6 ms·

Hilary Mantel Reviews “A Life of One's Own/An Experiment in Leisure” (1986)

dang 2y ago
A Life of One's Own is a great book, far ahead of its time (she was using the word 'mindfulness' 90 years ago), and a classic in 'thinking for oneself', something that used to be popular to recommend but has never been easy to do. Joanna Field was the pen name of Marion Milner. I have a quote from her in my profile. It took me a long time to track down the paper but that quote was the only interesting thing in it.
- superb-owl 2y ago
  What a beautiful quote! And it does a great job capturing the thought you've put into building this community
- globalnode 2y ago
  If only a quote like that could be taken to heart and applied to ones own life, I'm pretty sure that would be life changing. If everyone did it, it would be world changing.
  - dang 2y ago
    I'm thrilled that you (and the other commenters) are really getting it. I feel the same way, and it informs everything I try to do.
    - dredmorbius 2y ago
      It really is a great quote, gives tremendous insight on your moderation philosophy, and I read it frequently when stalking your mod actions ;-)
      - gradschoolfail 2y ago
        Related (maybe if you’re pareidoliac like me) principle I need to work on much harder to internalize is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marit_ayin#In_private https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marit_ayin#In_private ;)
        082349872349872 2y ago
        I believe I've got a better-than-chance feel for when a HN submission might hit the front page ("public") or will go/stay down in the long tail (giving opportunity for kicking off the shoes in "private" convos) but admit that when I mess it up it's usually spectacularly wrong.
  - gradschoolfail 2y ago
    For folks still paying attention (& on similar levels of practice/deliberation or cortex/amygdala :) the quote is from Milner’s https://www.amazon.com/Suppressed-Madness-Sane-Men-Psychoanalysis/dp/0415036739 https://www.amazon.com/Suppressed-Madness-Sane-Men-Psychoana...
    - gradschoolfail 2y ago
      EDIT: right in the intro, for the especially impatient/deadtreefans.
- thunderbong 2y ago
  This is one of those rare times when I'm seeing Dang comment on a post directly! And thanks for that quote. I've read it earlier, of course. But it's good to read it again and again. For some reason, reading that quote always makes me introspect and think whether I've become better human over the years.
superb-owl 2y ago
A Life of One's Own is incredible, and is one of two books I credit with changing my life. I reviewed it partially here: https://superbowl.substack.com/p/how-to-enjoy-things https://superbowl.substack.com/p/how-to-enjoy-things
- 082349872349872 2y ago
  don't know if additional vocabulary might help you turn up anything more useful, but the "narrow attention"/"wide attention" dichotomy you point out is something I've mostly heard talked about in metaphorical terms: a "hard eyes"/"soft eyes" dichotomy.
  - superb-owl 2y ago
    Neat! I've never heard that one, will definitely add it to my vocab
  - dang 2y ago
    If you guys want to go down an unusually interesting rabbit hole, the book Open-Focus Brain by Les Fehmi and (especially) the associated audio exercises, are all about this. The exercises are something like guided meditations, but unique in my experience, and I never do exercises like that. It's a pity that his work isn't better known*. He died a couple years ago. * Edit: although HN does not disappoint! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12712532 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12712532 (Oct 2016) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8721704 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8721704 (Dec 2014) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8718142 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8718142 (Dec 2014)
    - 082349872349872 2y ago
      Interesting: it sounds like we do something similar with animals (training them not to close down their focus and fixate on things that might well, in a state of nature, be alarming, but don't really matter when living with people in a 21st century environment) but it's kind of hard to say while the Fehmi exercises are still in copyright... EDIT: the pain relief part seems completely orthogonal to what I was talking about above, but the perception of attention and especially gaps in attention is something that one finds in japanese martial zen... (for instance, the "3 pwns": the lowest level is to "pwn the sword", where you physically react quickly enough to counter an opponent's action; the intermediate level is to "pwn the technique", where by recognising the start of a technique one can predict where it will end, thus gaining time to counter; the advanced level is to "pwn the spirit", where by recognising where an opponent's attention lies one can predict what techniques they will attempt, thus gaining even more time...)
telesilla 2y ago
Anything by Hilary Mantel is extraordinary and worth your reading time. Wolf Hall trilogy threw me into a decade-long search into who really was Thomas Cromwell, A Place of Greater Safety finally made me feel like I understand the French Revolution (I enjoyed this as an audio book on a very long drive) . Thanks to her, complex history has made sense, and how today's machinations are not much different.
- francogt 2y ago
  I read Wolf Hall after I finished Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver, which takes place in late 17 century post Cromwell England. You might enjoy it as well! It’s packed with history.
- nayroclade 2y ago
  The audiobooks of the Wolf Hall trilogy are fantastic as well. They're read by Ben Miles, who played Cromwell in the RSC adaptations of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, and collaborated directly with Mantel on the stage adaptation of the Mirror & The Light. His take on the character is excellent, far superior to Mark Rylance in the TV version, who I thought was badly miscast.
  - samastur 2y ago
    He wasn't, you just like Ben better (which is obviously fine).
  - sherr 2y ago
    I saw the "Bring Up the Bodies" stage show with Miles in London in 2014. Miles was very good, as was the show. I agree that Rylance was a bad choice for the part on the BBC. He doesn't look the part at all, plus I tend to find him very unexpressive as an actor. Po faced, wooden. The rest of the TV adaptation was excellent but, as the central character, Rylance ruined it for me. I'm finishing the "Mirror and the Light" just now (having re-read the previous two again). Great, great novels. Thank goodness she lived to complete them.
blueridge 2y ago
Highly recommend: Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/08/10/leisure-the-basis-of-culture-josef-pieper/ https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/08/10/leisure-the-basis-...
- rramadass 2y ago
  Also relevant; In Praise of Idleness and The Conquest of Happiness both by Bertrand Russell. On Doing Nothing by J.B.Priestly

