Now that I have all that Undergraduate stuff done I have more time to work with. Read a few books, saw a few movies, got a new tattoo, partook of some tasty libations. So, this is what life is like outside the classroom. I like it.
Book 1) The Intentional Life by Cardinal Hume. This a compilation of talks he gave while Abbott of Ampleforth Abbey in merry old England. It is mainly directed to Monks but there is much to be derived from his musings. He has a knack for cutting to the core of what he's trying to express. One thing he wrote that struck me as wonderful in a simple way was" Another characteristic of the religious instinct is a sense of bafflement in the face of the unknown: an awareness that all things have an ultimate meaning that the mind cannot grasp, yet it is always seeking". This idea that we may not have scientific proof that God exists but somewhere inside us is an awareness that bypasses the mind. Knowing without proof.
Book II) House of Glass by Pramoeyda Ananta Toer. This is the last of the quartet that I have mentioned previously. Not my normal cup of tea. I didn't like how he developed the story line through the native policeman character. I guess he was trying to flush out yet another layer to the complicated issue of colonialism but it detracted from the flow of the other three books. I liked this one the least of the four books.
Book III) I finally got around to seeing what all the hype was about with the Twilight series. I went to the movie first and that totally reeled my imagination in so I got the book. Twilight by Stephanie Meyers is easy to read and disappear in. She was initially self published. Pretty amazing when you consider how many of the books are out there now. This vampire story line is different without the gore that the Underworld story line carries. True it's written for a younger audience but the idea of exploring "good" vampires is a novelty that worked.
Book IV) New Dawn by Stephanie Meyers. The next installment explores what happens when Edward leaves trying to protect Bella. He's trying to do what he thinks is best for her but really what is best for her is to be with him. In the meantime she gets involved (sort of) with Jacob to complicate things in a sort of juvenile way. Still the good guy (the vampire) gets the girl in the end. Of course it's not the end because there's still 2 more books......
Book V) Eclipse by Stephanie Meyers. This time the wolves and the vampires are fussing and there are "bad" vampires creating havoc in Seattle. The kids graduate form High school. The wolves and the vampires become allies to protect Bella in the ensuing conflict. They plan a wedding.
Book VI) Breaking Dawn. This one was really hard to put down. Ms. Meyers excelled herself.
I read it through on my day off. I cannot wait to see the movie and how they create what happens. They kids get married, honeymoon in the Tropicals, Bella becomes immortal, there's a confrontation with the Vampire elite from Italy. It's all very imaginatively wonderful. I only wish she would write a series about Carlisle now. These books were far from the intellectual and spiritual works but they sure were a great diversion, a love story, to end the undergraduate days with.
It's nice for now to be able to crawl into bedand read for hours just for fun. It's nice to crawl into bed and not have a paper going on in my head, waking me up in the middle of the night. I can just sleep and be oblivious. It won't last though. My last paper was a chapter in something I want to write about a few ancestors that served in the military. A family history book of sorts. I am such a book addict.
No comments:
Post a Comment