In April we talked about LEARNING TEACHING by Jim Scrivener. This month a shift away from literature directly related to teaching, and towards appreciating how people think. How people see the world relates to the language they use.
‘In praise of shadows’ is a short book (56 pages) first published in 1933. It explores differences between eastern and western cultures with a focus on things light and bright (hence ‘shadows’ in the title). It comes across as a weird book with its unconventional (even for that era), so approach the book thinking about colour and you’ll appreciate it more (comment by Tim Ferriss). Adding to the ‘alternative’ content, the book is referred to as ‘a stream of consciousness’ by a recent translator (Thomas J Harper) as it’s all over the place. For many this is what makes the book so enjoyable in addition to the insight on how everyday things are perceived through cultural lenses.
‘The older we get the more we seem to think that everything was better in the past…..’
If you’ve read it, or go on to read it, tell us all what you think in our facebook group – was it ‘weird’ for you?