What I'm Reading: Symposium and Phaedrus

I had originally included these under the roundup, just below, but decided they deserve their own entry.

Symposium I've also reviewed other dialogues by Plato--the Republic and a collection of five dialogues related to the execution of Socrates.

First, let me address the question--"Oh, you're reading Plato. Isn't it hard to read?"

And the answer is, no, not at all, I know this is philosophy, but this isn't Kant or Hobbes or Schopenhauer or somebody like that. Plato writes dialogues, i.e., conversations. His main character is always Socrates, an immensely likable character (how much Plato's Socrates reflects the real historical man is a matter of endless debate among scholars) who has a knack for leading his friends and students in discussions of philosophical matters that feel totally natural and are pretty easy to follow.

The Symposium is one of Plato's most beloved works, mostly because it relates the events of a Greek drinking party. Socrates and several others have gotten together to celebrate because their friend Aristophanes, the famous Greek comedian, has won an award for presenting the best play that year. Before they start drinking, they decide each will give a speech in praise of Eros, the god of love, and at the end they'll judge who gave the best speech.

Each gives a speech in turn praising love, with Aristophanes in particular giving an odd and humorous account. At the end, Socrates gives a high-minded speech about how the best kind of love is philosophical love, which benefits all mankind, and you think that's the end.

But then the party is crashed by a very drunk, semi-belligerent Alcibiades, the notorious Greek playboy, who tells them all not to heed a word of Socrates, because he doesn't know a thing about love. Alcibiades gives a rambling but funny account of trying to seduce Socrates, which he thought would be easy because Socrates is an older man, only to find himself thwarted at every turn.

The party ends at dawn with everybody drunk and passed out. Only Socrates remains awake. He walks to town, performs his morning prayers, and goes about his day none the worse for wear, his rational nature completely unaffected by a night of drinking.

Phaedrus Okay, the book with the Symposium included this dialogue as a sort of bonus. It starts off a little lightweight as far as Plato's dialogues go, though charming, and by the end has reached unsuspected depths.

Socrates runs into his friend Phaedrus one morning on walk in the countryside, and they agree to walk together while Phaedrus explains a speech his friend Lysias gave him, trying to talk Phaedrus into sleeping with him even though they aren't in love with each other.

At a beautiful creek that they think must by the home to water nymphs, Socrates explains why Lysias's speech was foolish, point by point. He then goes further, elucidating why one should avoid sophistry like Lysias's speech and always tell the truth, with digressions on such things as the nature of the soul. At the end, Phaedrus and Socrates walk back to Athens.

Simple in some ways, but so profound I anticipate rereading this in the near future.

What I'm Reading: Roundup

It's been a while since I've written on here. I'll do a quick roundup of what I've been reading.

Fuzzy Mud A middle-grade novel by Louis Sachar, who some may know for writing Holes. We listened to this on our recent trip up to western Massachusetts and it managed a tricky feat--keeping the interest of the eight-year old girl, the twelve-year old boy, and the two adults in the car.

Fuzzy Mud has two parallel stories: the first follows three students at a private school in Pennsylvania--the third-grader Tamaya, a goody two-shoes who has to walk to school with her older neighbor Marshall, who in turn is bullied by his classmate Chad; the second story follows a scientist testifying before a Senate subcommittee on a type of one-celled organism he has developed that could provide an energy source superior to oil, but which has some very troubling side effects.

When Tamaya and Marshall are walking home from school on a shortcut through the woods one day, they meet Chad, and to keep Marshall from getting beat up, Tamaya throws a strange kind of fuzzy mud in Chad's face. It's here that the two stories meet in a heartbreaking way that I won't explain.

One of the reviews on Amazon describes this as an eco-disaster novel, and while accurate, I'm not sure that fully captures the book. This story definitely took some twists I did not foresee. It's probably a bit darker than a lot of middle-grade novels, but the characters are so well-drawn and sympathetic--even the bully Chad, once we learn a little of his backstory--that I imagine any middle-schooler will find this hard to put down. Any adult too, for that matter. I highly recommend this.

Unsound The most recent comic series by highly-prolific horror comics writer Cullen Bunn. I have previously reviewed Cullen Bunn's series Harrow County (which is ongoing, by the way, and remains one of the two or three best comics I read on a regular basis.)

Unsound is a four-issue mini-series following Ashli, who has just accepted a job as a nurse at a psychiatric hospital housed in a century-old building with quite an unpleasant history. By the end of the first issue, Ashli discovers she may have more in common with the patients than the rest of the staff, especially since she has some unresolved mental issues from her own past.

We're up the third issue of this, with the fourth issue due out in September. The series is more creepy than scary, with a number of really bizarre scenes. I have no idea where it's going, though more because the story is a freak-out than because it plays fair with genuine narrative twists. Still, fun for those who like scary things.