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I watched a vid on Zen Buddhism, and got further interested in it. So I tried to find as good a book as I could. This was a good look into Zen Buddhism. At least from my perspective. It was odd hearing a very British voice reading it. It almost felt culturally voyeuristic.

The book goes over the history and believes and methods of Zen Buddhism.

I was surprised to learn how violent some of the prominent Zen figures of the history were. 30 lashes with a stick, someone thrown off a building, even a brutal death of a cat to make a point. Also be ready for some rather blunt language from some anecdotes.

Also be ready for inconsistent themes. Zen is not so much about a peaceful mind. As it is freedom from a consistent mind. Defying definitions, and logic. Even defying Buddhism.

It was a fine read. Still churning on some of the ideas.

CW: physical harm, rough language, death of an animal

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This was well written and well read by the author. It defines its characters well. And makes them rise out of the page. It knows what it wants to do, it gets to the business of doing it, but doesnt get to heavy on the way of getting there.

A really affecting story of race, queerness, history, and freeing one's self.

CW: US-South slavery, queer outing, alcoholism

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Lovely read, although a bit old-fashioned. I read this to our youngest child. It took some time to get into, because of the slightly archaic style and word-choices. Chapters describing the setting in particular suffered from this, while chapters with a lot of dialogue and/or action read much more smoothly.

The story is told by Hans, thirty years after the events, and is about him, his father - printer and bookseller - , and his friends during the Franco-Dutch War, the occupation by French forces, and the period shortly afterwards. The title ‘city in the storm’ also refers to one of the main events in the story. Historical figures like Louis the XIV, the De Witt brothers, William III, Bernhard von Galen - Bommen Berend - pass by, as well as the use of what we call the (old) Hollandse Waterlinie - a military defence line consisting of a combination of fortifications and inundated land.

Apart from the fun story, it was also special to read and learn so much about Dutch history, and especially about our own city #Utrecht. Street names and places in the city, surrounding villages; they are all mentioned by name, and many still exist in today's city, especially the old city centre within what is now "De Singel", the canal surrounding the city center. Places and buildings that no longer exist are also part of the story, and again it was fun to find out where these were and when they disappeared.

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This book has frank discussions of sex and masculinity. It fully acknowledges that teenagers have sex, but does not glorify nor damn it.

This was a really interesting book. As a guy, who was/is struggling with this subject. And as a guy who avoided all of this in his teens and 20s. Mostly because I was scared about how any of it could go bad. But reading this, I find out even the guys doing them regularly are not sure what they're doing. And are worried about it still. Some interesting insights with good journalistic work. #Books #Bookstodon #Gender #Masculinity