Crime and Punishment

I did it!  I finished a really really long Russian novel without major glitches!!

Some background:  I have tried (and failed) to finish The Brothers Karamazov at least four different times. One time, I was really making progress... and then my grad school classes resumed.  Try focusing on Brothers K while your mind is trying to juggle 10 different theological texts at once... yeah, didn't happen.  The only other Russian novel that I remember reading is Demons (also by Dostoevsky) in my senior seminar with Dr. Roger Lundin (Wheaton College).  It was a great class, but I still had a hard time connecting with that particular novel.  I had assumed that enjoyment of the great Russian classics would simply not come naturally to me.

Crime and Punishment changed all of that.  I loved it!  I genuinely loved it and loved the experience of reading it.  I'd like to read some critical essays on the novel so that I can delve deeper into some of the major themes of the novel -- I don't think this is a novel that you read once and say, "Ok, I've mastered that one."

I found myself mesmerized by the characters in the book, particularly the protagonist, Raskolnikov, and the magistrate, Porfiry Petrovitch. (Side note -- one advantage of my undergraduate foray into Dostoevsky is that I was prepared for each character to have a zillion names and nicknames that would be difficult to remember...).  I also found it brilliant the way D. crafted the relationship between Sonya, a young girl who is forced into prostitution to support her family, and Raskolnikov.  And to make Sonya the most "Christian" of the characters -- also brilliant.  The ending of the novel was perfect -- if you haven't read it, I'm not going to spoil it for you here.  Just read it.  (But don't read it first -- allow the book to build as D. intended!)

On a separate note, I read this entire book on my iPhone, using the Kindle app.  I actually found it easier to read the book this way -- I'm not sure why.  Perhaps the fact that the text was broken up into shorter pages because of the small size of the iPhone screen helped encourage me that I was making progress -- helped make it seem to go faster.  Perhaps it was the fact that I could read the book in bed while my husband falls asleep without needing a light on...

So my next project is David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, another author whose works I sometimes struggle to finish.  I am also reading this one on my iPhone, since I found I could download a free copy! So far I'm loving this book too -- I'm on a roll!

Catching up (again...)

And once again, it's time to catch up.  This is why I will never be an excellent blogger. :)

1) I finished The Grapes of Wrath and really liked it, even though I didn't really enjoy reading it (does that make sense?  I think I just wasn't in the reading mood).  I can see why it's a classic, and I especially enjoyed the style in which Steinbeck wrote the book -- particularly the intermediary chapters that were more abstract and poetic than the actual storyline.  The book is sad, that's for sure.  I hate that the dog got killed.  And I hate the system Steinbeck describes, where the ginormous farms exploit the workers.  It made me understand the importance of unions, at least in a situation like that!  It also made me think about how far removed most Americans are from "the land" today, and how hard it is to make a living as a farmer -- and it seems to me that it just shouldn't be that way.  Should it?

On a lighter note, the name Rosasharn (the way the Joad family pronounces "Rose of Sharon") never fails to crack me up!  For all of you currently in the "family way," I recommend that you seriously consider naming your baby girl Rose of Sharon.  Come on, it's unique, right?

2) I am currently reading Crime and Punishment, and, much to my surprise, loving it!  I usually have a hard time connecting with Russian literature, but this time around I actually look forward to reading it.   I started out reading a hard copy of the book, but as an experiment I downloaded a free copy into the Kindle app on my iPhone, and now I'm reading the book on my iPhone exclusively.  This is my first foray into the world of e-reading.  So far, I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would.  Maybe it's due to the fact that with my iPhone I can read in bed while Erik is sleeping without using a flashlight...

3) On a non-literary note, a few weeks ago I was ordained as a deacon in the Anglican Mission!  Woohoo!  Here I am in my new duds with my bishop, my rector, a fellow deacon, and Erik:

Here I am with my parents, who came out from SoCal for the event:

And here is Melvin, my MIL's party flamingo, dressed up for the occasion:

And now, back to what I am actually supposed to be doing with my day...

A Confession

I'm going to begin this Holy Week with a confession: I really, really enjoy watching TV.  Or more specifically, TV shows on Netflix and/or Hulu, without all the annoyance of commercials and with all the convenience of being able to choose what and when I want to watch.  For example, I am currently really into Doctor Who (the updated BBC version).  I like having the TV on during my day off, when I relax by messing around on my computer, or when I'm putting away the dishes, cleaning, etc.  TV is enjoyable to me -- I love a good story, and it allows me to disengage my mind (which is surprisingly helpful sometimes).

