The Long Goodbye

This year's Noirpocalypse featured Robert Altman's adaptation of another of Raymond Chandler's classic Philip Marlowe novels (last year was The Big Sleep).  So it seemed natural to read the original of this one as well.  For some reason I enjoyed it more than The Big Sleep, even though I couldn't point to any very deep differences in the twisty storyline or the alternately sultry and salty characters.  Perhaps it was just that this time I noticed more of Chandler's exuberant and often hilarious language.  However, in this case, I have to admit that I enjoyed the film more than the book.  I think Altman's alteration of the ending and his elaboration on the character of Mendy Menendez (aka Walter Sobchak) improves the story.

The Three Pillars of Zen

It's quickly apparent why Roshi Philip Kapleua's collection of Zen literature is often referred to as a classic; this is a very different kind of book from the other Zen texts I've read.  The goal here is to demystify Zen practice and make the substance of it accessible to Westerners.  This is an incredibly useful service even today, but I can imagine that when the book was originally written in 1965, it was invaluable.  Instead of focusing on Zen as a philosophical system, as many (eg. Alan Watts) did in that era, Kapleua wants to introduce us to the actual practice of Zen.  How should we sit?  What posture and what technique should we start with?  What's life in a monastery like?  What do actual Zen masters say in dokusan?  How do practitioners describe their experience of enlightenment?  For each of these questions, he provides an interesting introduction, and then allows others to speak for the details. As a result, I feel like I came away with a much more accurate and comprehensive idea of the institution of Zen.  This doesn't necessarily make any of the paradoxical stories or koans any easier to understand, but it does perfectly serve Kapleua's true purpose, which is simply to point us in the right general direction, and inspire us to practice as hard as we can.