Walking With Nobby
I had the pleasure of listening to Dale at Powell's Hawthorne in Portland Oregon talk about 'Walking With Nobby'. As Dale talked you felt like you were eavesdropping on a conversation, savoring the exchanges, and the silences between.
I find this book to be very rich, and complex in a way that I don't usually address unless I am reading Robert Graves,(as in The White Goddess) or Shakespeare's Sonnets. You have to have a certain amount of stillness going on to catch it all, and thankfully there is the
web to help you over some of the difficult references that you may not be familiar with.
Dale takes several years of conversations with Norman O. Brown (best known for various works from Hermes the Thief: The Evolution of a Myth, Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytic Meaning of History,Love's Body among other works) held during energetic walks in and around the Santa Cruz California area. Some of the conversations
are pretty much verbatim, whilst others are reconstructed from several discussions over the years. Thankfully, Dale appears to be a copious note taker, which is aptly demonstrated by the generous notes included with each conversation to help the reader follow what is transpiring. Often, I felt like I was walking behind, listening to two friends, then student to teacher having the most remarkable feast of ideas.
Though Walking With Nobby does touch on some subjects that Dale is traditionally associated with, be prepared for some wide-ranging exchanges of ideas, theories and conversation points that point out the sharpening of Dale Pendell's literate form with this latest foray. It is best read in my view on a quiet day with time to muse over all the various points, ideas and concepts that are discussed. It as I said is very rich, and should be read along with a good cup of coffee and classical music.
Recommended.
Engaging, Rewarding Discussions
This book is a record of the discussions taking place between two somewhat obscure, yet sparkling intellects. One is that of Dale Pendell who is an author, computer programmer, ethnobotanist and mystic (in his way). The other is Norman O. Brown, who was a professor of Classics at UCSC, Freudian, Pantheist, and author of "Love's Body", "Life Against Death" and other influential, if scholastic, works.
I would recommend this book especially to those who are already familiar with the works of either or both writers. It's a good volume, a real insight into the works of either man as a writer, but perhaps not the best introduction to their themes. What we have here is more of a look at what goes on in the minds of these writers in between their writings, and it is indeed intriuging; Brown is a formidable debater, and dishes up some scathing critisism to the (then) fledgling author Pendell. On the other hand, Pendell offers a more current take on the topics discussed, and in fact, seems to more solidly embody Brown's own theories of the Dionysion archetype.
The topics covered are many: Religion, mythology, and psychology are front and center, but there is much interjection of poetry, the personal, Western and Eastern philosophy, and a little bit of Shamanism as well.
Again, this book stands as a fine companion to the already published works of both writers presented. It is educational not only in the subjects covered, but in the dynamism and collaboration between two wonderful, productive minds.
(2 reviews)
