Life Together

TIME: December 2008
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AUTHOR: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

NOTES:

This isn't really the sort of book that one critiques. A chapter in it was suggested by Prof. Davidson. I have been asking him to explain to me how he lives in Christian community. More specifically, I am trying to live in the Church which I often find frustrating.

Bonhoeffer is a pretty intense read. He was a Christian pastor/theologian etc. in Germany during Hitlers Reign. He chose to go back to Germany and was imprisoned in a Nazi camp. He died in the camp just before the allied forces liberated it. He was executed.

In this book Bonhoeffer offers his thoughts on what Christian community is all about. The stinging part for me was that he saw community as a grace. This means that one should approach the Church with an attitude of thankfulness despite its obvious shortcomings. He doesn't mince words about this idea as he explains that people like me do damage to the Church and basically offend God by our constant complaining, refusal to 'enter in' and so on. He does lighten the blow when he explores what hardens folks like me.

It seems that I am unable to 'enter in' because I am not fully living in forgiveness. It's not that God will not forgive me; Instead, the problem is that I have not humbled myself by confessing to another brother in the Church. Because I haven't faced my sins in any real mortifying way I am more able to judge others for their faults. The act of telling someone else the things you do in your head or in secret that are sinful is an act of killing your pride. The fact is that God will call us to account for our sins in the end so having them out now is a much more desirable option. By recognizing that one is sinful and unworthy the Church is put in focus for that person. In fact, all humans are sinners offered grace by God. As such I am not to pass judgement on my fellow believers. I can still encourage them and even rebuke them (if the rebuke is meant to help them in the end). However, I am totally unworthy and unable to look with disdain at other humans. Note that this is Bonhoeffers advice not my present state.

Bonhoeffer also suggests a lifestyle focused on prayer and structured Bible reading, fellowship, communion, and worship. All of this is good stuff but without the first step its not really that useful. So, I am in the process of figuring out what all this means for me. I am shopping for a confessor and I am trying to be more humble through submission to the Word and to God.

BIG WIN AT PUB TRIVIA

Big Win At Bobby's Trivia Night This Week!

Every week my friends and I head to the local irish pub, which is called Bobby's Place. We go for a time honoured tradition: Pub Trivia. Each week they also have a side contest in which those who buy imported beers are entered in a draw to win one of six sets of awesome beer glasses. I have long desired this set and this week the owner extended the draw to 12 sets. We won the last set! BEST TRIVIA NIGHT EVER!

Cash: The Autobiography

AUTHOR: Johnny Cash
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TIME: December 2008

NOTES:

After finishing "The Broom of the System" I was in need of a lighter read and I saw this book on one of my shelves. I think that I bought it at a yard sale in the summer. I also recalled that it got a recommendation in High Fidelity which is a great Hornby book turned film. In the film Cash by Cash is placed in a top ten list of favorite books by the lead character.

Johnny Cash is a surprisingly good writer (although I am sure he had help from Patrick Carr). The books style is great. It has the feel of a campfire story or a fishing lodge tale. The writing is casual and heartfelt. I was especially impressed with the humility and wisdom that Cash displayed when he was talking about his darker days. I was expecting to get gruesome details about trashed hotel rooms, vomit filled nights of lechery and the like. Instead Cash chose to highlight a few of his worst days in order to de-glamorize his rock star lifestyle. He told one story about him accidentally burning down a good portion of a wildlife refuge and trying to pretend that he hadn't noticed by faux fishing at a nearby pond. This story was humiliating and though I did laugh out loud it certainly didn't make me want to copy Cash.

From a music history perspective the book was really interesting. As you know Cash is intertwined with the greats including Elvis, Waylon Jennings and the Carter family. What you may not know is that his first major tour was as an opener for Elvis. It was really interesting to hear all the many many stories of the olden days when you could wait on a record companies front steps with a guitar and get a record deal; or when a friend could cover your show if you were to strung out to play. Cash makes the 'good old days' of music seem incredible. He communicates a camaraderie between artists that is romantic and inspiring. This book is peppered with anticdotes about guitars of note, sound men, producers, epic shows, the road and songwriting. Any audiophile would be foolish to leave this piece of history unread.

