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Eddie Hood
Today I thought I would talk about three different books that have really had an impact on the way. I think they have changed my perspective as somebody that exists in the world trying to do this thing called living a human life. Some books really have just changed the way I look from left to right, from right to left, and so on. And I really hope that you'll get a huge impact out of these because these are some good ones. Let's get into it. Welcome to this week's episode of the Read well podcast. My name is Eddie Hood and I'm your host, where I believe it's more important to read well than to be well read. So grab your favorite book, open up your notes, and let's get ready to learn something fascinating. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Read well podcast. My name is Eddie Hood and today we're talking about three books, no secret here I've got them on the thumbnail of the video. We're talking about the Lonely Passion of Judith Hearn and Working Days by John Steinbeck. These three books have changed how I interact with my thinking process and I'll tell you why and why I think they're good books to dive into. So first of all, I want to start with Working Days. And I've been talking about this a little bit, but we have begun reading the Grapes of Wrath in my book club. We started on June 17, just the day previous to this filming actually. But the Grapes of Wrath is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest American novels of all time by many different people. This will be my second time reading it and it is a fantastic book. But what has made it even better is this journal that John Steinbeck kept while he wrote the book. Now, I shared this in last week's video, but I'm bringing it up again because I wanted to point out how it is changing my perspective as somebody trying to live a more purposeful life. I like to create things, whether it's a podcast, I'm writing a novel right now, I have a bookstore, and so on. All of these creative things that I'm trying to put out into the universe are terrifying. They're absolutely terrifying. I don't really enjoy the act of putting out things that are of my heart. It's a hard thing to do. But reading John Seinbeck's journal has helped me find the courage to do that because this book is filled with his self doubt, his concern for doing the work well, for being a good artist, for doing something that matters, versus just putting things out there. He really wanted The Grapes of Wrath to be good. And as I read this, it reminds me that even the best people like Mr. Steinbeck doubted themselves at times. So I'm going to read a small passage to you from each of these books, actually, and that will help you understand why I've picked them today. So this is from entry number 12, which he wrote on June 11, 1938, says Bob and Mary write that they want to come down. They can't. I am well into this now, speaking of writing the Grapes of Wrath. And nothing is going to be allowed to interfere. When I'm all done, I shall relax, but not until then. My life isn't very long and I must get one good book written before it ends. The others have been make shifts, experiments, practices. For the first time, I am working on a real book that is not limited and that will take every bit of experience and thought and feeling that I have. And so to work. I shared that passage with you because you can hear in his words the sense that he has made a decision that this work is going to need everything from him. He's not going to just dabble in it. He's not going to just give it a try. He's going to put his soul into this. And the bit that sticks out most to me is that my life is not going to be very long. I need to get one good book out. I feel that all the time. Maybe it's because I read the Stoics and I love philosophy. And the concept that life is short and must be lived well is really felt for me as somebody who likes to create things. So, yes, Working Days by John Seinbeck. Go ahead and check that out. The second book is the Lonely Passion of Judith Hearn. Now, this is a book that I hadn't heard about until I began working in a community of writers. And this book was suggested to me. The reason why is because it's one of those books that shows just an incredible character arc. Now, the main character, the protagonist, is a woman, very set in her ways. She's very opinionated. She's very prejudiced in how she thinks, thinks about everything. Her name is Judith Hearn. I know, shocker. But I want to read to you the very first paragraph of this book on page one because it paints a really good picture of who Judith Hearn is. It says the first thing Ms. Judith Hearn unpacked in her new lodgings was the silver framed photograph of her aunt. The place for her aunt ever since the sad day of the funeral was on the mantelpiece. Of whatever bed sitting room Ms. Hearn happened to be living in. And as she put her up now, the photograph eyes were stern and questioning, sharing Ms. Hearn's own misgivings about the condition of the bed springs, the shabbiness of the furniture, and the run down part of Belfast in which the room was situated. Ms. Hearn is looking at this new apartment that she's in and she is not pleased with it. She is above it. She is disgusted by it. She thinks herself better than it and better than the people around her. Now here's the catch. Ms. Hearn, through this book is living a secret life, one that conflicts with her perfect sense of religious superiority. And that conflict of character is what really drags her down. This is a book that reminds us as readers how important it is to be true to ourselves, to be honest to ourselves, and also to be kind and compassionate to those around us. So it's not a long read. This thing is roughly 220ish pages long, written beautifully, and I love this cover too. I don't know if you can see it if you're watching this on the YouTube channel the Lonely Passion of Judith Hearn. It has a floral background and what you can see is there's a woman laying down with her head on a table, but her arms are covered in the same fabric or painting as the wallpaper, so she's blending into it, almost like she's not there. But she is. So go check this out if you like the idea of living a true and authentic life. The third book I wanted to share with you that has changed my perspective is it's just a ton of fun. I love this book. It's called Cultish the Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montel. Now Amanda Montel is somebody who studies linguistics and language and teaches it and has done a really good job of going to not just what we would consider traditional cults, but corporations and fitness programs and any kind of gathering that is doing its best to bring people into its folds. What she's done is analyze the language that those groups use to create a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose in its members. So much so that those members are willing to donate time, donate money, and donate intention to the cause of the organization. Now this is why that matters, because we are being pulled into many organizations around us and we don't know what's happening. It might be again, some sort of fitness program or a club or a religion or some project at work and the people who are organizing that are attracting us by way of language. As an example, she points out that often these groups will turn words like commitment into privilege. So instead of saying your commitment is to do X, Y or Z, they might say it's a privilege to do X, Y or Z, thereby framing you into thinking that you're a part of something positive, good, and worth doing. Now the passage I want to read for you in this book is one that really sticks out for me. It's found in chapter five and the title of this chapter is Congratulations, you have Been chosen. So it says techniques like Us versus Them, labels loaded language and thought terminating cliches are absolutely crucial in getting people from open community minded folks to victims of cultish violence. But importantly, they do not brainwash them, at least not in the way we're taught to think about brainwashing. Jim Jones certainly tried to use language to brainwash his followers. Among the techniques he studied was Newspeak, the make believe language George Orwell created for his dystopian novel 1984. Which side note, 1984 is one of my top three books. You should go check it out if you haven't yet. In the book, Newspeak is a euphemistic, propaganda filled language that authoritarian leaders force their citizens to use as quote, unquote, mind control. All the Newspeak Jones attempted to mind control his followers by, for example, requiring them to give him daily thanks for good food and work, even though the labor was backbreaking and the food scarce. So what she does is she goes into all of these different organizations and she finds people who are members, either active or who have disassociated, and she speaks with them and she digs into the language and it's a really humbling look at your own personal life, the language being used on you, and it gives you a chance to analyze that language and start to think for yourself. Foreign so those are my three books this week as a recommendation. I hope you like them. Just as a reminder, we've got Working Days by John Steinbeck. That is his journal, the Lonely Passion of Judith Hearn and Cultish by Amanda Montel. Now if you are liking these books, please take a moment just to share with your friends. I'm doing my best to grow the readable podcast community and until next time, as always, remember to read slowly, take notes and apply the ideas. Thanks everybody. If you'd like to take your reading to the next level, then head on over to thereadwellpodcast.com there you'll find daily posts on how to read well, you'll also get access to all of my book notes and tools for becoming a better reader. And as always, don't forget to read slowly, take notes and apply the ideas. Thank you for listening to the Read well Podcast.