Joseph > Recent Status Updates

I understand that he's going for a big overview, but there's been so much scholarship recently on some of the things that he's talking about that it feels kind of half baked. Case in point, his assertion that celibacy wasn't made mandatory for Latin Rite clerics until the 11th century has been debunked all over the place in the last few years.

Come on, the citizens of Constantinople didn't call themselves Byzantines, that term was coined by French Enlightenment historians. They were just as Roman as Cicero and Seneca.

That's what's bugging me. The chapters seem to be trying to survey a theme but the people he focuses on don't necessarily fit it all the time. It seems like he's losing his theme in specific people.

I never thought I would feel the need to critique Mr. Holland for his treatment of classical Rome given how brilliant his previous book Rubicon is, and yet his skimming over decades and oversimplfying not only discussions of the Church Fathers but also broader features of the Empire in the first few chapters is disappointing.

I kinda wanna rewatch Emerald City right now.

Buddy read with Brooke!

Preaching should not contain jesting words, or childish remarks, or that melodiousness and harmony which result from the use of rhythm or metrical lines; these are better fitted to delight the ear than to edify the soul.

The political intrigue in this is approaching Dune levels.

There are quite a few moving parts here.

This one is more "traditional" than Mistborn, but it's still doing fun things in terms of world building which you don't see a lot.