Traditions in the Modern World: The Last Whalers

The Last Whalers: Three Years in the Far Pacific with a Courageous Tribe and a Vanishing Way of Life

by Doug Bock Clark

I happened upon this book at our library, before it closed for the pandemic, and immediately wondered if it might be a good choice as a geography supplemental book for Level 6 in Australasia.

It's exactly the kind of book I was hoping to find. It's an honest and personal description of a group of people struggling to find a balance between their traditional way of life and the modern world. It's respectful of their past and open about their struggles and problems.

Life in Lamalera might be materially poorer, but the people who mattered to him [Ben] were there. The more disillusioned he became with the modern world, the more he wanted to invest in the traditions of the Ancestors, which, after all, had offered a fulfilling life to his father and other older relatives no matter how little money they had.

The author tries to be objective, but is honest about his own feelings. In that sense, it's a great "living" book because the student can easily see what the author's feelings are and ask himself or herself if the author is correct.

One thing to note, for Mater Amabilis™students, is the depiction of the Catholic faith. The Lamalerans are Catholics, but their faith is described with some irregularities. It's not clear if this is confusion (by the local priest, the members of the tribe, the translator, or the author) or if it means they are actually incorrect in their understanding of the faith. For example, the author says that "their Catholic faith permitted no possibility of remarriage." At the very least, it seems the Catholic faith they follow has been intermingled with their previous religion and traditions. These are great topics for discussions with high schoolers.

Plenty of research shows how hunters and gatherers and those living in more traditional societies are often actually happier by objective measures than those of us entrenched by the modern world and its technological barriers to personal relationships. The author asks an additional and slightly different question. Is there a benefit to all of humankind if these traditional societies continue to exist at all.

There are also some interesting descriptions of conflicts between conservationists and indigenous tribes. Here in the States, we usually view those opposed to conservation as being focused on material gain, though anyone paying careful attention as they drive through Native American reservations around (but not including) Grand Canyon National Park, can see how the conversation is a necessary one.

[T]he creation of most of the earth's six thousand national parks has been accomplished by curtailing indigenous tribes' traditional livelihoods or by forcing them from those territories -- usually so their lands can generate ecotourism revenue, the majority of which often ends up in the pockets of local officials and businessmen, and not with the displaced tribes.

In the end, this book bluntly puts to the reader a sentiment we have addressed again and again in our homeschool's history and geography studies. What does it mean that a modern culture derived mainly from Western or European societies seemed to be spreading inexorably around the world through violent or economic conquest? As members of this society, how are we do address those who are not?

The modern industrial lifestyle did not colonize the world because it was best at fulfilling the emotional and spiritual needs of human beings. No, it conquered everywhere because advanced societies were stronger than traditional ones, and those in power rapaciously sought peoples, territories, and resources to further enrich themselves. Once industrialism had established itself, it offered enough significant advancements in material wealth, education, and healthcare to ensure that there was no going back. The benefits of modern states still prove irresistible to indigenous peoples in the contemporary world, often luring them away from their traditional lifestyles.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both traditional and modern ways of living. The Lamalerans are trying to navigate between the two, allowing innovation while maintaining what is most important of the traditional ways. Clark's description of their lives and struggles is illuminating and through-provoking. It's on our list for Geography in Level 6.

I have received nothing for this honest post. Links to Amazon are affiliate links. I checked this book out from our library.

The Bizarre and the Otherworldly: The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol

The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol

translated and annotated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

I was reading my way slowly through this book when I decided to ask my book club to read a few of the stories as an incentive for me to finish it up. We discussed The Nose and The Overcoat together. At the last minute, I encouraged them to also read The Portrait, though no one else had time to finish it.

This book contains both the Ukrainian Tales and the Petersburg Tales. In general, I found the Ukrainian Tales fantastical and disturbing. The Petersburg Tales were more realistic, but only in comparison to the Ukrainian Tales.

The translation of Pevear and Volokhonsky seems poetic and mystical, which I hope is what Gogol intended.

Katerina fell silent, looking down into the slumbering water; and the wind sent ripples over the water, and the whole Dnieper silvered like a wolf's fur in the night.

There are innumerable humorous scenes, some of which are likely even better in the original Russian. One of my favorites is the description of a britzka (a kind of open carriage) in Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt.

I consider it my duty to warn readers that this was the same britzka in which Adam drove about...It is totally unknown how it was saved from the flood...In any case, some five people of small stature could fit into the britzka, or three of the aunt's size.

We all had different translations at the book club. The introductions and biographies gave incredibly varying descriptions of Gogol and his life. If you are interested in Gogol, you may have to read a large number of sources before you can feel like you've reached a reasonably accurate biography.

I have always loved The Nose. It seems like nonsense from beginning to end, but it doesn't take long before you start asking yourself if there's something under the surface full of real meaning. No answers here, but I recommend it.

The Portrait is my favorite of all the stories. As I read, I asked myself a variety of questions about the relationship between an artist and his or her works and their impact on the world. Fascinating, with plenty of weirdness to throw everything into confusion.

Amusing Side Note

I read this enjoyable article in The New Yorker about the notorious difficulty of Russian translations. There's a lovely reference to a Kansas newspaper.

The Pevear-Volokhonsky translation of “The Brothers Karamazov” won almost uniformly positive reviews and the pen prize for translation. “In the Wichita Eagle, we got an amazing full-page review with the headline ‘ “KARAMAZOV” STILL LEADS CREATIVE WAY,’ ” Pevear said as we broke for lunch one day. “The only problem is that they used a photograph of Tolstoy.”

And that about covers Russian literature outside universities in Kansas. (I'm giving universities the benefit of the doubt here.)

