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john rated a book it was amazing Eifelheim by Michael Flynn	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Genre: Historical Fiction / Sci-Fi Plot: Aliens crash land in a small German village and some are eventually baptized by a Scholastic priest. AKA Catholic geek sci-fi. Review: It's important to know that this is hard sci-fi, so if you get glassy-eyed ...more
Sep 07, 2012 01:17PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Eifelheim by Michael Flynn. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Eifelheim by Michael Flynn <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
john is currently reading When the Time Comes: Families with Aging Parents Share Their Struggles and Solutions by Paula Span	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 07, 2012 12:51PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of When the Time Comes by Paula Span. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — When the Time Comes by Paula Span <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
john is currently reading A Summa of the Summa: The Essential Philosophical Passages of St Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica by Peter Kreeft	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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john rated a book liked it That Hideous Strength (The Space Trilogy, #3) by C.S. Lewis	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Lewis' final book of the space trilogy ends on the least interesting planet: Earth. The joy of reading the other books was the world building of other planets, and the evil that threatened their good philosophies. Here it is reversed: Earth has been ...more
Aug 02, 2012 06:33PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
john wants to read Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1) by Dan Simmons	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 08, 2011 01:19PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Hyperion by Dan Simmons <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
john rated a book really liked it Anne of Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables, #2) by L.M. Montgomery	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Damnit Anne! Somehow when I'm reading about you, I feel like someone might look over my shoulder and ask if I want to borrow their Tiger Beat magazine too.
Apr 08, 2011 01:06PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
john rated a book it was amazing Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Probably one of my favorite books.
Apr 08, 2011 01:04PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
john rated a book it was amazing Gilead (Gilead, #1) by Marilynne Robinson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Probably my favorite book I read last year. And that's competing with Lonesome Dove. Thoughts while reading: - Reminds me of Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling, with K's distinction between the bard and the knight of faith. K described himself as the ...more
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john rated a book it was amazing Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1) by L.M. Montgomery	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Thoughts while reading: - intelligence and virtue are inherently interesting personality traits - much of the story is told through Anne's retelling of an event. often a funny way to describe, because the reader ends up inferring the real events behind ...more
Apr 02, 2011 03:31PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Genre: Historical Fiction / Sci-Fi
Plot: Aliens crash land in a small German village and some are eventually baptized by a Scholastic priest. AKA Catholic geek sci-fi.

Review: It's important to know that this is hard sci-fi, so if you get glassy-eyed Genre: Historical Fiction / Sci-Fi
Plot: Aliens crash land in a small German village and some are eventually baptized by a Scholastic priest. AKA Catholic geek sci-fi.

Review: It's important to know that this is hard sci-fi, so if you get glassy-eyed over detailed discussions of variable light speed, this may be worth avoiding. And since this is sci-fi that actually took place in Medieval time period, the "hard" category also applies to its setting, the German Black Forest, so expect a variety of German phrases and historical events that you may also not be familiar with. The main character is also a scholastic priest, so you're going to come across a lot of language and discussion steeped in Aristotelian thought. Basically, expect to be overwhelmed.

The book is about converging worlds of thought, including the German villagers, the Aristotelian thought of the priest, and the modern-ish thought of the aliens. Flynn does a great job at alluding to the depths of each of these worlds, through the jargon-heavy conversations. He also does a great job at showing the difficulties they have in communicating. One of the central plot pieces of the story is an alien translator, and it's fun to realize how certain worlds of thought go places the others haven't. For instance, the Medieval mind didn't understand viruses, which the aliens did, so they make up a term called "small lives." Similarly, "charitas," or charity, is a concept completely foreign to the aliens. And even when terms are provided, it's confusing if the speakers are "coming to terms" at all. Do the materialistic aliens eventually understand Christ, a being both inside and outside of the universe? I don't know, but it's fun to read a book that struggles over terms in such a creative way.

Flynn is also excellent at estranging and endearing the reader to these different worlds of thought. At one point the reader is distanced and astonished at the priest's inability to grasp that rats can carry the Plague (something we've learned in elementary school). But the priest is also closely able to grasp atoms. This oscillation between the familiar and the foreign happens at all levels, and it mixes with the reader's switching reverence and dismissiveness of the subject. Laugh at the priest when he's wrong, but be stunned when he exhibits saintliness.

