读/听书报告

读/听书报告

褴褛时代 -- 2014年12月17日 -- 领读竹林子

Hi Teacher and Readers,

This is a great book and for those who have read, you need no encouragement from me. Those who have not started, go head read any chapter that you wish to start with. You may find it hard to be engrossed with reading; as there are quotations marks for the dialogues. But I promise you, it grabs you once you get started. So, be patient, be creative and be rewarded!

1.    When was Ragtime written? What was happening at the time? How do we relate to it today?

2.    Describe the setting of Ragtime. When and where does the story take place? Why might an author have chosen to write about this time period and these places and events?

3.    What is ragtime music and why did the author choose the title "Ragtime" for this novel?

4.    The author incorporated many historical figures in his novel. Who are they and why are they chosen? How much do you know about them before your reading of Ragtime?

5.    What is the quotation by Scott Joplin which served as the novel’s epigraph? What does it mean?

6.    Who is the narrator of the story? Does the point of view of the narrator shift throughout the story?

7.    Which characters (fictional or historical) have impressed you, and why?

8.    What are some of the innovations represented in the book? How does their presence affect the characters? How do you think the author would incorporate Steve Jobs?

9.    Who Evelyn Nesbit and what is the conversation between her and Goldman in their first meeting?

10.  Who is Harry Houdini and what is he after?

11.  Why might J.P. Morgan be so fascinated with Egyptology? Do his fortune and his collection of valuable objects bring him peace? Why do you think he invites Henry Ford to meet with him?

12.  What are the stories of Coalhouse Walker, about his courtship, music and injustice?

13.  Why do you think that Mother and Tateh end up together? How did the stories end?

14.  What are the meanings and values that are conveyed by the stories and characters? Share some! Or share some of your favourite passages, and why have they impressed you?

Those are excellent questions! I'd like to make some notes while I go along with the book. I will post them here for references. Everyone is welcome to contribute.

什么是Ragtime：a musical genre that enjoyed its peak popularity between 1895 and 1918

音乐剧Ragtime: Ragtime is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty

书Ragtime： Ragtime is a novel by E. L. Doctorow, published in 1975. 

电影Ragtime： adapted into a movie in1981 

音乐剧Ragtime Musical on YouTube

进入讨论区

Steve Jobs -- next book

周日水竹问我们下一本书什么时候讨论。原定为七月底的会期大概得推迟了。看来A Room with a View效应还蛮大的，老姐老妹们出去看世界的热情这个夏天格外高涨，一波接着一波，至今没有减势。

那就等九月再说，最好不要拖到十月。Steve Jobs 很有意思，你一开始读就会一下子被吸进去。问题出来后，大家就可以慢慢收收花心，进入状态了。

问题出来了

Q and A (or comments)

Baofen:

1. 姥姥，你认为Jobs和Gates谁对社会的贡献大?

A & C:

laolao: Gates! Cause he is still able to …

Baofen: 假设Gates在Jobs离世对社会的贡献是0，你的答案有变化吗？

Xihu: 我回答不了谁的贡献大于谁，我认为这个问题很难达到共识。但是也不同意因为说gates还喘气，jobs已经见老马了，gates就贡献大。

Naonao:  我也觉得jobs和Gates的贡献可能是没有办法量化的，也就没有办法比较。很幸运我们的时代有这样两个天才，为我们的生活增添了色彩.

Xihu:

2.     Steve Jobs is a renaissance man. The contribution of his has far reaching significance, yet would you have him as a friend? Why and why not?

3.     We all know George Orwell's book, 1984, right? You may ask why 1984 has anything to do with Steve Jobs? It is sort of far fetched, but believe me. There is some connection. Only a bit tricky :-) 

A & C:
Xihu： See Apple 1984 and wiki

挠挠:

            4. Jobs的性格特征中，哪些是对他的成功有帮助的，哪些是可能阻碍了他的成功的？

A & C:

雪: 他的开拓，创新和毅力是plus, 他的情商为人是minus，不过，天才永远不可能是全才 J

Laolao:

