What do mustard, the manuscript of "On The Road" and I have in common?

All three are on a roll.

C.S. Lewis: The Screwtape Letters

I think I agree with Lewis when he writes, "Though I had never written anything more easily, I never wrote with less enjoyment." He compares the concept of Screwtape to Gulliver's Travels and Erewhon: once the idea has been conceived, they write themselves: "It would run away with you if you gave it its head." By the same token, the letters are a fun idea, but grow tiresome quickly, mostly due to their baldly pedantic manner.

Stanley Weinbaum: The Mad Moon

In order to teach Sci-Fi literature effectively, I think I shall need to limit variables. That is to say, I shall teach a story where the key element is the danger of power or the allure of the fantastic journey, but not both. Each element needs to be a separate lesson, and this story is disqualified on that count. It is mildly entertaining, and even has something to say about the rise and fall of civilizations. There is somply too much going on at one time to make it easily teachable.

1 and 2 Samuel

Well, this clears up the mystery at the end of Judges a bit. When last we left our friends the Israelites, the city of Jabesh-Gilead had been decimated to procure brides for the tribe of Benjamin, which had, in turn, been slaughtered to punish the sins of Gibeah. What a nasty business that was. What a lot of karma must had resulted; however was JEHOVAH going to balance the scales on these horrible atrocities?

Years later, the Israelites clamor for a king and Saul is chosen, seemingly at random. Where does he set up his kingdom? Gibeah. Where is he buried? Jabesh-Gilead. How wonderful that one city has closed the book an the atrocities that were set in motion by another, even if it is generations later. This is the sort of stuff I love discovering in books, and I have never heard of this connection being drawn before.

By the same token, other interesting things have revealed themselves to me now that I am seeing the bible with clean glasses. For instance, what fascinating characters David and his Captain Joab are. Little incidents of their peccadiloes went largely unstudied during my youthful Biblefication. I look forward to continuing this section through Chronicles. Surely it is all downhill after Deuteronomy.

BTD: 27ish