I have received nothing in exchange for this honest post. Links to Amazon are affiliate links. I read a copy Kansas Dad received as a gift.

February 2020 Book Reports

Mother Teresa: An Authorized Biography by Kathryn Spink - link to my post (from PaperBackSwap.com)

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - This is a beautifully written book with a dissatisfying ending. I felt only sadness for the characters at the end. Endings don't have to be happy, but if unhappy, they must be meaningful. I suppose it might work as a commentary on war, but I felt only disappointment. (library copy)

How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer - I was considering adding this to our health reading for high school, which First Son is doing right now in tenth grade. It covers some useful information about how emotions and intuition can be beneficial when making decisions and when to set them aside and focus instead on more mathematical or logical considerations. The later chapter on morality was more problematic, mainly by discounting the possibility of natural law and an absolute truth. While not unexpected, it makes the book incomplete. Much of the earlier information is covered by other books and readings I have already scheduled, so we'll skip this one for school. (library copy)

The Merchant of Venice (No Fear Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare - First Daughter is reading this play now (seventh grade) and I wanted to refresh my memory by reading it again, if I ever read the whole thing. I do remember seeing it performed when I was in middle school. I think First Daughter will (mostly) love Portia. Shylock remains a baffling character. (purchased copy)

To Say Nothing of the Dog: Or How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last by Connie Willis - This may be my favorite audiobook of all time. I enjoyed every single minute of it, invented chores so I could listen to it, and was both delighted with the ending and sorry it was over. It's a quirky tale of time-travel, Victorian England, the Blitz, and romance, "to say nothing of the dog" (and cat). (purchased from Audible during a sale)

A Mind of Her Own by Paula McLain - This was one of those free audiobooks Audible offers to members each month. It is the fictionalized tale of Marie Curie as a struggling student in Paris. Frankly, I found it frustrating to listen to the narrator tell me how Marie Curie was feeling rather than showing me through action. I have no idea what it was really like for Curie in Paris as she met and finally married her husband, but I rather hope it wasn't like this book describes it. (free Audible book in March 2019)

Come and See: A Photojournalist's Journey into the World of Mother Teresa by Linda Schaefer - This photographer is more talented at photography than writing. While the pictures are a fascinating peek into Mother Teresa's work in India, the book overall falls short of what I would want to give my children for the Level 4 twentieth century biography. (library copy)

West with the Night by Beryl Markham - link to my post (library copy, then requested from PaperBackSwap.com)

I have received nothing for this post. All opinions are honest and my own. Links to Amazon or PaperBackSwap are affiliate links.

How to Live as an American: Strangers in a Strange Land

Strangers in a Strange Land: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World

by Charles J. Chaput

Charles Chaput, Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia, writes eloquently and clearly about how Catholics are called to live in the world as the light of the world.

This book was recommended in the Mater Amabilis™ high school Facebook group as a good addition to a high school American government class. I intend to assign it in the senior year. It doesn't cover the machinery of American government. Instead, it explores what it means to remain firm in the faith as an American today and how that faith directs our actions, not just in the voting booth but every day.

Early in the book, Archbishop Chaput briefly outlines the development of democratic government in the American colonies, showing how the leaders drew on the historical Christianity of Western civilization.

Christianity is a restless faith. It points us beyond this life, but also seeks to remake the world in holiness. Christians honor the past as part of salvation history. The past sets the stage for our own small parts in God's story. But the Gospel can't be satisfied with the world as it was, or is. Rather, the disciple serves God in "renewing the face of the earth."

In contemporary American politics, this goal to "remake the world" is separated from the historical frame of "holiness." It has transformed into political movements sustained by "almost 'religious' zeal. In my own life, I've seen people who abandon the faith, but then embrace this kind of zeal for issues like the environment.

Our laws and courtrooms declare people are equal even though we are obviously not equal by any measurement we have. And those inequalities are sustained by the lives we lead - the education we receive, the illnesses we suffer. So how are we equal? It's an ideal of equality that grew naturally from our Christian heritage but it now fraught with difficulty when separated from the God of creation.

Only God's love guarantees our worth. And therein lies our real equality. In him, our inequalities become not cruelties of fate, but openings that lead us to love, support, and "complete" each other in his name. 

Archbishop Chaput never insinuates we should be anything but beacons of truth when confronted by a society that is blurring the lines of gender, sexuality, or marriage, but he insists we must always speak out of love.

[T]he most powerful kind of witness...grows naturally out of the lives of ordinary people--parents and spouses and friends; people confident in the love that God bears for them and eager to share it with others; people who know the world not as a collection of confused facts but as a symphony of beauty, truth, and meaning.

He emphasizes that we cannot stand on the periphery and complain about everything we see around us. We cannot withdraw from the culture and hide in an enclave. Our beliefs, our actions, our love must directly impact the society of which we are a part.

But the fact remains that "the culture" is little more than the sum of the choices, habits, and dispositions of the people who live in a particular place at a particular time. We can't simply blame "the culture." We are the culture.

His advice does not translate into a specific formula or easy answers; we must immerse ourselves in the liturgy and tradition of our Catholic faith and translate that into a life of joyful sacrifice. We must show Christ's love for the world through our words and our actions, but the particular words and actions of our lives are a matter of individual discernment.

Knowing "about" Jesus Christ is not enough. We need to engage him with our whole lives. That means cleaning out the garbage of noise and distraction from our homes. It means building real Christian friendships. It means cultivating oases of silence, worship, and prayer in our lives. It means having more children and raising them in the love of the Lord. It means fighting death and fear with joy and life, one family at a time, with families sustaining one another against the temptations of weariness and resentment.

I have received nothing in exchange for this honest post. Links to Amazon are affiliate links. Kansas Dad requested this book through inter-library loan for me.