Things I've read (and watched) in the past couple of months.
The Orthodox Faith, Worship, and Life: an Orthodox Catechism,by Hieromonk Gregorios of Koutloumousiou Monastery, Mount Athos. This is an elegantly written work, generously supported by passages from the Fathers on almost every page. It's also beautifully printed, as we've come to expect from NewRome Press. (Some significant words are printed in blue, which induced amusing flashbacks to House of Leaves.*) It follows the overall pattern of books of Dogmatic Theology, beginning with the Mystery of the Trinity, moving on to the economy of salvation, etc. I wondered if this is really what most catechumens need, at least to start with. As an adjunct to regular worship, prayer, and practical instruction, though, I can imagine that this would be a good choice.
(* About House of Leaves : it's a modernist horror story with a lot of typographic hi-jinks, among them the fact that "house" is always printed in blue.)
The Ancient Path, by Fr Spyridon Bailey. Maybe a better catechism? The focus is on the distinctiveness of the Orthodox faith. Topical chapters (Interpeting the Bible, Knowledge of God, God's Mercy, Wealth & Possessions, Asceticism, Theosis, The Theotokos...) begin with quotes from the Fathers,followed by a short essay, usually thoughful and penetrating. I reviewed Fr Spyridon's Journey to Mount Athos in a previous newsletter. Both books seem to be privately printed, and deserve wider circulation.
The Orthodox Faith, Worship, and Life: an Orthodox Catechism,by Hieromonk Gregorios of Koutloumousiou Monastery, Mount Athos. This is an elegantly written work, generously supported by passages from the Fathers on almost every page. It's also beautifully printed, as we've come to expect from NewRome Press. (Some significant words are printed in blue, which induced amusing flashbacks to House of Leaves.*) It follows the overall pattern of books of Dogmatic Theology, beginning with the Mystery of the Trinity, moving on to the economy of salvation, etc. I wondered if this is really what most catechumens need, at least to start with. As an adjunct to regular worship, prayer, and practical instruction, though, I can imagine that this would be a good choice.
(* About House of Leaves : it's a modernist horror story with a lot of typographic hi-jinks, among them the fact that "house" is always printed in blue.)
The Ancient Path, by Fr Spyridon Bailey. Maybe a better catechism? The focus is on the distinctiveness of the Orthodox faith. Topical chapters (Interpeting the Bible, Knowledge of God, God's Mercy, Wealth & Possessions, Asceticism, Theosis, The Theotokos...) begin with quotes from the Fathers,followed by a short essay, usually thoughful and penetrating. I reviewed Fr Spyridon's Journey to Mount Athos in a previous newsletter. Both books seem to be privately printed, and deserve wider circulation.
The truth is very different. The Church is a means of healing... Salvation is not a reversal of God's judgment; it is the process of being restored into His likeness... At the heart of this process is God's mercy. The whole narrative of the cosmos is God's mercy in action...
The difficulty a legalistic approach then leads to is how anyone can be outside of God's mercy. In fact no one is. Each and every person is loved equally by God...
However we must not take God's mercy for granted... Although God's love for us does not change or diminish, it is possible for us to turn our backs on His mercy, and so make ourselves incapable of experiencing it. This is the terrible fire of Judgment Day, not the hateful anger of God, but the reality of infinite love that has been rejected.
Wonder as the Beginning of Faith, by Bishop Maxim Vasiljevic. I had high hopes for this book. What I found was a collection of almost incoherent essays alternating with bad paintings.
The Wild Orchid and The Burning Bush, by Sigrid Undset. I knew and loved Undset's medieval sagas. This later work (two titles but really one continuous story) traces the Christian conversion of a modern (early 20th century) Norwegian man. I found it haunting and hope to read it again. Either the translation or the editing have some serious problems: a few sentences contain obvious mistakes or just don't make sense. I hope Tiina Nunnaly, the skilled translator of some other Undset works, will tackle this one. Still, strongly recommended.
White Noise, by Don DeLillo.A darkly funny novelistic look at modern American life, which DeLillo pictures as a round of obsessive consumption and image management designed to distract from the fear of death. I'll be reading more DeLillo.
A Carnival of Losses, by Donald Hall. For the last part of his life Donald Hall abandoned poetry completely, and focused on essays. This collection comes from just before his death, and dwells mostly on the trials of old age. Fortunately his writing is elegant and humorous.
Collected Poems, by Philip Larkin. I always want to like poetry more than I do, and keep returning to the small pool of poets whom I really enjoy. Larkin is one. (also Yeats, Millay, Bukowski, and – dare I say it – Cummings.) He's famously gloomy: he said that deprivation was for him what daffodils were for Wordsworth. But his perfectly-crafted poems, usually based on everyday life, are eye-opening. I'm amazed at his ability to make rhymed iambic pentameter feel like conversation.
Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia, by Joseph Greenfield.This book is made up entirely of quotes from people who knew Garcia, a very interesting approach. His descent into addiction is a sad story, of course. I'm sometimes perplexed by artists whose work communicates such joy, but whose own lives were so unhappy. Charlie Parker is another example.
Three movies that we enjoyed:
35 Shots of Rum. A beautiful character-driven story, very loosely based on Ozu's Late Spring. Directed by Claire Denis. We watched it twice in a row, and I expect that it will join the small list of movies we re-watch regularly. Recommended.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi. A documentary about a legendary Japanese sushi chef. An ode to craft and pursuit of quality.
Three Thousand Years of Longing. Pure entertainment but gorgeous to look at, and a good arena for the two lead actors. A stuffy academic (Tilda Swinton) accidentally unleashes a djinn (Idris Elba) from a bottle, and off we go.
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