As a Christian I was very impacted by the spiritual undertones of the book. Recently I have been getting harder and harder on myself and others about sin. It was interesting to gain Cash's perspective which is influenced much more by grace than my own. One glaring truth of Cash's life is that he made a lot of mistakes. He failed at marriage, endangered a species, struggled with drug and alcohol addiction to the point of near death and so on and so forth. I think that this had a huge impact on his ability to forgive much. I am reading Bonhoeffer right now and he says that our grace and mercy is dependant on the forgiveness offered by Christ. So, as Cash was forgiven much he was also able to forgive much. Maybe this idea isn't revolutionary to everyone but I have not been able to appreciate it until recently and this book was a big part of that.

The Broom of the System

TIME: December 2008
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AUTHOR: David Foster Wallace

NOTES:

I picked this book up because of David Foster Wallace's recent suicide. I have read a number of Wallace's essays, most notably: Consider the Lobster which is available as a podcast and should be listened to by everyone. I was curious to see what his more fictional work revealed about him. This will sound silly but after reading the book I can sorta see why Wallace might have done what he did. (P.S. I am aware of his medication changes just prior to his death and I understand better than most that mental illness is a real thing that can't be easily beaten, especially when your medication isn't doing its part.) The book did have a thread of sadness, a feeling of insecurity, even searching.

Let me explain the book a little bit. The basic plot surrounds a beautiful but neurotic woman named Lenore Beadsman. Miss Beadsman went to a really small but good college and studied philosophy. She is now working as a switchboard operator at a small publishing company called 'Frequent and Vigorous'. She is also romantically involved with her boss, Rick Vigorous. Rick and Lenore see the same shrink on an almost daily basis. These separate meetings with Dr. J reveal that Lenore is very troubled in a number of ways. They also show that Rick suffers from a painfully small penis. The penis becomes a metaphor for interaction between the self and others. Dr. J and Rick have long dialogues about Ricks inability to penetrate Lenore's membrane.

Lenore comes from a rich and dysfunctional family. Her Father owns and operates a baby food empire that competes with Gerber. There is also a grandmother in the family (Lenore Sr.). Lenore Sr. is housed in a retirement complex that is owned by the Stonecipher company (Lenore's Dad's baby food company). It is interesting to note that Lenore Sr. was a student of Ludwig Wittgenstein and much of the story is spent exploring some of his theories of identity and meaning. Anyway, Lenore Sr. mysteriously disappears from the old folks complex with over a dozen staff and fellow clients. It is hinted that she is somewhere working with Gerber. The idea is that she is revealing a family secret in order to hurt Mr Stonecipher (dysfunctional family right). The story is framed around the missing Grandma and Lenore's search for understanding regarding her disappearance.

The main plot is easy to grasp. The book is written with a series of side stories. We are privy to manuscripts from CEO meetings and psychiatry appointments. There is also a connected narrative concerning a bird that was gifted to Lenore by Rick. The bird is named Vlad the Impaler. Vlad begins speaking english very well after being slipped some of the 'family secret' (the same secret that Lenore Sr. is potentially leaking). The secret is an ingredient that, when added to baby food, causes babies to speak far earlier than is natural. The bird is taught Bible versus by Lenore's roommate who wants the bird to stop repeating details of her sex life. Vlad is then recruited by a televangelist who uses Vlad to make Lenore's landlord a lot of money.
The story is also set in 1990 which is a couple years in the future from the time it was written. As such Wallace is able to take some creative licence. This licence results in Gilligan's Island themed bars in which a Gilligan look-a-like bar tender is paid to hurt himself every hour. There is also the Greater Ohio Dessert (GOD); which is a man made dessert, with jet black sand, designed to offer wilderness and danger to the largely sub-urbanised world. Also, the story is often drawn back to Wallace's own college where we are introduced to Lenore's devilish, drug addicted brother with a wooden leg. This brother is affectionately known as the Antichrist. Another important character is Wang Dang Lang who becomes the antithesis to Rick Vigorous. Lang has a very large penis and becomes Lenore's solution to non-fulfillment.

All in all the book is hilarious, witty, brilliant, confusing, and impossible to put down even in the wee hours of night. One warning I do offer is that the book is very sexual. If that sort of thing is an issue for you your probably not going to enjoy this read... That said, I would encourage any serious reader, especially a college age reader to try this title. It is like an onion with several important layers of meaning. I feel as though I will need to read it several times to really 'get' some of it. I also feel as though I could read it every week forever and I still wouldn't mine all the depths it offers. After finishing I feel more than ever the tragedy that losing Wallace while he still had so much to offer was. May the Lord have mercy on this troubled but gifted soul.