But is it really ok to enjoy watching these shows so much?  I've known Christians who feel strongly that TV is a big waste of time, that Christians would be much better off reading and not owning a TV.  There are a very limited number of things I truly enjoy right now: spending time with my husband at home, watching TV while multitasking, eating...  those are the main things I enjoy.  I do enjoy time with friends, but most often (if I'm honest) I would rather be home than out with friends.  I worry that I'm turning into a hermit...  and a lazy hermit at that!  I do enjoy reading, but not as much (right now) as watching "Doctor Who."

As I approach ordination (two weeks!), I'm wrestling with this issue more and more, and I wish that I found "nourishing" activities as enjoyable and relaxing as the combination of internet + Netflix.  So I don't know...  I don't know how to evaluate the fact that I truly enjoy watching TV shows.  I don't know how to evaluate the fact that there aren't a lot of things I truly enjoy right now -- and several of the things I truly enjoy make me feel guilty (eating being a prime example).

I'm sure it's not as simple as a matter of what's "right" and what's "wrong".  Lord, give me wisdom about how to spend my time.  Release me from false guilt and fill me with hunger for GOOD things.

Catching up

Ok, it's been awhile...  So here's a bit of catch-up since my last post.

I read and finished One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  I didn't like it very much. Not at all.  But I think that if I had studied this book in school, I might have liked it better.  There were moments in the book where the eloquence of the writing swept me away, even in translation.  However, the story is just too sordid and depressing!  I think that's part of the point -- this particular family spirals down and down -- but still, it seemed senseless to me.  I would not have wanted to live in this book, that's for sure!

So after that depressing story, I decided I needed to find something a bit lighter from the BBC list.  So I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which was a lot of fun -- although I was reading out of a collection of the whole series (by Douglas Adams), and all of a sudden, the first book was over!  And I wasn't prepared for it.  My husband is a big fan of the book, and I enjoyed it too -- although not enough to join the fan cult or anything.  Adams is clever, no doubt!  And there are some awesome quotes -- my husband's favorite is, "Curiously the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias, as it fell, was, 'Oh no, not again.' "  I also have the tiniest bit of insight into the mind of a friend of mine who alludes to this book in his email address -- via the number 42.  Read the book if you don't get that.


I'm now in the throes of The Grapes of Wrath, and I'm really enjoying it -- although I'm not really enjoying reading as much right now as I did a couple of months back.  I'm "slightly" addicted to Grey's Anatomy...  But anyway, I totally get why The Grapes of Wrath is a classic.  But more on that to come...


In other news, I have given up alcohol for Lent... well, mostly.  I've indulged a few times here and there -- like tonight (Saturday night almost counts as Sunday, right?) -- but mostly in the company of other people.  Tonight I'm sipping bliss Yellow Tail Cabernet -- cheap but delicious.  Wine can truly be salve for the soul!  The other thing I'm *trying* to give up (with the Lord's help) is self-hatred.  Slightly more difficult.


But in a month, I'm going to be ordained as a deacon in the Anglican Mission!!  Crazy!  I would never have guessed that this would be the path I'd end up walking -- but I'm excited.  I ordered my first clerical collars the other day -- weird!  But I can't wait to try them on!


So that's the latest, I think.  My copy of The Grapes of Wrath is already overdue at the library, so I guess I have incentive to finish it soon!

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing! 

For the LORD has comforted his people,
and will have compassion on his suffering ones. 

But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me,
my Lord has forgotten me." 

Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or show no compassion for the child of her womb? 

Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands. 

Isaiah 49:13-16a

... Power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love.  It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life.

~ Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus, 77.

"The Secret History"

I probably would never have read The Secret History if it weren't on the BBC list.  In fact, the only reason I read it at this stage in my quest is because the library didn't have some of the other books I was looking for, and I didn't want to have to add more time to my parking meter.  

But I'm glad I had the chance to read this novel by Donna Tartt (yes, that really is the correct spelling of her last name).  The Secret History is part mystery novel, part thriller, set in the world of a small East coast college.  The main characters are all members of an exclusive classical Greek class, and much of the novel reads like a Greek tragedy -- which made me realize that a working knowledge of Koine Greek still leaves one lacking in knowledge of the classical world.

In the Prologue to the book, the reader learns that one of the main characters is murdered by the others in his group of friends.  The rest of the book unravels the mystery of how this murder came about, and what effects that act had on this group of people.  Fascinating characters, interesting plot, engagingly told -- that's my summary of The Secret History.  Now if only I had time to brush up my knowledge of the Aeneid...