I was also struck by Flynn's notion of salvation that i think MIGHT be distinctly Catholic - one's soul can be won or lost through charitas. Again, it's interesting to see how it's a discussion over terms. It's not so important that the aliens understand the term of "Herr from the Sky," who's their term for Christ, but it's necessary they understand the term charitas. I can see how this would've been especially pronounced during the Plague, and Christ's presence was seen through charitas - a paraphrased line: the nuns are dying quickly in Paris, but as soon as one dies, another girl takes her place and dons the habit. Perhaps it's a good representation of James' understanding of faith and works.

Finally, I've also got to say that alien baptism is much more inspiring here than it was in Close Encounters of the Third Kind... ...more

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When the Time Comes: Families with Aging Parents Share Their Struggles and Solutions
by Paula Span

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john is currently reading

A Summa of the Summa: The Essential Philosophical Passages of St Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica
by Peter Kreeft

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That Hideous Strength (The Space Trilogy, #3)
by C.S. Lewis

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Lewis' final book of the space trilogy ends on the least interesting planet: Earth. The joy of reading the other books was the world building of other planets, and the evil that threatened their good philosophies. Here it is reversed: Earth has been Lewis' final book of the space trilogy ends on the least interesting planet: Earth. The joy of reading the other books was the world building of other planets, and the evil that threatened their good philosophies. Here it is reversed: Earth has been suffering from its governing evil spirits, and the tale is about the small domestic house that seeks to return sanity to our planet. The curse of our planet is that we've set mind against body - the enemy is literally a disembodied head - but the villainy is...dull.
Perhaps the proportions were off. Lewis' forte is making goodness attractive. Have you ever read a more captivating description of Heaven than the final chapter of the Last Battle? But here, badness reigns not only the planet but nearly all the pages of the book. Goodness is only a small force, filled with provocative content, but Lewis spends more time with long descriptions of a scientific bureaucracy.
That said, the passages from Ransom are worth the read. Ransom returns for the third round brighter and wiser from his earlier trips. And most of what he has to say revolves around domestic advice - who would have thought that an interplanetary conspiracy novel would play out through the newlywed troubles of the two protagonists and Ransom's marital advice? The roles of the other planets in the final pages were also worth the read. So my advice might just be to speed read the Mark chapters until the final bits.

SPOILER

I also loved the Venus solution at the end of the book. When a culture has pitted mind against body, of COURSE the solution is for Venus to arrive and reinstill erotic love. And in the hands of Lewis, erotic love actually means the coming together of people, not just physical gratification.

Also loved the notion of gender and obedience of women. St. Paul has described the obedience of women before, but I feel like Lewis gave me the explanation: women carry beauty, and when a woman "desires the desiring of her beauty" it is vanity, but when she "desires the enjoying of her beauty" it is the obedience of Eve. Said another way, the woman has a gift the man doesn't, and she must give it completely to the man. The man's role is to pursue and adore that gift. All chivalry seems based on this principle, and Lewis is good at showing how modern notions of the equality of the sexes is really an obfuscation of capital B Beauty, which prevents the natural giver/pursuer relationship to occur. Without it, love becomes impossible, and the two sexes are really just trying to gain admiration from the other. Ask me what I think of this again after I've been married a few more years. ...more

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Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)
by Dan Simmons

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Anne of Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables, #2)
by L.M. Montgomery

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Damnit Anne! Somehow when I'm reading about you, I feel like someone might look over my shoulder and ask if I want to borrow their Tiger Beat magazine too.

john rated a book it was amazing

Speak, Memory
by Vladimir Nabokov

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Probably one of my favorite books.

john rated a book it was amazing

Gilead (Gilead, #1)
by Marilynne Robinson

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Probably my favorite book I read last year. And that's competing with Lonesome Dove.

Thoughts while reading:
- Reminds me of Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling, with K's distinction between the bard and the knight of faith. K described himself as the ...more

john rated a book it was amazing

Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)
by L.M. Montgomery

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Thoughts while reading:

- intelligence and virtue are inherently interesting personality traits
- much of the story is told through Anne's retelling of an event. often a funny way to describe, because the reader ends up inferring the real events behind ...more