How a Middle Aged Woman Starts Writing Erotica - Sinners Guide to Confession

It was exactly such fanciful wanderings that had led to Barbara’s foray into writing erotica. She first became obsessed with ordinary words that had the potential to excite. What began as a diversion from her formulaic romance novels soon became a preoccupation with finding ways to cushion everyday words in ultimately titillating sentences. Wetness, moistness, soft, hard, length, width. This was the simple language of erotica that when matched to a character’s earthy desires became the stories women wanted to read.

The stories were tame at first. Dawn’s painted fingernails were surprisingly gentle as they penetrated her own moist flesh. Then, Barbara became yet bolder. Annabelle drew his large hand to the wetness between her legs, letting her thighs fall to either side. “Fuck me,” she said in a throaty voice that she had never used before. He turned her around and prepared her with his tongue, running it along the backs of her thighs and then spreading her gently with his hands, pushing his tongue in deeper as she urged him on again. When Barbara realized that her identity was safe and that her own mother was long dead, there was nothing to hold back. Morning was best for making love. Eyes still crusted with sleep, Lenore reached for Kyle. He was still soft, but only briefly. As her mouth closed around his cock, he stirred faintly. She used one hand to firmly press along his length the way he liked it and the other hand to find the groove just beneath his erection. He reached down for her, but she was too aroused, too ready. Ignoring her resistance, his fingers found her, and she moaned that she was going to come. His determination aroused her even more, and he encouraged her, saying, “Come on my hand.” She already had, so that when he finally entered her, she could barely do more than allow it. Barbara wrote her first drafts in long hand on lined yellow legal pads. She often became so engaged in her own words that she needed one hand free. It was an odd way to pass time. A middle-aged woman wearing underpants and one of her deceased husband’s dress shirts, writing erotica at the kitchen counter.

 

To find out more about Sinners Guide to Confession — http://www.amazon.com/Sinners-Guide-Confession-Phyllis-Schieber/dp/0425221539

To read my review – http://shedyourinhibitions.com/2009/11/20/book-review-sinners-guide-to-confession-by-phyllis-schieber/

 

[Via http://shedyourinhibitions.com]

<em>The Journals of Lewis and Clark</em> edited by Bernard DeVoto, with a Foreword by Stephen E. Ambrose

I purchased this book while on our vacation, at the bookstore at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis (aka The Gateway Arch), but only started reading it along about November 12. It has been a very fun read, to see how Lewis & Clark got There and Back Again, and I am actually sorry that they have made it back safely to civilization, because I was enjoying reading the book so much.

As you learned way back in American History Class, in May of 1804 President Thomas Jefferson sent his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to be a c0-captain of an expedition (in concert with Captain William Clark), to go up the Missouri River to its source and then over the mountains to the Columbia River, and thence to the Pacific Ocean. While the exploration was in large part scientific and geographical, Jefferson wanted to establish a land route across the newly purchased Louisiana Territory to the beachhead in Oregon. He also told his explorers to establish if there was any connection between the Missouri / Columbia and the Saskatchewan River (heart of the British fur trade), so as to be able to position the United States to hijack the fur trade route through American soil; and also to determine if one could get from the Missouri to the Columbia via a short portage route.

Therefore, in May 1804 Lewis & Clark headed northwest from St. Louis up the Missouri River with a group of soldiers and boatmen (the barge and the canoes had to be brought upstream against the current by rope, paddling, and poling). They arrived in the Mandan Country (one man of the party died, apparently of a burst appendix) and set up Fort Mandan (near present-day Washburn, North Dakota); after spending the winter there working on establishing good ties with the local Native Americans, they sent the large boat back down to St. Louis with the boatmen who had come up with them, a detachment of soldiers, and several bales and packages for President Jefferson (including a “liveing burrowing Squirel of the praries”, according to Clark’s journal). The expedition then forged westward as they beat on, boats against the current.

The permanent expedition (from Fort Mandan westward) consisted of  Lewis and Clark, four Sergeants, twenty-two Privates (including John Colter, later famous as an explorer of the West in his own right), two Interpreters (one of whom was Touissant Charbonneau), one Indian woman (Charbonneau’s wife Sacajawea), one infant (born to Sacajawea at Fort Mandan), one black slave (belonging to Captain Clark), and one dog (belonging to Captain Lewis).

During the next eighteen months this group made their way up the Missouri, across the Rocky Mountains (in the process meeting up with a Shoshone chief who was the brother of Sacajawea, which greatly aided the expedition’s relations with the locals), and down the Columbia to the Pacific; they wintered near the Pacific between 1805 and 1806, hoping that an American ship would touch shore (one never did; it’s never been explained why Jefferson did not send a ship, knowing that the expedition would be on the shore during those months), then heading back (going upstream along the Columbia, back across the mountains the moment the snows allowed, then splitting up and heading downstream down the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers, meeting up again, and taking an easy downstream route to Fort Mandan, and from there (minus John Colter, Charbonneau, Sacajawea, and their son) back to St. Louis, where they were greeted rapturously, as everyone in St. Louis had long since given the party up for dead.

Along the way both Lewis and Clark kept journals, which run to several volumes in an unedited state; hence, the need for this amendment by Bernard DeVoto. Both men wrote of the travel, of the game encountered and killed (they mainly ate off of the land), the Native American tribes encountered, and the landscape they were traveling through. After a certain amount of reading, one can tell without being told when a journal entry is from Clark’s journal, and when an entry is from Lewis’s journal; Lewis tended to be more descriptive and introspective, and just a tad more regular in his spelling, while Clark is more detailed about the making of boats and saddles).

The Journals are, as I noted, a fun read; Captain Clark has some twenty-six ways to spell “Sioux” (none of them ‘Sioux’); we read over and over about how ‘Musquetors Troublesome”; upon shooting their first grizzly with little trouble, Lewis notes “the Indians may well fear this anamal equiped as they generally are with their bows and arrows or indifferent fuzees [inferior flintlock rifles], but in the hands of skillfull riflemen they are by no means as formidable or dangerous as they have been represented” (he learned better later on); we learn that Sacajawea is of much more use to the expedition than her husband Charbonneau (he is a good interpreter, but he can’t hunt, navigate a boat, or ride a horse well); and we learn that Captain Lewis nearly lost his dog when it was stolen by Indians (he got it back; a good thing, or else it would surely have gone into the Indian’s cooking pots).

The editor of the present volume notes, “This condensation of the Lewis and Clark journals cannot be used instead of the original edition for the purposes of scholarship. It has been edited for the general reader.” And a very good read it is; I only regret that the maps provided are not of stellar quality, looking very circa-mid-1950’s in their style. But that is my only quibble, and I am very glad that I picked up this book at the Arch.

[Via http://fromtherecamier02.wordpress.com]

Review of “Flyboys” by James Bradley

Flyboys changed the way I looked at the Pacific War. I knew about kamikazis, Pearl Harbor and the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, but I guess I never really put it all together. In reading Flyboys, I saw the brutality that can be committed in war on both sides and how even enemies can become friends.

James Bradley wrote Flags of Our Fathers, which is about the battle for Iwo Jima and the Marines who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi. Flyboys focuses on the next island closer to Japan, Chichi Jima, and the American airmen who were shot down and captured near the island.

All of the flyboys were eventually executed, but this book puts together the stories of their last days. Some were executed quickly by beheading. Others were kept alive for some time due to the compassion of some of the Japanese officers, but eventually these men were also executed and eaten.

I thought the book started fairly slowly by reaching back to look at American-Japanese relations from the time the two cultures first met. Much of the information was not relevant to the main story and what was could have been worked in later. It would have been much better if the book had started with the Pearl Harbor chapter. That’s when I became engrossed.

Though it’s sad that the Americans committed some atrocities, they were far from being the only guilty party in the conflict. I’m not even sure I could tell you who acted worse.

What I was encouraged to see was that humanity that was demonstrated when the interactions came down to a personal level. It’s hard to hate a stereotyped enemy if you have to live with him day after day.

[Via http://jimsbookblog.wordpress.com]

Genesis

I like The Bible Speaks Today series, in both old and new testament.  They are a great introduction to every book of the bible.  They are readable – you can treat them like a novel if you wish to – and informative.  They give a fresh perspective on many passages and certainly help with the bigger picture.

I began reading the two books on Genesis earlier this year and have certainly enjoyed both of them.  The second book (covering chapters 12-50) remains on my “still reading” pile because I occasionally refer to it when preparing a blog post on Joseph.  It’s been very helpful.

