October's Overly Ambitious Reading List

1. Gilgamesh, A New English Version, by Stephen Mitchell

I've actually finished this.  It was an enjoyable read and easily finished in about a day or two. The Introduction took longer than the actual epic to read through, but it was very informative.  There were some interesting images in the poem that I found to be echoes of images used in the book of Daniel, though I guess it would be more accurate to say that Daniel contains the echoes of Gilgamesh-ian images because Gilgamesh existed long before Daniel.  I may have more to say on that later.

2. The Post Office, by Rabindranath Tagore

Another quick read. This short play about a young, sick boy longing to explore the world just outside of his window would be interesting to see performed rather than read. I picked this up on a whim merely because it was shelved in close proximity to Gilgamesh.

3. Yearnings; Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life, by Irwin Kula with Linda Lowenthal

I've only begun reading this and there are immediately some refreshing points made in the first chapter.  On the other hand, this is more of an inspirational book and I might soon tire of being inspired! I can only handle a certain amount of encouragement at one time.

4. The Confessions, by Augustine.

This is a second attempt for me.  The first version I picked up was translated into a KJV-type English and it was too much for me to slog through.  This is a more contemporary translation and much easier to read without being distracted by the anachronistic English of the other version.

5. The Republic, by Plato

This is the truly ambitious part of my reading list. I have never directly read Plato, or any of the Greek philosophers. I have been made familiar with some of their ideas through other works, or in a general way, but I haven't taken the time to read the original material. I don't know if I'll get through it because I find reading philosophy boring and obtuse beyond a very general presentation.  Diving into endless details and arguments about the preciseness of terms and the perpetual "if-then" soon tires me.  We'll see if I actually complete it.

On a side note, it was very odd that Plato's Republic was shelved near current political books, most of which I wouldn't consider serious works, like a book by Pat Robertson and other "authors" of his caliber. It seemed out of place to have Robertson and Plato side by side. Poor Plato, unable to defend himself or request better quarters for his works!

Book Bargains

Borders is shutting down many of its local bookstores. Hoping to score some good buys we traipsed in to see what was left in their Everything-Must-Go-Sale.

Eventually, I settled on these:

Thank God for Evolution, by Michael Dowd. I bought this mainly because I have seen many people refer to it or engage with it on blogs, so I thought it might be worth it to actually read it for myself . Whether or not I will ultimately agree with it, I think it will be an interesting read.

The second book The Bible, by Karen Armstrong, I bought mainly because it was only a few dollars and I have read a little bit of Armstrong before and thought spending $3.00 on an unknown book was an acceptable risk.

The third book The Bhagavad Gita, translated by Eknath Easwaran, is a part of Hindu Scripture. A blogger referred to it in one of my recent blog conversations elsewhere, in a completely non-Hindu context, and I had recently caught the tail end of an episode about it on PBS in their World Literature series. It piqued my interest.

I had weened down my pile of books to just these three. Initially I had wanted to get a paperback copy of The Koran and a book called God is Everything: The Radical Path of Non-dual Judaism; The Koran simply so that I could familiarize myself with Islam in more depth rather than depending on things that are communicated third-hand and God is Everything because one of the things that set me on the path that I have taken in the last few years was the realization that Old Testament Judaism was quite non-dualistic. I was curious to see what a modern take from a Jewish writer might look like.

Alas....I couldn't justify spending that much even though the prices were steeply discounted. I had to set some limits for myself..

I'll post on each of these once I have a chance to read through them.

Overreaching

Everyone knows that you don't go grocery shopping when you're starving. You wind up with a cartload of cookies, chips, and the trimmings for a five course meal followed by dessert.

It's a bad idea.

I realized the other day that I hadn't actually read a book in a few months. I still do quite a bit of reading online, blogs, news, and online magazines, but those are temporary bites and not a full cohesive meal.

During our weekly trip to the library, this is what I picked out:

Doubt, by Jennifer Michael Hecht (Michael as a woman's middle name?)

Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant

Jung, A Biography by Gerhard Wehr

The Meanings of Jesus; Two Visions by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright.

