Reading anything?

[indianasmith]

indiansmith-  the christians of lebanon aren't so innocent either

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabra_and_Shatila_massacre


reading "The Jesus Myth" http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=1286423

it's a misleading title, it's not saying Jesus is myth but its about how the image of Jesus was created by the people of his time using whatever symbols were available.

She actually refers to those massacres in her book - her explanation was that hatred breeds hatred, and atrocities breed atrocities.  But the Lebanese Christians did not respond in kind until thousands had been massacred.

As far as THE JESUS MYTH goes, I am familiar with the premise, but unfortunately it totally ignores historical reality.  The authors treat Jesus as a blank slate on whom the NT writers built whatever legendary embellishments they wanted, but they ignore the fact that the books were written very soon after Jesus' actual earthly life, by people who either knew him in person or had easy access to eyewitness testimony.  That makes overt mythologizing rather difficult!

After you finish it, may I recommend Lee Strobel's THE CASE FOR THE REAL JESUS?  That book is a real eye-opener.

[AndyC]

Finally finished IT. Wow. Aside from all the action, the b-movie references and the cool metaphysical stuff, which I enjoyed, it was a story I could really relate to. That idea of growing up and losing touch, forgetting the kids you used to hang out with and the things you did, and the weird sensation of visiting a hometown that is familiar but so different. Was just in my hometown last week, and it's very unsettling. And I haven't been away all that long. Four or five years.

Now, I suppose Dean Koontz's Frankenstein is next, and I might see about getting another Michael Slade thriller from the library.

[lester1/2jr]

indiana- I think you may be thinking of a different "jesus myth".  this guy is a priest and not at all prone to bashing the early church.  It's not one of those new testament revisionist things

[indianasmith]

I need to check it out then.  In my defense, there was an identically titled book that came out in the 1980's.

[Joe the Destroyer]

Started reading this today.  Slow to start, but feels like it'll pick up soon.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Yes, two new ones: the manga version of "Star Trek" and the "Star Wars" omnibusses.
And frankly, I'm enjoying the manga more than the omnibusses for a number of reasons, which we'll enumerate. And we'll also keep up a running score.

Storytelling
* Wars: Tells a complex story, but it tells it so complicatedly, that I often find it frustrating and lose interest.
*Trek: Also tells a complex story, but tells it simplely. As simplely as a rif on "The Wizard of Oz" with Wesley having to play all the parts and Worf having the best lines.
* Wars 0 * Trek 1

* Wars: Talks about fear, but it relates it to nothing which I can relate.
* Trek: Also talks about fear, but it relates it to something which I can relate. The fear oi going insane, as insanity runs in my family.
* Wars 0  * Trek 2

*Wars: Extraneous material which does nothing to advance the story, unless they are setting up for the next story.
* Trek: Also extraneous material, but less of it.
* Wars 0 * Trek 3

* Wars: It takes itself so seriously, that's there little humor.
* Trek: It also takes it self seriously, but there's more humor.
* Wars 0 * Trek 4

Characters
* Wars: Uninteresting characters.
* Trek: Interesting characters. That might because I'm more familiar with them, or for the following reasons.
* Wars 0 * Trek 5

* Wars: unrecognizable aliens.
* Trek: : recognizable humans, as a human being, it might be easier for me to recognize a fellow human being than a humanoid alien.
* Wars 0 * Trek 6

* Wars: more characters. 12 Jedi council members. 9 X-wing Rogue pilots.
* Trek: fewer characters. "The Original Series" 7 major characters. "The Next Generation," depending upon how you count them, 7 or 8 eight  major characters.
* Wars 0 * Trek 7

And this is shallow, but . . .
* Wars: Looks. Homeliness.
* Trek: Looks. The men are more handsome. The women are more beautiful.
* Wars 0 * Trek 8

* Wars: They have a good idea for a new character, but--seemingly--because they have no idea how this character relates to the other characters, he becomes uninteresting.
* Trek: Seemingly, they have a better idea how a new character relates to the other characters.
* Wars 0 * Trek 9

* Wars: Incredible characters. Some of the abilities of the characters are so incredible, they they verge into the unrealistic. Thus (IMHO) they become less interesting.
* Trek: Credible characters. At least more credible abilities than some of the "Star Wars" characters.
* Wars 0 * Trek 10

Miscellaneous
* Wars: Violent.
* Trek: Non-violent, or, at least less violent than "Star Wars." And as I get older and closer to my own demise, violence bothers me more and more.
* Wars 0 * Trek 11

Now for something "Star Wars" does better and a couple of things they do equally well or poorly.

Miscellaneous
* Wars: Consistency. The characters look the same as the characters in the films, and they look the same from story to story.
* Trek: Inconsistency. Not only do the characters sometimes not look like the characters in the films and TV shows, but depending upon the artist, they vary from story to story.
* Wars 1 * Trek 11

* Wars: Action. Confusing.
* Trek: Action should be realistically confusing, but it should be also clear enough to tell what is going on. The action sequences in both are just confusing and not clear.
* Wars 1.5 * Trek 11.5

Characters
* Wars: Death.
* Trek: When a character dies, I should feel something, but I fell nothing, because I
have nothing invested in the characters in both.
* Wars 2 * Trek 12

And in the battle of "Star Trek" manga vs. "Star War" omnibusses, manga wins.

