Ancient Mystery Cults

It is quite common for people to claim that the story of Jesus is based on the ancient mystery religions such as that devoted to Mithras, Osiris-Isis etc.  The best way to respond to such claims is to look at what the mystery religions actually say.  The best resource I have found is Walter Burkert’s Ancient Mystery Cults.  This is not an apologetic book and I do not even know if Burkert is a Christian.  What I do know is that Burkert is able to present the basics of mystery religions in an understandable way.  He dispels myths such as the idea that Mithraism almost surpassed Christianity or that communion had its origins in the mysteries.  Burkert’s only agenda seems to be to let the mystery religions speak for themselves and yet in doing that, he demolishes many of the claims of authors such as Tom Harpur, Peter Gandy, Timothy Freke etc.  If you want to understand mystery religions and how Christianity is related, this is the book to read.

Undress me in the temple of heaven Susan Gilman

I recently finished reading a book by Susan Gilman called Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven. It was a memoir that took place in China circa 1986. The author and her friend decided rather spontanteously while eating pancakes drunkly at Ihop that they would travel the world together starting first with China. I thought that sounds promising. I do afterward yearn to travel, but I never set my heart on China. All I thought of it was smog, smog and more smog. Oh and coughing up black phelgm, yummy! This book changed my mind about it, even though Susan’s adventure through China with someone who she didn’t know that well was a hell of a rollercoaster ride, the experiences with China and the Chinese was very special. I’m sure that China circa 2009 is going to be a lot different than China circa 1986. I guess one could say that what I’m feeling for this book is just I want to travel.

It’s the style that Susan writes that I love too. It’s so humorus and honest. I know that this review isn’t really a review. It’s more of what I feel about this book, but I still greatly recommend this book to anyone who has a niche for travelling and experiences.

- Cheyenne La Vallee

'One Day in July: Experiencing 7/7' by John Tulloch

2006, 223 p.

Today is the fourth anniversary of the London bombings.   A memorial has been unveiled in Hyde Park this year, and I have no doubt that every passenger on the Underground today will think of the bombings, even if just to push the whole idea away as too terrifying to contemplate (or maybe I’m projecting my own claustrophobia here.)

John Tulloch, an Australian academic, became one of the ‘iconic’ images of the bombing as he was led from Edgware Road, a bandage wrapped around his head, with eyes darting sideways. His studies specialized in the media and risk, and he brings this perspective to his experience of the bombings.  This is more than a survivor story- although he writes graphically and minutely of the bombing and its aftermath- but the real strength of his telling is the intelligence and insight he brings to the experience and its portrayal in the media, theatre and literature.  Here he is able to step away and analyse the intent and techniques in the narrative as it is portrayed through different media.  He puts his politics upfront: he is vehemently anti-Blair, anti-Bush (and anti-Howard); he is convinced of the relationship between our involvement in Iraq and the bombings and clear eyed about our own complicity in allowing the war to continue.  Ironically, he found himself used as a political image to further Britain’s involvement, rather than to question it.

John Tulloch is obviously a sharp and rather irascible ‘older’ academic, and he puts his wisdom, experience and deep knowledge to its best use by adding shades of complexity, contingency and nuance to events that are too easily depicted in only black and white language- something that I’m pleased to see our Federal Government is moving towards consciously expunging from the political lexicon.

The Best of Roald Dahl

‘The Umbrella Man’ was my introduction to the delightful world of Roald Dahl.  After that I never skipped a chance to read Roald Dahl book – and honestly, I did not like all of them equally. But I do believe that Roald Dahl is the master of short stories especially the creepy and macabre ones. ‘The Best of Roald Dahl’ is a collection of story that are outright creepy. You browse along happily page after page and then suddenly the tale twists and gets your skin crawling. While all of them are good , my favorites would be  ‘ Parson’s Pleasure’ the story of a rare antique collector  who cheats dull minded farm people of their rare furniture pieces and how he meets his match, ‘Taste’ the story of an arrogant wine taster and ‘Lamb to a slaughter’ – the story of a harmless wife turned murderer .

The others are good but some of them like ‘Pig’ , ‘Ratcatcher’ , ‘William and Mary’ are too graphic and icky for my liking. None of the stories are truly scaring – atleast not in the ghost-story kind of way which is good coz you can sleep at night.

Verdict : Highly recommended

 

Book review: The Story of my Typewriter by Paul Auster

This is a great book. I love Paul Auster’s writing and the fact that he wanted to write the history of his typewriter, the one he used to create all of his fantastic writing, makes me love it even more. 

If you want to “read” this book it’ll take you 20 minutes from cover to cover, it really is that short. But what makes it such an interesting journey are the incredible works of art by Sam Messer interspersed amongst the words. These differ widely in application but some of them are so visceral that you are tempted to believe that you can touch Auster’s typewriter through the page. Read it first, then spend an hour or two browsing the gallery and then read it again – it’s worth it. 

A lovely book, an original idea (once again from Auster) and one that leaves you uplifted. Highly recommended.

