Book Reviews #9

FICTION

East of the Mountains by David Guterson

A story of one man's dealing with mortality in the face of a terminal illness. Planning suicide in order to preempt a more ignominious death, the main character goes on a journey through the verdant landscapes of Pacific Northwest. The epic-sounding title, however, positions his suicide mission within the bigger and delicately suggested narrative of (religious?) hope in the midst of the perceived lack of personal agency. As in his other novels, Guterson's prose is evocative and gentle, conveying both the sense of frailty of the human condition and the indomitable power of the spirit.

NON-FICTION
Wilderness Seasons: Life and Adventure in Canada's North by Ian and Sally Wilson

First published in the '80s, still brimming with freshness and optimism of two city slickers embarking on a journey into the wild. After reading it I had an overpowering wish to erect my own log cabin, make bannock and adopt several different kinds of rodents, among other things. Thoroughly enjoyable, although the Wilsons' reports make seem living in the harsh conditions of Canada's north perhaps a bit too fun.

FICTION
Quaker Indictment by Irene Allen

Another in Allen's series of Quaker-themed crime novels. Elizabeth Elliot, an elderly Quaker with a propensity for encountering gruesome acts of crime in the most unlikely places, solves another mystery thanks to her power of deduction and devout allegiance to Quaker ethics. Sweet.

NON-FICTION
Antigone's Claim by Judith Butler

One of the leading contemporary theorists revisits Sophocles' Antigone and presents her analysis of the complex intersection of gender, kinship, custom and ethics. Not so much a treatise on Antigone per se, the book is a continuation of gender theories introduced in her earlier works. In a nutshell: power structures and norms function only as long as individual human beings consent to them, there is nothing foreordained and cut-in-stone about them. Plus: universal is actually pseudo and the "genuine" is never really genuine.

FICTION

Fisherman's Son by Michael Koepf

Flashbacks from a difficult childhood merge with the present struggle for life. Numerous elements were employed in the skillful weaving of this story: portrayal of economic hardships, racial tensions, coming-of-age process, paternal absenteeism... There's a touch of certain gender stereotyping in presenting male characters (fathers, more specifically) as grand, stoic figures who withstand it all. Still, a good read.

On why I love Leviticus

I recently had an email exchange with a friend over the Book of Leviticus. He suggested I should post some extracts from my email here. Thanks for your comments, Ken.
You wondered why I consider Leviticus one my favorite books of the Bible. Couple of reasons. I am still a historian at heart and I find Leviticus extremely rich in historical data on the Jewish society of the period, their fears, frustrations, attitudes to physical and mental purity, understanding of expiation, attitude towards different classes within the society, etc. Much of what we know about the Greek society has also been extracted from its laws preserved on stone monuments. It can be quite tedious to read legal documents, ancient or modern for that matter, but I have come to appreciate them for the abundance of details they provide on the inner workings of a system. I don't come from a fundamentalist background, so I have personally never experienced cultural conditioning that would attempt to implement OT legal strictures today. I feel free to read Leviticus as it is. And when actually placed in its proper context of mid-1st millennium BCE Mediterranean, it is quite progressive in comparison with the legislation found elsewhere in the region.

[Leviticus] is a collection of ancient documents that cannot (and, really, does not need to) compete with modern science or withstand its scrutiny. Fundamentalist religion does need to do these things, but that's a self-imposed race against both time and common sense. I see the Bible standing as a silent witness to their folly. The Bible actually does make sense when read contextually, and the more seemingly tedious or backward a text is, the more sensible and meaningful it becomes when put in its historical and social context. In that sense, Leviticus is firmly grounded in a particular time period and gives a vivid portrayal of the people, whereas some other books or narratives within them do not. The creation narratives, a lot of the Psalms, Job and some other are timeless and universal. Leviticus, being a legal code, is very specific and grounded in time. While it may not have the poetic beauty of some of the other texts, it is still invaluable.