I recommend this series.  If you haven’t used it yet and you’re looking for a simple way to gain more from your personal bible reading, give this series a try.  And when you’ve benefitted from it with your favourite books of the bible, try one you haven’t read much for a while.  I think you will be blessed.

[Via http://kevingill.wordpress.com]

The Ghost King by R. A. Salvatore

The Ghost King by R. A. Salvatore- This is the third and final book in the Transitions trilogy. The first book is The Orc King and the second book is The Pirate King. The trilogy is a part of the Drizzt Do’Urden saga, this being the most recent installment.

The story starts with Jarlaxle, a drow mercenary leader, and his traveling companion, a dwarf named Athrogate, traveling to around. Jarlaxle gets troubled by dreams he has in which a dragon and an ancient artifact, thought destroyed, threaten to find and kill him. At the same time, Drizzt Do’Urden and his wife, Catti-brie, are returning to Mithral Hall when blue fire consumes Catti-brie. The fire puts her into a lethargic state in which she is oblivious to everything around her and at times recalls past experiences and conversation. Drizzt, in obvious shock and terror, quickly returns to Mithral Hall and tries desperately to figure out what is happening. Catti-brie adoptive father, Bruenor Battlehammer is in the similar state of disbelief. With nothing working, Regis, with his magical ruby, tries to reach Catti-brie but instead gets trapped in the same nightmare with her, only more violent and destructive. Jarlaxle thinking that the cause of his problems could be solved by a priest of Deneir named Cadderly Bonaduce, persuades Drizzt and company to help them, by saying that Catti-brie could be helped by Cadderly as well. The reason why Jarlaxle needs Drizzt and Bruenor’s help is because Jarlaxle was told to never return to Spirit Soaring, the cathedral of Deneir. So desperate to find anyone or anything that could help them, the group embarks to Spirit Soaring. At the same time, Cadderly and a meeting of mages and priest are trying to understand what is happening to the world and magic. But soon darkness and a creature more powerful than anything imaginable descends upon the cathedral. Can Cadderly help Catti-brie and Regis? Will Jarlaxle find answers? And can Cadderly protect his family and home, and figure out what is wrong with the world?

Negatives:
1) Missing Dialogue. There were parts and times when something was left unsaid and it seemed like it wasn’t supposed to. Then there were other times when dialogue didn’t even fit into what was being said. For example, there was a scene when Danica, Cadderly’s wife, is talking to Jarlaxle and Drizzt about something and bursts out with something so random that it made me take a double take.
2) Cadderly’s Children. Honestly, I didn’t really care to read their parts. Sure they were interesting in their own ways, but it just felt at times to be more of the stories focus. It didn’t help that other scenes with other characters were so engaging that when the children’s scenes came up, I honestly didn’t really care. Not to mention that they seemed so general. Hanaleisa, the daughter and twin of Temberle, is a basic carbon copy of Danica. Temberle, the fighter, was just so underdeveloped and plain that I just didn’t really care. Rorick, the youngest child and a mage, was the most different and therefore, the most interesting, barely had anything to say. They just weren’t as engaging as say, Athrogate and Pwent or Jarlaxle, Bruenor, and Drizzt.

 Positives:
1) “The Group.” To put it simply, when Jarlaxle and Athrogate meet up with Bruenor, Drizzt, Pwent, and a lethargic Catti-brie, it was just amazing. The utter fascination that Pwent has with Athrogate’s hell boar was just funny. Then you had the fighting styles between the group. When the first fight happens, it was neat to see how Jarlaxle and Bruenor fought, side by side, than later on how Jarlaxle and Drizzt complimented each other. They were the main focus of the story, and I really could have used more.
2) The Ending. It really leaves you on a sad, depressing note. I’m not giving away anything, but I know people who have teared up and cried about it. After going in, knowing what happens, I even got a little upset. It’s so powerful because it is written so well. Even the last line, “… for guests who never came”, was just so powerful and sad that you couldn’t believe it.

 Side Notes:
1) The illithid. What happened to him? I mean seriously. Did he just get consumed by the Ghost King’s other desires?
2) Cover Art. Simple, but good. Seeing the Ghost King trying to chomp Drizzt and seeing Drizzt just jump away is drawn beautifully.

 Overall: 5/5

Final Thoughts:
This is a really hard book for me to review. The whole Drizzt series is my first foray into fantasy, not counting The Hobbit. So after a good eight or nine years of my life, Drizzt and company were in them. And losing even one of them is a little hard. But overall the book was great. It’s funny and powerful at the same time. It really keeps you interested and invested in the story, and it almost forces you to keep reading it. Even the faults I mentioned weren’t terrible. Cadderly’s children were still pretty good, albeit general and the little bit of missing or confusing dialogue didn’t hamper the experience the slightest. The story is was the driving force of this book.

[Via http://travizzt.wordpress.com]

The Kennedy Assassination...

November 22nd is the anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  I was in Mrs. Boyd’s 4th grade class when our Principal shared the news that day.  I recall distinctly thinking, “What is going to happen, now?”

The day of the week in 1963 was a Friday.  Jackie devoted herself to orchastrating the funernal – she was 33 years old at the time.

My parents wanted me to stay in and watch the funeral.  I did, but was happy to get outside to play when I was permitted.  I remember we were playing outside climbing trees when a friend came outside and said, “Someone has shot Oswald.”

We replied “no, you dumb ass, Oswald shot, Kennedy!”  We were profane in the 4th grade.  Little did we know, how crazy things were.  I think the killing of Oswald, did much to promote the conspiracy theories advanced afterward.

Deaths of parents can be profound (I have not had one yet), but the death of JFK was the death of the future and hope.  It still saddens me greatly.  I hope our country never goes through anything like it again.

I recently finished the biography An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917 -1963 by Robert Dallek.  I would highly recommend it to those who haven’t read it.

Hey, you bloggers, have memories, thoughts, conspiracy theories, hopes, on this subject?

iggydonnelly

[Via http://iggydonnelly.wordpress.com]

Book review

Another re-read. Another worthwhile re-read. I really only meant to look at it again because I’m discussing Kehlmann’s Ruhm, and wanted to check how Mitchell had put his novel of separate stories together, in comparison with Kehlmann. And once again, having started there was no way I was going to put it down; and once again the futuristic section in the middle slowed me right down.

Mitchell starts with the journal of a 19th century lawyer aboard a ship in the South Pacific, moves forward in time to letters from a young Brit who finds work as amanuensis to an ageing composer in Belgium between the two wars, then a thriller style tale set in California in the Seventies, a first person narrative of a vanity publisher who suddenly and fatefully lands a bestseller, an interview with a freed replicant slave in the near future and then a central piece where civilisation as we know it has come to an end. Then the second half of the first six tales is narrated in reverse order so that the end is the journal of the lawyer. The central section is exhausting as Mitchell has invented a dialect that is not easy to read, but nevertheless I’m deeply impressed by Mitchell’s ventriloquism, how he manages to create very different, utterly convincing voices and how he creates the suspense that pushes the narrative forward even though the breaks between the separate stories might bring you up short. I also have great respect for the device of each narrative appearing in the next one, which gives a stringency and structure to the whole, and provides a reward for reading the tales in the order they are printed. These are all elements that are missing from Kehlmann’s ‘novel in nine stories’: the arc and running structural thread is just not there, and a few repeated motifs don’t turn it into a novel.

Book Review: When He Was Bad by Shelly Laurenston and Cynthia Eden

• Title: When He Was Bad
• Author: Shelly Laurenston and Cynthia Eden
• Type: Paranormal shifter anthology
• Genre: Pack and Pride series short novel + long novella with vamp and shifter
• Sub-genre: humorous and suspense
• My Grade: B+ (4.2*)
• Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
• Where Available: Wherever books are sold
• FTC Disclosure: book purchased at online bookstore

Well, When He Was Bad my re-read book this month.  I just couldn’t seem to get interested in anything lately, so I grabbed this off my keeper shelf and enjoyed it again.  No, it isn’t my favorite, but I actually enjoyed it more on this read through than I did the first time since I had started Ms Eden’s Hotter After Midnight and become reacquainted with Nils van Holtz, alpha of the van Holtz wolves,  in Ms Laurenston’s The Main Squeeze.  Van Holtz first showed up first in Go Fetch! with his wife Irene Conridge.  The first story in When He Was Bad goes back in time to when Van and Irene first got together in the early 1980’s.