dang 2y ago

A Life of One's Own is a great book, far ahead of its time (she was using the word 'mindfulness' 90 years ago), and a classic in 'thinking for oneself', something that used to be popular to recommend but has never been easy to do. Joanna Field was the pen name of Marion Milner. I have a quote from her in my profile. It took me a long time to track down the paper but that quote was the only interesting thing in it.

superb-owl 2y ago
What a beautiful quote! And it does a great job capturing the thought you've put into building this community
globalnode 2y ago
If only a quote like that could be taken to heart and applied to ones own life, I'm pretty sure that would be life changing. If everyone did it, it would be world changing.
- dang 2y ago
  I'm thrilled that you (and the other commenters) are really getting it. I feel the same way, and it informs everything I try to do.
  - dredmorbius 2y ago
    It really is a great quote, gives tremendous insight on your moderation philosophy, and I read it frequently when stalking your mod actions ;-)
    - gradschoolfail 2y ago
      Related (maybe if you’re pareidoliac like me) principle I need to work on much harder to internalize is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marit_ayin#In_private https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marit_ayin#In_private ;)
      - 082349872349872 2y ago
        I believe I've got a better-than-chance feel for when a HN submission might hit the front page ("public") or will go/stay down in the long tail (giving opportunity for kicking off the shoes in "private" convos) but admit that when I mess it up it's usually spectacularly wrong.
- gradschoolfail 2y ago
  For folks still paying attention (& on similar levels of practice/deliberation or cortex/amygdala :) the quote is from Milner’s https://www.amazon.com/Suppressed-Madness-Sane-Men-Psychoanalysis/dp/0415036739 https://www.amazon.com/Suppressed-Madness-Sane-Men-Psychoana...
  - gradschoolfail 2y ago
    EDIT: right in the intro, for the especially impatient/deadtreefans.
thunderbong 2y ago
This is one of those rare times when I'm seeing Dang comment on a post directly! And thanks for that quote. I've read it earlier, of course. But it's good to read it again and again. For some reason, reading that quote always makes me introspect and think whether I've become better human over the years.

