At the request of one of you I’ve started reading Moby Dick. You see, up to a month ago or so I had been thinking long and hard about going sailing for an extended period of time, selling my home and just going for it. But real life and money have hindered that dream, so instead I thought I’d just start reading about others that have gone to sea. Hence, I’m a hundred pages into Moby Dick and thus far I’m into it. The writing style is nothing that I expected but it’s in nice little short chapters so it makes me feel like I can stop and not lose the flow or that I’m briskly moving the book (though in reality I’m not but the mind is interesting and I like to play it’s games).
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I’ve also started a study of Ecclesiastes, Job, and Song of Songs. I never really understood Ecclesiastes and I can already see clearer with just a bit of effort. If you are maybe happy go lucky at the moment then I don’t know that the first of the two books will speak to you as much as those that are a bit in the trenches, or a bit more in despair, or a bit more confused. You’ll love Song of Songs I’m sure but those in despair will love it too after spending time with The Teacher and Job. My study has started with one of my favorite teachers, Peter Kreeft. He’s written a mad number of books and is a philosopher teaching at Boston College. He has written Three Philosophies of Life which see Ecc. as life as vanity, Job as life as suffering, and Song of Songs as life as love. This book along with other commentaries and the books themselves are opening up the ways of life, the ways of man, and the ways of God to me more at the moment.
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Speaking of Peter Kreeft I also recommend his podcast to you. Just look up Peter Kreeft in podcasts and you should see it. Each episode is a lecture him giving somewhere, usually a university, followed by a question and answer time. He’s a Tolkien and C.S. Lewis fanatic and is always teaching about their ideas and such, along with ideas on God and philosophy. He is a hard out Catholic no doubt, so if you are squirmish around hearing this or that that you don’t agree with then this might not be for you, but I’d not turn away an excellent teacher just because you disagree with a few things. I do disagree with him on some things but since discovering Kreeft I am a more rounded Christian for it and I know the Lord more richly than I did before.
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Another podcast worth checking out if you are into Tolkien is “The Tolkien Professor”. If you love Lord of the Rings and Tolkien especially, this rules. Something about hearing academic lectures on Tolkien just makes me happy. I feel full on dorkish and love every minute of it.
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Things I’ve recently read or watched…
Book: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
After being engulfed in the Lord of the Rings for the past few years it was very nice to return to where it all began. I love The Hobbit most of all and reading it again I realized how fun and childish it is. I could go on but it’s The Hobbit, you are either down or not.
Film: The War by Ken Burns
For those of you that are PBS watchers this will sound familiar. For a good while it showed parts of this documentary every night. It’s a beast at 15 hours long. And while I don’t doubt that some people could watch 15 hours of Lost straight I’d find it hard to believe that one could watch this in single setting. This is about the most brutal documentary I’ve ever watched. It focuses on four towns in four different states and how each of them and their citizens were during World War II. Many of us already know the facts of WWII as we are taught this stuff all throughout school, but I didn’t care much for a lot of what I learned during school because I don’t think I cared to learn much until the day I graduated. And facts (like soldiers going into battles expecting themselves or 8 of their 10 comrades to die) only go so far but to hear and see the stories of these soldiers as they cry some 60 years later bring home the reality of all the death, all the tragedy, all the questions. It’s absolutely heartbreaking and has actually given me nightmares during and since watching it. I say watch it because one won’t view veterans the same, the idea of free will quite the same, good versus evil, God, America, etc. I’m a big proponent of thinking about things and such a film will produce many thoughts, good, bad, and confusing.
Film: The Horse Whisperer
I didn’t expect this to be so girly, but I should have known better. I did dig the Montana scenery though.
TV: Lost
After years of being adamantly against watching such a grown up soap opera where the writers didn’t even know what was going on, I caved. I’m hooked. The writing is killer and the characters fascinating. It’s doing a genius job of showing how everyone is a walking storybook, full of joy and pain and secrets. I didn’t expect to find such grace and forgiveness here. I am nearly halfway through season two. Yesterday I dreamed that Hurley worked at Wal Mart and was selling me two televisions. “Uh, dude, we don’t have that one in stock I have to special order it for you.”
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So I was I was typing this I forgot I had eggs boiling. The water evaporated and they just exploded.
Sincerely,
Bradley
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I do the same thing with the short chapters. it could probably be the worst book in the world, but if it had short chapters I'd be more apt to read it.
ReplyDeletethose are three of my favorite books of the Bible. at least ones in the Old Testament. the last few chapters of Job are incredible. and humbling. I might have to check the Peter Kreeft book out.
I'm glad you're reading "Moby-Dick," and I hope the beautiful imagery and language Melville provides for his readers draws you in as much as it did for me. Wait until an especially important moment towards the end where Pip is a main focus. I've always loved reading and writing, but that moment blew my mind and expanded my love to a greater extent. Seriously, just wait.
ReplyDeleteI'm writing a paper right now about the Book of Job as it relates to Hilary Mantel's book "Climate Change." I recommend the book a lot, even if I believe it too be too populated. I'm drawing a comparison between Job and one of the main characters of the story. It is going well so far, and it has given me the chance to go in depth to a book I have not had a lot of experience with and appreciate it in a way I hadn't before.