Ema > Recent Status Updates

They did not hate dwarves especially, no more than they hated everybody and everything, and particularly the orderly and prosperous; in some parts wicked dwarves had even made alliances with them. But they had a special grudge against Thorin’s people, because of the war which you have heard. ***about the trolls

I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?

When the time comes to you at which you will be forced at last to utter the speech which has lain at the centre of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over, you’ll not talk about joy of words.

But if I practised true philosophy, as Socrates meant it, I should change my ugly soul into a fair one. And this, the gods helping me, I would do. I would set about it at once.

And for all I can tell, the only difference is that what many see we call a real thing, and what only one sees we call a dream.

Reading this on Hoopla. I finally feel like I’m enjoying the book. I started this book and then put it down for a week. It started slow but it has picked up and the story is keeping me. Hopefully I’ll finish soon.

The endgame has begun. My wits are my king, pain my queen, the gun my rook, and I am the pawn.

…he took everything else from me. But I don’t need an advantage to defeat him.

That would be manipulative.

“But because all nonsense remains nonsense even when we talk it about God.”

I’m lost on the idea of context or environments. He’s setting it up but I’m not sure if the purpose yet. Guessing he is setting up free will , how free will is used and what makes it free will in our environment. It can’t be free will if the environment changes according to whim or in this case Gods whim.

Which leads to the next point: Sadness, grief and maybe even despair.

Pain is just there. It points to the fact that something is just wrong. That “right” would involve no pain. But pain is there to lead to the next point which is that a righteous reality existed but no longer does.

In a sense, it creates, rather than solves the problem of pain, fir pain would be no problem unless, side by side with our daily experience of this painful world, we had received when we think a good assurance of the ultimate reality is righteous and loving.

“Why do you not believe in God?”

Circa 1997: I would have stated, because my Dad said it was a good story but it was a fairy tale. And I believed from the moment I was 8 until 1999.

I was never fool enough to suppose myself qualified, nor have I anything to offer my readers except my conviction that when there is pain to be borne, a little courage helps more often than knowledge, a little human sympathy more than courage, and the least tincture of the love of God more than all.

Continued from last entry Th is why, as a nutrition coach, I recommend tracking habits, food thoughts and what you eat, not in a obsessive way but in a self discovery kind of way. Be kind to yourself and you’ll be able to see deeper. 💕

I’m liking it so far. I read some of the reviews. Seems like people are confused on the author’s current nutrition practices in the last part of the book.
I see that happen in a lot of people. The reason? People are different. Their make up, genetics, physical activity, food preferences, beliefs about food, etc. are different.

“But how, pray, do you plan to feed yourself after a day spent reading philosophy? I don’t believe it generates money, but then I cannot to understand it wholly.” Kitty to Cecy. 😆

So far I’m liking the book. I haven’t read much of Austen so I don’t know how true it is to the period, but it’s definitely a simpler read. Kitty is seeking fortune for his family’s sake and wondering if she’s wrong for it.

Incredible. I’ve had to slow the reading down with other books because it’s unsettling but it’s very well written.

“She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older: the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.” Chapter 4
Is this quote autobiographical? Knowing Austen never married, and also knowing she wrote romance makes this sound like a diary entry. All Anne knew was regret and longing over Wentworth. Now she guesses he isn’t married yet.

I’m reading so many books right now but this one has a different feel. It has my attention but it is so different from the mysteries I love to read. Knowing Austen’s history makes this an even more interesting read.

Suspend your perspective to understand the author’s for this book.

“Dressing up and going to a ball is like reading Jane Austen in a way that listening to an analysis of Jane Austen is not.” Pg 84

The more I read this I realize he is an Austen fan, minus the dress up part.

Seems like he’s doing all of this to please his mom. This is a confusing book but an honest look at relationships. Austen’s works are more of his mother’s passion, he’s just there along for the ride.

Hooked by the first page.

This is definitely a not so interested guy’s perspective in Jane Austen “mania.” But I think that goes for any other mania of fans really immersing themselves in the world of whatever it is. From the outside looking in, it looks weird and excessive. From the inside it’s an shared creative experience.

Humorous. Short read. I will probably finish soon.

I feel like I’m with these dying shipmates. Saddened by the last decisions.

These guys and their decisions! So frustrating! Still reading this book. It’s picking up speed!