I may not have finished these books (or these), but I got far enough to know that they’ll be worth the read! Sometimes, reading is a project that you see through to completion. And sometimes, reading is a buffet, or a garden: That looks good! That seems interesting! I want to try it. I wonder how this one tastes, compared to that one — I wonder what would happen if we put them together! I want to leave a little bit of this one here, for the next person to enjoy. I can’t wait to try this again, when I’m ready.

“My Bright Abyss: Meditations of a Modern Believer” by Christian Wiman

Why I checked it out: I had recently read some excellent Buddhist memoirs, and decided to explore Christian memoirs next. This book by Christian Wiman was recommended to me by a dear friend, who described it as “careful, sincere and humble” — three qualities I value in nonfiction writing.

Wiman is a poet, and he writes like one, even in prose. “My Bright Abyss” is no treatise — the writing is tangled and honest. Have a taste: “It God is a salve applied to unbearable psychic wounds, or a dream figure conjured out of memory and mortal terror, or an escape from a life that has become either too appalling or too banal to bear, then I have to admit: it is not working for me.” Continue reading “Great Books I’ve Started II”

“In the beginning, the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.” So begins not Douglas Adams’ seminal work, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, but its sequel, “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.” Hard to find a better opening line for this blog post though, you have to admit. This year marks 45 years of “Hitchhiker’s,” if you believe in things such as time being a straight line constantly moving forward. In honor of the anniversary, as well as Towel Day on May 25 (a day dedicated to honoring Adams’ life), I thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect on the legacy of “Hitchhiker’s” all these years later. Continue reading “So Long and Thanks For All the Fish”

“Rocketry may not be my True Will,

 but it’s one hell of a powerful drive. 

With Thelema as my goal 

And the stars my destination and my home,

I have set my eyes on high.”

Jack Parsons, Genius, Eccentric, Occultist, & Rocketeer

I am not a poetic man; both in the sense that I don’t write poetically (despite some of my readers’ assertions. I posit that, as a prose writer, I write prosaically in the most literal sense), and also that I do not often indulge myself in poetry. Not through any disdain for the medium, mind you, but simply a lack of motivation or interest. But sometimes, a book can trick you into reading extraneous literature (and poetry, as it turns out) in order to deepen your understanding and appreciation of the original text. Many great literary novels either require an intimate knowledge of other books within the author’s purview, or require a rather large desk on which to lay out several tomes at once to cross-reference the many inferences to other works. This is not necessarily a bad way to read, but it is a tad more academic than curling up in an armchair or bed to engross oneself in a story. Continue reading “In What Distant Deeps or Skies: Poetry In Science Fiction”