viewers, and are experimenting with the "magic of social media" to help in publicizing our work. So, I requested that these friends share our video on Facebook and/or Twitter to help spread the word -- and I'd love if you all would do the same! After lunch, I started to watch a cute Christmas flick -- All I Want for Christmas . It was relaxing to enjoy the innocence of the two protagonists, a charming lit
Read more

This is my smoke signal!

-
Image
Just wanted to drop a quick line to let you guys know what the end of a college semester looks like, and to let my parents know I'm alive under all this studying! I tallied up the number of hours I expect to be toiling away at homework this weekend, and the total quickly reached a neat 24. I have about 12 hours "free" to work this weekend when I'm not performing, in a meeting, or fraternizing with my professors and peers at idyllic spring picnics and the like. In other words, STRESS ! The stuff I'm working on is actually really fascinating, but I'll probably only appreciate that after the fact, when I have three 10-to-15-page papers printed and sitting in front of me in an aesthetically pleasing stack. The big-ticket items for each class include: A paper on meditation in psychotherapy  for my Indian Philosophy class: this will allow me to explore my interests in Vipassana and counseling, by analyzing the extent to which modern Western psychotherapy
Read more