Plato - Apology and Crito

I read Plato with the hopes of expanding my reading of the classics. It was not something I read in high school or college, and yet they are some of the most important of the classics. I was very confused during my reading of Apology on who these essays were about. At first I thought they were about Plato but later guessed they were about Socrates. After looking up related articles in Wikipedia I finally understood that these essays were about Socrates' last days, his trial, judgment, and imprisonment. The version of the essays I was reading did not have introductory material, commentary or background information. I knew Plato was a philosopher and that he was either a teacher or student of Socrates - I didn't know the possible relationship of the two. The reading was easier than I expected, especially after I knew the essays were written by Plato about his teacher Socrates. The ease of reading probably depends on the translation and supplementary information.

These essays are not something that can be read once and then forgotten. Perhaps I will try them again. This is one quote I gleaned from Apology:

A man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong - acting the part of a good man or a bad.

Auntie Mame

A young orphan boy is sent to live with his eccentric aunt in this charming story by Patrick Dennis. I read this book years ago and picked it up again without realizing it. Auntie Mame acts like a chameleon taking on characteristics that suit the people she interacts with or that she idolizes. The resulting situations are rather hilarious when viewed through young Patrick's point of view.

There are several scenes which could translate very well on screen. There was a forgettable musical starring Lucille Ball based on a stage adaptation. Unfortunately Lucille Ball as too old for the roll and the director spent too much time trying to make her young. The resulting movie was not very good. Still, I think if the novel was re-made into a regular movie (not a musical) it could make for a fun comedy. The movie could not cover the entire book and would be best if certain sections were selected. Probably best to just read the book.

The story does bog down at the end. The reader may get tired by the constant antics of an eccentric aunt and her too serious nephew. But eventually one of the characters does grow up and one is left smiling.

Book Rating: 4 Stars.

Your Marketing Sucks

Your Marketing Sucks and so does the book by Mark Stevens. I listened to the audio book because I wanted a little motivation to improve my marketing. Stevens spends most of the book ripping apart every marketing plan that he didn't create himself. Most of the ideas in the book are not new, so I didn't really gain any new insight. The book was not geared toward small business owners. I was looking for micro-marketing ideas for micro-budgets. Instead, he focuses on large companies that can buy client lists from customer data banks. The author encouraged sleazy tactics like SPAM and other unethical practices. It read like a manual for snake oil salesmen. This is a business book that could easily be skipped.

Book Rating: No Stars

The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women

It is often easy to dismiss certain medical related books that read like paranoia. Every page is filled with doomsday warnings about eating a certain food or enthusiastically promote a particular supplement. But the case against synthetic birth control is gaining. Just today, an article appeared at Yahoo that links the birth control pill with heart disease. Barbara Seaman has written and debated the use of the pill since the 1960s.

Seaman presents the history of how the birth control pill was developed and why (yes, there is a link to the pill and Nazi Germany). She further discusses the use of the media, pharmaceutical companies, and the media in extolling the supposed benefits of taking the pill - benefits that had little or no substantiation. In essence, women participated in an experiment by taking the pill. In only recent years has most of the supposed benefits been debunked.

It would be easy to dismiss her book as paranoia. And yet over the last few years, she has been proven right. The pill has been linked to breast cancer, and now heart disease. Why would anyone ever consider allowing their young daughter to take the pill? The potential, supposed, protection/prevention does NOT out weigh the side effects.

The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women is a book every woman should read.