
Thursday, December 06, 2007
In Which I Am On A Roll and Finish Yet Another Book
After rereading with much disappointment The Chronicles of Narnia, I came to Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quartet with some hesitancy. Not that I had ever read all of the books. The first, A Wrinkle in Time, was published when I was born. The second was printed eleven years later and eleven years after that the fourth book was released. I prefer not to read books that are a part of a series until the series is actually finished being written and published. I’ve been burned in the past with waiting endlessly for the next book’s release. Worse, I’ve read the first of a series which, because of poor sales, was never published in its entirety!
I reread A Wrinkle in Time. I had read it as a young girl and never read any of the sequels. I had thought about it. Perhaps I had even intended to do so. But other books (like Harry Potter) got in my way. And given my discouraged response to Lewis’ books I was thrilled to finish rereading it knowing I had also enjoyed it. Huge relief. Still, I resisted reading the second book. Now not because I thought revisiting an old friend would be a let down but because I had really enjoyed the first book and didn’t want any disappointment whatsoever.
I am not disappointed in A Wind in the Door although the story was not as compelling to me as the previous book’s was. Nevertheless, I was immersed and interested enough to read through the book quickly. I love how L’Engle weaves her spiritual beliefs into her story. She does it, in my opinion, better than Lewis ever could or would. Perhaps mostly because that is her intention. I don’t think Lewis ever meant his Narnia or Space books to be anything but heavy handed allegory. L’Engle, however, infuses her story with imagery and teaching that is clearly Christian but would not offend most non-Christian readers. (However, let me point out that they have offended Christian readers who have attempted to have these books banned because they feel she is promoting non-Christian values.)
What struck me most about this book was not the story so much as its context. I had read a book by L’Engle a long time ago in which she writes about her own name and naming. I wish I could find the book, refer to it, but I can’t and I read what I am about to share over 10 years ago so I am probably not going to be accurate. If I remember correctly, I read about L’Engle’s childhood in A Stone for a Pillow. In it she describes being raised in an orphanage where she was raised without a name. At some point she herself chose a name and became Madeleine. She explained that the power of having a name, of being able to define yourself by a name, was very important. Her name identified her.
And in this second book of The Time Quartet the importance of naming things plays a significant role. As I was reading through the book I kept thinking about this remembered story of L’Engle’s own childhood, guessing that this experience from her past helped ground the novel in meaning for her on a deeper level than perhaps most readers.
What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
Or, as Anne of Green Gables says, "I've never been able to believe it. I don't believe a rose WOULD be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage."
But I digress. I have in front of me the four books bound in a single volume. I approached reading it with caution, with trepidation. I did not want my childhood delight in the first book to be spoiled. It wasn’t. I did not want to be disappointed by the second book. I’m not. And now, rather than being cautious, I am eagerly anticipating the next book, to see what happens to the family and how L’Engle will continue flavoring her stories with her spirituality in such a manner that I have no choice but to savor every word. I’ll surely be updating with a review in the next week or two.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007
In Which I Finish Another Book
At a time when I am feeling betrayed by my body, when I am frustrated with how it is not healing and now has something new to deal with, I needed to look at the idea of acceptance more fully. Naturally, I was drawn to read Tara Brach’s Radical Acceptance. It is a nice book full of lovely quotes and stories. Her experiences, both personal and professional, add a layer of relevance to what she is teaching. I did find some interesting quotes but mostly I found myself zipping through.
When I was reading a lot of Christian books, I would often put them into two categories—milk and meat. Some books were inspirational but never very deep. There was insight but not a great deal of enlightenment. These were the milk books, the teachings meant more for the younger Christian. Then there were the meat books, the ones that were so dense with truth that no matter how short the teaching was it was heavy, rich, and profound. While I occasionally read the milk books, I loved the meaty ones, the ones that made me stop and question, argue, debate.
I still prefer a book that will make me look to my beliefs with some questioning, that will push me beyond my comfort zone while holding my hand and reassuring me that I can always fall back if I need to. This book kept me safely within my comfort zone. I did not feel compelled to grow or dig, to look or turn away. Instead, I read and enjoyed. Maybe I even appreciated what I was reading. But I never felt any awe or anything even touching awareness. Instead, I felt as though I were going through familiar territory.
That is not to say that this is not a good book. On the contrary. It is good. I suppose I was hoping for great. However, let me commend this book for something I keep saying should be made available with all books like this. So many times I will read a book and each chapter will have a lovely guided meditation. All well and good but it is hard to meditate with paragraphs of visualization that you need to read to fully immerse yourself in the meditation itself. Brach has cds available with the meditations! Too bad I didn’t buy the book with the cds. Too bad I didn’t even know that was an option at the time. But hooray! Finally someone with a little sense realized that this is a good idea. And they are available through Sounds True which always produces high quality material.
Thank you thank you thank you!

Tuesday, December 04, 2007
In Which I Finish a Book on Tarot
I suppose that I don’t take tarot as seriously as some. If I needed proof of this, P D Ouspensky’s The Symbolism of the Tarot: Philosophy of Occultism in Pictures and Numbers would be all the evidence I need. A slender book, the author explores the esoteric symbolism of each of the major arcana, pairing them up according to some symbolic significance of an Egyptian temple. So that The Magician is paired with The Fool (I/0) and The High Priestess with The World (II/XXI) etc.
Each card has a meditation in which the author describes first what is seen in the card, interpreting the symbolism, and occasionally explaining what a voice (the voice of God presumably) says about the meaning of the card. I found most of Ouspensky’s interpretations to disagree with my own understanding of what I see and perhaps that made it difficult for me to appreciate what I was reading.
For example, when describing the dog on The Fool, Ouspensky writes “a wild lynx with glowing eyes sprang upon him from behind a rock and buried her teeth in his flesh” (28). This is so far removed from what I see that I can’t even fully address it. Where I see a playful dog happily following its master, tail and ears up, leaping joyously, the author sees a fearsome animal attacking.
And that is how the entire book went for me. There were few interpretations with which I agreed and usually the symbolism was either conservative or so far removed from the visual that I learned nothing of interest. I’m only glad I bought this on a bargain table and can now freely remove it from my book collection.

Monday, December 03, 2007
In Which I Finish A Book

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