Miss Congeniality is the ironic title given to the story of Niles van Holtz and Irene Conridge.  It takes place in the 1980’s – when a color screen for a PC was a huge leap forward in technology.  The van Holtz pack is the richest pack in the US, thanks to their hugely successful chain of high end steakhouses,  hand along with the Smith and Mangus packs, the most influential. Irene Conridge is a professor at a small but elite college in the northwest.  She went there at the age of 18 with 3 PhD’s and a chip on her shoulder that’s still there.  An only child who was so extraordinary she addressed the UN when she was only 10 years old and was once taken into custody by the authorities who feared an enemy nation might grab her (It ended badly when she blew up a goodly portion the military installation and several blocks in a nearby city – they let her go.)  Niles see her when she arrives on campus at the age of 18 to his 21 and he assumes she’s “fresh meat’ for his conquest list.  Instead, Dr. Conridge is a new faculty member.  He’s had a thing for her and her seamed stockings ever since.  Thanks to generous donations of the van Holtz family to the school, Irene tries to be pleasant – or as pleasant as her very limited social skills permit – she doesn’t kill him.  Hey, among shifters that’s almost love!

Irene’s roommate and best friend Jackie drags her from the party and gets her to agree to destroy her latest research before it can fall into the wrong hands.  Nervous and a little edgy, she hears a sound and goes after what she thinks is an intruder with   Irene agrees and drives out to a remote area to dump the small amount of material – which actually acts like a super fertilizer on plants.  From nowhere a hyena leaps at her.  Then lions appear and finally wolves.  Irene had been holding her own with 1 hyena,but lions???  She ends up using her supercharged version of a taser to kill the attacking hyena when the wolves appear.  Then the lead wolf shifts into a naked Niles van Holst and Irene allows the pain to send her into a blessed oblivion.

Niles hauls Irene back to the van Holst mansion and she has to stay there for several days while he tries to work out some kind of agreement with the hyena clan and lion pride to keep her alive once she leaves van Holst territory.  Irene has known about shifters for many years because her long time friend, roommate and fellow prodigy Jackie is a jackle.  Niles has run into intransigence with his fellow shifters and Irene’s life ends up hinging on his marking her as his mate.  Lions and hyenas don’t do that, but they know that wolves mate for life.  Niles just doesn’t believe it.  He thinks it’s all some story parents tell.  Once he bites Irene though he learns it isn’t.  suddenly, he’s lost all interest in the available she-wolves, even the lionesses do nothing for him.  In a panic, he shows up at Irene’s and demands a kiss.  Of course it doesn’t END there.

How does a womanizing wolf and genius with boundary issues connect?  Very well in bed, but with difficulty out of it.  She’s never learned to play, he just ignores her and manages her – but doesn’t control her.  Irene has to learn to be human and how to play.  Her whole life has been about the intellectual expectations that others have of her.  Everything she is, her entire self image is centered on her amazing intelligence.  Niles teaches her about the rest of life.  He’s determined, conniving, cunning and over-sexed – just what Irene needs to make her forget.  But someone is trying to find her recent research.  She held back just a little of the lethal material, but no one knows, right?  The FBI is following her – but so is someone else.

The story is classic Laurenston.  An intelligent, self-sufficient, independent, emotionally closed off female and a womanizing, vain, self-centered, alpha shifter male.  The sparks fly as Irene slowly finds out how much pleasure can be had from being ‘normal’ and Nils comes to terms with the reality of the mate bond, getting his mate to adjust to it, and the fact he must become the pack alpha, like it or not.  He deliberately drives her crazy by leaving his photo all over her office, drives away any other man, and teaches her how to enjoy life instead of just work, how to be ‘normal’, or as normal as possible, while respecting her intellectual gifts.  By itself, Miss Congeniality is a solid B+ (4.3*)

*********************************************************************************

The second long novella/short novel in this anthology is Wicked Ways by Cynthia Eden.  She and Ms Laurenston often appear in the same anthologies.  Both write paranormal, but Ms Eden writes stories that are more paranormal romantic suspense.  Wicked Ways is set in the same ‘world’ as Hotter After Midnight, but here the location is a small town in Louisiana.  Miranda Chase tries online dating and handsome Paul ends up in her house – when he bares his fangs and goes for her throat.  Her neighbor is there and rips him away.  Paul, a sadistic vampire, calls Cain ’shifter’ like a curse.  Cain calls Paul a ‘parasite’.  In the ensuing melee, the two supernaturals damage each other and Miranda calls the police.

There have been a series of murders across state line.  All the women were, all had tried online dating, and all met with a man named Paul.  And all had there throats cut – possibly to hide the fang marks.  Her house a wreck and a crime scene, Cain takes her in for the night.  He’d love to do more, but she’s human and she’s in denial about what happened, refusing to believe there’s such a thing as vampires, despite what she saw, heard, and felt.  Cain forces her to realize there are by showing her the puncture wounds in her neck.  Miranda finds herself  learning a lot more than she’s comfortable knowing – Cain isn’t human, he’s “retired” from the FBI, and the psychotic vamp will keep killing if she doesn’t help them nail his hide.  Rather than go into hiding and let Paul move on to another victim, she decides to work with Cain and the FBI to try and catch him.  Her Spanish is rusty, but when the agent Santiago calls Cain ‘gato grande’ even she knows that means ‘big cat’.  She also learns there are a whole lot of other supposedly mythic creatures out there, like demons, djinn, and werewolves – who are usually psychotic.

Miranda is attracted to Cain and staying at his house proves to much temptation to them both.  Paul, however, is as drawn to Miranda as Cain expected.  Cain smells him – old blood – and goes into the woods near the house and lets his animal free – a big, black jaguar.  He hunts the vamp, but Paul is ready for him and shoots at him and heads for Miranda.  Paul didn’t use silver bullets, so even though the wound hurts, Cain isn’t that badly injured.  Then he goes after Paul, but the vamp does the unexpected and shoots Miranda knowing Cain will stay with her and not go after him.

Miranda decides she’ll continue to help hunt Paul.  She creates an online persona with a new name and location in hopes of drawing him out in Miami.  Meanwhile, Cain is visiting ‘feeding rooms’ where vamps find willing humans and no one has seen Paul.  Miranda and Cain go to Maimi and the very first club sees Miranda’s cover is blow by an Irish Vamp, Sullivan, who knows Cain and knows her real name.  But the trap for Paul becomes a trap for Miranda.

The story is well done, the hero’s angst minimal, and the hunt for Paul is exciting, the suspense plays out well.  The geography of the locations could have been better defined, as could the settings themselves, but other than that, it was well done.  On it’s own this is a solid B (4*).

Book Review bash

It is always a pleasure to see my postman struggle up the path with book parcels for me. An honour to be considered a reviewer of note, I read as soon as I can and write reviews that are not just happyclappy quickies but essays and distribute via blogs, forums and readers websites such as Compulsive Reader.

My reading genre is not quite the same as my science fiction writing genre. Consider my current batch of review books to read.

Mitzi Szereto: In Sleeping Beauty’s Bed – erotic take on traditional fairy tales.

Sam Stone: Futile Flame – erotic vampire sequel to her Killing Kiss brilliant book

Ben Larken: The Hollows – his Pit-Stop remains my favourite horror of all contempory fiction

David Greske: Blood River – hitchiking vampire beauty – looking forward immensely to reviewing this one

K.L. Nappier: Full Wolf Moon and Bitten – I know her books are extraordinarily well crafted.

Sam Smith: Towards the unMaking of Heaven – intelligently written science fiction.

How do I find time to read, review and write my own stuff? I don’t know! If you live in Chester you’ll see me reading on the bus, in cafes, waiting for my wife in shops, while walking. And scribbling notes. It is a time problem but also a privilege to have authors consider my opinions are worthy of their publishers spending the money to send me their oeuvre.

My wife also looks at that postman and then at me, prompting my speech: No, I haven’t spent our money on these!

A Golden Age - Tahmima Anam

I wouldn’t exactly use the work regret but lately I have been thinking it would be nice to be participating in a few less reading challenges. I can understand now the seasoned bloggers sentiment of cutting back, as tempting as it is right now when the delights on offer for next year are starting to be posted.

And then I pick up a book like A Golden Age which I would not have thought to read normally but chose for the Book Awards III and A Colourful reading challenge.

Dear Husband,
I lost our children today

Set during the Bangladeshi war of independance of 1971, this is a touching and educational story which gathers momentum throughout. By the end I couldn’t put it down.

