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"A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26

In the three years since my first reading of this book, it has somehow transformed itself into a dark comedy. Dostoevsky just understands people, and that translates into the awkward hilarious absurdity that permeates even the bleakest of lives.

Maybe it's the fact that I read Moby-Dick recently and I am making all of the literary connections, but 1 Kings is hitting a lot harder on a second read through. Ahab's weakness and Jezebel's insidiousness are overwhelming. Elijah's despair--which immediately follows the tremendous triumph at Carmel--is heartbreaking.

“It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers.” 1 Kings 19:4