x89：「潜水服と蝶」への疑問（The Timesコラム）

The Times column by Susannah Herbert of Jan. 20, 2008 (the recording is from over a year ago). It criticizes The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and short stories by Raymond Carver, among other things, for being heavily edited without giving due credit to the editors. Allowing myself to be convinced by this essay, I had passed judgment on the books in question without having read a single word. That was a big mistake. I recently began reading Jean Dominique Bauby's The Diving Bell and am finding it to be a fascinating read, ghost-written or not. Although the book bore the brunt of Ms. Herbert's scathing attacks -- and in fairness she probably has a point -- on balance I must say Ms. Herbert does more harm than good by her crusading stance. That could only discourage readers from having a crack at the original, leaving them none the wiser. I'd avoid being swayed by her commentaries in the future.

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x88：潜水服と蝶

Prologue from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby. Since this gem of a book was composed by a quadriplegic author with incredible efforts and patience, every word needs to be read and appreciated with a microscopic focus of attention -- and on a different time scale from the one we are accustomed to.

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x87：村上春樹 エルサレム賞受賞スピーチ

Jerusalem Prize acceptance speech by Haruki Murakami. The version I used for this recording appears to have been professionally edited for the print media. It is not a bad speech, actually. I thought the full text deserved to be brought to people's attention rather than in snippets -- without any distracting commentaries. So here it is.

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x86：オリバー・サックス「An Anthropologist on Mars」

Preface to An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sachs. Concisely describes the game plan of this fascinating book. (FYI, the final chapter is on Temple Grandin.)

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x85：マーガレット・アトウッド「Alias Grace」

From Margaret Atwood's intriguing novel, Alias Grace. This is a fine piece of writing indeed. To fully appreciate the intricate fabric of this tale, you might want to read it aloud, taking time to focus on every minute detail.

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x84：ジョナサン・スウィフト "A Modest Proposal"

A classical -- if a bit ghastly -- piece of satire by Jonathan Swift.

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x83：オリバー・サックス"The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat"

Oliver Sacks: "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" (40 min.)

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x82：テンプル・グランディン「Thinking in Pictures」序文

Preface to Temple Grandin's "Thinking in Pictures" (by Oliver Sacks, author of "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat")

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