Rehana has been widowed at a young age and has experienced plenty of personal heartbreak and struggle since. We join her with her two teenage children and friends at a party in their home in East Pakistan in 1971. It is the eve of the beginning of the struggle for independance from West Pakistan for the country that is to become Bangladesh.

Most of the story is about this struggle and the effects on Rehana, her children and their community. It is sensitively told from the point of view of Rehana and we understand the emotional toll as well as the constant physical threat for those choosing to resist the Pakistan army.

No, there had never been any other time; their lives were populated by Lenin and Castro and Mujib and Anwar Sadaat; there was only this time, this life, this fraught and crowded era, to which they were bound without choice, without knowledge, only their passions, their loves to lead and sustain them.

This is a story of war with it’s hope and inevitable sacrifice. Above all, it is a story of a mother’s love and what she will do to keep her children safe.

A Golden Age won the Commonwealth Writer’s prize for Overall best first book in 2008.  It would make a wonderful choice for the Women Unbound challenge, which I haven’t signed up for yet but probably won’t be able to resist.

Review: <i>Fellow Workers With God: Orthodox Thinking on Theosis</i> by Norman Russell

I would like to note that I participated in what was originally going to be a group book review of Owen the Ochlophobist’s, but which ultimately because a review symposium hosted by Unmercenary Readers. We all read Norman Russell’s Fellow Workers With God: Orthodox Thinking on Theosis, and the reviews are being posted this week. Mine is now up.

I had to get a bit tough with them; they tried to force me to use a pseudonym. I pointed out that article #8 of their own manifesto encourages, but expressly does not require, pseudonyms, but suggested “Vassilis Taraxopoios” if they had to use something (a literal translation of the meaning of “Richard Barrett” into Greek — “King Troublemaker”). They were somewhat abashed at having their own manifesto used against them and consequently left it up to me. I had always intended to run it under my own name, and said so. I will be curious to see if I am the only one who does so, and further curious to see if the exercise causes them to revise their manifesto.

Nature is worth a set of equations

Nature is worth a set of equations; (Nov. 17, 2009)

 

I have been reading speeches and comments of Albert Einstein, the greatest theoretical physicist in the 20th century. Einstein is persuaded that mathematics, exclusively, can describe and represent nature’s phenomena; that all nature’s complexities can be comprehend and imagined as the simplest system in concepts and principles. The fundamental creative principle resides in mathematics and formulas have to be the simplest and most beautifully general. Mathematical concepts can be suggested by experience, the unique criteria of utilization of a mathematical construct.

I got into thinking. I read this dictum when I was graduating in physics and I have been appreciating this recurring philosophy ever since. The basic goal in theoretical physics for over a century was to discovering the all encompassing field of energy that can unite the varieties of fields that experiments have been popping out to describing particular phenomena in nature such as electrical and magnetic fields as well as all these “weak” and “stronger” fields of energy emanating from atoms, protons, and all the varieties of smaller elements.

I got into thinking. Up until the first quarter of the 20th century most experiments in natural sciences were done by varying one factor at a time; experiments never used more than one independent variable and more than one dependent variable (objective measuring variable or the data).  Even today, most engineers perform these kinds of totally inefficient and worthless experiments: no interactions among variables can be analyzed, the most important and fundamental intelligences in all kinds of sciences. These engineers have simply not been exposed to experimental designs in their required curriculum! 

Although the theory of probability was very advanced the field of practical statistical analysis of data was not yet developed; it was real pain and very time consuming doing all the computations by hand for slightly complex experimental designs. Sophisticated and specialized statistical packages constructs for different fields of research evolved after the mass number crunchers of computers were invented. 

            Consequently, early theoretical scientists refrained from complicating their constructs simply because they had to solve their exercises and compute them by hand in order to verify their contentious theories.  Thus, theoretical scientists knew that the experimental scientists could not practically deal with complex mathematical constructs and would refrain from undertaking complex experiments in order to confirm or refute any complex construct. The trend, paradigm, or philosophy for the theoretical scientists was to promoting the concept that theories should be the simplest with the least numbers of axioms (fundamental principles); they did their best to imagining one general causative factor that affected the behavior of natural phenomena or would be applicable to most natural phenomena. When Einstein mentioned that equations should be beautiful in their simplicity he had not in mind graphic design; he meant they should be simple for computations.

            This is no longer the case. Nature is complex; no matter how you control and restrict the scope of an  experiment in order to reducing the numbers of manipulated variables to a minimum there are always more than one causative factor that are interrelated and interacting to producing effects.

            Man is far more complex than nature to studying his behavior. Psychologists and sociologists have been using complex experimental designs for decades in order to study man’s behavior and his hundreds of physical and mental characteristics and variability. All kinds of mathematical constructs were developed to aid “human scientists” perform experiments commensurate in complexity with the subject matter. The dependent variables had no longer to be objectively measurable and many subjective criteria were adopted. Certainly, “human scientists” did not have to know the mathematical constructs that the statistical packages were using, just the premises that justified their appropriate use for their particular field. Anyway, these mathematical models were pretty straightforward and no sophisticated mathematical concepts were used: the human scientists should be able to understand the construct if they desired to go deeper into the program without continuing higher mathematical education.

            Nature is complex. Theoretical natural scientists should acknowledge that complexity; studying nature is worth a set of equations! Simple and beautiful general equations are out the window.  There are no excuses for engineers and natural scientists for not expanding their imagination and focusing their intuition on complex constructs that may account for many causative factors and analyzing simultaneously many variables for their interactions.

            There are no excuses that experimental designs are not set up to handle three independent variables (factors) and two dependent variables; the human brain is capable of visualizing the interactions of nine combinations of variables two at a time.  Certainly, scientists can throw in as many variables as they need and the powerful computers will crunch the numbers as easily and as quickly as simple designs; the problem is the interpretation part of the reams and reams of results; worst, how your audience is to comprehend your study. A set of coherent series of relatively complex experiments can be designed to answer most complex phenomena and yet be intelligibly interpreted.

It is time to account for all the possible causatives factors, especially those that are rare in probability of occurrence (at the very end tail of probability graphs) or for their imagined little contributing effects: it is those rare events that have surprised man with catastrophic consequences. If complex man was studied with simple sets of equations THEN nature is also worth sets of equations; be bold and make these equations as complex as you want; the computer would not care as long as you understand them for communication sake.

Falling in LOVE...

An abstract from the book “every young women’s battle”

• A radiant bride greeted her guests with a brilliant smile as she entered the reception hall after the wedding ceremony. She gracefully moved about the room, the train of her white gown flowing along the floor behind her, her veil cascading down her button-adorned back. She conversed with each guest one by one, taking the time to mingle and soak up the compliments. “You look absolutely lovely.” “Your dress is divine.” “I’ve never seen a more beautiful bride.” “What a stunning ceremony.” The lavish praising rang on and on. The bride couldn’t be more proud or mre appreciative of the crowd’s adoration. She could have listened to them swoon over her all evening. As a matter of fact, she did. But where was the groom? All the attention focused on the bride and never once did she call anyone’s attention to her husband. She didn’t even noticed his absence at her side. Scanning the room, I searched for him, wondering. Where could he be? I finally found him, but not where I expected him to be. The groom stood alone over in the corner of the room, with his head down. As he stared at his ring, twisting the gold band that his bride has just placed on his finger, tears trickled down his cheeks and onto his hands.

When I read this, I was like, my goodness, this is the worst bride EVER! Who would ever do something like that on their wedding day! SERIOUSLY! But as I read on….

• This is when I noticed the nails scars. The groom was Jesus. He waited, but the bride never once turned her face toward her groom. She never held His hands. She never introduced the guests to Him. She operated independently of Him.

I just sat there with my book in shocked. And realised that I have probably done the exact same thing countless times. Literally, my heart just wept! I don’t know about you, but when I read this, my heart was so broken.

Jesus just longs so much for us to acknowledge Him, introduce Him to our firends, be alone with HIm, cling on to Him for our identity, to gaze longingly into His eyes, to love Him with our ALL!

What about you? Do you have this relationship with Christ? Do you experience the incredible joy of intimacy with the One who loves you with a passion that is far deeper, far greater than anything you could find here on earth?