On Stories

TIME: November 2008
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AUTHOR: Richard Kearney
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NOTES:
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This was a De-Ja-Vu book for me on a couple of fronts. Firstly, many of the Humanities professors at my college read this book years ago and it has influenced what they teach greatly (whether they know it or not). Also, many of my friends have read or partially read the book. Lastly, the idea of narrative or story being an important avenue of truth has always been popular in Christianity to some extent; (beginning with Jesus and his parables) but has become even more popular in recent history with the coming of the 'emergent Church' and a more arty crowd. Like De-Ja-Vu everything seemed familiar in this read but it was much clearer this time around.

Kearney works to outline the importance of narrative in this book by defining five main categories of 'use'. I hesitate to use functional language because I think part of what Kearney is doing is kicking against the enlightenment shrines built around 'absolute truth', function as king, and empirical fact. At any rate, The book covers five main elements of narrative that make it vital to our existence.

One:Plot (MYTHOS)
This element was the hardest to understand for me. Essentially, I think it is dealing with the basic form of human life and the fact that making conscious story of it is very helpful in achieving life abundantly. Kearney points to the fact that all human life is essentially a plot line. We all have a beginning, middle and end. All of our stories are peppered with climax, conflict, emotion, characters and so on. We are all stories waiting to be read and interpreted. By consciously seeing ourselves as such we are able to examine our plot lines, placing ourselves in the greater story and interpreting our lives in light of the history and projection that story offers. I feel sure that my brief explanation has done injustice to Kearney's complex thought but as an amateur reader I am trying to communicate what I gathered rather than what would have been gleaned by my superiors.

As a side, I could not help but think of the implications of this understanding of life for the thoughts of a Christian. It is Evangelical speak to say that we are all written into God's story and that we are all playing our roles as assigned by God... However, I could not help but reflect on the deeper meaning offered by this book. It is true that we all have a plot; so why should the universe not have the same? Also, I can't help but think that as conscious players examining and being enriched by our autobiographical roles we are helping to write the greater script in some small way?

TWO: Re-Creation (MIMESIS)
This element is the one that is always present in fiction. Kearney is careful not to use the word "imitation" because he wants to avoid 'servile connotation'. That is to say he does not want to limit or oppress MIMESIS with the idea that it must be empirical fact. The Re-creation of a story or event into a written, filmed, or told form is an effort to capture its essence in a way. Kearney speaks much of the use of parody of caricature. MIMESIS reveals important truth to us by the telling. It is self reflective like MYTHOS but this is a bit different because it can be any story , not just our own. This is why MIMESIS is sometimes present in the telling of History as well. The historical aspect is touchy though as there is some debate over whether History should be 'just the facts', which is impossible of course but non-the-less valued by some. There is a sizable section in the middle of the book dealing with different Holocaust representations which is helpful in more fully understanding this element.

THREE: RELEASE (CATHARSIS)
In Catharsis we are able to 'live a day in another mans shoes'. Kearney explains that this element involves both sufficient distance from events and persons as well as a type of sympathetic closeness. Most Christians will have experienced something like this in the arena of 'testimony' or perhaps in certain types of meditation involving the imaginative placing of oneself in a character of bystander in biblical stories. This element allows us to empathize with the other. I believe that it can also serve as a therapeutic aide to those actually involved. In story, we are able to live in a situation otherwise foreign to us, we can experience the pain, fear, distress, joy etc. of a character and empathize with them. This is not true with all accounts. Take for example the difference between an autopsy report for a murder victim and a biography about the victim who owned the body before it was dismembered. The one would hold much more empathetic weight than the other... perhaps this is why CSI is so popular?

FOUR:WISDOM (PHRONESIS)
Number four is a bit confusing to me as was number one. To the best of my knowledge Kearney is pointing to a unique function in fiction (although it spills into non-fiction in a complex overlap). This function is its ability to respect individuality in story while still interacting with universality. So, 'wisdom' is imparted through story in a way that is universally applicable to the human condition. A type of truth (wisdom) which is not empirical fact can be communicated through imaginative narrative that in fact, cannot be told through an autopsy report, a list of the dead, or even a purely objective view of an event.

I think this is probably why Jesus used the parable so much.

FIVE: ETHICS (ETHOS)
In this bit Kearney briefly talks about narrative as conversation. He says that in all story there is a teller, a story, a listener, and a real or imaginary world. In the interplay of these elements ETHOS is worked out. By allowing us to traverse in common worlds with one an other we are able to experience the other. This interplay creates and maintains a viable arena for the telling of truth, and empathizing even with our enemy. We find common ground in the story.