Bible meet correction tape dispenser

Couple of days ago I finished my grand project of 2008. I can now say that I have actually read the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. It was a great quest, one that has left me with even more questions than I had initially. (I took that as a good sign.)

Apart from having a better grasp of the Bible, the most important lesson I have learned is that very often translators simply cannot be trusted. Being a translator myself the notion hardly surprised me: innocent mistakes are made and personal judgments are often wrong. But for some reason I expected the Bible translators to subscribe to particularly high standards, unattainable to us mere mortals, the Bible being sacred writ and all. For instance, one would normally not expect to find bits and pieces deliberately mistranslated for the purpose of turning the Bible into a weapon in the ongoing culture wars. Right?

I started with this project in the spring and for that purpose I had bought the lovely designed English Standard Version (ESV) Journaling Bible. I have blogged about this edition earlier, uncritically and with some naivete. I still love it for its extra wide margins for personal journal entries and, more importantly, for the way it reads. Anyone used to the language of the Revised Standard Version or its celebrated ancestor, the King James Version, is likely to be happy with the ESV. Others might complain that its English sounds a bit unnatural and awkward. However, that is a matter of personal taste resulting from being steeped into a particular tradition.

But then came the famous "clobber passages" and the infamous insertion of words, phrases and concepts that simply are not there in the original languages. Basically, depending on where they (or, rather, their financiers) stand, translators will resort to pretty much anything to prove their ideological point. I am not being fair to real translators. People behind the ESV were involved in an adaptation, not translation. Besides, most of them are not known to be linguists of experts in Hebrew or Greek to begin with. It does say that it is merely an adaptation in the book itself, in the proverbial small print that I initially failed to notice, where it is stated that the text of the ESV is adapted from the Revised Standard Version, an earlier translation considered too liberal by some and now made new and improved for the conservative evangelical audience.

The realization made me angry at first. I even entertained the thought of getting rid of the ESV altogether and starting afresh with a different and more reliable version. But I persevered, because at some point the editors' biased choice of words stopped being relevant. The Book and I have had months and months of shared experiences behind us. I read from it every morning before going to work and every night before going to bed. I had it with me on my journeys, I continue to write notes and comments on its carefully studied pages... When I turn to, say, Nehemiah chapter 5 I instantly get the image of a crisp early morning at the seaside where I first read from the prophet. It is too late now: there are factors of shared history and emotional attachment involved. It has become mine.

After a while I figured out how to live with its shortcomings: by liberating it from its re-writers' political agenda with a little help from the texts in the original languages and a humble correction tape dispenser. I am absolutely positive that my intention is by no means more blasphemous (if at all) than the numerous textual interventions done by the "translators." Besides, the letter killeth and the spirit giveth life.

Quarterly Book Reviews #8

FICTION
Peace Like A River by Leif Enger

A perfect book for those chilly late autumn evenings. It's a wonderful story of faith, hope and opportunity for mercy in the midst of family tragedy. I seldom write notes in the books I read, but while reading this one I had to have a pencil and post-its at hand. One of my favorite sentences: "...exile is a country of shifting borders, hard to quit yet hard to endure, no matter how wide your shoulders, no matter your toughened heart." Enger is now officially one of my favourite authors.

RELIGION
The Holy Wild by Mark Buchanan
Walk with God can be, and often is, a troubling affair. Prayers go unanswered, the whole world seems to conspire against you, there are dangers and difficulties regardless of one's piety and devotion. Buchanan writes about experiencing God in the midst of hardship and heartache, explaining that the God of Judeo-Christianity is both unpredictable and dangerous on one hand, loving and faithful on the other. For those struggling with the eternal question of why would a good God allow bad things to happen, this book may provide some insights.

RELIGION
The Pietists, edited by Emilie Griffin and Peter C. Erb
Does the name Jacob Spener sound familiar? August Hermann Francke? Johann Anastasius Freylingausen? Probably not, yet those are some of the leading people of an influential spiritual movement of the 17th and 18th century Christianity, known today as Pietism. It's surprising how little we know of them today. Placing emphasis on one's personal relationship with God, they heavily influenced Wesley and the nascent Methodist movement. They seem to be the first ones who came up with the idea of Bible study groups. This collection serves as a reminder on the origins of some of the beliefs and practices that contemporary Christianity takes for granted, but which were quite revolutionary at the time.

