Book Five

I have had Things Fall Apart on my reading list since high school. Between my junior and senior years, my favorite teacher in high school, Mr. Mueller, gave us an optional reading list. It was on this list, and it's been in the back of my mind since. I probably bought the thing six or seven years ago, and for some reason, it just never got read. I think it has a lot to do with the unbelievably ugly cover, which has always been a sure way to keep me from reading an otherwise good book.
This is not a simple book. It describes injustices of both African and African Colonial societies. I have never read a book like it, although I've seen lots of mediocre movies that deal with similar issues (cultural identity, colonial invasion, warrior societies, rites of passage, African children's stories, and more). I don't know, I felt some culture shock experiencing the culture of the Ibo for the first half of the book. Some of it was just out there from a contemporary western perspective. Unsurprising. When the missionaries showed up and started saving everyone, it didn't get any better, it just got bad in a different way. I think anyone who cares has read and watched lots of things that depict what it was like to be in an African society under colonial control. What I loved about this book was that it challenged me to enter this other culture, and I felt like I learned about as much as an anthropologist can in such a situation. That is, you can take notes, and pay attention, but you can never completely understand what is happening.

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I took a rest day yesterday. I woke up with pain in the posterior-lateral head of my right deltoid this morning. I couldn't figure out what had happened. I never strained it while climbing. After a lot of thought, it came to me. I'm pretty sure I hurt it during deep concentration over a game of solo eight ball played between dueling Sean personalities late last night. When in this situation, I always talk to myself as two different characters: stripes and solids. It's more fun to play against yourself when you can convince yourself that you are playing against someone else. And if I really focus, I actually forget, as I set up for shots, that I am alone, and I feel the same sense of competition as if another brain was in the room (not another personality, which actually is in the room).
Anyway, my shoulder bothered me today, so I took another day off until around 4pm. I saw a truck that I thought I recognized, and thought some Arkansas climber friends of my mine might be up in the Idahos. So I packed my shoes, guidebook, and chalk, and headed up, thinking that I would socialize the hell out of of the next hour of sunlight. They weren't there, so I pulled out the book, and found all the one and two star v0s to v3s in the Idahos that I hadn't done yet. I did a bunch of those, including some that were really tall, and actually had a pretty good time. On top of one of the taller boulders, I caught a sound from a couple of hundred feet away, and dropped down to investigate. I found this other guy working a tricky v4 dyno (Chuck Wagon. Really fun). I gave him beta and spotted him on that, and then wandered off to do another v0 mossy highball, which scared the shit out him, and he ran over with the pad to throw under me. Nice guy.
I scoped out Cloud of Stars, a v9, and feel like it might be something I would enjoy working. Really hard looking, but I think I can feel the body positions that I'd need to have, even if I can't achieve them, yet. I might give that a shot, or if my finger, elbows, and shoulder feels good, maybe tomorrow I'll give Glass Bowl a couple of burns. Maybe both.

Happy Sean's birthday eve.

On to Philip Dick, and another Dune book.(1)

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(1) I thought I'd propose a list of the Dune books I've read in order of awesomeness, where 1 = really awesome.

7-9)Tied for last: Dune Messiah, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune
6)House Corrino
5)Children of Dune
4)House Harkonnen
3)God Emperor of Dune
2)House Atreides
1)Dune