iGod

Very brief reviews of Sacred Treason & The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Well, I am back from my hols in France and have to tell you that I am not as tanned as perhaps hoped. However, I feel rested and raring to go for the new term. While away I have had time to read, which is no mean feat having three children.

I purposely did not read anything theological, though I did sneak one in the bag just in case I became weak.

One book I read was Sacred Treason, which was a Tudor conspiracy type thriller written by historian James Forrester. The other was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Both quite moral books in their own ways, but from quite different perspectives. In both cases, the message is clear: crime doesn't pay.

However, Stieg Larsson's book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, after a slow start, makes room for plenty of sexual abuse and infidelity, but in the author's mind It is interesting that these two are never connected. I couldn't help think the Swedish hero was a little too much of the author's own projected alter ego, but happy to be challenged.

Forrester's hero, on the other hand, is exemplary and well behaved, if a little sanctimonious, who against the odds restrains from taking advantage of a woman's weakness. He is clever, respectful and far from presumptive. Through the story he is having to work out faith in God versus faith in religion and power. Not easy in the Elizabethan age.

Both books portray life as brutal and both heroes are middle aged, but it is Forrester's attention to Tudor life and clever twists in the plot which saw me favour this book over the flavour of the moment.

I look forward to seeing Sacred Treason made into a film like the Millennium trilogy. It might not have the sex angle to sell copies, but it has the substance and wonderful historic detail to hold your attention all the way through. And, therefore, I found it a much more satisfying read.

My next book to read is far less contentious, but I am sure no less challenging: Consuming Religion by Vincent J. Miller. However, I suspect Hollywood will choose to pass on this one. Probably you too.

ASD

‘The name's Bond, brand Bond’

I have succumbed to the hype and bought the new Ian Fleming James Bond book Devil May Care. Or should I say Sebastian Faulkes as Ian Fleming. This is the power of the franchise: an established prize-winning writer like the author of Birdsong putting pen to paper and continuing the spy story in the original author’s tradition.

This might seem strange, someone writing as someone else, but I have discovered that this is nothing new. Apparently Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum are both franchises and have a bank of writers turning out stuff on their behalf, which explains their prolific writing!

Of course, ‘ghost writing’ is nothing new. I don’t think anyone really thinks that footballers and their WAGS are that literate to actually write their own biographies (forgive me if I do any injustice to celebrities here) or when we receive charity letters from chief executives. These are written by copywriters at direct marketing agencies to ensure they are at their most persuasive.

The Guardian makes the point that Faulkes will be under the spotlight.  First because he is Faulks and secondly because this is prime geek territory.  Attention to detail from character detail to literary style, i.e. short sentences, will all come under close scrutiny.

When I was as theological college, I remember standing in the queue for lunch with my Old Testament lecturer where he was discussing his latest work in progress, a commentary on Isaiah. It is long thought by most respectable scholars that there were in fact two authors of the book, which they have dubbed Deutro-Isaiah. However, my now retired lecturer thought he had unearthed as many as 18 scribblers, as the words shifted so frequently in tone and style. Maybe he is right. Only God knows.

Does this take anything away from the Word? Of course not, the Word remains the inspired Word of God, so therefore it doesn’t matter if there is more than one author.  (I’ll let you know if Faulks pulls it off as Fleming .) The first five books are traditionally seen as being authored by Moses, but the reality is they would have been recorded by his people around him.

Truth is truth and we all take inspiration from the one author of life. Meanwhile, I must get back to my little bit of escapism as I sit on yet another delayed train into Liverpool Street. Now if I was Bond I would have got out the micro-glider and simply soared above the tedious disruptions. 

ASD.

 

Beginnings and Endings for Advent

Maggie Dawn, writer and fellow blogger has written a new book which looks like good'un for the run up to Christmas. if you are looking for something reflective and devotional, as the madness of the next few weeks picks up in momentum, this might be for you.  It's called Beginnings and Endings.

You can buy it in the Stour Valley Vineyard Church bookshop, though Maggie advises getting one quick as they are apparently selling like hot cakes - or should that be mince pies?

ASD

Books for the New Year

I don’t know if you have a circle of friends who always ask you what you are reading at the moment.  To my chagrin, often they are children’s books, as it tends to be de rigueur when you have three children under the age of ten.  But I try and break away and add books to the To Read list when I get a chance. And over Christmas I was blessed with some grown up reading matter to dip into.

I was once told that if you are going through a tough time, read yourself out of a rut! It has been some of the best advice I have receive down the years, along with never keep your jacket on indoors because you won’t feel the benefit when you go out later.

These selected books are not ones I have read cover to cover, but have started to peruse their pages and seem to have something worth saying. So take them or leave them.

Theological stuff…

Brian McLaren, The Church on the Other Side, Grand Rapids: Zondervan

Brian is a leader of Emergent, a global movement that explores the place of Christianity in a postmodern culture.  This book is for church leaders and committed Christians serious about taking change on board and looking for new paradigms to draw people to the Christian message. Very readable.

Eugene H. Peterson, Eat this Book, London: Hodder

I have been waiting for a book like this to come along for years. A book that gives a contemporary application to living a spiritual life in the tradition of the great mystics, but isn’t inaccessible. Peterson looks at disciplined of reading the Bible as lectio divina – spiritual reading – for a postmodern culture. Cracking stuff!

Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge, Grand Rapids, Zondervan

I must admit I have not read any of Volf’s work, but this is a much-needed book for my Serious Reading shelf. The author looks at giving and forgiving in a culture stripped of Grace.  If anyone else is reading this book - or read it - I would welcome your thoughts.

Grace is an area that is becoming almost an obsessive thing with me at the moment.  There are so many reasons to justify a judgmental behaviour towards one another, but this is where the light of the gospel can shine brightest. A very important book.

Other stuff…

Tom Pocock, Horatio Nelson, London: Cassell

I love a good biography and now living just south of Nelson’s country, Norfolk, I have a renewed interest into this fascinating sailor. It seems to go further than other bios of the great man.  For example, it talks about his ambitions to become a politician. I can’t understand why Hollywood hasn’t made a decent film of his life yet.  Maybe one for Mel Gibson.

Jamie Oliver, Jamie’s Dinners, London: Penguin

Lastly, this is a simply wonderful book.  Check out the chapter on sandwiches.  More importantly, they are really doable recipes. What I like about Jamie is his understanding that not everybody has Nigella Lawson’s money. I know the guy takes a bit of a knocking, but he is a top man. Oh and by the way, his tomato sauce is kicking.

Hope that helps you out of your rut a bit. Happy reading!

ASD