The untold life is not worth living
-R. Kearney

• My post about Homer seems relevant here

The Alphabet of Grace

TIME: November 2008
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AUTHOR: Fredrick Buechner
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NOTES:
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I went around asking my friends to recommend books to me and a good friend of mine named Steve offered me this one. I was very happy to receive it as I am a big fan of the author. I just recently read one installment of 'The Book of Bebb' and I loved it. I recommend the book of Bebb as highly as I recommend the present title.
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A book like this defies description. I can tell you that he discusses faith and God in it. He talks about how language is the way we express story (hence the alphabet reference). I can also tell you that it reads like a crisp spring morning filled with good coffee and pleasant smells in comparison to many modern defences of faith. He does not offer empirical data as an explanation of his belief. Instead, he speaks of the little moments in life where it seems like God is gleaming through. These moments can be tree branches clacking on one another or the nights when you reach into the darkness expecting to touch the hand of Jesus (read the book and you'll get it). Beuchner argues for a faith with doubt. He argues for a true human faith in the Divine: one that does not rest on absolute scientific fact but one that rests in a feeling so fleeting yet so real. Though I find myself unable to clearly express what Buechner is up to in this book I can tell you that it tastes of a truth that is lost in books that 'clearly tell it'.

God's Universe

TIME: September 2008

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AUTHOR: Owen Gingerich

NOTES:

This was a textbook for a class that Sarah took last year with Prof. Gobbet. I was attracted to it because it was short and it reminded me of "A Brief History of Time".

The author discusses the basic tenants and history of the Big Bang Theory and Evolutionary Theory. These two central topics are peppered with various astronomic tid-bits of interest. The book is appealing because the author is a firm believer in both Orthodox Christianity and in the two main topics of the book (interesting, no?). For those not in the loop, this is interesting because much of contemporary pop-debate suggests that the Christian faith and Evolution/Big Bang is incompatible.

Throughout the book the reader is impressed with the idea that these modern theories may actually compliment Christianity. Obviously one is forced to abandon a hyper-literal interpretation of Genesis (which I abandoned long ago anyway) in order to give ear to Gingerich. After hearing about the extreme improbability of sentient life and a habitable planet, the complexity of DNA, and the unfathomable nature of the Big Bang one is left with the impression that an intelligent designer/sustainer is more probable than not.

I am not a scientist so my opinions are largely based in ignorance but I was very impressed with this little book and it caused me to question much of what I believe regarding creation. Without further research I am unable to offer much more than non-scientific kudos to a scientific read.

The Chrysalids

TIME: February 2008
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AUTHOR: John Wyndham
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NOTES:
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I just finished this book the day a family member ended his life. This context may or my not color my response.

The book itself was very interesting from a Christian (or at least my Christian...) point of view. It used much familiar Christian language including: image of God, Bible, faith, and blasphemy. The unique angle was that the terms were used in a way that I had to disagree with, as in a girl with six toes being a non-human blasphemy. This was obviously disconcerting in its polemical nature against my belief but it was also enlightening in the perspective it allowed me.
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In a way I was able to view my faith from the outside. I was able to here the protests of homosexuals and pro-choicers against my folds often poor language choices. I am not totally sure, but I think the underlying message of this book was the superiority of evolution, progress, and tolerance over what the author portrays as dead tradition which is only holding back the above mentioned goods.
My immediate, knee-jerk reaction to this message is that Christianity is being misrepresented. I would have to agree with Wyndham in that much of fundamentalist faith is indeed an effort to hold lifeless tradition to closely. However, I believe that true Christianity is living, breathing and compatible with a changing world. Not only that, but I would argue that Christ is necessary for a full and proper perception of what it means to be.
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From a literary standpoint the book was beautifully written. The expressions of cruelty and fear impact the reader on a deeply felt level. The Characters were well developed and believable and the setting was especially well done. One of the major feats of this novel was its intriguing future setting. One is able to clearly picture the landscape because it abandons traditional 'sci-fi' leanings in favor of an almost Amish like post apocalyptic world. In this setting the reader accepts common things like plough horses and helicopters as fantastical animals and outrageous machinery.
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The one major downfall of the book , which has been highlighted by many a critic, is what is sometimes called a "god from the machine ending". basically, a helicopter with future weapons sweeps in at the moment of climax and neatly solves all of the seemingly insurmountable difficulties in one fail swoop. I was also left thirsting for an explanation of the cause of the Apocalypse. I wanted a back story so badly and found myself flatly denied.

