Levi Strauss or Levi-Strauss

I have my favourite Authors and I never get rid of their books. I find with my brain, I can re read them a few times and completely forget the ending. But even if I remember the general gist of the plot, I find each reading reminds me of something I forgot or completely glossed over. Or perhaps there is a line or an idea that I didn’t grasp the first time around. I have always read for pleasure and escapism so learning a few tidbits here and there is always something that sticks with me.

And so it happened a couple of weeks ago when I picked up an old Agatha Christie. The story was familiar and as I read I thoroughly enjoyed the book as if I was reading it for the first time. Yet there was the feeling of remembrance as I found my mind pondering what would happen next. Then came the spot that brought me back many years to my first reading. The name Levi-Strauss. I started to chuckle to myself as I remembered the day I first read that name. I had been so confused. The book was about espionage and government control. Spies and world domination. Why were they bringing up some blue jean manufacturers? Well, turns out there is a difference. Claude Levi-Strauss was an Anthropologist. He was in fact a brilliant man whose writings are perhaps somewhat overlooked. His ideas cross over into various areas of study. Once I looked him up all those many years ago, the story I was reading made so much more sense.

Reading is such a big part of my life. My whole family are big readers. I think it stems mainly from our Mother. I was read to as a child. I remember my sister bringing me to the library to pick out books. It was a magical place for me. My kids all had library cards and we made weekly visits. It was such a beautiful feeling watching my kids carrying their pile of books out the door. A few days ago my daughter told me her twin boys, now just turned five, were brought to the library to get their own library cards. My heart melted. I can still feel the magic in my soul when I was immersed into a story. When we moved to a new town, the first thing I did was find the Public Library. Book stores are my Mecca. When we flew to Scotland so my husband could golf the Saint Andrews old course for his fiftieth birthday, I was a few blocks away perusing used books in a quaint old second hand book shop. They even smell like magic.

I think what happens when we are consumed with reading, is that we can actually learn a great deal even if we read what some might consider fluff. I am a mystery lover so a good murder and suspense is my go to. The funny thing is, I learn the most incredibly odd things. For instance, thirty years ago I read a book where the main character was a Rabbi. He was having a discussion with a young woman who was a lesbian, and it came about that according to the Jewish faith, only men were seen as homosexual. Women, lesbians, were not considered the same way. From a sin point of view. The girl was outraged. In her mind it was yet one more way that men lorded over women. Leviticus is the book in the bible where most find their arguments against homosexuality. And it doesn’t mention women. I found that fascinating. I am not Jewish. I am not a lesbian. There is no way this thought or idea would ever enter my mind. It’s really not something that would have helped me in a career, or further my education in any way. But it is a cool fact. As with all things in life, I am sure the Jewish faith has retorqued and remodeled their views on everything as times change and society demands it. But for that one brief period in time, I was blown away. Women couldn’t be gay.

I just poured a fresh cup of coffee and as I looed over at my bookshelf, my eyes come to rest on a little book from 75 years ago. It is called “Just Mary’s Blue Book”. Just one in many books written by Mary Bannon. She was a Canadian teacher who loved to write. From New Brunswick, she eventually made her way to Toronto as her career took off. She first wrote for a small radio program and in time her characters grew in popularity. She eventually was hired by CBC and her “Just Mary” stories were broadcast for almost a quarter of a century. I saw this book in a used bookstore around fourteen years ago. I had a new granddaughter and her name was Mary. The book popped out at me and I had to buy it. Once in awhile when my granddaughter came to my house, we would read the stories from the book. It was old fashioned, but in a era of cutesy popular names, little Mary wasn’t about to see a lot of stories where the hero shared her name. And so, I learned a great deal about the life and career of a young woman, born in 1900, who would touch the lives of so many young children. All before my time.

History, philosophy, religion, politics. You name it. A fictional story book can bring so much to our lives. Not just the story but thoughts and ideas that would never enter your every day world. We don’t have to read text books or take a class. There is knowledge hidden in the pages of stories. And when these stories are made into movies, the knowledge spreads far and wide. The movie “Oppenheimer” made a huge hit with the world and I know there are many who never knew who he was. But then, it sparks something in us. A deeper need to understand more fully not just the story. But the author. When I re read my beloved Agatha Christie stories, I am constantly amazed at her knowledge of current events, politics, foreign lands and human frailties. I know she was educated and from a privileged home. But that was a time when women were just coming into their own. Given her lifetime achievements it is hard to believe she did have trouble getting her first book published and it had a lukewarm reception.

As for Claude Levi-Strauss, well his was my first introduction to the term mana and its importance in the Polynesian culture as well as other indigenous tribes. He brought me not just a word. But a concept. And then a greater need to understand, brought me more research until ultimately I was able to piece together a simple explanation that my mind could compartmentalize. Because that is what we do. Find a way to fit something new into ideas we already hold to be dear or true. A word that means different things to different people. A fixed word for a not completely fixed idea. He refers to it as a floating signifier. Something that is hard to explain and sometimes harder to understand. It is all and it is nothing. It is what you deem it to be. Think “woke”. It is good. It is bad. It is undefinable and yet it is overly defined. It has a limited definition and it includes so many ideas that it loses its meaning. But the word itself just is.

It has been many years since I thought about this concept. Reading that book brought it back to me. Got the juices running. Got me thinking about all of the ways we completely misunderstand not just people, but the world around us. A little knowledge they say, can be a dangerous thing. But too little is even scarier. We don’t need to know everything about how the world works. But what I have learned is that I have to know enough to realize when I am being played. Whether it is a politician, a scientist, a religious leader, a historian, a sociologist, an anthropologist or a philosopher, people are ideas guys and they limit their scope to their personal niche in the world. If we study their ideas, we can learn a great deal. It isn’t all the gospel truth. It is ideas. Thoughts. We can pull out what we find interesting or exciting. We can hit numerous sources. And in the end we will have stopped living in a stagnant mind set. We will give the little grey cells a little work out. But where do we start? Well. Pick up an Agatha Christie book. Give it a go. I believe you will soon find your mind wandering down a different corridor in life. And you might find it pretty exciting.