Monday, October 26, 2009

Book Review of "That Little Hardback" - a book by Chuck Borough, review by Susan Wenger


This is a pretty book, and would make a nice gift for someone. Since it is not in bookstores, it is likely to be an unusual and almost unique gift for the recipient. It has a pretty leatherette binding and ribbon bookmark. That said, on to the content.

This book is a compilation of 876 random thoughts by the author. They are not grouped by subject or by theme. Apparently he jotted down stray thoughts as
they occurred to him, starting when he was a teenager and going on for fifty years, and he put them together into a self-published book.

Some of his thoughts are provocative; most are not sufficiently developed to be of much use
to the reader. Samples: "Peace is comfortable. It's not hard to recognize. A coiled and ready snake is not at peace, even if nobody comes by to disturb it. Peace is not only quiet, but also includes an expectation that the quiet is not threatened." "Death: When life ends permanently. People often hope there is no such thing as death." There are also four better-developed essays also, which I did find interesting.

Recommendation: I would buy this book as a one-of-a-kind gift for someone whose taste in books is not known to me, such as for an office gift exchange; simply because it looks so nice. I would not use the 874 thoughts in this book for a book discussion panel. However, the essays would be suitable for a discussion group.

I respect anyone who journals his thoughts over the course of a lifetime. There is a lot to like in this book. The author didn't write it for me - he wrote it for himself and perhaps for his family and friends. Several of the tidbits are discussion-worthy, but most of them were not written toward that end and are of little use to the casual reader.

Susan Wenger
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You can buy the book here:

http://www.thatlittlehardback.com/

1 comment:

  1. I, too, read the book and it is beautifully made and includes some lovely photos as well.
    I found entry 316 would likely help a person decide if he wants to read the book:
    "I love to hear what offends me. The ludicrous is only silly and does not offend me. What is crude is far too simple to make offense, much as a child's humor. What I hear cannot offend me if I am not interested in it. To be offensive, it must be something possibly true and an argument against my current held position. This pushes my thinking and is only good for me. It may be correct or not, but it will force me to consider a change in my thought."
    The author has what seemed to me mixed feelings about religion and God--overall they seemed negative, but he states he's a weekly church-goer--which makes it sound like he's more of a seeker than a disbeliever.
    Scattered comments on open borders, ending warfare, and support for evolution, mean the book probably would please liberals more than conservatives; however, I think anyone willing to consider his beliefs will find his musings interesting and they could lead to some interesting discussions.
    The essay on "Kick a Rock" leads to some interesting thoughts on consequences and the potential for travel to the future (but, he stresses, not the past).

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