Friday, February 24, 2006

Quickies

Books I've read since my last post but, for whatever reason, don't feel like writing about:

Harper Lee: To Kill A Mockingbird

I am wholly inadequate to the task of analyzing this book based on only one reading. I'll revisit later.

Stephen Chapman: The 5 Love Languages

Jason recommended this to me with nearly the same breath as, "Just friends." Taking that as feedback, I have now read it and, as with on other topics, Jason was right.

Jim Wallis: God's Politics

A thought-provoking, if repetitive and pedantic, book on the intersection between religion and politics. I was almost convinced.

William Shakespeare: Measure for Measure

M4M, as we have taken to calling it, was surprisingly cogent for a Shakespeare comedy. More readable and entertaining, in my opinion, than Twelfth Night or As You Like It. Read in preparation for a theatrical performance, which was worth the $10 student price, but not the $40 full price. Prudent of me to have kept my ID, no?

Obadiah-Zephaniah

Sadly, not much worth reporting here, save that Schadenfreude is frowned upon.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Amos

I have reclaimed my interest in the Bible. After, as per my previous post, being unimpressed with what was formerly my favorite section, I felt like replacing it on the dust shelf. I figured, however, that Amos was only nine chapters, and that I should make a bit more progress before moving on. Wow.

It is provident that I read it immediately after reading a relevant portion of Jim Wallis' God's Politics, with which I have been so far only mildly impressed. Amos, as it happens, speaks precisely to Wallis' message of social justice. Take this striking example: "Hear this word, you cows of Bashan / who are on Mount Samaria, / who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, / who say to their husbands, / "Bring something to drink!" (4:1). I know these women! They often, even , claim to be liberal activists, while shopping at Terra Verde and spending obscene amounts on flowing garments. Or this: "Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, / and lounge on their couches, / eat lambs from the flock, / and calves from the stall; who sing idle songs to the harp . . . who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with finest oils" (6:4-6). I also know these men. Surely it is an obscenity in the face of God to spend vast sums on moisturizer, even thousands of dollars on decorative acoutrements for the house and yard, while even a single soul is hungry.

It is therefore a credit to me that I own nothing but what the universe has dropped on me, and it is a shame on me that I have been so phenomenally ungrateful. Thank you to God, Tao, JEHOVAH, the universe, whoever you are today. I have a new appreciciation for what Amos means when he identifies you repeatedly as "The God of hosts." Surely we are your guests, each and every one of us, and should behave accordingly. And you are only our God to the extent to which we ourselves are hosts, to the level of our hospitality for our fellow guests.

Not Illiterate; Honest.

Just lazy. I've been reading at my usual rate, or perhaps even a little more, but I simply haven't felt like writing about any of them. Here is a rundown: Daniel (formerly my favorite Bible book) Hosea, Joel, none of which I felt interested in. Bulfinch's mythology, from which I gained considerable perspective and knowledge, but writing about which I don't feel competent to perform. And Gabriel Garcia Marquez' Chronicle of a Death Foretold, which was amazing, but which I need to read again to do justice.