Hooah! 2-16

Good soldiers and good reporters are made under fire when an honesty of action and of words are fused.  We can learn from such fusion.  David Finkel began his recording of the 2-16 battalion, the Second Battalion, Sixteenth Infantry Regiment of the Fourth Infantry Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division, nicknamed The Rangers, in January 2007 and finished in June 2008.  He spent eight months with the 2-16 in Iraq, through blood, sweat, shit, dust, fear, bravery, breakdown, dismemberment, and death.  To his honor he reported only what he saw without padding, politics, or soapbox.  His The Good Soldiers is a tough emotional read but felt good to be trusted with an account the soldiers would respect.

The officers and soldiers on the ground in Iraq did not lose the war.  They fought and were maimed, broken, and died because they did their job well.  The disjointure between action on the ground and policy in Washington falls to the blame of the political leadership who understood nothing before and during.  Each chapter is prefaced by a timely and relevant quote from President Bush, but the Bush quotes could just as easily been paired with any number of statements made by administrative appointees and Congressional leaders.  We suffered a massive collapse of leadership at home; however, the 2-16 in Iraq did the suffering and then the suffering came home to their families.

Don’t read the book if you can’t stand the heat.  Don’t read the book if you think there are excuses for Washington.  Charles Marlin

The Bone People - Keri Hulme

The Bone People won the Booker prize in 1985. I remember it creating a huge stir in New Zealand at the time, because of the prestige of the prize but also the question of the author’s “right” to write about Maori culture.

This book has always been on my “should read but not really that interested in reading” list. I’m so pleased that I have finally read it. It feels like I have been on a long journey with each of the three central characters.

These three are Kerewin, a reclusive painter who has lost her ability to paint; Simon, a mute 6 year old and Joe, Simon’s adoptive father. Simon turns up at Kerewin’s “tower” her isolated refuge one day and it is here that the healing journey of these alienated and traumatised people begins. It is a combined and an individual journey. A rediscovery of identity.

This is a story that asks for commitment to get through it. There are issues that arise that do not make easy reading.It is long, the pace is slow and it has a stream of consciousness/poetic style which I found hard going. Add to that a lot of Maori language throughout which required repeated flicking to the back of the book to translate.

Despite being a frustration, the gentle pace is also one of the joys. It embodies the spirit of acceptance, of letting things be, of allowing the seasons and the land and the people of the land to do what they need to do to become whole again.

This story is filled with symbolism and is multi-layered. There is so much to think about having finished it and despite being a challenge it was worth it. The latter part of the book was amazing.

I have to admit to struggling with my thoughts for this post. In a nutshell, I found it a difficult, memorable, wonderful read.

Read for the Book Awards 3 challenge.

Africa is targeted to be exclusively the world's food basket

Africa is targeted to be exclusively the world’s food basket; (Nov. 11, 2009)

 

If you have lands with no water, if you have water and no fertile land, if you have accumulated enough in your Sovereign Fund then the way to go is to invest in foreign fertile lands for agricultural “self-sufficiency”, which means import food at much lower prices.  Japan, South Korea, China, India, and Saudi Arabia are leading these kinds of joint ventures. For example:

South Korea has acquired a total of 3 millions hectares (three times the superficies of the State of Lebanon); it is growing fields in Russia (500,000 ha), Sudan (700,000 ha), Madagascar (1.3 million ha), Mongolia (300,000 ha), Philippines (100,000 ha), and Indonesia (25, 000 ha).  The Korean agency for international cooperation (State owned) is creating private and public enterprises to invest into agro-businesses by loans or direct governmental investments. Leases of fertile lands are for 60 years and an extension of another 40 years. In return, Korea will extend technologies and development planning.  It appears that South Korea is projecting unification with North Korea and the flooding of North Korean refugees soon.

China has invested for a total of 2 millions hectares.  It has 1.25 millions in South East Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos), in Mozambique (800,000 ha), in Russia (80,000 ha), in Australia (45,000), and in Cuba (5,000 ha).

Japan has acquired a total of one million hectares in Philippines (600,000 ha), USA (225,000 ha), and Brazil (100,000 ha).

India has acquired a total of 1.7 millions hectares in Argentina (600,000 ha), Ethiopia (370,000 ha), Malaysia (300,000 ha), Madagascar (250,000 ha), Indonesia (70,000 ha), and in Laos (50,000 ha).  The Indian government has extended loans to 80 agro-businesses to purchase 350,000 ha in Africa.  Ramakrishna Karuturi (the king of rose production in 4 millions hectares) is leasing the hectare for two dollars a year in Ethiopia!

Saudi Arabia has invested in Indonesia (one million ha), Senegal (500,000 ha), and in Mali (200,000 ha).  The Arab Emirates has invested in Pakistan (325,000 ha), and in Sudan (400,000 ha). Egypt has invested in Uganda (850,000 ha).  Libya has invested in Ukraine (250,000 ha), and Liberia (5,000 ha).  Qatar invested in the Philippines (100,000 ha).

Africa is the remaining poorest continent with vast fertile lands and plenty of manpower to exploit for agro-business enterprises. Africa is targeted to be exclusively the world’s food basket in this century. We hope that the world community will pressure these investors to grow food slowly and not ruin the remaining land with fertilizers and pesticides.

The European Union (EU): Modern Europe leading human rights

The European Union (EU): Modern Europe leading human rights; (Nov. 10, 2009)

 

The previous post “European Union (EU) describes Modern Europe” covered a few statistics and then a short description of the EU administrative and legislative institutions. This follow up post will cover what is working, then analyzing what need to be ironed out, and then how the world community is expecting modern Europe to lead.

The 27 European States forming the EU counts 6 States among the twenty leading economy in the world.  By deceasing rank we have USA, China, Japan, India, Germany, Russia, Britain, France, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, Spain, South Korea, Canada, Indonesia, Turkey, Iran, Australia, Taiwan, and the Netherlands. Actually, those six European economies constitute about 90% of the EU in economy and in populations.

As a block, the economy of the EU may surpass the USA with a twist: the three largest industrial multinationals in every sector are US.  For example, in aeronautics we have United Technology, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin; in medical materials we have Medtronic, United Health, and Alcon; in Medias we have Walt Disney, News Corporation, and Comcast; in pharmaceutical/biotechnology we have Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer; in informatics we have Microsoft, IBM, and Google.  Besides, the US is the first military power in technology, Navy, Bombers, and aircraft carriers.  The EU is totally dependent on oil and gas energies imported from Russia and elsewhere.  France has adopted a policy of being sufficient in electricity via nuclear energy (60% of the total of France production of energy).  Denmark is 25% sufficient in Aeolian technology and Germany about 15%.

The EU is facing problems. First, the “community vision” is eroding: the decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall and disintegration of the Soviet Union sent the wrong message of jumping in the band wagon of US globalization; thus, the well to do citizens wanted to get rich fast by emulating liberal capitalism. Individualism overshadowed the need to resume a common culture of developing institutions that are trained to work toward the common interest and be reformed to keeping the EU spirit intact in human rights and human dignity.

Second, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 took Europe by surprise.  The euphoric undertaking of uniting East Germany quickly exhausted West Germany with the multitude of social, economic and political problems of this unification and captured most of Germany’s resources and time and prevented it to ponder on the EU necessities.  The opportunity to deepen European consciousness for reformed institutions to expanding eastward was missed.

Third, the EU was discussing the two possibilities: either the strengthening the current union for the longer term expansion or hastily absorbing the many eastern European newly independent States.  The political decision was to go ahead and allowing these tiny states to adhere to the union.  I think that this was the appropriate decision because new States had to root their future into a tangible alliance or fall back into past habit, inclinations, and culture; thus, forming close alliances with Russia. The EU was the appropriate framework for ethnic communication and more democratic realization of social aspirations.  The problem is that these tiny States feel that they should aspire to the same standard of living in no times.  The latest financial crash has left al these States in bankrupt conditions and it is up to the rich EU States to salvage this predicament.  Maybe this fact should remind the EU that not all States should enjoy the same rights until they can show the same capability to shouldering responsibilities.

 

The actual challenges are many. First, there is a political space to reconstruct:  The budget of the EU institutions is merely 1% of the gross GNP while States allocate over 30% to re-distribute to collectivities, social protection, and welfare. The richer States are not that inclined to contribute heavily to the social stability of the poorer EU State members. Second, the EU has unified its currency (it overcame the States’ monopolies to issuing paper money) but is lacking a unified economic government.  For example, the EU lacks common public spaces, no political party or organization has been created or formed to focus on specific EU interests, and the EU Parliament has no power to raise taxes to finance common policies.  So far, the government chiefs are wary of relinquishing their interstates legitimacy and power.

