If the Church Were Christian by Philip Gulley
I knew I was going to be worth while when I read the Marcus J Borg blurb on the back, “Filled with memorable, insightful, and revealing stories. I recommend it.” Borg is a Christian scholar who has published many books about the life of Jesus.
Nibble & Kuhn by David Schmahmann
Either David Schmahmann is a master of subtle characterization, or he’s kind of a jerk, and this just seeped out into his characters naturally.
Spiritual but Not Religious by Robert C. Fuller
Have I told you guys about the second and last time I ever went to confession? The first of course, was when I made more first reconciliation in 4th grade. The second time, I was in 10th grade, on a field trip to Washington D.C. We were visiting the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and I felt like going to confession.
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
This is an epic, character-driven, beautifully-written, philosophical, sad, political, morally-ambiguous, expertly-foreshadowed, thematic,hard to get immersed in, dramatic, ironic, difficult, sweeping book.
Strange But True America by John Hafnor
Here are some of the things I learned reading this book: Read the rest of this entry »
Poland by James Michener
In European History and Western Civilization classes, at least in the U.S., you pretty much study England, France, a little bit of Germany, some Italy, possibly some Russia, and maybe a bit of the Spanish and Vikings. I’m half Polish (on my Mom’s side), and have always been annoyed with this. So it was with great relish that I read Michener’s epic, Poland.
I really wanted to love this book. But I just couldn’t. It needs a couple of more drafts before really getting there.
I have mixed feelings about this book. Mixed feelings about the way it was written and its content.
Listen, O my brothers, as I relate to you a skorry tale of Alex and his droogs, who are real horrorshow malchicks, what with their bitvas, using everything from nozhes to fisties to booties, and tolchocking litsos, viddying the krovvy running red. That is, when they aren’t busy drinking the old moloko at some mesto or giving a devotchka the ultra-violent in-out in-out while they boohoohoo. The whole while Alex slooshies his droog Ludwig van in his gulliver, which might make him unusual because most nadsats slooshie real gloopy pop warbles that about makes him bezoomny.
Imagine this: you are a well-educated, upper-middle class. rising professional, who has never broken the law, and you have been put on trial for…something. You don’t know what it is, because nobody will tell you. Your education is no help because while the courts in which you are tried are legal, they operate outside of the realm of normal jurisprudence. 