Sunday, September 30, 2018
1 Samuel
by Andrew E. Steinmann
This is the latest volume of the Concordia Commentary Series that I've finished reading. Compared to my experience with The Song of Songs, this was a breeze. Granted, the narratives in the book of First Samuel are easier to read and understand than the poetry of Song of Songs. But Dr. Steinmann's text is also quite succinct and readable. He clearly lays out the nuances of the original texts (as far as a monolingual, novice scholar such as myself can determine, anyway) and then serves up a relatively brief commentary on each pericope. If only it had been published back when I helped lead that Bible class on the life of David! Ah, well, it'll be on my shelf should I need it again.
LibraryThing link
This is the latest volume of the Concordia Commentary Series that I've finished reading. Compared to my experience with The Song of Songs, this was a breeze. Granted, the narratives in the book of First Samuel are easier to read and understand than the poetry of Song of Songs. But Dr. Steinmann's text is also quite succinct and readable. He clearly lays out the nuances of the original texts (as far as a monolingual, novice scholar such as myself can determine, anyway) and then serves up a relatively brief commentary on each pericope. If only it had been published back when I helped lead that Bible class on the life of David! Ah, well, it'll be on my shelf should I need it again.
LibraryThing link
Labels: AndrewSteinmann, ConcordiaCommentary, OnMyShelf
Thursday, September 27, 2018
The Epic of Gilgamesh
translated by N. K. Sandars
In my formative years, a good chunk of my cultural literacy came from comic books. Writers would mine history and classic literature for plots and characters, or would inject interesting little facts into their stories. I soaked it up, as kids are wont to do, and ended up with a lot of second hand trivia in my head. Over the years I've slowly caught up, reading the books that inspired my favorite comic stories. The most recent is The Epic of Gilgamesh. It's a collection of tales about the king of Uruk in ancient Mesopotamia--tales of adventures, loss, and a quest for immortality. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. The original tale character is so much better than his comic derivatives, and Ms. Sanders has produced a quite readable translation.
Keeping it on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
In my formative years, a good chunk of my cultural literacy came from comic books. Writers would mine history and classic literature for plots and characters, or would inject interesting little facts into their stories. I soaked it up, as kids are wont to do, and ended up with a lot of second hand trivia in my head. Over the years I've slowly caught up, reading the books that inspired my favorite comic stories. The most recent is The Epic of Gilgamesh. It's a collection of tales about the king of Uruk in ancient Mesopotamia--tales of adventures, loss, and a quest for immortality. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. The original tale character is so much better than his comic derivatives, and Ms. Sanders has produced a quite readable translation.
Keeping it on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
Labels: OnMyShelf
Friday, September 21, 2018
Food Rules
by Michael Pollan
Just had my annual check up and, of course, I need to eat better and exercise more. Regarding the former, my doctor actually recommended that I read a book! He obviously knew the best way to get me to follow directions. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this book, Food Rules, was not some tedious tome of nutritional dogma filled with pedantic prose punctuated by the occasional chart. Rather Mr. Pollan serves up a selection of simple proverbs regarding food and eating, supplemented with light and amusing explanations and engaging illustrations by Maira Kalman. His rationale is that science really doesn't know as much about nutrition as book advertisements would lead you to believe. The culinary traditions of many cultures around the world, however, obviously know something since the human race hasn't died off of malnutrition. Of course, the folk wisdom of the ages does tell me to do a lot of things I know I should but don't want to do. But as scoldings go, it was very pleasant. Do check it out.
LibraryThing link
Just had my annual check up and, of course, I need to eat better and exercise more. Regarding the former, my doctor actually recommended that I read a book! He obviously knew the best way to get me to follow directions. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this book, Food Rules, was not some tedious tome of nutritional dogma filled with pedantic prose punctuated by the occasional chart. Rather Mr. Pollan serves up a selection of simple proverbs regarding food and eating, supplemented with light and amusing explanations and engaging illustrations by Maira Kalman. His rationale is that science really doesn't know as much about nutrition as book advertisements would lead you to believe. The culinary traditions of many cultures around the world, however, obviously know something since the human race hasn't died off of malnutrition. Of course, the folk wisdom of the ages does tell me to do a lot of things I know I should but don't want to do. But as scoldings go, it was very pleasant. Do check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Shadow Spinner
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Watching the Clock
by Christopher L. Bennett
I picked this one up to read on a flight from Chicago. It's been awhile since I read a Star Trek book. Alas, this one didn't make me want to pick up another anytime soon. Watching the Clock is not a tale of one of the TV series, but rather focuses on two characters from an episode of Deep Space Nine, who are agents of the Department of Temporal Investigations. It's a rambling tale consisting of various subplots that culminates in a shootout of sorts involving a variety of time travellers. Mr. Bennett managed to include a reference to every time travel episode from the franchise. I admire his research, but overall the book was unsatisfactory. I wouldn't necessarily toss it into the Elbe River, but I doubt if I'd fish it out if it happened to fall in.
LibraryThing link
I picked this one up to read on a flight from Chicago. It's been awhile since I read a Star Trek book. Alas, this one didn't make me want to pick up another anytime soon. Watching the Clock is not a tale of one of the TV series, but rather focuses on two characters from an episode of Deep Space Nine, who are agents of the Department of Temporal Investigations. It's a rambling tale consisting of various subplots that culminates in a shootout of sorts involving a variety of time travellers. Mr. Bennett managed to include a reference to every time travel episode from the franchise. I admire his research, but overall the book was unsatisfactory. I wouldn't necessarily toss it into the Elbe River, but I doubt if I'd fish it out if it happened to fall in.
LibraryThing link
Labels: ChristopherBennett, StarTrek, TossIt
Tuesday, September 04, 2018
Paul
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