June Reading List

I slowed down a little in June. Really, 4 books read the first week and 4 the last week. Two weeks of no reading. Weird for me, but so busy with homeschool and summer and just enjoying time being, rather than being somewhere else.

Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross – Lots of projects here. Not much that interested me. She seemed to have plenty of clothing projects and good ones, too. But in general, not my taste or my preferred sewing.
Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen – This was kind of a weird book. As the circus gets ready to come to town, a 90 y.o. man remembers his time under the big top. It’s quite a tale of mystery and intrigue and sadness in many ways. A boy, a girl and an elephant, a formula for something.
Dog On It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery by Spencer Quinn – Cute little mystery told from the dog’s perspective. Lot’s of rabbit trails based on the dog’s interest. Not a super imaginative ending, but a fun read if you like dogs.
Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore – A young gal dreams her whole life of leaving her small town for the big city, and finally gets her chance. But there’s untold stories yet to be told and a powerful force calling her back to that small town.
The Eat-Clean Diet by Tosca Reno – Lots of good ideas in this book. The idea is that you eat 6 smaller meals with protein and complex carbs as the emphasis. If you’ve ever tried to eat healthy, you will know lots of these tips, but Reno gathers it all together in one book and throws in a few recipes to boot.
Called out of Darkness, A Spiritual Confession by Anne Rice – Despite it’s short length, this book seemed to be the longest one ever. This is author Anne Rice’s spiritual journey from pre-Vatican 2 Catholicism to atheism back to Catholicism. I’m not sure that Protestants will truly understand the complexity of the Catholic matrix in early America, but this will help to show you. I find it interesting that she returned, especially as she shares the details of her life.
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein – Another book told by the dog. As Enzo’s life seems to be slipping away, he looks back on where he came from to where he is. A sad and yet heartwarming story. I liked it.
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls – This is a memoir, and as I read it, I thought, can it be possible that people actually lived like this? Walls shares the story of her disfunctional family and their journey to survive in America in spite of her parents’ inability to consistently provide a stable living environment. Too interesting to toss aside.

My favorite books this month? The Art of Racing in the Rain and The Glass Castle. Different, but good.

'Beverly Hills Adjacent': Where to begin?

I’ll say this for Jennifer Steinhauer: She definitely writes about what she knows in “Beverly Hills Adjacent.” The L.A. Bureau Chief for the NYT drowns her first novel, co-written by actress-author Jessica Hendra, with knowing details and familiar showbiz figures. Some are so thinly-disguised, in fact, you wonder why they bothered. (Jenna Mills for Jenna Elfman? Couldn’t they do better?)

What I can’t understand is why Steinhauer decided to write such a frothy piece of chick lit. It seems strange for a journo charged with directing local hard news coverage to go in such a direction. Sure, other newspaper reporters write: Mary McNamara contributed a similarly frothy tome titled “Oscar Season” a year ago, but she’s an entertainment reporter, now TV critic, for LAT, and does not oversee hard news. Male reporters have written their fair share of genre fiction over the years, but those have tended toward mystery novels with some death to add a harder edge. I can’t think of anything this fluffy from a newspaper journo of her stature. Maybe I’m just forgetting.

Steinhauer further muddied the waters by letting Jamie Lynton, wife of Sony Pictures honcho Michael, host a book party at their house. When Gawker called her out on it, the scribe brushed aside any suggestion of conflict of interest, parrying, “Do I cover the movie beat?” She pointed out that she has nothing to do with cultural coverage, and reports to the national desk. Her husband Ed Wyatt, however, is a TV reporter for the paper.

To make matters worse, the book isn’t that good. There are funny moments, and compelling enough characters to carry readers through, but overall the material’s very thin. Like many beginning novelists, the writers mistake brand names and established regional haunts for character development. Of course the exercise moms prefer Sprinkles cupcakes to June’s hand-crafted ginger cookies! And they wear stretchy yoga pants everywhere! Maybe this will seem fresh to outsiders, but it’s very obvious to anyone who’s spent time in, or around, showbiz. Would that the writers spent a little more time on creating characters rather than types and oppressive scene setting.

As McNamara noted in her LAT review, the book “is so front-loaded with details it almost collapses: It’s not just a cupcake from Sprinkles, it’s a red velvet cupcake from Sprinkles; a character didn’t just wait tables when she came to L.A., she waitressed at Kate Mantilini.” A little local accuracy adds flavor, McNamara writes, but the volume here threatens to consume the story line.

The two main characters, UCLA prof June and her character actor husband Mitch are the most fully realized. The book follows their tandem career crises — his comic battle to get cast during pilot season and her struggle to remain faithful as she vies for tenure. Naturally, there’s plenty of second guessing about their move to L.A. from New York, where Mitch pursued theater, not big bucks.

The writing improves toward the end, becoming more fluid and less epigrammatic. Perhaps Steinhauer’s next novel will take up where she left off, and not head down the same tired road again.