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Devil's Ink: Blog from the Basement Office
Jeffrey Pugh writes not about our personal relationship with sin but about the forces and ideas to which humans give their lives, with great material effect on the world. He explores how evil embeds itself structurally in human life and how that can bring us misery and frustration. But he writes in a playful way that makes such reflections accessible to a broad spectrum of readers.
- GenresFiction
170 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2011
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20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 12, 2011
I'll keep it short and sweet:
'The Screwtape Letters' was better.
'The Screwtape Letters' was better.
July 9, 2011
Is the Devil omniscient or merely opinionated? I don’t know. He certainly has lots to say, as he rants for page after page in his “blog from the basement office.”
At first, I felt like I just wasn’t getting it. I shook my head over the first dozen pages, thankful this lurking evil was all a myth. Then, I considered the many who do take the Devil seriously, imagining him as a sort of personified version of everything wrong with the world, and to them, this book must be absolutely frightful! How does one dare make light of the Evil One himself? The book is edgy to begin with, but as I imagined the dichotomy between believers and non-believers, it became doubly so.
When I came to realize Pugh was just building a little atmosphere, I started to relax. A feisty critter, that Devil. Arrogant, insulting, mischievous, sleazy, often crabby. I stuck my tongue out at the cranky old coot whenever he became unhinged. He does like to rant:
“If someone screws with me, they should pay. I really don’t want them forgiven. That’s just how I roll. Who is “god” to forgive someone who wrongs me, anyway? It’s sheer arrogance, it is.”
But my comfort faded when the book took another turn, and began to get serious. A new, not-so-simple image of God began to surface, one you “can’t put on a stained-glass window like you can a bearded guy on a throne.” Political, intelligent, and relevant, Pugh soon gave me much to think about, if I could keep from burning out by constantly looking at the world through the lens of the gleefully evil.
Suggestion: The blog-sized sections make for a perfect bathroom reader.
At first, I felt like I just wasn’t getting it. I shook my head over the first dozen pages, thankful this lurking evil was all a myth. Then, I considered the many who do take the Devil seriously, imagining him as a sort of personified version of everything wrong with the world, and to them, this book must be absolutely frightful! How does one dare make light of the Evil One himself? The book is edgy to begin with, but as I imagined the dichotomy between believers and non-believers, it became doubly so.
When I came to realize Pugh was just building a little atmosphere, I started to relax. A feisty critter, that Devil. Arrogant, insulting, mischievous, sleazy, often crabby. I stuck my tongue out at the cranky old coot whenever he became unhinged. He does like to rant:
“If someone screws with me, they should pay. I really don’t want them forgiven. That’s just how I roll. Who is “god” to forgive someone who wrongs me, anyway? It’s sheer arrogance, it is.”
But my comfort faded when the book took another turn, and began to get serious. A new, not-so-simple image of God began to surface, one you “can’t put on a stained-glass window like you can a bearded guy on a throne.” Political, intelligent, and relevant, Pugh soon gave me much to think about, if I could keep from burning out by constantly looking at the world through the lens of the gleefully evil.
Suggestion: The blog-sized sections make for a perfect bathroom reader.
May 25, 2012
When you copy a masterpiece the risks are very high. Pugh does not make you forget C.S. Lewis but he does a very nice job of talking about the evil that surrounds us and the masks and illusions that we have that keep us from a more redemptive people.
From the craft point of view there is a slight problem because there appear to be elements that surprise even the Devil. There is "the enemy" who is God and there are humans, and there are the Demons and the one writing this blog, the Devil. But then there are events and actions that the Devil does not claim to have done and these events surprise the Devil but they are events that the Devil welcomes. Perhaps Pugh does not want us to get into too rigid a division of Good-Evil and the war between them. He does have a major point about absolutizing our side and demonizing the other side. Us/Them and how that is one of evil's most effective weapon.
I found this to be a kind of slow read. I did not find myself pleased with his observations, but I think Pugh was very much on target and yet because of that will very likely be ignored and his book cast aside as off base.
From the craft point of view there is a slight problem because there appear to be elements that surprise even the Devil. There is "the enemy" who is God and there are humans, and there are the Demons and the one writing this blog, the Devil. But then there are events and actions that the Devil does not claim to have done and these events surprise the Devil but they are events that the Devil welcomes. Perhaps Pugh does not want us to get into too rigid a division of Good-Evil and the war between them. He does have a major point about absolutizing our side and demonizing the other side. Us/Them and how that is one of evil's most effective weapon.
I found this to be a kind of slow read. I did not find myself pleased with his observations, but I think Pugh was very much on target and yet because of that will very likely be ignored and his book cast aside as off base.
January 4, 2012
I loved the concept of this book. It could make for a great comedic film, starring someone like Jack Nichols as the blogger Devil. However, I didn't get very far into this book before I cast it aside. I'm getting too old to force myself to finish a book that I'm not enjoying.
Problem? The author is taking himself way too seriously, and the tone of the book is very preachy. The internet is a tool for evil? Facebook is a tool for evil? Does Jeffrey Pugh in direct contact with God or Satan, that he can pass judement on the rest of modern society? I get my sermons at church on Sunday, thank you very much, and Jeffrey Pugh is not my pastor. Anyone looking for spiritual guidance would do much better to read the Bible themselves instead of Pugh's preachy novel. Bummer, because it could have been HYSTERICALLY funny!
Problem? The author is taking himself way too seriously, and the tone of the book is very preachy. The internet is a tool for evil? Facebook is a tool for evil? Does Jeffrey Pugh in direct contact with God or Satan, that he can pass judement on the rest of modern society? I get my sermons at church on Sunday, thank you very much, and Jeffrey Pugh is not my pastor. Anyone looking for spiritual guidance would do much better to read the Bible themselves instead of Pugh's preachy novel. Bummer, because it could have been HYSTERICALLY funny!
April 14, 2011
Jeffrey Pugh's book is for the modern age what C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters were to an earlier age. The Devil writes a blog and deals with all the issues of the day from torture to politics to theological matters. Pugh's Devil does represent, it seems to me, an "anti-Hauerwasian" position, so I think you'll see the "bias" as you read. All togehter however, this was an interesting and challenging book. Like any set of blog posts, you can't read it all in one sitting!
For a full review check out my blog
http://pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com...
For a full review check out my blog
http://pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com...
October 4, 2011
The premise: What if Satan kept a blog? Pointedly fun read based a bit on The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis, but most definitely a book for the 21st century.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews