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Winter's Toil

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Chad at Fraters Libertas quotes today from a Wall Street Journal column by Mark Helprin. He celebrates the glory and worth of winter:

And this may be the heart of it, that winter even as we fight it is both a measure and cause of our vitality. That though it may exist as an enemy, it is something of extraordinary beauty. And that though in representing the last season of our lives it symbolizes our death, year after year experience teaches us that, miraculously and invariably, after winter’s inescapable conquests the new life of spring comes nonetheless.

Wonderful stuff, and just the sort of thing you’d expect from the genius who wrote Winter’s Tale (and if you haven’t read Winter’s Tale, what are you waiting for?). Even I, the world’s champion heat lover, resonate a little bit with that. I’ve written before that I never felt right living in Florida. I need my spring, and you can’t really have spring without chopping your way through winter first.

Speaking of which, winter’s back in these parts. You may have heard about it on the news. A few days back it was almost 50 degrees. Last night and today we picked up about a foot of snow. But there was a good side and a bad to that, in my case. Continue reading Winter's Toil →

Writing

Bad Writing

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From the latest World Magazine, Emily Belz writes in “Illegal Vacancy”:

When [Robert] Seiple first became ambassador in the Clinton administration, he said he wrote an op-ed on the importance of religious freedom: It had to be approved by 51 people. Once it got through, he said it was a “limpy wimpy rag. Who wants to work in that kind of environment?”

Just one of many ways bad writing sees the light of day. Our friend Loren Eaton points to this post with a trailer for a documentary on bad writing and common misconceptions about being a writer.

Religion

Upcoming: The weekend, and a Thor movie

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I approach another weekend with some anticipation. I suppose I’ve gotten spoiled, but the last three weekends have all held good surprises for me. Three weeks ago I did the radio show with Mitch Berg and James Lileks. Two weekends ago my car broke down, which wasn’t pleasant in itself, but it allowed me to spend a blessed time with my former boss, and to get (on top of the unwelcome work) my car’s four-wheel drive fixed at a very reasonable price, so that I’ll be ready for the next snowstorm (which is surely coming). And last weekend I got ushered into the wonderful world of the Amazon Kindle.

God may well have decided I’ve had enough treats for a while. But there’s no harm in hoping.

Transposing my thoughts to lower case gods, here’s the trailer for the upcoming Thor movie:

Now I’ll admit it looks kind of cool. I may even go to see it.

But I’m an amateur Viking scholar, so I can’t help but be bugged by some things. The particular thing that troubles me most is the image of Odin (Anthony Hopkins) talking seriously about peace.

That’s no Odin I’ve ever met in the sagas. Continue reading Upcoming: The weekend, and a Thor movie →

Blogs, Socials, Reading

Link sausage

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A couple interesting (to me) links tonight.

Rick Gekoski, writing in the Guardian, gets all curmudgeonly about book lovers:

If you think that reading the right things in the right ways is morally bracing, improves one’s discriminations and heightens sensitivity – basically, the Leavis line – then all you have to do is look at the behaviour of Dr Leavis himself to begin to doubt the thesis. Indeed, if it were true that wide and deep reading redounds wholly positively on the development of a wholesome self, consider a typical member of a university English department, and despair.

He scores some nice hits, as in the passage above, but also takes some shots at comments by Milton and C. S. Lewis that strike me as just snarky (I’ll admit I’m prejudiced in the matter). Frankly, he reminds me a little of one of those misanthropes who can’t see a young couple in love without muttering, “Give ’em a couple years and they’ll be hiring hit men to murder each other.”

Tip: Joe Carter at First Things.

Dennis Ingolfsland, at The Recliner Commentaries, quotes a book that sounds fascinating, Is God a Moral Monster, by Paul Copan:

Though I used to complain about the indecency of the idea of God’s wrath, I came to think that I would have to rebel against a God who wasn’t wrathful at the sight of the world’s evil. God isn’t wrathful in spite of being love. God is wrathful because God is love (Miroslav Volf as quoted in Is God a Moral Monster? by Paul Copan, 192).

That noise you hear in the distance is me yelling, “YES! YES!”

Non-fiction, Reviews

Eirik Bloodaxe, by Gareth Williams

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Eirik Bloodaxe

The name Eirik Bloodaxe conjures an obvious image of a great Viking warrior. This use of Eirik’s name to personify Vikings in general can be clearly seen from the way that the Jorvik Viking Centre, which mostly deals with the peaceful activities of the great Viking settlement at York, for many years sold a range of “Erik Bloodaxe” products showing a bearded Viking warrior (pp. 8-9).

