Adde parvum parvo magnus acervus erit

...lunchtime!

( writer looks at own navel! )

And here's a quotation that will be familiar...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Books Read Whilst In Wisconsin, Part 1

Re-read books:
Deed of Paksenarrion, Dreamsnake, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I turn to familiar fantasy or sf for a break, it seems. Plus there’s wonderful joy in a hammock and J.K. Rowling.

New books, with brief reviews:
Angels and Insects, A.S. Byatt. –The second novella is superior to the first, which struck me as a bit reminiscent of V.C. Andrews’ interminable family sagas. Ruminations on fictions, afterlife, and love versus Love were far more compelling than thwarted dreams, scientific study, and incest.

What Went Wrong? , Bernard Lewis—Interesting and convincing study of possible reasons or contributions to the comparative decline of the Islamic world in the last three centuries. Especially because he doesn’t say “it’s all due to Islam” or, for that matter, any one scapegoat. Clear-eyed and, to an uninformed observer, impartial. Worth a look. (Any recommendations from others on the subject?)

The Red Tent, A. Diamant. Lent to me by my boss when she learned of my prospective fields of study. Good reinterpretation with deep female characters, although the men seem to all get short shrift. I liked it. Not for people queasy about references to menstruation.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom. Lent to me by my housemate after a discussion about death. He said it made him very sad, when considering its philosophy applied to his own life. I can understand that. Pleasing and just deep enough to spark lots of thinking without leaning on specifics. Also good hammock reading.

The Jesus Mysteries, by Freke and Gandy. Um. For this, I’ll need an lj-cut. Short version is, a fascinating theory wrecked by poor arguments. ( Glah. )

Is unconditional love really a good thing?

I know the answer in one situation. Unconditional love from a God, should God exist, is absolutely good. I can't see how this one could turn bad.

But for a flawed human (as we all are) to give love unconditionally? Is that really a virtue? To love someone and treat them the same even if they're hurting you, hurting others, hurting themselves? Does agape become enabling? Or worse, does loving someone unconditionally make the love so general as to be disconnected?

"I love her even though she cheated--and continues to cheat--on me." "I love him even though he hits me." "I love her even though she writes hate mail to her enemies." "I love him even though he tortures the cat."

Shouldn't love contain some kind of boundaries? Some point where you don't _stop_ loving the person, but _because_ you love them so, you can't stand to see them continue to act this way, so you leave, or you yell, or you turn them in. Or is that an act of ultimate disregard for the person and for the love?

Feh. Maybe I'm completely misreading the notion of agape. Or maybe it's too damned late for me to even begin thinking about this.

BTW, I am not involved in any such situation as those listed above...this is an 11:30pm thought experiment, prompted by the paper assignment for tomorrow. Which still isn't ready.