Finished the DeLillo book last night (The Body Artist). What an unbelievable hunk of crap. It wasn't even pretentious crap either, it was just crap, and that's somehow worse.
Finished Mo Yan's Garlic Ballads. Took me forever to finish it. Not because it is long, but because the middle sectin was boring. Overall, it was okay. Can't believe it was ever published in China though, as it is anti-government as mess.
I am a big DeLillo fan and The Body Artist was a big letdown after Underworld. BTW, I've now finished the Book of Jeremiah. It's going to take probably another month to finish the Bible. St. Theophan will be next!
Give me a recommendation on some DeLillo and I will return to his work with an open mind....or at least try too Just let me know when you're ready to go on it.
I'm almost done with Mishima's The Sound of Waves. Brilliant so far. Mishima may very well be my favorite writer (fiction-wise that is.) I was reading a bunch of reviews of it on amazon, and apparently some high school teacher made their class read it and they all hate it because the characters are more subtle and guarded (as you would expect Japanese people to be.) Anyway, I will probably be on a Mishima kick after finishing this.
Finished it, it was awesome. Probably the most tame thing he's ever written. No super weird death-wish type stuff. A nice change.
Finished the Old Testament today. Quite a project but it was worth it. The New Testament should be much easier and then we can discuss the Theophan book.
Fr. Herman: Alaska's Saint Good, short little biography of St. Herman of Alaska. St. Herman was a Russian missionary to native Alaskans in the 18th century. He helped defend them from the abuses of Russian traders and developed a written language for them and got their entire population literate within a few generations. A cool thing about the book is the monastery that printed the book (St. Herman of Alaska Monastery in Platina, CA) got Olympia, WA based artist Nikki McClure to do the art for the book. McClure does an interesting style of art called "papercutting" where she removes sections of a paper (negative space) to "draw" images by cutting away. Very cool.
Re: Fr. Herman: Alaska's Saint I hate that I can't edit in here anymore, but I will still be talking about my junk in here yo.
Yuck I'm almost done with one of the more irresponsible books I've read in a long time. They've taken an incredibly difficult topic to discuss and chosen vocabulary that will make it nearly impossible for most people to take them even quasi-seriously. The book has a valid point or two (literally), but their wording and presentation is an absolute disaster and will just give people more fuel to hate religion. I might also add that the timing of a book like this is a catastrophe. The president of the publishing company has a son in Iraq, and I'm sure that has everything to do with why it got published, but it is disturbing to see this book attached to Orthdoxy considering how loudly and unanimously the hierarchy of Orthodox Churches around the world have condemned the war in Iraq. I almost don't even want to put a picture in here since people might be tempted to read it (and spend money on it.) It isn't representative of my religion at all and thinkers like this are definately on the fringe.
I don't know if you've ever read this one before... but it is simply brilliant. The author attempts to answer the question: Why did people from Europe move to the new world and dominate instead of it being the other way around? It seems like a simple question, and in some respects it is. He does a good job of debunking the belief that non european peoples were somehow physiologically inferior and thus easy to conquer.
haven't heard of that, but looks interesting. might stroll down to the library and see if they have it.
I guess I will just re-post the whole list now when I have additions: Agiokyprianites, Archimandrite Cyprian - Orthodoxy and the Ecumenical Movement Aslanidis, Demetrios & Monk Damascene - Apostle to Zaire: The Life & Legacy of Blessed Fr. Cosmas of Grigoriou Bercott, Daniel - Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up? Berinstain, Valerie - India & the Mughal Dynasty Birchall, Jonathan - Ultra Nippon Bogolepov, Alexander - Towards an American Orthodox Church Bolshakoff, Serge - Elder Melchizidek: Hermit of the Roslavl Forest Boosalis, Harry - Orthodox Spirituality According to St. Silouan the Athonite Buford, Bill - Among the Thugs Caner, Ergun Mehmet & Emir Fethi Caner - Unveiling Islam Cao, Lan - Monkey Bridge Carlton, Clark - The Faith Cavarnos, Constantine - The Concept of Christian Love Cavarnos, Constantine - St. Cosmas Aitolos Cavarnos, Constantine - St. Nektarios of Aegina Chekhov, Anton - The Duel Chesterton, G.K. - The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare Cho, John (editor) - Spam-ku: Tranquil Reflections of Luncheon Loaf Chomsky, Noam - The New Military Humanism Chow, Claire S. - Leaving Deep Water: Asian American Women at the Crossroads of Two Cultures Clement, Olivier Conversations with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I Cleopa of Romania, Elder - The Truth of Our Faith Cyprian of Oropos and Fili, Metropolitan - The World Council of Churches and the Interfaith Movement Dalrymple, William - From the Holy Mountain Damascene, Hieromonk - Not of This World: The Life & Teachings of Fr. Seraphim Rose Davidson, Kathy - 36 Views of Mount Fuji: On Finding Myself in Japan Degyansky, Father Daniel - Orthodox Christianity and the Spirit of Contemporary Ecumenism de Tocqueville, Alexis - Democracy in America DeLillo, Don - The Body Artist Didion, Joan - Fixed Ideas: America Since 9/11 