Eirik (or Erik) Bloodaxe is one of the most famous Vikings of all time, right up there with Erik the Red, but that fact is due, alas, more to the evocative nickname he enjoyed than his actual achievement or the historical record. In point of fact, we don’t know a lot about this man. Was the Eirik Bloodaxe who ruled Norway and was driven out by Haakon the Good the same Eirik who showed up a few years later as king of York in England? Most historians think it likely, but there’s some dispute. Did he rule York once, twice, or even three times? The record is confusing and contradictory. Did he die in England or in Spain? Is he buried in Norway? Opinions differ.

This short volume (133 pages, including notes), Eirik Bloodaxe by Gareth Williams, Curator of Early Medieval Coinage at the British Museum, is the first attempt ever to write a biography of this shadowy figure, remembered as simultaneously a ruthless warrior and a hen-pecked husband. As a serious work of scholarship, it cannot give a complete or definitive story, but it’s valuable in compiling what we are able to know about the man, as well as discussing the many lacunae and contradictions in the record. In describing Eirik’s world and the forces that shaped him, it also provides valuable information to the reader on the story of Eirik’s father, Harald Finehair of Norway, and his achievement.

The book is handsome to look at, featuring excellent illustrations, many in color. The prose is clean and the editing (generally) good. As a specialized work on a relatively minor historical figure, it may not appeal to the general reader, but the serious Viking enthusiast will want to have it on his bookshelf.

Fiction

Russian Novel Retells "The Lord of the Rings" From Orc's Side

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Russian Kirill Yeskov has written a type of spin-off of Tolkien’s epic, retelling the drama from Mordor’s prespective. It has been translated into English by Yisroel Markov and is released on the public. Laura Miller writes:

Because Gandalf refers to Mordor as the “Evil Empire” and is accused of crafting a “Final Solution to the Mordorian problem” by rival wizard Saruman, he obviously serves as an avatar for Russia’s 20th-century foes. But the juxtaposition of the willfully feudal and backward “West,” happy with “picking lice in its log ‘castles'” while Mordor cultivates learning and embraces change, also recalls the clash between Europe in the early Middle Ages and the more sophisticated and learned Muslim empires to the east and south.

Fiction, Reviews

Frankenstein: Lost Souls, by Dean Koontz

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Frankenstein: Lost Souls

I was surprised at first to see Dean Koontz’ Frankenstein series continuing beyond the original trilogy. I’d come away from that series thinking the story was pretty well wrapped up, and wrapped up pretty well. Also, Koontz has generally resisted writing series in the past, though he’s made exceptions here and in the Odd Thomas books.

However, on reading Frankenstein: Lost Souls, I was reminded of loose threads from the previous books which had indeed set us up for a continuation. So it’s all fair and aboveboard.

The main characters are back, but the locations have changed. New Orleans detectives Carson O’Conner and Michael Maddison, now married, have moved to San Francisco, where they work as private investigators and dote on their new baby. “Deucalion,” the reformed Frankenstein monster, has retired to a monastery (the same one, as it happens, that Odd Thomas lived in for a while, in Brother Odd). And Erica Five, Dr. Frankenstein’s android bride, is living near Rainbow Falls, Montana, along with Jocko, the android gnome, who serves as an object for her maternal instincts.

Then Deucalion has an intuition—a sure conviction in his psychic sense, telling him that somehow Dr. Frankenstein, who was horribly killed at the end of the previous book, is nevertheless alive. Continue reading Frankenstein: Lost Souls, by Dean Koontz →

Authors

More Hunter Baker news!

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The story behind the story: If you’re wondering what sparked Dr. Hunter Baker’s recent madness, this is the inside story, from Mere Comments:

I’m pleased to report that Mere Comments contributor Hunter Baker is the recipient of the 2011 Novak Award from the Acton Institute. Hunter is associate dean of arts and sciences and associate professor of political science at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and author of The End of Secularism (Crossway Academic, 2009). From the release:

With his writing and speaking in a variety of popular and academic contexts, Dr. Hunter Baker has made a compelling and comprehensive case for the integration of the Christian faith into all areas of life, including economics and business. … Baker said the award was made all the more meaningful to him in light of the “power and diligence” that Michael Novak has shown over a long career. “Novak’s work helps readers understand the importance of the Christian faith as both a supernatural relationship with God that stirs the soul and as a powerful impetus for and sustainer of liberty, compassion, creativity, and excellence in the broader culture,” he said.

Congratulations to Hunter Baker.

Authors, Goofing

We (heart) Hunter Baker

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Today being Valentine’s Day, forever after known as the day two days after Dr. Hunter Baker sent Lars Walker a Kindle, I think it apropos to recall posts on this wonderful blog in which we’ve described the good doctor. You saw in Lars’ last post, Dr. Baker was labeled the “prize-winning author of The End of Secularism,” which is still in print and makes great graduation and Father’s Day gifts.

Just the other day, Dr. Baker was “that unspeakable poltroon,” which is another word for “coward.” A while back, he was “our friend … (may his books always be in print).” And still farther back? Continue reading We (heart) Hunter Baker →

Book Reviews, Creative Culture