As a block, the EU is still unable to challenge the US on crimes against humanity committed by the US and Israel;  it is fully cooperating with the US on taking Israel off the hook in the UN for daily crimes against human dignity, rights, and apartheid policies in the West bank and Gaza. There are a few States in the EU that are showing trends to opposing Israel’s apartheid practices and boycotting its products grown and manufactured in the occupied West Bank; it is the people in these States who have set the stage for human rights and dignity reversal toward the Palestinian endemic plight since 1948.

 

The world community is on its toes: will the EU refresh its initial objective of “community vision” or will it relapse in petty interstates interest of monopolies and idiosyncrasies?  We need the EU to be the caldron of community communication among ethnicities, languages, and cultures. We need the EU to be the social and political testing ground for viable alternatives in vision, institutions, ecological human survival, human rights and dignity. We need the EU to invent new reasons to living together and reducing man inequality.

The European Union is the most striking political and social achievement in the 20th century.  The backbones of most of the UN peace keeping forces around the world are European contingents; the EU is the highest contributor in humanitarian budgets and for reforming obsolete public institutions in the under-developed States. The EU needs a refresher community vision and the world community should raise its voices and aid Europe in its endeavors.

Short Review: Tempt Not the Cat by J. C. Wilder

• Title: Tempt Not the Cat
• Author: J. C. Wilder
• Type: Paranormal romance
• Genre: Cat shifter and wounded dove battle evil vampire
• Sub-genre: Isolated cabin and two adults trapped by the weather
• My Grade: C+ to B- (3.5*)
• Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
• Length: Short novel about about 65,000 words for $5.50
• Where Available: ebook available at Samhain (for convenience only)
• FTC Disclosure: ebook purchased on publisher website

This paranormal romance is part of a series that was published by Ellora’s Cave and is still available there, but you don’t need to read the earlier books to enjoy this one.  I say that from experience because I didn’t read the EC books yet, but I likely will.  Before starting the review, I’d like to just take a moment and point out the ‘value for the money’ difference between Tempt Not the Cat and Night Moves.  Ignoring the respective quality of the writing and plot, let’s just focus on the size of the story.  Night Moves rang in at a super lightweight 34, 000 word estimate (novella sold as a ’short novel’) while Tempt Not the Cat comes in at a light heavy weight 65,000 word estimate (short novel).  That’s nearly twice the bang for the buck – not to mention all the ancillary costs associated with editing and proofing a longer work.  So for $0.30 more, you get a book and twice the length and twice the hours of entertainment.  In ebooks, especially as so many in these categories rarely even go to print, this is about the only comparison you can make.

Erihn Spenser (Why do writers persist in the odd spelling of names?  It is so damn annoying!) is a romance author who never had any romance in her life.  At 17 she was kidnapped, physically and sexually assaulted and nearly killed by a serial rapist killer.  She survived, but she’s scarred, physically and emotionally.  It’s been 14 years and still the nightmares plague her.  Her friends who have some serious issues in their own past, but have since found love, are trying to get her out of her self-imposed solitary confinement and into the dating world.  While researching her last book she spent time in the extensive library of the fiance of her friend and discovered an only diary.  It was that book that inspired her were-cat paranormal romance that hit the bestseller list.  Now she’s working on the next installment and needs to get away, so she’s borrowing a friends house up in the mountains so she can write in peace and quiet.  Little does she know that two of her friends are vampires as are their men.

Fayne needs some time alone.  Being a Hunter for the Counsel for centuries has taken its toll.  His adopted son, Max, is in South African on an archeological dig, so he heads up to a friends cabin in the mountains.  Yup.  Same cabin.  Fayne slowly lures the easily frightened Erihn to him using both his human and cat form.  The gradual build up and Erihn’s hesitant approach to the possibility of normal sexual relationship is well done.  In the background is an evil vampire, a mute, that needs Max back in order to use his voice like a puppet.  And he’s desperate for the diary that Erhin has in her possession.

Max comes back from Africa with his ‘immortal’ guardian and communicates with Erihn via telepathy.    Erihn has the diary and a stalker she acquired since she released her latest steamy book.  The evil vamp  wants Max back and Fayne killed.  He enlists the air of the stalker to get Erihn out of the cabin on the pretext Fayne is hurt and needs her despite the “Big Mis”.  All converge on the cabin in the mountains while storms play havoc with mudslides and downed trees.  Seventy pages to get to the big love scene and 20 pages for a ‘Big Miss’ kill off two characters and then a third, save Erihn, save the diary, and then a few pages to shift to cat, learn friends are vamps – but good ones, and reconcile with lover.   Hummmmmmm

So much of Tempt Not the Cat works, but the story has a big weak spot for me with Fayne’s reaction to Erhin’s draft of her new book and his over-the-top accusations.  As a “The Big Mis” it didn’t feel true to Fayne’s character.  I also had trouble believing the ending, including how easily Erihn accepted what happened to her.  The whole ending was just to pat and much too brief.  It needed more tension and a better resolution than what was there.  For me, it felt like the story just ran out of steam.  Despite that, it was a good read and worth a try, especially if you’ve you followed the series.

Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament

Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament

Editor: John H. Walton

Hardcover: 2928 pages

Publisher: Zondervan (November 1, 2009)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0310255724

ISBN-13: 978-0310255727
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With thanks to Jesse Hillman at Zondervan for this review copy!

When I was contacted and asked if I’d be interested in reviewing the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament (hereafter ZIBBCOT) the answer was a no-brainer: of course I’d be interested!  Sure, it’s always nice to get your hands on some shiny new books (and let’s face facts, Zondervan has been publishing some beauties lately), but I’m in a position to really benefit from a set such as this since I tend to focus my time and attention more on the NT than the OT.  Don’t get me wrong, I do read the OT, and quite often at that, but I rarely study the corpus with the same tenacity that I do the NT.

As it turns out, over the past year or so The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament has become a standard reference tool in my library.  When questions about the setting of an OT passage or a particular custom or whatever arise, it’s usually the first place I turn.  John H. Walton along with Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas edited that volume and they did an excellent job.  So with such a great resource why would there be any need for another?  The answer is simple: more scholars contributed to the ZIBBCOT so there are more voices to learn from; the ZIBBCOT is much larger and is therefore able to interact with any given passage in more detail; and there are a multitude of visual aids that help to bring the text to life.

Under the general editorship of John H. Walton the ZIBBCOT brings together an international team of more than 30 OT scholars, many of whom have written full-length commentaries on the books they cover, and a good number of whom have written or contributed to books on OT background.  I’m not familiar with each contributor so I can’t speak to all of their denominational backgrounds, but those whom I am familiar with (e.g., John Walton, Tremper Longman, III, V. Philips Long, Daniel I. Block, et al.) are all situated within the evangelical spectrum.

Each volume of the ZIBBCOT contains roughly the same front matter: table of contents, acknowledgements, introductory essay, general bibliography, and abbreviations.  Where they differ is in John Walton’s “Methodology: An Introductory Essay.”  The essay is identical in its first part on “comparative studies” (in general) in all of the volumes but the second part varies according to the genre of books being covered.  So in volume 1 the second section focuses on “comparative studies in the Pentateuch”; volumes 2 & 3 “comparative studies and historical literature”; volumes 4 & 5 “comparative studies and prophetic literature.”

The commentary itself follows a pretty standard format.  Each book is given a brief introduction where the historical setting/background, the geographical setting, and the literary setting/form are set forth before moving into the commentary proper.  While not addressing every single verse or passage in the OT, the contributors cover those that need the most explanation with reference to pertinent background material.  Information on the geography, rituals, practices, laws, religion(s), etc. of Israel and her ANE neighbors is provided while being undergirded by reference to various archeological discoveries such as ancient manuscripts, artwork, tools, locations, etc.  The icing on the cake is the visual representation of many of these discoveries.  I’d be remiss to not mention the copious chapter end notes.  Generally I gripe about end notes but every once in a while they make sense.  In a set as visually driven as this one they work.  To include them on the same page as the text would take away from the overall aesthetic.