Slam

TIME: June 2008
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AUTHOR: Nick Hornby

NOTES:
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This book has a lot of varied significance for me. Firstly, I bought it in Banff on my second year anniversary. Secondly, this is the first book that Sarah and I have read out loud together. Aside from these outside milestones the book itself was also fantastic. At first I was put off because the main Character took advice from his Tony Hawk poster on a regular basis. I did eventually get over this one tacky hurdle because Hornby, in his genius, was able to make this cheesy concept into a believable element of the story.

The basic thrust of the novel was that a fifteen year old son of a single mom gets his girlfriend pregnant. On a side note I spent the thirteenth year of my life agonizing over whether I had impregnated a girl or not (just for the curious, she was not pregnant) and so I could relate to the emotion in this book very well. The boy, Sam, goes through a lot over this situation including a breakup, a runaway and the seeming transportation into the future via Tony Hawk.

I find that the best part of Hornby novels is usually the ending. In "High Fidelity" we learn that love is imperfect and tough. In "About a Boy" we learn that no man is an island and in order to fully live we need to open up to the mess and hurt that comes with interrelation. In "SLAM" we learn that getting a girl pregnant as a fifteen year old boy is complicated. Things don't work out perfectly, you might still lose the girl, plans might have to change etc etc. but in the end life is about living with the mess and seeing the hope in it.

Lucky Man

TIME: February 2007
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AUTHOR: Michael J. Fox

NOTES:

First of all, I promise to read something 'Classic' soon. Recently I bought the 'Back to the Future' trilogy. After viewing it I was full of nostalgia. I found myself at the Salvation Army during my nostalgic buzz and got some great deals. I ended up with three Blondie albums, one Keith Green record (which I didn't even know existed), and a handful of books. One of the books was a crisp new copy of 'Lucky Man'. I started reading this book on the John thinking that I would put it down afterward; instead I ended up ingesting the whole thing in a matter of days.

One obvious reason that I dug this book so deeply was that is contains a lot of behind the scenes stuff about 'Back to the Future'. However, what kept me reading was Fox's struggle with Parkinson's disease. My family struggles with diseases that impact the brain and I always feel a strong affinity with famous people who have similar struggles (I am thinking also of Daniel Johnson).

I liked the way that Fox tackled his life. He was not self degrading but he was honest. He has that honest edge that is difficult to find. He deals with a lot of stuff including brain surgery, family, bar fights with Woody Harrelson, fund raising and working as a public figure who has a visible health problem. I don't have a lot to say other than that.

The Abraham Connection

TIME: February 2007
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AUTHOR(S): Gordis, Grose, and Siddiqi

NOTES:

I read this book for a class called 'The History of Christian Muslim Relations'. I chose this title out of a lengthy list because it is written in the form of dialogue and 'Shades' has inspired me to read more of this type of writing. The dialogue consisted of three speakers representing Judaism, Protestantism, and Islam. The discussion was guided around the topics of History, Theology, and Faith.

As a Christian I was pretty disappointed with our man in the discussion. Somehow Grose, who was the Christian, managed to concede even when the others were not pressuring him to. At one point he even said that all three religions could be simultaneously 'valid'(which I suppose is true in the sense that we can mutually respect one another), which was immediately contested by the others as they were not willing to allow a 'lets get along because we are all correct despite glaring contradictions between us' view.

I did learn a lot about Judaism that I did not previously know. For example I was unaware of the "mid rash" which seems to be like an appendix to their main text (OT). This mid rash is where Jewish historians and theologians claim that Muslims borrowed much of the Koran from. Of course Muslim scholars would argue that Muhammad had no knowledge of any other text and that the Koran was authored by Allah.

The book was valuable to me on two fronts, one major and one minor. The minor value was the wealth of first hand knowledge about two other Abrahamic religions. It was wonderful to here intelligent proponents of other faiths explaining stances in a clear and respectful way. However, the major value of the text was as a model for discourse. This text serves as proof that different faiths can engage in dialogue without resorting to the the ugliness we see in the media. In the modern world this kind of example is priceless.

The Odyssey

TIME: January 2007
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AUTHOR: Homer

NOTES:
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This was an assigned text for my senior Humanities Seminar. I knew that this book was a classic but I had no idea what it was about. It turns out that Homer covers a range of what it means to be human including: sex, love, honor, war, peace, justice, pain, loss, and death. the most interesting element of the story for myself was the theme of 'storytelling'.