I'm not sure what I was thinking. I must have imagined that I was some dusty, old Englishman holed up in a study overflowing with books, and dominated by a mahogany desk full of important papers with a strategically placed desk light illuminating all that I cared to read.

I am not an Englishman, and I have neither desk, nor desk light.

Never go to the library looking for a good book to read that will stretch your mind.

Or else you'll wind up like me, preparing to run a mental marathon when I'm only in 5K shape.

Plus, it makes you realize what a complete and utter affecting person your are. I mean, who does this? Who so overestimates their mental capacity and commitment to learning that they actually take several minutes to consider what they are picking out to read and thinks to themselves,"Yeah...I can totally do this!"

I do get some sort of credit just for checking them out, right? Like, there must be some sort of mental osmosis of knowledge that come from merely handling books like these and reading the dust jacket, right?

Right?

Quote

One of the quotes I underlined in There Is No A God, comes from Frederick Copleston:

God becomes a reality for the human mind in the personal movement of transcendence. In this movement, God appears as the unseen goal of the movement. And inasmuch as the Transcendent cannot be grasped in itself and overflows, so to speak, our conceptual web, doubt inevitably tends to arise. But, within the movement of transcendence, doubt is at once counterbalanced by the affirmation involved in the movement itself. It is within the context of this personal movement of the human spirit that God becomes a reality for man.

Lots to think about in those few sentences.

There Is A God

While wandering through Barnes and Noble this morning, trying to see if they had this book (which I am going to order soon) in stock, I found another one of interest to me; There Is No A God; how the world's most notorious atheist changed his mind.   It's written by Antony Flew who apparently was the world's most notorious atheist.  

It must be true; the cover of the book says so itself.

Actually, I had already heard of Antony Flew, and his supposed change of mind about the existence of God, several years ago.  I filed it away in my head just in case I might need to retrieve it someday, like when I go on Jeopardy and astound the world with my incredible trivia skills.

I picked up the book and used my arbitrary selection method of reading material.  I open halfway through the book, read a few paragraphs and if it's interesting and engaging, I'll read it.

I opened the book to Chapter 4, A Pilgrimage of Reason, pages 85-86...and this is what I read:

Let us begin with a parable. Imagine that a satellite phone is washed ashore on a remote island inhabited by a tribe that has never had contact with modern civilization. The natives play with the numbers on the dial pad and hear different voices upon hitting certain sequences. They assume first that it's the device that makes the noises. Some of the cleverer natives, the scientists of the tribe, assemble an exact replica and hit the numbers again. They hear the voices again. The conclusion seem obvious to them. This particular combination of crystals and metals and chemicals produces what seems like human voices and this means that the voices are simply properties of the device

But the tribal sage summons the scientists for a discussion. He has thought long and hard on the matter and has reached the following conclusion: the voices coming through the instrument must be coming from people like themselves, people who are living and conscious although speaking in another language. Instead of assuming that the voices are simply properties  of the handset, they should investigate the possibility  that through some mysterious communication network they are in touch with other humans. Perhaps further study  along these lines could lead to a greater understanding of the world beyond their island. But the scientists simply laugh at the sage and say: "Look, when we damage the instrument, the voices stop coming.  So they're obviously nothing more than the sounds produced  by a unique combination of lithium and printed circuit boards and light-emitting diodes."

I was hooked.

Having some spare time before I had to leave for an appointment, I plunked myself into an overstuffed chair, flipped to the beginning of the book and read the preface written by Roy Abraham Varghese.  It was a delight! He hit so many points square on the head in reference to the "New Atheism", which has become so prevalent in the last few years.  I silently nodded my head while reading, yelling inside my head,"Yes!  That's exactly right!"  He addresses, in those few pages, several deficiencies in Richard Dawkins's, The God Delusion, which the disappointingly anemic The Dawkins Delusion, by Alistar McGrath, never touches upon.

My two very brief readings compelled me to buy the book, rather than merely borrow it from the library. I'm looking forward to reading more of it in the next few days.

Expect to hear more about it soon.