It’s difficult to offer anything more than a brief and generalized sketch of such a large reference set as the ZIBBCOT because its sheer size and detail.  I’ve not read each volume through completely and I don’t know that I ever will.  I have been able to put this set to good use though in the few short weeks that I’ve had it.  For example, the other night I received a phone call from a friend asking me to watch a television program in which the host made reference to Genesis 1 and suggested that Jesus was the “light” of Genesis 1:3.  Aside from the theological problems I saw inherent in such an interpretation (i.e., it suggests then that the Son was created and it doesn’t take into account that God speaks the light into existence, i.e., his word is already present with him, cf. Jo. 1:1-3), it simply didn’t make good sense of the passage in its original context.  So I was happy to grab volume 1 of the ZIBBCOT off the shelf and read John Walton’s brief treatment of “Light” in vs. 3:

As just noted, light was not considered something physical in the ancient world; rather, it was a phenomenon. Here in Genesis, light is identified with the alternating periods of day and night. Since light is called “day” and darkness is called “night,” the text indicates that the functional focus is time. In Egypt, the sun god Re is considered the creator of time as he rises every morning, again relating the day-night cycle and light to time. In a broken section of the Babylonian Creation Epic, Marduk is apparently creating time as the text’s references to the day and the year are followed by a reference to watches of the night. (1.16)

Likewise, the Bible study that I taught two weeks ago focused in part on the work of the prophets in the OT.  I read from Ezekiel 33 where the LORD calls Ezekiel as a watchman with the underlying point that the prophet was called to warn the nation and call them to repentance (as opposed to the “feel good” messages of many so-called prophets of today).  It was nice to be able to open up the ZIBBCOT and include some background information on the “Oracles Relating to the Fall of Jerusalem” (4.476-84) in my notes and provide some context for what was going on at the time that God called Ezekiel.

And before I close this review I’d like to offer a final word on the design of this set: it’s beautiful!  As I said in the introductory paragraph, Zondervan has been producing some beauties as of late.  Whether or not we want to admit it, the way books look matters!  It’s a genuine pleasure to have a nice set of books displayed proudly in your bookcase, or if you prefer, on your desk since this set is housed in an equally attractive slipcase.  It’s nice to flip through a volume that is visually appealing because of all the high resolution photographs, but it’s even better when these photographs serve to support the text and give the reader a better sense of what is being discussed.  And in the case of the ZIBBCOT it doesn’t hurt that each volume is closed with a detailed picture index that makes finding exactly the picture you’re looking for a breeze.  Would that an online or digital version of this set was available; I can imagine the PowerPoint presentations that could be prepared from this material!

In the end this is a set that will benefit the non-specialist and specialist alike.  It’s well focused, easy to follow, informative while not being too detailed and just plain fun to look at.  I’d highly recommend the ZIBBCOT to one and all, especially the student like myself whose knowledge of OT backgrounds is stunted by his/her primary interest in the NT.

B”H

Review of God’s Word Translation–the Old Testament (Part 2)

In this second post in a multi-part review of God’s Word Translation (GW), we will take a look at the Old Testament as translated in GW.  If you are not familiar with GW, please read my first post on the history and philosophy behind GW.

Text Formatting

As far as I know, the text layout in all editions of GW is identical: single-column, black lettering with textual footnotes.  I have not seen an edition that includes cross-references, and the God’s Word Study Bible is the only edition I find in the catalog that includes them.  With respect to readability, this layout is fantastic. The single-column layout allows narrative text to read like a book instead of a technical manual and allows poetry to be formatted in such a way as to clearly bring out the parallelism so important and prominent in Hebrew poetry.  The only thing I find distracting are the section titles, but these appear in just about every edition of every translation, so this is nothing specific to GW.  Because of the choices made in the text layout, GW gets high marks for formatting and readability.

Overall Readability

In my opinion, GW has achieved very good readability without sacrificing readability or breaking markedly from traditional English bible translations.  While there are certainly places in every translation where one could suggest stylistic revisions for one reason or another, overall GW is a comfortable read falling somewhere in my totally unscientific scale of readability between the NIV and the NLT.  In other words, someone familiar with the NIV or translations leaning more toward ‘formal equivalence’ may find that GW sounds more ‘familiar’ than the NLT.  This isn’t necessarily good or bad, merely my attempt to place GW in the context of versions many readers are more familiar with.  If you are curious to read several passages from GW side-by-side with other versions, check out Joel’s series of reviews on his blog.  Since he has provided so many examples, I do not intend to provide more.

Narrative

The narrative in GW reads as one would hope narrative would–smoothly.  While I haven’t read through all of the OT in GW, I have enjoyed what I have read.  Consistent with its goal of readability without oversimplification, the narrative portions sometimes shorten sentence length over what is found in the original languages, though translators have aimed not to shorten sentences for the sake of shortening them if such edits compromise or blur their meaning.  The narrative also tries to avoid piling up clauses or prepositional phrases, both of which create more difficult reading.

Poetry

One of the most important literary devices in Hebrew poetry is parallelism (see this great Wikipedia article on Biblical Poetry for a primer on the subject).  Especially over against rhyme, meter, rhythm or other devices that are not readily apparent in any translation from Hebrew to English, understanding parallelism helps provide significant insight into understanding the significance of the Psalms, songs, and some prophetic sections in the Old Testament.  The poetic sections of GW are one place, in my opinion, where the editors have really made good use of the additional real-estate allowed by having a single-column format.  The wider, single-column layout allowed editors to use multiple levels of indentation to group together multiple parallel phrases nested within a section of poetry.  While this indentation is not original to the Hebrew, it definitely allows English speakers whose poetry uses parallelism less than rhyme to easily (and visually) see its structure and better understand its meaning.  I have seen no other single-column layout that so effectively utilizes indentation to organize and present poetry.  This is one area where GW really shines!

Non-Traditional Wording

In its attempt to remove easily misunderstood technical language (see my first review), GW breaks with translation tradition in some places.  This is more apparent in the New Testament, as we’ll see, but there are several important areas where non-traditional wording is used in the Old Testament.  One significant departure from traditional English translations is the use of ‘instruction’ as the translation for the Hebrew ‘torah’.  While ‘instruction’ is almost the universal lexical definition of ‘torah,’ most English translations routinely translate it as ‘law,’ and even non-technical commentaries are quick to point out this important difference.  Making this change was an excellent choice.

Another traditional phrase appearing in the Old Testament is “Lord of Hosts” (‘Yahweh Sabaoth’).  Here ‘hosts’ is a reference to angelic beings, i.e. the hosts of heaven.  It is an archaic phrase that few Christians are truly familiar with and even fewer, if any, non-Christians would implicitly understand.  GW has chosen to translate this phrase “Lord of Armies,” which I think is unfortunate, as there is no explanation that these armies of the armies of heaven and not the armies of men or earthly politics.  There is room for significant misunderstanding here, in my opinion, and translating this “Lord of Heaven’s Armies,” as the NLT has done, is a much better choice.

A final non-traditional translation choice was made in Deuteronomy 6.4.  This verse, commonly known as the ’shema,’ is an important part of daily prayer for the Jews.  Traditionally this verse is translated as, “Hear, O Israel:  The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (ESV), which serves to emphasizes the unity of God.  In the context of a polytheistic culture and God’s constant warnings against worshiping other Gods, Dt 6.4 is better understood as Israel’s ‘pledge of allegiance’ to Yahweh.  As such, GW (similarly to the NLT) translates this verse, “Listen, Israel: The LORD is our God.  The LORD is the only God.”  Again, in my opinion, this was an excellent choice by the translators.

Overall

Overall, the Old Testament of GW is very well done.  The narrative is crystal clear and the poetic sections are wonderfully presented.  While not all aspects of non-traditional word choices are necessarily more helpful than traditional English renderings, in two areas at least, I find the changes refreshing and, quite honestly, more accurate.

Stay tuned for our look next time at the New Testament!

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Graphic Novel Spotlight - The Umbrella Academy

If you’re familiar with the name Gerard Way, it’s probably because you’ve heard of his band, My Chemical Romance, but did you know he’s also an award-winning comic book author?  

Along with artist Gabriel Ba, Way has created The Umbrella Academy, a series about 7 misfit superheroes who were adopted and raised by a mysterious millionaire, resulting in a seriously dysfunctional family that splits their time between arguing with each other and saving the world. 

 

Whether they’re fighting an Eiffel Tower come to life or traveling through time to the JFK assassination, this series is funny, bloody, and suspenseful.  Check out the first two volumes today!

To order the Umbrella Academy Vol. 1 – Apocalypse Suite or Vol. 2 - Dallas, call the library at 330.643.9067, chat with a librarian using the Meebo box in the side bar, or stop by your local Akron-Summit County Public Library branch!

Vampire of the Mists by Christie Golden

Vampire of the Mists by Christie Golden follows a gold elf vampire named Jander Sunstar, who is bent on revenge. Jander gets thrown into a land called Barovia where a lord, Strahd, takes him in. When trying to found out who hurt his beloved, he finds his answers were right under his nose.