BIOGRAPHY
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Chris McCandless had a burning wish to abandon a life of materialism, meaningless college diplomas and dehumanizing 9-5 jobs. The wish became a journey of a lifetime that ultimately led him to Alaskan wilderness where he tragically died. Krakauer has done a superb job investigating McCandless' enigmatic personality and narrating his heartbreaking story. Makes you question your ideals and how far you're ready to go in pursuit of happiness. Inspirational and cautionary.

Carbon Calculator

PETA has recently launched a new carbon calculator that projects how many animals and how much CO2 you will save during your lifetime based on your age and diet (apparently, 12880 animals will live thanks to me!). You can try it here.

Six miles a Sunday

Having got used to spending all those calories at the seaside over the previous month, I had to think of something new to do back home. I hate team sports, running and/or jogging scare me as I think I'm on the verge of a heart attack each time I jog for more than sixty seconds... So I took up walking! I thought, could anything possibly be more unassuming than that?

Actually, try googling "walking" and you'll soon be overwhelmed with all the resources available online on what kind of shoes you're supposed to wear, how fast you should walk, what is the ideal arm movement, what to eat and drink before, during and after your walking session... Most of these tips are just plain common sense. Take this one for example, found on About.com's Walking section: Your eyes should focus on the street or track 10 - 20 feet ahead. You'll avoid doggy doo-doo, find cracks in the sidewalk, spot potential muggers, and still collect the occasional coin.

What I decided to do was simply walk as much as I can, whenever I can. This newly established routine is, for one, definitely changing how I see the neighbourhood and the city I live in. There's more attention to detail, in that I now notice so many things that were previously just blurs, semi consciously perceived from the public transport I normally use. A thirty-minute bus ride to church on a Sunday morning has transformed into a wonderful 90-minute, 6-mile walk through parts of the city I had previously rarely ventured into. Now it's turned into a pilgrimage of sorts.

And, of course, there's Thoreau and his sauntering in Concord (this is a saunterer's journal, after all!). Even though my walking gear is probably all wrong, as well as my posture and my eating habits, I think he would have approved.

On Balaam's donkey and untrodden paths

About a month ago I decided to read the entire Bible from page 1. I've always thought I knew my Bible well, but the fascinating thing about it is that no matter how many times you've read a certain chapter or a passage, there will always be something new there that you somehow failed to register before. Such a feat was an excellent excuse for shopping, so I got myself a new Bible, the handsomely designed ESV Journaling version, and a pack of highlighters, just in case.

What I've found so far is that reading its books in their entirety gives a whole different feel to it. By doing so, you can't just cherry pick your favourite passages and dwell in their safety. There's plenty more to see and hear on the less familiar sections of the path, scenes both wonderful and gruesome.

One story that I don't think I had ever come across before is the one on Balaam's donkey and the angel, found in the Book of Numbers (22:22-35). In it, rather uncharacteristically for the Bible, animals have unhindered communication with both men and angels. The donkey argues and reasons with Balaam and unlike him, has the ability to see celestial beings. I found it quite an extraordinary story. It made me wonder what is it that my cat stares at every once in a while, all focused on a seeming presence in the room that I fail to perceive with any of my senses.

One more thing I got out from all this: I went jogging last Friday afternoon. It was such a miserable day, cold, foggy, drizzly... Actually, I loved it, it was perfect for jogging (and very much in line with my state of mind at the time). I was running a very familiar and safe route, when suddenly something made me abandon it and continue on a narrow path leading away from the concrete and the urban hustle and bustle. It was a semi-conscious decision, but I was so glad I made it. It was so good to feel the grass under my feet, touch the trees in passing as I ran by them, and come home all wet and muddy.

How biblical of me not do to the predictable thing for once.