Library List

In no particular order:

Pudd'nhead Wilson and Other Tales--Mark Twain 

   *already started and thoroughly enjoying it

The Weight of Glory--C.S. Lewis

   *picked up on a whim, having already read several things by Lewis

The Reason for God; Belief in an Age of Skepticism--Timothy Keller

  *have heard much about the book and looking forward to checking it out

The Hammer of God--Arthur C. Clarke

   *gotta have some sci-fi distraction lying around the house

The Last Theorem--Arthur C. Clarke/Frederik Pohl

   * ditto 

rabbit, run

Having learned of John Updike's recent death, and coincidentally having seen an interview with him a few weeks before, I decided that I would check out one of his books from the library.  Somehow I had managed to make it through all my Lit. courses without ever reading him which struck me as strange.  I've read loads of "literature" and many more obscure American authors than Updike.  I must have passed him in the night.

Not knowing where to start, I picked up rabbit,run, a work which many book bloggers proclaimed was one of his best. I finished it last night and had overactive dreams disturbing my sleep all night.  I'm not sure the two are related, but noted the timing.

Updike's talent lays mainly in his incredibly descriptive prose.  Each of his characters is fully formed and multi-faceted.  In a few pages he takes Janice, Rabbits wife, and suddenly elucidates her for the reader. For most of the novel she has been in the background, serving only as a reminder of what Rabbit has left behind, and the duty he has shirked, which is exactly how Rabbit thinks of her. Blind to his own selfishness and ego-centricity he has reduced her and everyone else in his life to bit actors who serve only to provide a context for him and what he feels at a particular moment.

When Updike switches perspectives and let us peer into Janice, it is the death knell for any sympathy we have for Rabbit. He so quickly crystalizes the cost that Rabbit has extracted from everyone through his actions that it's difficult to view Rabbit with any sense of redemption.

Updike's skill with words is evident and appreciable. That being said....I didn't "enjoy" the book.  I read it quickly and uninterrupted, curious to see what was happening next, and wondering where Updike was leading the reader. Maybe I'll try one more work to round out my impressions.

Updike's style of writing, while impressive, is not reflective of my tastes...which probably says more about me than it does him.  I find reading him somewhat similar to reading Faulkner; slightly depressing and unsatisfying--tales that end in nothingness and bleakness.  They both have the skill of removing any hint of happiness from their stories and smashing it to bits on an existential anvil.

Book Review of "The Master of Secrets"

I just finished reading, The Master Of Secrets, by D.S. Lliteras. While browsing over the library's new fiction, the title popped out at me and I figured I would give Lliteras a whirl, having never heard of him or his books up to this point.

The Master of Secrets is a coming of age novel that takes place immediately after the crucifixion of Jesus. We follow Addan as he leaves his family to search out his father, a follower of Jesus. In the process of looking for him he encounters a few bandits and ultimately a 1st century healer/salesman, by the name of Jeshua, who entertains and fleeces his willing audiences. Addan is drawn into his schemes and becomes his assistant for a few days.

Overall the book was an enjoyable read. My only criticism is the leap of unbelievability required to get the story moving. It struck me as false that Addan would suddenly, and with such rapidity, be drawn into Jeshua's schemes, abandoning the search for his father and leaving his family behind during such a turbulent time.

There are some moments that Lliteras captures well and with poignant accuracy; such as his description of Addan's thought processes after he embraces faith in Jesus, experiencing the indwelling of God's spirit.

"He was frightened, not because of the strange feeling he was experiencing,
but because he was afraid that the feeling would stop. Or worse--that the
feeling was an illusion." (page 262)

How true to the feelings of a new Christian.

Freak-O-Nomics...the review

This past Christmas, while trying to figure out what to buy for my father-in-law, which is always something akin to having a root canal with no anaesthesia, I decided to get him a book. I had been contemplating the book Marley and Me by John Grogan because my father-in-law has a soft spot for retrievers. I thought he would enjoy an entire book about a man and his dog. But, at the last moment, I chose to get him Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Through a turn of events, too boring to record here, I eventually wound up with two copies. I miscellaneously gave the second one to my oldest brother.

