Originally it was called Walden, but had Thoreau written it today, he may have had to call it Camping with Myself: Two Years in American Tuscany. Matthew’s gospel might have been called 40 Days and a Mule: How One Man Quit His Job and Became the Boss. Hamlet? “Grieving: A 5 part study of Danish family dynamics.” Read other silly titles from today and feel free to make up some of your own. (via Frank Wilson)
“Perelandra turned my life upside down”
Jeanne Damoff writes about Lewis’ gift for telling the truth in fiction:
Lewis does a great job of portraying the woman as intelligent but entirely pure. She entertains the Un-man’s ideas because she’s never had a reason not to listen to anything being said to her. Though Ransom tries to counter all the lies, the woman has no reason to trust one of them over the other. She’s never encountered debate, never required discernment. But occasionally the Un-man pushes too far. When he invites her to “make a story” about living on the Fixed Island–to imagine herself doing the forbidden thing–she says, “If I try to make a story about living on the Fixed Island, I do not know how to make it about Maleldil. For if I make it that He has changed His command, that will not do. And if I make it that we are living there against His command, that is like making the sky all black and the water so that we cannot drink it and the air so that we cannot breathe it. But also, I do not see what is the pleasure of trying to make these things.”
She follows up this post with another called “The post I do not want to write.”
Oh, I do like this
By way of Patrick O’Hannigan’s The Paragraph Farmer, the funniest thing I encountered all day (and I heard a recording of Jimmy Carter calling opponents of government health care racists!).
Slate.com presents: The Interactive Dan Brown Sequel Generator!
Just plug in the city of your choice, and the sinister organization of your choice, and build your own blockbuster! Save money! Impress your friends! Write a bestseller of your own!
With Greater Demand Comes a Higher Price
D.J. Taylor asks why Dan Brown’s new book is so heavily discounted when thousands of people are eager to read it. Why not capitalize on all of the hype by asking readers to pay full or slightly-off-full price? The reason is that the hype and discount will get buyers into the store and maybe, just maybe, they will buy something else. How does that figure, Taylor asks. Won’t it drive the price for other books down?
I agree, and as thrifty buyer (more or less) I balk a paying $25 or more for a book. I remember seeing Robinson’s Gilead in the store after much praise, and I wanted to buy it. I was even a little excited. But I think was priced at $28.00, and it was much smaller than I had imagined. I passed it up.
But Brown’s fans are even less hinged on reality than I am, so make them pay $20 or more for the most anticipated novel of the year. Tell them it sells for $35, but they can get it for $22.50 if they give the secret word. They love stuff like that, and some will even pay $35.
Professionals Thinking Like Sheep
“We like to think of professionals as a cut above the man on the street in terms of their fiduciary responsibility and independence of thought, but sadly it’s often the opposite. Professionals tend to be on average very influenced by social trends and fashions, especially if those fashions influence their ability to continue practicing and be a respected member of the community.”
— Jeffrey Satinover, psychiatrist and author of Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth in World magazine interview last month. Dr. Santinover has come under personal attack for arguing that homosexuality is not genetic and can be overcome. In the interview, he says research articles cited as proof of homosexuality’s permanence completely contradict that assertion. He states, “An objective scientific debate would without question be overwhelmingly won by those who say that homosexuality is primarily environmentally determined.”
Much Rejoicing
John Calvin is making a comeback. On a related note, you may be interested in this audio file of a few men talking about Calvin’s legacy in the church.
The Meme of the Beast, Norwegian edition
OK, Phil, you asked for it.
1. Snag a theology book or a book on religious living. Take no more than six seconds deliberating your choice. Just snag and return.
2. Turn to page 66 and find the sixth sentence.
3. Copy it into your meme post with proper reference.
4. Post your quotation with the introduction and rules on your blog, linking to the post where you first read The Meme of the Beast.
“Thi dette er det absolut nødvendige i en virkelig Frikirke, og der hvor det mangler, er man allerede langt inde i de falske, katholske Spor, som fører til Trælldom.”
(From Professor Georg Sverdrups Samlede Skrifter i Udvalg, Tredie Bind. [The Collected Works of Professor Georg Sverdrup in Selection, Vol. 3].) The English translation (with apologies to our Catholic readers): “For this is the absolutely necessary thing in a truly free church, and wherever it is lacking, we have already gone far along the false, Catholic way which leads to slavery.”
The Meme of the Beast
Friends, you are reading this post because you are predestined to copy the Meme of the Beast. Already, you have passed the point of no return, so here are the rules:
- Snag a theology book or a book on religious living. Take no more than six seconds deliberating your choice. Just snag and return.
- Turn to page 66 and find the sixth sentence.
- Copy it into your meme post with proper reference.
- Post your quotation with the introduction and rules on your blog, linking to the post where you first read The Meme of the Beast
“Indeed, I do not hesitate to say that according to the New Testament it is rank heresy to recommend Christian behavior to people who are not Christian.” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ)
This is an original BwB meme (which explains its triviality). Of course, the quotation is not.
‘Horrifying and Humorous’ Musical Madness
“The Twelve Wild Ducks”
The piece on the philology of folk tales that I linked to this morning reminded me of my reading of Norwegian fairy tales (called “eventyr,” which means “adventure,” more or less). A pair of Norwegians named Asbjørnsen and Moe, disciples of the Grimms, compiled the most famous collection. The familiar English translation is George Dasent’s East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon, but I don’t recommend it. It’s not a particularly good translation, and has a very Victorian flavor. This one is better.
My favorite eventyr is “The Twelve Wild Ducks,” which (in line with the interrelations of stories mentioned in that piece below) is clearly (to me at least) a cousin to “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” This is especially apparent at the beginning. However, it’s far longer and more convoluted than the Grimms’ German tale that we all grew up with. It also bears interesting similarities to the classical story of Cupid and Psyche, which means Snow White and Psyche are related at only one remove. I find that intriguing. Continue reading “The Twelve Wild Ducks”