Review: The Shack

I hadn't planned to read this book. The last book on my Theology list that I had planned to read this week to finish up Lent was Jose Saramago's Gospel According to Jesus Christ HOWEVER.....I got about 40 pages into it and decided that Sr. Saramago's vision of gospel and JC was NOT mine, and my mind would just not go that far. So, I needed something to read, wasn't ready to tackle Karen Armstrong History of God and my eye fell on The Shack which I'd picked up off the donation pile at our library last week just to look through to see what all the fuss was about. I'm one of those people who can read a book like this and love it. Oh, I can see how some people who take their Bible very literally are NOT going to like this. Others will have trouble with the level of the writing, which is as one reviewer said 'kinda hokey.' Ten years ago, I would have thrown this book in the trash heap. But now, the fact that the author states up front and at the end that you can believe it or not, makes it a wonderful grace if you choose to accept it. I for one have no difficulty at all with having pancakes with God as long as she pours Maine maple syrup on them --- and I don't mean that to be flip. I think we go thru stages in our life where we have different perceptions of (and therefore relations with) God, religion, sacred scripture, etc. In fact, this book and some of it's theories (and its vision) came up for discussion several times in a Lenten scripture study I just finished at my church. It's a great book for office lunch discussions...lots of different ideas but encouraging all to be respectful and mindful that others don't always believe the same way we do. I found it a thought-provoking read and will probably recommend to several people I think will like it. For me it was a 4 star, for others it will be trash. For a few it will be a life-changing event. I think most books in this category will have widely ranging ratings depending on the reader's background and reason for choosing the book to begin with. Not sure I want to see the movie, but the book is worth a look.

Review: Amazing Grace

This book is going to be one on my "read again and again" shelf.. It is the first book in years (if ever) that I was compelled to mark up. It is beautifully written and was for me at least, truly inspirational. Raised in mainstream American protestant religion, the author then left organized church membership during her college years. As her career as a poet progressed, and her husband endured some incidents of deep depression, she began to visit Benedictine monasteries close to her home in North Dakota, and discovered the poetry of Judao/Christian scripture, and the tradition of the litury of the hours as a form of worship. Eventually, she re-joined the Presbyterian church of her grandmother, and was called to preach, while at the same time becoming a Benedictine oblate. Her book is a series of short, compellingly written inpirational essays (none more than 5 pages long) about the 'vocabulary of faith' as she calls it. There are thoughts on such words as Heresy, Reprobate, Idolatry, Anger, Herod, Hospitality, Orthodoxy, Ecstacy, Trinity, and a host of others. It is difficult for me to explain how deeply this book affected me, and how personally inspirational I found it. She certainly is well-studied, but it is the poetic insight that she imparts to traditional scriptural and 'doctrinal' terminology and worship that is so gripping. The fact that she manages to weave her personal story into this is almost a cherry on top a huge sundae. It may not be the book for everyone, but if you are looking for a positive, beautifully written, easy to read book, you will not go wrong with this one.

Review: Dante - The Inferno- A Classic

A review I saw used the well-worn, but very descriptive phrase: “I can’t believe I read the whole thing!” In my case, I read the Inferno as part of an on-line discussion for LT. There were 12-15 people participating, and we tackled this using about 6 different translations, two audio readings, a sprinkling of Roberto Begnini reading on YouTube in the original Fiorenzian dialect (absolutely splendid –see it here. )

We chatted about the politics of 12^th and 13^th century Florence, the classical references to Greek and Roman mythology, to Virgil, his hatred of the religious figures of the day and his references to Biblical figures of the Old Testament. I can see why this is considered one of the greatest poems ever written. Greater men and women than I have attempted to explain, commentate, educate and bloviate about this work, so I’ll refrain from that and instead offer some general conclusions/afterthoughts. You can see our entire discussion on this thread at LT.

1. I actually want to continue on with the Divine Comedy and read Purgatorio and Paradiso –but NOT this year. I think this must be taken in small gulps unless you’re doing an actual college course. Probably one a year is all I'm going to be able to handle.

2. I had to smile (How can you smile at hell?) when I got to the ending cantos and found to my surprise that Hell –according to Dante—has indeed frozen over. At least, the lake supporting the various circles of Hell has frozen.

3.I wish, oh how I wish, I had learned to speak and read Italian when my father and uncles were alive. I studied enough Latin and French and was around the spoken Italian long enough that I can scan the poem in its original and at least hear the tertia rhyma in its original beauty. What a glorious language! Although I actually read four different translations (Mandelbaum, Cary, Norton, and Longfellow) doing this study, and listened to the Pinsky translation read by George Guidall (who is such a great actor/narrator that he could read the phone book and I’d listen), I still ended each canto by skimming the Italian…no translation comes close for beauty. By the way, for the English, I like the Longfellow translation the best. (see sample side by sides here.)

Classics are classics for a reason. No matter when they were written, or what purpose the author had in writing them, they can be read and appreciated in later times and still be a great read. Granted, depending on the overall education and background of modern readers, many notes and commentaries may be needed to enhance the experience, but the original cannot be bettered. Shakespeare, move over.

Review: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis certainly writes with clarity, although there is little splash and dash to his prose. His willingness to tackle all subjects, dogma and doctrine can at times be actually sleep inducing. I was not as impressed as I expected to be, but can't tell you why. I graduated from Catholic college with enough credits for a minor in theology, so none of this was new, and that may be why I found it so boring. I had never read any of his works before, so this was definitely an 'expand your horizons' volume, but it's probably not going to be on the 'read it again' list too soon.

Review: Being Catholic Now by Kerry Kennedy

This was another of my Lenten reads. Ms Kennedy interviews almost 40 people who are or were Catholic, asking them about their upbringing, their current beliefs, their relationship with the Catholic Church (both past and current) and what they would do if they could be Pope. The range of interviewees is wonderful -- from a 19 year old wannabe nun to an almost 80 year old retired cardinal, from actors to activists, from Irish, Italian, and Hispanic descendants to first 1st generation immigrants, from college graduates to school drop outs, from priests to agnostics. Their experiences of Catholicism are vast, diverse, and fascinating. For someone who is Catholic, the read will be both comforting and frightening at the same time. For those who are not, it provides a look behind the curtains at one of the most diverse religious groups in the world. It is a well-written, well-planned, and beautifully presented groups of readings. Easy to handle in short batches as each interview goes only about 4-5 pages. 5 stars.