Phantastes – a brief review
After reading George MacDonald’s “Phantastes” it is clear to me why CS Lewis chose MacDonald to be his Virgil in “The Great Divorce.” “Phantastes” is truly one of the most remarkable works I have ever read. Overflowing with rich imagery and lyrical finely measured prose (along with some superb longer sections of poetry) MacDonald’s book is magnificent in scope and execution. One feels completely absorbed by Anodos’ character and his story. Much like Anodos felt himself to be the central character in the Fairie stories he read in the Fairie Palace so I felt as if I was the central character in “Phantastes;” it wasn’t simply Anodos’ journey, it was mine. “Phantastes” is poignant and...
For Book Lovers
Bibliophiles take note, Aaron, of cangooglehearme.com fame, has released a beta version of his product and it looks very promising. He calls it Book Lamp. Click on over to their site and watch the video description of how Book Lamp works. I was very impressed and I think you will be too.
Bookplates
I am obsessed with Ex Libris (Bookplates). These images are from a site devoted to scanning images of old books. Superb. Do you have any bookplate images on file? If you created your own Ex Libris what would it look like?
L’Engle on Revelation
L’Engle herself from Walking on Water, Reflections on Art and Faith, pg 27-28: Of course, because I am a struggling Christian, it’s inevitable that I superimpose my awareness of all that happened in the life of Jesus upon what I’m reading, upon Buber, upon Plato, upon the book of Daniel. But I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. To be truly Christian means to see Christ everywhere, to know him as all in all. I don’t mean to water down my Christianity into a vague kind of universalism, with Buddha and Mohammed all being more or less equal to Jesus–not at all! But neither do I want to tell God (or my friends) where he can and cannot be seen. We human beings far too often tend to codify God, to feel that we know where he is...
RIP Madeleine L’Engle
I just found out that Madeleine L’Engle passed away yesterday at the age of 88. L’Engle is an author I have always been particularly fond of and her writing has challenged me to stretch my mind as well as my imagination. She was a brilliant thinker and writer and was able to communicate her thoughts in a thoughtful warm sort of way that drew you in, like a hot cup of tea by a fire offered on a blustery day by your best friend. She likely would have also been horrified at the use of such a sloppy metaphor. It’s time for me to go to bed, but I didn’t want her passing to go unnoted here. This below from a NY Times article about her: Her deeper thoughts on writing were deliciously mysterious. She believed that experience and knowledge are...
Satanic Verses Continue to Influence
This sort of thing is getting boring; is it even possible to take fundamentalist Muslim Leaders seriously? Esteemed author, Salman Rushdie, was just awarded a well-deserved knighthood. Now, unfortunately, Sir Rushdie will be watching his back again with a renewed vigor. Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, religious affairs minister of Pakistan, told the Pakistani Parliament and the world that addition of the word “Sir” to Rushdie’s name is clear justification for suicide attacks in general. “This is an occasion for the 1.5 billion Muslims to look at the seriousness of this decision,” Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, religious affairs minister, told the Pakistani parliament in Islamabad. “The west is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism. If...