Not a banner day for reading. I am officially ending my attempt to read Danielewski’s ‘House of Leaves’ about halfway in. A beautifully written book when you’re in one of the coherent streams of narrative, and I marvel at the creativity and depth of the story to the extent I could follow it, but about 100 pages into it, you start to get this feeling that you are on the outside of an Inside Joke and that the chances of being initiated into the Secret Knowledge need to ‘get’ it all are fading fast.

David Chadwick’s “Thank You and OK! An American Zen Failure in Japan” was a more pleasant experience. At times aimless, sometimes touching, often funny. If Soto Zen is ‘Just Sitting’, then this is Soto Reading … it does not consistently work, but it feels like an honest journal and is ultimately a very enjoyable book.

‘The Emperor’s Handbook’ is the C. Scot Hicks and David V. Hicks translation of the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. It was my friend Reg who taught me that The Translator Matters … texts demanding translation are so often by people we would recognize as witty and intelligent, but their social, cultural, and historical contexts all create chasms of difficulty when trying to fully find the real intent of their words. The best translators are sound academics but poets at heart. The Hicks’ product is wonderful. The sort of book you will keep on a nearby table to randomly sample when the moment demands. I will do that with this book.

Finally, I resolved 10 pages into ‘Independence Day’ by Richard Ford not to invest the time it will demand. One thing a fortysomething guy doesn’t need is reading about a lost fortysomething guy. The living it is plenty, thanks.

The Emperor’s Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations

Thank You and OK!: An American Zen Failure in Japan