5.       Reality distortion field? – anything  you learn about it?

雪：

6．乔布斯的title 很多，企业家，营销家，发明家，乔帮主，乔主教，IT弄潮儿，他在你眼中到底是个怎样的人物？

雪：乔布斯一定是我生活中的贵人，因为我在看，等买苹果6，那手机的功用一定会给我的生活带来影响，变得更加丰富多彩。

虽然五十年代出生的是个私生子，但却没有牛虻那么悲惨，纠结，他在养父母的关怀下茁壮成长。1974象Bill Gates那种天才一样退学，但主要是年因为家庭内的原因。1976和Stephen Wozniak，Mike Markkula成立了苹果电脑公司，之后又推出Apple2PC，1980股票在WalStreet 上市，一小时内被抢购一空，之后却被公司及董事扫地出门，几天后创办NeXT, 可1989再次经历了NeXT公司的失败，投资基金化为乌有。1996 苹果收购NeXT，他胡汉三回来了，担任顾问，再次成为苹果断CEO, 然后苹果一路狂飙，他最终成为IT的弄潮儿。

因为乔布斯知道如何把枯燥的电脑和娱乐业挂钩，是电脑和娱乐界的标志性人。，、自己喜欢他是因为他是Pixsel动漫的创办人，也是女儿喜欢的Walt Disney 董事会会员。但他却不是自己女儿的好爸爸，拒认亲女，尽管后来也曾用女儿的名字来命名Macintosh。他被提名为自负的CEO，对同行和员工不认同，不鼓励，还时常无意识地盗用别人的idea,被人骂成混蛋，管理盲。但是他肯吃苦，肯钻研，有vision,不屈不挠，，他曾七次登上时代杂志的封面，被认为是最成功的电脑科学家和商人，堪与Bill Gates一拼。

乔布斯的生涯极大地影响了硅谷风险创业的传奇，iPod、iPhone、iPad征服了整个世界，也给更多年轻的白领淘金者带来梦想，可是当他功成命就的时刻，却没了拼命的本钱，所以我也告诫我那住着3亿豪宅的朋友要珍惜，珍重自己的生命！

 涂鸦完毕

ATT:
第一，乔布斯是个领导性人物，他有控制局面和世态的能力和控制欲望，第二，他想象力强，敢于创新，第三，从他的头衔就可以看出，他是一个愿意付出或者说奉献精神的人。这本书真实、客观地反应了乔布斯的人生经历。书中有大量乔布斯自己的回忆和叙述，而不是像之前一些关于苹果公司和乔布斯的书中大多都是作者或乔布斯周围的人的描述与猜想。仅仅这一点就使得这本书有很高的阅读价值。在保持真实性的同时，作者还很好的做到了对乔布斯的评价客观。比如：在返回苹果公司的前夕，为了挽救苹果，当时的苹果CEO想请乔布斯回来，但他拒绝了成为苹果公司的董事会成员的建议，而是仅仅成为了兼职的顾问。他的借口是：他现在在皮克斯公司过得很好，并且想花更多的时间与家人在一起，所以不想破坏现在的生活节奏。而作者却分析这些借口是完全站不住脚的，因为他深爱着苹果公司，早就期待着有一天能重返苹果。他之所以这样是因为：他有很强的控制欲，在面对不确定，难以控制的局面时他犹豫了。

23 Places Where You’d Rather Be Reading Right Now

23 Places Where You’d Rather Be Reading Right Now

B-Wells is #15 on the list :-)

名画欣赏

如何欣赏一幅画

I Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira: imagines a passionate scene between Edgar Degas — a French artist known for his paintings of dancers — and Mary Cassatt — an American painter known for her scenes of family life. The kiss in the novel is pure fiction, but then again, "nobody knows what goes on in their neighbor's house, let alone what happened between two artists 130 years ago," Oliveira says.

Some have read this book: Into thin air

Into thin air by John Krakauer

TV documentary based on the book Death on Everest 

John Krakauer's article on New York Times 4/21/14 -- Death and anger on Everest

Mt. Everest - The Storm (1996) - PBS Frontline

于珈：攀登莎斯塔峰

People died:

Rob Hall 

Andy Harris

Doug Hansen

Yasuko Namba

Scott Fischer

夏天不歇凉 书呆子读书 电影迷看影

时间 --  5月15日

领读 -- 雪 

网上观看蒂凡尼的早餐
《月亮河》 Henry Mancini / Johnny Mercer, 1961 : Moon River 
Henry Mancini, composer
Johnny Mercer, lyricist
Truman Capote, author
Summer book: Breakfast at Tiffany's = 蒂凡尼的早餐
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