This book is a continuation in my deeper seeking to understand the identity of Jesus Christ as he lived and breathed among us on Earth. My mother read it a while back, and remarked then how interesting it was that Anne Rice was writing about Jesus...when her fiction to date has featured vampires.
My aunt passed away unexpectedly this summer, and I made a marathon trip back and forth to Iowa for the funeral. I chose this as one of several audio books to listen to on the trip. My criteria for choosing the titles for the journey was that it couldn't be to dark or depressing (no "Thousand Splendid Suns" for this trip).
This book cover's Jesus youth from his time in Egypt to his early teen years, when the Bible revisits him teaching in the temple after the Passover feast. Rice did tremendous historical research to create a most believable description of what Jesus' life may have looked like. Incidentally this book fills in the years before the events in the more fallacious fiction found in "Lamb" a previous read of mine. Read this, then "Lamb," and then the Gospels, and you've got a complete (if completely erroneous) lifespan narration of the life of Christ.
I'll confess that I don't remember much of the story that takes place in this novel, but what I remember the most vividly is Anne Rice's post script, recorded in her own voice on the audio version, about her own coming to Christianity and the research she did to put the book together. It was quite moving.
Watch soon for recaps of two of the other audio books I read/listened to on that journey. Twenty-four hours in a car over the span of 72 hours makes for lots of book reading/listening.
So, I'm departing from my typical posting...which by the way I'm about 5 books behind on. Now that I have internet at home, maybe I can play some catch up.
Anyway, this is a blog about a movie about a book that I've blogged about. I think that I'll allow for this intrusion into my otherwise strict posting protocol about books only...and there may be others, i.e. I hope to soon watch "The Time Traveler's Wife."
So, the wife and I went last night to see "Julie and Julia" the movie. After having basically enjoyed reading the book (back in April of 2008) which by the way my dearest did not actually finish because she got bored and depressed, we decided to make one of our too rare dates out to see the movie.
(Incidentally, it was a big night for local celebrities at the cheap theater: Rob Bell was in line in front of us, he and some woman, presumably his wife, went to see "the Proposal," and Jack Loeks and his wife (I know it was his wife because I've met them together before) were a few seats down from us.)
This movie was one of the best I've seen in a long time. (Keep in mind, we don't watch movies...kiddos keep us from that pretty much.) But it was really good. Thank you, Nora Ephron, for a film that depicts marriage as a beautiful, though not necessarily easy, institution. Watching this movie made me so happy to be married; reflecting on the challenge of it, anticipating the future of it, seizing the moments of it.
We've been mildly obsessive about watching "Grey's Anatomy" where there is plenty of sex, but never, never between married people. There is far too little of this in American media culture today. Sex is probably more prevalent in marriage than outside of it (I have not statistical backing to that statement, it is only a hunch) so one might thing that if media is supposed to reflect culture, we should see more of it. And, sex within marriage is good. Thank you again, Nora Ephron for demonstrating this on film in such a wonderful way!
The movie also made me excited to cook. I know that after reading the book, I checked "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" from the library, but I was turned off by the aspics etc. Now, I really want to make Boeuf Bourguignon, and raspberry bavarian cream, and chocolate almond cake, and even the dish at the end that would involve boning a duck...we'll see about that last one.
This post is long overdue. I’m hoping to catch up on reading and posting now that we finally have internet access at home and life is getting close to a new normal.
I received this book from a housemate as a part of a Secret Santa last Christmas and read it this summer. It was definitely a good read, but would have been difficult if I didn’t have familiarity with two important cultural contexts that the author puts the characters into.
First is the Dominican Republic Diaspora, the particularities of which are introduced fairly well through the narrative and the sometimes extensive footnotes. I was left with some uncertainty as to the veracity of everything that was presented as historical context for the novel. Also, I’m not sure how one would read this book without a basic knowledge of the Spanish language. The narrative switches over to Spanish pretty regularly, especially when the language becomes more colorful and vulgar. I appreciated the opportunity to fine-tune my own Spanish skills and to test my vocabulary.
The second is the world of classical Science Fiction and Fantasy. I’ve fortunately dabbled in J.R.R. Tolkein so I wasn’t completely in the dark. While I hadn’t read everything that was referenced in the book, at least I had an inkling of what he was referring to.
A birthday gift of many years ago, I've picked this book up from time to time to read a passage appropriate to the season. Since Sand County is located in Wisconsin, the seasons are roughly similar to those in Kent County.
I've been reading the essays from the latter half of the book on my bus commute for the last few months (keeping in mind that I've been car commuting a lot more since my wife started a part-time job!) Leopold is of the same ilk as Wendell Berry, only a few decades earlier. His thoughts on a land ethic were before his time.
Ruminating on his writings allow me to reconnect mentally with my own ecology; a discipline that tends to be lacking in my busy life. It makes me want to wander through the nature preserve and stroll along Plaster Creek and stand on the banks of the Grand River and appreciate these places for what they mean to this city.
This eighth in the series was delightful as usual. I love some good escapist fiction from time to time, and being swept away to the lovely world of Botswana on a regular basis is a cure for many ills.
I cannot wait to see the BBC version of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency when it is available on DVD from my local library. The show was announced on NPR whilst I was reading this edition.
My friend Jenni is still borrowing book #1, otherwise I'd offer it to anyone who hasn't started reading the series yet. I can't wait for "The Miracle at Speedy Motors" which according to paperback swap is due to arrive in 17 weeks!