The Characters of Odysseus and his son Telemachus often find themselves sharing their stories with strangers. It seems that these stories serve a number of purposes. The most obvious gain is that they establish a relationship between the teller and the hearer. By sharing his story the teller is sharing himself with the recipient. In this way 'troth' is established. Apparently 'troth' is a similar concept to truth or trust or perhaps a combination of the two. Troth represents a commitment between persons based on mutual sharing of themselves. We see this kind of thing worked out in romantic relationships. Myself and my wife spent many hours sharing our life stories with one another in the early part of our journey. this sharing created a bond and it facilitated a vulnerability that I don't share with many people. Perhaps the shocking bit of 'the Odyssey' is that this troth is shared between men and men. In modern society it is not fashionable to be vulnerable with other men and so its strikes the reader as strange to see muscular warriors pouring their hearts out to one another around the dinner table.

This concept of troth is very important, especially as a Christian. I am learning that I must establish troth between myself and God and myself and others. This is done by getting past the superficial to something deeper. This requires a mutual sharing of story. In Gods case the Bible seems like a logical starting point. By reading the old old story I learn why I should trust God, why I should love him, why I should fear him. In Christian fellowship this requires confessing one to another, testifying to truth, and sharing our stories with one another. In everyday life this requires a more open self. This is of course a difficult undertaking in the individualistic space I find myself in . North America is not a friendly place to become vulnerable. Also our culture promotes a 'me' mentalitity, which basically means that people are more interested in hearing themselves speak than others. I also wonder if troth should be sook with everyone or if it is reserved for certain appropriate spaces.

Shades

TIME: January 2006
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AUTHOR(S): Brad Jersak and Sean Davidson
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NOTES:
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Honestly, the only reason I gave this book a chance was because a Prof. of mine co-authored it. I did, however, really enjoy reading it. The book is formatted as a 'chat-room' discussion (a sort of platonic-new age feel). The Conversation is between Brad and Sean with a few others interjecting once in awhile. For the sake of context you should know that Brad has been frequenting my college campus for years preaching the virtues of 'listening-prayer' (LP). I have been an avid heckler of his efforts on the basis that I do not audibly hear the Lord and I have always felt that the movement is built on fluff. Knowing how I felt prior to the book you will have to agree that the authors achieved their intended purpose. They successfully nuanced the practice for me. I have, indeed, been softened to some of Brad's ideas through the nuance and probing that Sean provided in discourse.

Near the end of the book Sean offers a very helpful word. he basically tells Brad to stop defending his stance as a solely theological one. This really took my guard down as my main complaint against the LP proponent's NEED to PROVE the practice DEFINITIVELY, which I have always taken as a desire to normalize it. What I mean is that I have always felt that the LP supporters try to label LP as the only true way to communicate with God. What Sean was asking Brad to do instead of PROVING was to WITNESS. The idea of witness is a much humbler stance in my opinion. The basic concept, as I understand it, is that a person witnesses by sharing their experience. So instead of PROVING abstract ideas with reference to text one witnesses to the texts by sharing his or her experience.

Housekeeping Vs. The Dirt

TIME: December 2006
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AUTHOR: Nick Hornby

NOTES:

I read this book at the end of a tough semester. I have been feeling disillusioned with academics (specifically the study of literature and philosophy). I have been upset about the intellectual elitism that permeates the groups that partake in these fields of academia. I have also been feeling 'sucked in' by a click of people that believe that they have 'the answers' about life. these people use big words and discuss concepts that are far removed from 'ordinary life'. These are the circumstances in which I picked up Hornby's book.

Let me start by saying that 'I friggin LOVE Hornby'. This guy manages to be brilliant, sarcastic, and witty while retaining significant meaning. In this book he makes a case for leisure reading. The book chronicles his journey through a whole bunch of great books (which coincidentally is the inspiration for this book journal-turned blog). Hornby's discussions of the works he read defy accepted academic norms in ways that breathe life into this readers dried up college bones. The thing I appreciate the most about 'Housekeeping vs...' was the perspective it gave to academic elitism in literary studies.

Hornby argues for an enjoyment of reading that is frowned upon in my circles. At one point he discusses the popularity of 'The Divinci Code' and concludes that if it gets people reading that's a good thing. He also allows for a type of interchange between the reader and the books being read that I have always longed for but had not felt freedom to do. That is why I began this blog with a summary of my circumstance coming into the reading. I am trying to live in a belief that reading is a discussion in some ways. Often reading is thought of as a one way information exchange from book to reader. I am starting to believe that this is not the case. The situation of the reader has a great impact on the text being read, or at least on the reception and interpretation of said text. In short I, the reader, read through my unique and ever varying eyes).