Mudhouse Sabbath, Mrs. Dalloway, 5 Paths to the Love of Your Life
Here’s some of what I’ve read recently.
Lauren Winner, Mudhouse Sabbath, (Paraclete Press, 2003), 161 pp.
As I’m still formulating my own positions for some of what she writes about, there is much fodder for meditation (see chapter titles below). I really like Lauren Winner. She is intensely personal without being self-centered, and teaches without being preachy. She is now on my “buy every book by this author” list.
With so many funerals this year, death is in my face and on my mind. I have yet to go to a funeral of someone close to me, but the Jewish customs of mourning seem much more healthy than the individualistic mourning we’re accustomed to. (Note to self: The Judaic mourning has to be related to the Japanese somehow, though I can’t prove it.)
shabbat - sabbath
kashrut - fitting food
avelut - mourning
hachnassat orchim - hospitality
tefillah - prayer
guf - body
tzum - fasting
hiddur p’nai zaken - aging
hadlakat nerot - candle-lighting
kiddushin - weddings
mezuzot - doorposts
This book ought to be required reading at all classical schools.
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, (Harvest Books, 2005), 304 pp.
For years, I’ve seen Virginia Woolf’s name here and there, but always mentioned in an unsavoury context: sexually abused as a child by her step-brothers, bisexual/lesbian, feminist, insane/bipolar, suicidal. Nothing I ever heard of her made me want to read anything by her, until I saw a few scenes from the movie, The Hours. Slightly curious but highly sceptical, I decided to broaden my horizons a bit and ordered the book, not expecting to enjoy the story or her writing style, “stream of consciousness.” I can see how the style could be annoying for some, but for me, at least, it flowed smoothly.
It’s one of the scariest books I’ve read since The Picture of Dorian Gray, though scary in an entirely different way. There was something demonic that came off the pages of Dorian Gray, whereas Mrs. Dalloway was entirely natural and quiet, seemingly honest and almost pure. It was an oppressively perfect portrayal of the perversion that pervades human nature in everyday life, an expression of how sinners feel without God, the despair and meaninglessness of their lives. It was painful to read, but I’m glad I did.
If you liked Virgin Suicides, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and similarly utterly depressing books about suicide and/or the meaninglessness of life, you’ll like this, too.
Claire Cook, Must Love Dogs, (Onyx, 2003), 288 pp.
This has more than fulfilled my quota of stupid books for the year. I barely made it through. The movie and the book are nothing alike. I liked the movie much better … not that the movie was good or anything, but there were enough lines in it that had me bawling my eyes out through most of the movie, which is why I got the book. Anyway, John Cusack is always good, even if his hair has been thinning out and he’s growing an extra chin. So there!
Lauren F. Winner, Douglas Wilson, Rick Holland, Jeramy & Jerusha Clark, Jonathan Lindvall, Alex Chediak (Editor), 5 Paths to the Love of Your Life: Defining Your Dating Style, (Th1nk Books, 2005), 224 pp.
Two chapters of this book incited me to feelings which I will refrain from spouting off here to save myself from having to repent of them. The other three chapters weren’t especially eye-opening, but they would have been helpful to me a few years ago. It’s a quick, rather shallow look at five perspectives on male-female relationships prevalent among American Christians nowadays.
“Mudhouse Sabbath, Mrs. Dalloway, 5 Paths to the Love of Your Life” has been splattered on 7 times.
Why do you recommend “Mudhouse Sabbath” for classical schools, Ms. Smith?
Because it shows how much we owe to the Old Testament. If people’s primary identity as Christians is to the heavenly race and they strive to recreate their own cultures in biblical terms, then though I can imagine a myriad variations, I cannot see how any can escape being Hebraic in foundation.
Wow, do you know Mr. Strauss, Emeth?
Kind of, Mr. Storm. Thank you, Ms. Smith, that is the beginning of a helpful explanation. But why in particular classical schools? Do you fear the Greeks … ? (We should, I think, for what it’s worth.)
I mentioned classical schools in particular because they particularly identify themselves as being Western and steep (or try to steep) their students in Greco-Romanism. I do not have a problem with studying Latin or Greek languages or literature, but I believe the time and effort devoted to them is disproportionate to the study of the Bible itself.
There is also one more point about Christian classical education that I have not figured out how explain or express properly…. *takes a deep breath* Whatever our eschatological differences may be, we do know heaven is going to be a multicultural, multilingual, multiracial place (add however many more multi-’s on there, hehe). If we are trying to live like Christ, build heaven on earth, etc., then I don’t see why there should be such an emphasis on race. As one with a messed up mixed up racial heritage, and as a citizen of heaven, emphasis on classicism in Christian education seems racist to me.
[...] shows what Protestantism ought to learn from the Jews and ultimately the Old Testament. (Table of contents here, for the curious.) Thoma [...]
emethhesed
emeth.hesed
Paul | 2:45 PM, Monday, November 7, 2005
So how does one get a password to see the password-protected post? Or is it a matter of, “If you have to ask, don’t ask”?