David Rice > Recent Status Updates

Since Christmas season officially lasts until Epiphany I thought I was still good to read this. I’ve only ever watched it before until now.

Lot’s of interesting history so far but still all of it is set up for the Irish saving civilization. He made some allusions to ‘The Tain’ which has rekindled my desire to read that work of Irish folklore.

The book starts around the time of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The authors style is engaging and very readable. Not deep enough in to say much else.

This book is feeling like a 19th century soap opera. However, There are many good thoughts to chew on along the way. I have a harder time with the manic characters of which Dmitri is and I’m right in the middle of a narrative of which he is the main character.

I got a bit stuck toward the end of book three. I have a hard time with Dostoevsky’s manic characters like Fyodor Pavlovich and he was very prominent in that section. I found the same thing in the main character in Notes from Underground toward the end. Both characters are somewhat disturbing to me as I try to process their thoughts and actions.

Not sure Goodread’s update but switching to Everyman’s Library version.

After consulting with my Dostoevsky expert I decided to switch to different translation since I’m not that far in.

I am enjoying his writing and it flows very well so far. The thing I haven’t worked out and I’ve been retracing to see if I missed something is Who is the narrator? Is this first person narrative or third person? It seems like first person but I haven’t seen anything yet as to how he fits in the story?

These have a bit different feel than some of the classics but interesting and the accompanying pictures are very nicely done.

“One cannot be a good conversationalist if one lacks a sense of humor.”

While I’ve only just begun the text proper, the book has a lengthy introduction which I completely read through first. I found it very helpful in showing how the historical context in Rome at the time played into the story. It also helped me recollect the Iliad and Odyssey which I hadn’t read in over 20 years with a bit of comparison and contrast between the two.

A recent significant quote - “If Christian congregations are truly going to live out of and into the significance of baptism, they will need to become communities in which the bloodlines of kin are trumped by the blood of Christ”

I wasn’t expecting church liturgy to be a main thrust of this book but it has made me think about how liturgy affects our worship. And a quote I just read to chew on - “ Novelty is how we try to maintain the fresh sincerity of worship that is fundamentally understood as expression.”