Dragnich, Alex - Serbs and Croats: The Struggle in Yugoslavia Drew, Bettina - Crossing the Expendable Landscape Endo, Shusaku - Deep River Endo, Shusaku - The Samurai Franklin, Peter - The Life of Mahler Gehr, Richard - The Phish Book Goad, Jim - The Redneck Manifesto Golder, F.A. - Father Herman: Alaska's Saint Gorman, Dave & Wallace, Danny - Are You Dave Gorman? Greene, Graham - The Quiet American Greene, Graham - The Power & the Glory Ha, Jin - In the Pond Harris, Daniel - Cute, Quaint, Hungry and Romantic Haydon, Jeffrey - John Tavener: Glimpses of Paradise Hillier, Paul - Arvo Part Hornby, Nick - High Fidelity Hornby, Nick - How to be Good Horowitz, David - Hating Whitey & Other Progressive Causes Horowitz, Tony - Baghdad Without a Map Ivashkin, Alexander - Alfred Schnittke Jacobsen, Bernard - A Polish Renaissance John Chrysostom, St. - On Marriage & Family Life John of Damascus, St. - On the Divine Images Joseph the Hesychast - Monastic Wisdom Kafetzopolou, Aliki - The Purple Mantle Kalsi, Sewa Singh – A Simple Guide to Sikhism Kapuscinski, Ryszard - Shah of Shahs Karahasan, Dzevad, Sarajevo, Exodus of a City Kerr, Alex - Lost Japan Knowles, John - A Separate Peace Kurspahic, Kemal - As Long As Sarajevo Exists Lan, Cao - Monkey Bridge Lederer, William J. & Eugene Burdik - The Ugly American Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird Lee, Yuan-Yuan – Chinese Musical Instruments Lewis, C.S. – The Abolition of Man Lewis, C.S. - The Four Loves Lewis, C.S. – Mere Christianity Lewis, C.S. – The Screwtape Letters Mander, Jerry - Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television Mango, Cyril (editor) - The Oxford History of Byzantium Marler, John & Andrew Wermouth - Youth of the Apocalypse Marushchak, Archdeacon Vasiliy - The Blessed Surgeon Massie, Robert – The Romanovs: The Final Chapter Maxomovitch, St. John - Orthodox Veneration of Mary, the Birthgiver of God Mehta, Gita – Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystical East Meyendorff, John - Vision of Unity Mishima, Yukio - The Sound of Waves Mishima, Yukio - Patriotism Mishima, Yukio - Spring Snow Mishima, Yukio - Runaway Horses Mishima, Yukio - The Temple of the Dawn Mishima, Yukio - The Decay of the Angel Mishima, Yukio - Sun and Steel Morgenthau, Henry – Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story Murakami, Harumi - Underground Nathan, John - Mishima: A Biography Oe, Kenzaburo - A Personal Matter Omvedt, Gail - Violence Against Women: New Movements and New Theories in India Orwell, George - Animal Farm Papadakis, Aristeides - The Christian East & the Rise of the Papacy Parenti, Michael - To Kill A Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia Prendergast, Mark - The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Trance: The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age Rashid, Ahmed - The Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia Rollins, Henry - Smile, You're Travelling Rose, Eugene - Nihlism: The Roots of Revolution in the Modern Age Rose, Fr. Seraphim - Orthodoxy & the Religion of the Future Rushby, Kevin - Eating the Flowers of Paradise: A Journey Through the Drug Fields of Ethiopia and Yemen Sakharov, Nicholas - I Love, Therefore I Am: The Theological Legacy of Archimandrite Sophrony Salinger, J.D. – Franny & Zooey Schaeffer, Francis - Art & the Bible Scott, Cathy - Seraphim Rose: The True Story and Private Letters Sederholm, Fr. Clement - Elder Anthony of Optina Sederholm, Fr. Clement - Elder Leonid of Optina Smith, Richard - Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe Speake, Graham - Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise Theroux, Paul - The Great Railway Bazaar Thornton, Fr. James - Wealth & Poverty in the Teachings of the Church Fathers Thubron, Colin - The Lost Heart of Asia Trifkovic, Serge - The Sword of the Prophet Veal, Michael E. - Fela: The Life & Times of an African Musical Icon Webster, Alexander F.C. & Darrell Cole - The Virtue of War Wertz, Joachim - Blessed Euphemia of Serbia Whelton, Michael - False Gods Williams, Benjamin & Anstall, Harold - Orthodox Worship Yamazaki, James - Children of the Atomic Bomb Yan, Mo - The Garlic Ballads Yannaras, Christos - The Church in Post-Communist Europe Yannoulatos, Archbishop Anastasios - Facing the World Zacharias, Ravi - Deliver Us From Evil Zamyatin, Yevgeny - We Zervakos, Philotheos, Fr. - Paternal Counsels, volume 2 Zograf, Aleksander - Bulletins From Serbia: Emails and Cartoon Strips From Beyond the Front Line
I've re-taken up Dostoevsky's The Idiot. I was reading that for a while and put it down, but I've started it again. Well, I didn't start over, I started where I left off. I'm also back on my habit of reading about 8-10 books at once. I love the variety, but it takes me forever to finish anything.
The Idiot is one of my favorites. It is in my pile of books I haven't read in a long time that need to be reread.
I read Crime and Punishment in high school, but you don't really read a book until you are an adult. I reread it when I was 20 or 21, then proceeded through the other great Dostoevsky books. My embarassment is that I don't find myself drawn to any of the classic American literature. As a former resident of West Hartford, Conn., the town Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) helped split from Hartford, I have never read any of his books.
That makes a lot of sense. Me either. Although I do have two Twain books on my shelf: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Innocents Abroad I plan on reading them at some point or other.
I'll also add that while I'm not well versed in the classics, I am well versed in obscurities and non-fiction