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Definitely not for meArchive for September, 2007
« Previous Entries Monday, September 24th, 2007Football follies
I’m a football fanatic–I love it. I love Sundays, unless both of my teams lose. Which they did. Lose. Yesterday. Grrrrrrr.
There is one bright spot, though–the Kentucky Wildcats beat up Arkansas on Saturday and are 4-0!! They haven’t been too great of a team for several years. This year that might change. Here’s to hoping.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Thursday, September 20th, 2007RIP Stories #2 and #3
Saint John’s Eve and A May Night, or the Drowned Maiden, stories from Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, which is contained in The Complete Tales of Nikolai Gogol, Vol. 1.
All three of Gogol’s stories so far have contained the devil in human form. It seems that Gogol’s mother warned him repeatedly about the evil one’s devilish schemes. I think the stories must have scared him to death when he was a youngster! They definitely had an impact on his imagination.
“Saint John’s Eve” is decidedly creepier than the “The Fair at Sorochintsy,” which was the first story in Evenings. Boy loves girl and uses the devil to obtain her. What the devil requires as payment is a heavy price to pay, but when the deed is done, boy doesn’t remember what he did to obtain girl. After they marry, he knows there is something he should remember, and he is obsessed with trying to figure out what it is and doesn’t even enjoy life with his wife. Does he ever remember? Read it and find out.
I didn’t like “A May Night, or the Drowned Maiden” as well as the first two. I had a little bit of a hard time following the story, and it was also longer than the other two. It is another tale of boy wants girl, but in this one, the father of the boy also wants the girl. Once again, the devil plays into it, as well as a witch with drowned maidens in a pond by a haunted cabin. This story wasn’t that scary, and it even had some funny parts in it.
These works sort of remind me of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories. I would still say Poe’s are better (at least so far), but I’m really glad I’m reading these for the RIP challenge.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Thursday, September 20th, 2007Thanks so much, Bookfool!
After the Chunkster Challenge, I found out that I won the grand prize–2 books, a mug, and some bookmarks. I received all of them quickly and in great condition, and can you believe I never thanked Bookfool? My manners are atrocious!
Thanks SO MUCH, and I hope you do the Chunkster Challenge again next year!
Popularity: 4% [?]
Monday, September 17th, 2007Fall into Reading
Go to Callapidder Days for more info on this challenge.
September 23 - December 21
My choices:
1. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. This is a 1000+ page book (actually, it’s made up of 3 books) that is on several of my challenge lists. I would like to read each of the 3 books by Oct. 21, Nov. 21, and Dec. 21.
2. Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens. This is an 1840’s book that I’m using so I can have 18 consecutive decades for the decades challenge.
3. Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright. Just because it looked interesting.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Monday, September 17th, 2007Blue Like Jazz
Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligous Thoughts on Christian Sprituality makes some very valid criticisms about the Christian community. First, that sometimes Christians are obsessed with outward appearance rather than the condition of a person’s heart. I fully agree with this. I don’t think God cares one hoot what we look like–whether it’s tattoos, piercings, the color of our hair, whatever. He is concerned with where our heart is toward him. That’s all.
Secondly, that Christians don’t love “sinners” because all they see is the sin and not the person. I wholeheartedly agree with this as well. Some may be more apt to “look down their noses” at a “sinner” rather than just reach out in love. This is obviously not what God wants Christians to do.
Thirdly, that many Christians support right wing causes to the absolute exclusion of any left of center concerns. Guilty again. We do need to give to the poor and take care of the needy, particularly widows and orphans. Jesus taught that as well.
I do have some concerns with some of his philosophy, however. He seems to advocate a grace and “acceptance” that go a little too far. I’m not talking here about non-Christians at all. I’m talking about people who claim to be followers of Christ. He lifts up Christians who appear to be following God in one or more areas, but yet are still engaging in practices not pleasing to God. He implies we shouldn’t judge and just accept. Of course God is the ultimate judge of all of us. Yet, the Bible clearly states that we ARE to point out to Christians (NOT non-Christians) areas that are not God-pleasing. Donald Miller himself has actually done that very well in his book!
My point is this. Once we are a follower of Christ, God loves us unconditionally and forgives us everything we do. That I believe. His grace does go far–really far! But, just as he forgave David for being a murderer and an adulterer, he also pointed out that there would be consequences to David’s acts. These consequences were the natural result of David’s sin. Yes, we are forgiven, but we still have to face the consequences. So why not try to obey God so as to receive our reward in heaven? I’d rather not just barely “escape through the flames” and be a toilet-scrubber in heaven. Of course, that’s just a figure of speech. What? You say you’ve tried and just can’t live up to what God wants? NONE of us can. Not without his help. That’s the whole point of Christianity. We couldn’t do it ourselves, so God took care of it for us. If you have the desire to please God, all you have to do is ask for his help to do it.
