What Are You Reading ?

[Jerome]

The Music Instinct - Philip Ball

[Tiggi]

please do.
I'm interested too.

Luke Reinhardt (character in the novel is named for the author) is a NY psychotherapist who feels eclipsed by his colleagues, and that his therapy is delivering very little to his patients. Disillusioned with his lot, he starts to make life decisions based on the throw of a die or dice. He starts to find the process addictive, and is drawn into making the options for the dice increasingly risky.

He starts to introduce the technique to his patients, believing that it may be more effective than established therapy. Things start to go wrong, but he continues. The dice lead him to leave his family, jeopardise his career, and eventually to murder.

The dice idea catches on, and becomes something of a cult phenomenon, but ultimately the process leads to disaster.

Catrina said this is a thought-provoking book, and she's right. I found myself reflecting on moral responsibility, addiction, the need for faith, and the flimsy nature of the fabric that restrains human behaviour.

An interesting read...

[Tiggi]

An anthology of facts, anecdotes, interview clips, and stories about Rock music, and the characters that make it all so interesting, from an ex-NME journalist.

Mostly very amusing so far...

[Jerome]

A suggestion if you are really stuck - 'The Executioner's Song' by Norman Mailer- really makes you think about the death sentence and can it really be justified or is it just legalised murder?? If you do the same thing that the convicted person did are you in fact guilty of the same crime?

[Music Head]

A suggestion if you are really stuck - 'The Executioner's Song' by Norman Mailer- really makes you think about the death sentence and can it really be justified or is it just legalised murder?? If you do the same thing that the convicted person did are you in fact guilty of the same crime?

uh.........first, thanks for the review Tiggi.

on Mailer, I have read all of his work.
strange character, and most of it is pretty good.
Didn't really understand that last question you posed. Of course you are...........aren't you?
For me, yes indeed, for some horrendous crimes, the death sentence is justified, and should be carried out quicker than it normally is.
I have no second thoughts about it.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

likewise, for the most horrendous crimes, and where there is no doubt of guilt i applaud the use of the death penalty, i wish we here in Australia would reintroduce the death penalty, the majority(about 55%) are in favour of it...but the powers that be wont listen to the people, theyre too scared of upsetting International Human Rights groups.
the laws here concerning crimes are backwards, people found guilty of murder spend an average of 4.5 years in jail, sorry, but IMO the US states which have capitol punishment have got it right, and as MH says it should be carried out quickly.

[Jerome]

Ooh -this is going to ruffle a few feathers - anyway here goes. Ed, what I mean by that last sentence is that - are we as a society guilty of murder if we convict a man/woman (who has comitted murder) and execute him/her by 'organised means'. And coming from a country where murder is rife (17000 a year approx/ population probably about 45 million) you would think that I would support the death sentence but I don't. I think the whole concept is completely insane. I can understand, let's say, a father who has lost a daughter becoming totally enraged and going and killing the person responsible for his daughter's death. But I cannot fathom people standing behind a window watching the death sentence being carried out as if it was a theatre performance. And then of course there are the many innocent who have been set up for something they did not do and paid the ultimate price. Not to mention the hundreds of executions in the Middle East for ridiculous 'crimes'. The so-called honour-killings. Three men rape a woman, then say that she enticed them - how can she disprove it - it's 3 against 1 - and she is finally convicted and stoned to death - just so that the family's 'honour' can be upheld/restored. Nuts. I used to be pro-death sentence until I read this book. It changed my perspective/viewpoint completely.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

this whole subject is very emotive and subjective.

i would like to say that i would pull the lever or push the button to execute a convicted murderer where there is without a shadow of doubt the accused committed the crime, however, would i actually do it when put in the situation?...no one can be sure they would answer 'yes'.

i believe in capital punishment 100% as long as the evidence is also 100%.

we had a case here in Australia twenty years ago whereby Lindy & Michael Chambellion were found guilty of the murder of their daughter Azaria at Ayres Rock,they always maintained that a dingo took the baby from the family tent, they were eventually aquitted after spending a long while in jail, to this day little Azaria's body has not been found, even Aboriginal trackers could not find her.....if you want to know the whole story google it!

i have seen islamic stoning videos on the net and they are barbaric IMO, but who am i to say how another culture or country hands out punishment in a system that has been used for eons...each country to their own.

hyperthetically:

if a twentyish year old is convicted after he/she pleads guilty to a horrendous crime, i would rather not see my taxes spent on that person live in jail for another possibly fifty or sixty years, i'd rather a quick end to the problem by either letting the other crims finish him/her off or by lethal injection and use my taxes on schools, hospital beds or feeding the poor and homeless in my community.

that is my last comment on the subject...you can all fight it out humanely without me

[Jerome]

Points taken - one and all. Where I think the system falls down is that the criminals get to lounge around in well-furnished cells, colout TV's etc. They could be put to work - grow vegetables or whatever and so provide food for the homeless or be forced to provide the community with some service or other. Have nothing against a good chain-gang or two. And with the availability of electronic tracking escape is all but impossible. Just a thought.

[Tiggi]

Point 1. Jerome, is the Mailer book the story of Gary Gilmore (There's a movie by the same name, which stars Tommy Lee Jones in the title role)?

Point 2. As Jerome mentioned above, there is no such thing as 100% proof of a crime. Plus corruption in police forces around the world is too rife for me to ever be comfortable with capital punishment. It's bad enough when people are banged up for long periods for crimes from which they are subsequently exonerated (see the UK case of Stefan Kiszko here for a real heart-breaker) , but death is non-reversible.

I don't really want to live in a culture where I could be executed for something I didn't do...