 

Negatives:
1) Time Passing. I really was lost because I didn’t know how much time passed in some parts. I was really shocked to suddenly see Anastasia pregnant, then suddenly her child is running around town. It would have been OK if there was an indicator in the next paragraph. Basically, it just would have benefited a little more if there was acknowledgment of time. I really explained that badly…
2) Point of views. I didn’t like how in the same paragraph, the viewpoints were suddenly changed. So one minute you’re in Sasha’s eyes, the next you’re in Jander’s mind. I really didn’t care for that.

Positives:
1) The characters. Jander was just an amazing character. I really felt his torment. Strahd was just creepy. I liked all the references to movies like Dracula that you can find in here. “I am Count Strahd von Zarovich, and I bid you welcome.” Was just like the dialogue in Dracula. Sasha and Leisl were great characters. Sasha was really thought out and interesting. Leisl was the same way.
2) Horror. The story is creepy. Not scary, it was just plain creepy. Every chapter had something horrible happen in it and because of that, I felt disgusted and awed.
3) Twists. I can’t give anything away but towards the end I was absolutely shocked that someone was someone. Just shocked!
4) Emotions. This is really the first book I had some sort of emotions for what was going on. I was disgusted at some parts, heart broken at others, and horrified most of the time.

Overall: 4.9/5
*The time issue and the viewpoint issue I had really bothered me. But all in all, the story, the characters, the emotions that went along with the book made up for it.*

The Pirate King by R. A. Salvatore

The Pirate King by R. A. Salvatore- This is the second book in the Transitions trilogy. It picks up a few years after the events in The Orc King. The stories main focus is on the ever popular, Drizzt Do’Urden, Captain Deudermont, and the fate of the city of Luskan. As I mentioned, The Orc King was the first book while the third book, The Ghost King, is due out in October 2009.

Captain Deudermont, the captain of the Sea Sprite and a famous pirate hunter, learns that the controller of some of the pirates on the Sword Coast is in the city of Luskan. So Deudermont takes the fight to Luskan, hoping at the same time to improve the conditions there. At the same time, Drizzt Do’Urden and Regis the halfling set out to visit Wulfgar in Icewind Dale. During the duos travel, they stop in Luskan to find that Deudermont beginning his fight. The duo stay to help him out. Does Deudermont succeed and if so, does Luskan welcome him as there savior? Or are there others that are in control of the events taking place?

Negatives:
1) “Hiding” certain characters. About halfway through the novel, you know who these characters are, yet they aren’t mentioned by name and don’t get mentioned until the last 3 chapters. Honestly, what was the point to drag out naming them? I don’t think it served any real big purpose and it certainly wasn’t suspenseful.
2) The actions of Deudermont. This is what really bothered me about this book. Deudermont is, or has been, very noble and full of insight and understanding. I just felt that all his wisdom and insight was just thrown out, and a sense of “I must do the right thing” and “I can fix this!” attitudes were inserted. Basically, I couldn’t see Deudermont doing what he did after taking down the “controller of the pirates.” Granted, it wasn’t a bad thing Deudermont did, but rather so out of character and just the fact that he didn’t realize what was going on really got to me.
3) Forced parts. There were a few parts that I felt forced, and unnecessary. For example, the first time we see Wulfgar and he is yelling,”I am Icewind Dale.” One, it was very stupid and reminded me of some bad movie dialogue. Two, I don’t think it served a big purpose. Sure it set up where he was and how he got it, but for some reason it annoyed me. Then there were some other scenes in this book that I similar thought pointless and just didn’t fit.

Positives:
1) Conditions of Luskan. I thought that the way that Luskan was described after the “battle” was great. It really made you picture the hardships of the people and the desperation they had.
2) Deudermont’s fate. What happens to Deudermont was unexpected, yet perfect. I didn’t expect him to do what he did, yet what happens to him still came as a total shock, even though I knew before reading this book. It was sudden and just jaw dropping, because you never expect a well known character to leave like that.
3) Characterization of Drizzt and Regis. There were parts of this story that added new dimensions to Drizzt and Regis. For instance, when in Icewind Dale, and the feeling of “rightness” that they feel by being there just added something new and interesting in my eyes. The only thing I didn’t care for though, was Regis seemed to whine a lot. It wasn’t bad, but his whining served a purpose and made you look into Regis’ thoughts and how he feels about certain events happening.

Overall: 3.5/5
*Why so low? At times the story and some characters actions didn’t fit. Not only that but, the story didn’t seem complete, and it seemed to lack something. Also, I didn’t feel blown away by most of the events in this book. However, I’m a Drizzt fan, and always will be. I did like the book, but not enough that I thought it was great. It just seemed mediocre.*

10 Million Words - Tim Challies & New York Times bestsellers

Well-known, and well-read, Tim Challies of Challies.com is undertaking a new project in 2010 and invites the readers of his blog to follow along.  If you’ve followed Tim at all, you know he is an avid reader and an accurate book reviewer.  He revealed one of his goals for 2010 today at Challies.com:

I plan to read all of the New York Times Bestselling books over the course of the whole year.

More from his post today explaining his goal (10 Million Words):

Why Are You Doing This?
Just ten years in, the twenty-first century has already been fascinating and complex. The potential for a Y2K disaster was averted but within two years America saw a completely unforeseen disaster that showed just how small the world has become and proved that America was no longer safe within her own borders. Since then we have seen protracted wars, the deaths of iconic celebrities, a massive economic downturn that brought the world to the brink of depression, and the election of the nation’s first black President. All this and the century has only just begun.

America’s bestselling books tell us, I’m sure, who America is, who her people are, at this time and place. Surely they will give me a glimpse into the world’s most powerful, the world’s most fascinating nation.

So why am I doing it? That is a fair question and one that does not offend me in the least. There are a few answers. First, I love to read and this project gives me an opportunity to read a lot. That, as I see it, is a good thing. Second, it is a challenge and I like to face a good challenge. I expect this project to involve at least ten million words of reading–break that down and you’ll see that it comes to at least three books per week over the course of an entire year. Third, I am interested in the cultural and worldview implications of all of these books. They will provide, I’m sure, a snapshot of where America is at as she enters a new decade. And for me, as a Canadian who spends a fair amount of time wandering the United States and who has family living in the United States, this stands to be particularly interesting.

You can read more about who Tim is, as well as more about his goal in reading and reviewing here.  I read Tim’s blog daily and my interest is piqued to see what he shares as the new year begins.

Lost in Translation

I have seen many fellow bloggers do this and I think its a great idea to expand my reading horizons. As a project for the year 2009-10 I plan to read a book from each country in the world. Some of the ground rules

1. It can be a translation or  be written in English by an author from the country in questions

2. The book plot has to be based in the country

3. If I have read foreign authors in the last 5 years ( and not earlier) it is okay to count them as a part of the project. ( no..this is not cheating..after all I have read them, havent I?!)

4. The book can be fiction or non-fiction

The total number of countries in the world – 194 ! Well happy reading to me!

 

Brief: <i>The Rule of Love: Broken, Fulfilled, and Applied</i> -- by J. V. Fesko

Back in July I posted a brief note about Christ the Center’s interview with Rev. Dr. John Fesko on his latest book, The Rule of Love: Broken, Fulfilled, and Applied. Now having had the chance to read the book myself I want to heartily commend this concise 136 page study on one of the most neglected and misunderstood aspects of the Christian life: the Ten Commandments as our rule of love.

What does it mean that the Decalogue is our rule of love? Do the Ten Commandments matter to Christians beyond battles over whether the Decalogue ought to be allowed in American courtrooms and public schools? How does the Law apply to the church today? Fesko answers these questions by looking at each of the 10 commands and unfolding them in the light of their historical, covenantal, and redemptive contexts.

Fesko’s explanations are clear, concise, and creative. You may find yourself thinking more than once, “I’ve never looked at it that way before.” (See especially the chapter on the Fourth Commandment.)

The structure of the book is easy to follow. Each chapter is divided into three sections: (1) the command in its original setting; (2) the command in the light of Christ; and (3) the command’s connection to the church. And the conclusion of each chapter includes a handful of review questions, facilitating personal and small group study.

In a word, while this brief book certainly does not say the last word on the Decalogue (nor does it claim to); however, it does provide a wonderful first word on how the “Ten Words” serve as a rule of love in Christ’s church.

Related Books on the Ten Commandments

More Books by Rev. Dr. John Fesko