In conclusion, I think the Church would do well to examine some of Donald Miller’s points. But we can’t say that it doesn’t matter what we do because God loves us unconditionally and his grace covers all–EVEN THOUGH THAT’S TRUE!!! Because honestly, I wouldn’t want to live with the consequences of my actions if I just did what I wanted all the time. And even aside from the consequences, Christians should love God and WANT to please him.
2003, 240 pp.
Rating: 3.5
Popularity: 16% [?]
Saturday, September 15th, 2007The Tale of Despereaux
This is another Newbery winner that I listened to with my son on our road trip. We enjoyed this one even more than Bud, not Buddy.
Banished from his mouse community for fraternizing with humans (to borrow C.S. Lewis’s phrase), Despereaux is sent to the dungeon where it is assumed he will be eaten by the rats. Of course, he isn’t eaten by the rats, but while he’s in prison he learns of a rat’s plans to harm one of his beloved human friends, Princess Pea. His quest to save the Princess Pea forms the rest of the story, which I won’t spoil for you!
This is a very charming fantasy tale that kept us truly entertained on our trip. It might be a little scary for those under 8 or so, though. I also recommend DiCamillo’s The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which I read and enjoyed earlier this year.
2003, 272 pp.
Newbery Award
Rating: 4.5
Popularity: 20% [?]
Saturday, September 15th, 2007Bud, not Buddy
I listened to this Newbery winner by Christopher Paul Curtis with my son on the road trip to our new home. We both enjoyed it very much.
When we meet Bud Caldwell, he is living in an orphanage in Flint, Michigan. Soon, though, we find him “on the lam” and in search of his father whom he has never met. He always carries his few belongings in a suitcase, and in the suitcase are clues his dead mother left behind about his father. Set during the Great Depression, this book is excellent for its historical value for children. Recommended.
1999, 245 pp.
Newbery
Rating: 4
Popularity: 23% [?]
Saturday, September 15th, 2007The Known World
The Known World by Edward P. Jones has not only won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, but also the NBCC Award and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Jones really knows how to write his characters. Each one was very clearly defined. I won’t give away too much of the story here but will write a brief overview.
Henry and Caldonia Townsend are slave owners who are black themselves. Henry’s father had freed himself and his wife, and then later Henry. While Henry was still a slave under William Robbins, he became somewhat of a favorite, and was later instructed by Robbins on how to be a proper slave owner. Henry builds up quite a plantation but then dies unexpectedly. How Caldonia, along with her overseer Moses, runs the plantation afterward forms the rest of the novel.
Several issues are presented in the book. Whites’ attitudes towards blacks, both slave and free; the function of “the law;” men’s attitudes towards women (and vice versa); and the question of how and why blacks could own slaves themselves.
This is a very well-written book, and I struggled on whether to rate it a 4 or 4.5. There is some content in the book that downgrades it slightly for me. Consider it a very high 4.
2003, 388 pp.
Pulitzer Prize, NBCC Award, IMPAC Award
Rating: 4
Popularity: 18% [?]
Saturday, September 15th, 2007O Pioneers!
I’ve wanted to read one of Cather’s books for a long time. I grew up on a farm in the plains of Colorado and I readily looked forward to her description of the plains and farm life in Nebraska. I was excited I could use this as an “O” title and a 1910’s title as well.
I was a little disappointed in the book, though. It started off very slowly for me, but by the second chapter I was enjoying it. It is the story of the Bergson family and their struggles to make their farm successful. Alexandra Bergson (the oldest daughter) does a very good job managing the farm and they succeed when other people are selling the land. She and her brothers have different ideas about the farm, though, and split the land equally thereafter. When Alexandra’s land flourishes, her brothers still think they have a say in it and in her personal life. Thankfully, she is a strong woman and stands up to them.
I really enjoyed the basic story and the description of the Nebraska plains. I just felt, though, that the story was a bit incomplete. In the middle of the book it skips over several years and I would have liked to have read about them. In addition, I thought the ending was a little weak. Not in what happens, but in the writing of the ending. It just left me a little unsatisfied. I guess I wanted the story to continue. Still, it deserves its classic status, and I look forward to reading more of Cather’s work.
1913, 176 pp.
Rating: 4
Popularity: 14% [?]
Friday, September 14th, 2007The Little Prince
The Little Prince is a charming story written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. A pilot has crashed his plane and is stranded in the desert, where he meets a little prince from another planet. The prince tells the pilot about his planet and of the people he has met on other planets. Many lessons can be learned of the stories he tells.
This is a great book for children and adults. It is inspired by the author’s own crash in the Sahara desert as well as other personal events. The illustrations were beautifully done by the author. Highly recommended!
1943, 84 pp.
Rating: 4.5
Popularity: 21% [?]
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