superb-owl 2y ago

A Life of One's Own is incredible, and is one of two books I credit with changing my life. I reviewed it partially here: https://superbowl.substack.com/p/how-to-enjoy-things https://superbowl.substack.com/p/how-to-enjoy-things

082349872349872 2y ago
don't know if additional vocabulary might help you turn up anything more useful, but the "narrow attention"/"wide attention" dichotomy you point out is something I've mostly heard talked about in metaphorical terms: a "hard eyes"/"soft eyes" dichotomy.
- superb-owl 2y ago
  Neat! I've never heard that one, will definitely add it to my vocab
- dang 2y ago
  If you guys want to go down an unusually interesting rabbit hole, the book Open-Focus Brain by Les Fehmi and (especially) the associated audio exercises, are all about this. The exercises are something like guided meditations, but unique in my experience, and I never do exercises like that. It's a pity that his work isn't better known*. He died a couple years ago. * Edit: although HN does not disappoint! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12712532 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12712532 (Oct 2016) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8721704 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8721704 (Dec 2014) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8718142 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8718142 (Dec 2014)
  - 082349872349872 2y ago
    Interesting: it sounds like we do something similar with animals (training them not to close down their focus and fixate on things that might well, in a state of nature, be alarming, but don't really matter when living with people in a 21st century environment) but it's kind of hard to say while the Fehmi exercises are still in copyright... EDIT: the pain relief part seems completely orthogonal to what I was talking about above, but the perception of attention and especially gaps in attention is something that one finds in japanese martial zen... (for instance, the "3 pwns": the lowest level is to "pwn the sword", where you physically react quickly enough to counter an opponent's action; the intermediate level is to "pwn the technique", where by recognising the start of a technique one can predict where it will end, thus gaining time to counter; the advanced level is to "pwn the spirit", where by recognising where an opponent's attention lies one can predict what techniques they will attempt, thus gaining even more time...)

telesilla 2y ago

Anything by Hilary Mantel is extraordinary and worth your reading time. Wolf Hall trilogy threw me into a decade-long search into who really was Thomas Cromwell, A Place of Greater Safety finally made me feel like I understand the French Revolution (I enjoyed this as an audio book on a very long drive) . Thanks to her, complex history has made sense, and how today's machinations are not much different.

francogt 2y ago
I read Wolf Hall after I finished Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver, which takes place in late 17 century post Cromwell England. You might enjoy it as well! It’s packed with history.
nayroclade 2y ago
The audiobooks of the Wolf Hall trilogy are fantastic as well. They're read by Ben Miles, who played Cromwell in the RSC adaptations of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, and collaborated directly with Mantel on the stage adaptation of the Mirror & The Light. His take on the character is excellent, far superior to Mark Rylance in the TV version, who I thought was badly miscast.
- samastur 2y ago
  He wasn't, you just like Ben better (which is obviously fine).
- sherr 2y ago
  I saw the "Bring Up the Bodies" stage show with Miles in London in 2014. Miles was very good, as was the show. I agree that Rylance was a bad choice for the part on the BBC. He doesn't look the part at all, plus I tend to find him very unexpressive as an actor. Po faced, wooden. The rest of the TV adaptation was excellent but, as the central character, Rylance ruined it for me. I'm finishing the "Mirror and the Light" just now (having re-read the previous two again). Great, great novels. Thank goodness she lived to complete them.

blueridge 2y ago

Highly recommend: Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/08/10/leisure-the-basis-of-culture-josef-pieper/ https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/08/10/leisure-the-basis-...

rramadass 2y ago
Also relevant; In Praise of Idleness and The Conquest of Happiness both by Bertrand Russell. On Doing Nothing by J.B.Priestly