Before I actually wrapped the books, I leafed through a few chapters and was interested, but also felt bad about reading a gift before I gave it someone, and more truthfully, I just didn't have time to read it. I don't know if they read it yet, although my brother seemed interested, or perhaps was just feigning interest. I really need to call him because the first chapter is a comparison between school teachers and sumo wrestlers and the various ways they can game the system. My brother was a teacher and is now a school principal. I wasn't sure if he was going to be offended or interested...probably interested....I hope. :-)

Anyway...(and yes, I realize that merely typing the word "anyway" as a segue shows a lack of writing skill and the creativity needed to flow from one paragraph to the next seamlessly...but....anyway)

I picked up the book from the library this past weekend and read it from cover to cover in one night. I found it simultaneously thought provoking and disturbing. If you haven't read the book, it would be too much for me to go into sufficient detail to convey all of the writers' points.

One chapter deals with the theory that crime has been on a steady decline since the Nineties as a result of legalized abortion. Basically, the premise is that the majority of the children who would have been born to low-education, low socio-economic mothers would have made up a burgeoning criminal class which, up until that point in history, had been growing and causing crime rates to skyrocket. The elimination of these children created a void of would-be criminals whose lack of presence began to be felt at about the same time that they would have become teenagers. So, approximately thirteen years after Roe v. Wade, the crime rate begins to drop.

"Since 1985, states with high abortion rates have experienced a roughly 30 percent drop in crime relative to low-abortion states." -Freakonomics-Levitt and Dubner-pp 141

Earlier in the book, we are told that just after abortion had been legalized, conceptions rose by 30% while the birth rate declined by 6%. (Freakonomics, 139) So, my question would be: if the birth rate declined by only 6%, are we to believe that this 6% percent of the population would have been responsible for 30% of the crime rate listed above? I would be curious to know what percentage of the population contributes to the overall crime rate and if this holds up. That is also assuming that the entire 6% drop would be solely made up of poor, uneducated women who felt they couldn't provide for their children. Surely, some of the 6% drop would have come from a new, overall acceptance of abortion by the average woman during that time period. So, how much of that 6% fits the statistics?

I don't doubt that abortion has had some effect on criminality, but I do wonder how much of an impact it has had. I read the chapter on this subject several times and never found out by what percentage the overall crime rate had declined. There were plenty of comparisons of early legalizers to late legalizers, but no overall numbers. I thought that there should be.

Also, the authors are careful to note that a stricter justice system, and more criminals in prison, also contributed to the lower crime rate.( Freakonomics 123) So, considering these various factors, how much of the argument is hype and interesting discussion, and how much is tangible? I am still thinking this one through. Maybe I will e-mail Levitt and ask him to clarify! :-) Of course it would be funny if he actually did.

BTW...I am pro-life, so I have some bias in this regard, and even if it were true that abortion does lead to a lower crime rate, that in itself is not a justification for abortion. Less crime does not equate to more goodness.

My Thoughtful Husband

When hubby went to the library this past week, he picked up a science fiction book for me just to be kind and thoughtful. He knows I like to read science fiction and saw this book on the shelf where they feature new books that have just been acquired. How sweet of him to think of me!

Later on that night, after the kids were in bed, I figured I would start reading a few pages. I opened the book, read the first two paragraphs and made sure to let my husband know how much I appreciated this great, literary treasure. It reads:

"Dick Moelller didn't know if could fart his way into a major diplomatic incident. But he was ready to find out.

Moeller nodded absentmindedly at his assistant, who placed the schedule of today's negotiations in front of him, and shifted again in his chair. The tissue surrounding the apparatus itched, but there's no getting around the fact that a ten centimeter tube of metal and electronics positioned inside your colon, a mere inch or two inside your rectum, is going to cause discomfort." -The Android's Dream-by John Scalzi

Gee, thanks for the good read Hubby!

It seems this tube is some sort of alien communication device that uses gas emissions to communicate with another alien species. I gleaned that useful piece of information from the next two paragraphs in the book. I could not make this up if I tried.

So now, dare I plunge further into the depths of this book? (no pun intended) Or, should I assume that any book that opens this way could be as stinky as its first premise?

I'll keep you posted.