Next time: an author who really understands men.

[Joe the Destroyer]

Almost done with The Resort.  The first few chapters are a bit slow, but after about the third or fourth it really picks up.  Towards the end, though, begins to crash a little.  We go from demon worship and torture to... a hotel that brainwashes people into playing brutal games of basketball, golf, and volleyball.  Awesome.  I guess I get what Little is saying, the way he's subtly comparing cult mentality to high school popularity.  The book is very creative, but nowhere near as good as the other novel I read by him, Dispatch.  That one was real mind-f**k. 

I'm planning on reading The Shining by Stephen King when I'm done.  Guess I figured I just finished reading one book about a haunted resort, I might as well read another.

[Jim H]

Believe it or not, I'm reading Twilight.  Not particularly interested in it, but I was semi-coerced into reading it.  It's OK, honestly, but if I'd read it without the social context of what has happened with the series I'd never have guessed it'd become so popular.

After that, I'll be reading a werewolf novel.  I forget the name.

After you finish it, may I recommend Lee Strobel's THE CASE FOR THE REAL JESUS?  That book is a real eye-opener.

At one point in my life, I had intended to become a journalist.  Thus, it annoys me when Lee Strobel makes this big deal about being one and then never bothers to look at both sides.  He doesn't even attempt AT ALL to talk to people on the flip side of the subject.  At least, not in the Case for Faith and the Case for Christ.  This makes the entire concept a deception at best.

It'd have bugged me less if they were advertised as what they are - a religious man seeking out scholars (as I recall, quite well-informed and intelligent ones) to confirm his own beliefs.  It'd have been a much more interesting book if he had gotten some opinions from the other side - perhaps even taken points from each side, and worked them into the book against each other.

From what I can gather, The Case for the Real Jesus follows this same path as his other books, so my thoughts apply.  I must admit to not having read it though.

[indianasmith]

That is a fair criticism - but in his defense, the title of the book is THE CASE FOR CHRIST, not THE CASE FOR AND AGAINST CHRIST.  As a Christian, I see the case against Christ being argued all the time.  It's nice to have some things to cite back in return.  But in THE CASE FOR FAITH, his first interview was with a former evangelical turned atheist who raised 8 very powerful challenges to the Christian faith, and Strobel then sought out scholars who could refute those questions.  So I think he is a little more even-handed than perhaps you give him credit for.

But yes, he is an evangelical Christian and makes no bones about it.

[Jim H]

That is a fair criticism - but in his defense, the title of the book is THE CASE FOR CHRIST, not THE CASE FOR AND AGAINST CHRIST.  As a Christian, I see the case against Christ being argued all the time.  It's nice to have some things to cite back in return.  But in THE CASE FOR FAITH, his first interview was with a former evangelical turned atheist who raised 8 very powerful challenges to the Christian faith, and Strobel then sought out scholars who could refute those questions.  So I think he is a little more even-handed than perhaps you give him credit for.

But yes, he is an evangelical Christian and makes no bones about it.

Really?  I think my version of The Case for Faith is missing this first interview.  It was like a "student" edition or something, it was only around 70 pages.  Been a while since I read it, too.  I do feel the Strobel books are worth looking at due to the people he interviews, I just feel those going in should be fully aware of what they're in for. 

On another note, if it sounded like a criticism with my bit about confirming beliefs and such, that's not how I meant it.  I mean, I'm non-religious, and occasionally enjoy reading stuff from atheist writers like Sam Harris, and remember enjoying a book called the Happy Heretic years back.  I like to be able to, at least in theory, argue both sides.   



I finished Twilight.  Meh.

Just started reading Lonely Werewolf Girl, by Martin Millar.  Good so far, but it seems to take its time to get where it is going.  Enjoyable journey though.

[lester1/2jr]

the jesus myth was really good.  one interesting thing he brought up was how "irrelevent" jesus was in his own time.  the big issues of the day were when is the end of the world coming,  the roman occupation, and various issues about torah law and which is the right interprettation.  Jesus really didn't have much to say on any of these subjects, he mainly was about announcing that the kingdom of God was at hand.  and he called god Abba which is aramaic for "daddy" or somehting which further freaked people out. 

I took out two books and returned them on time which is more a testament to how good they are rather than how fast or studius a reader I am.  the other was Tom Woods "meltdown", the only good book I've seen about the crash last fall.  it tells you how it happened using austrian busines cycle theory and so forth, rather than just going over a soap opera like thing with these idiots on wall street .  It's the definitive statement on the crash  in my opinion

[InformationGeek]

Outside of the usual Black Lagoon and Real, I have started to read What A Wonderful World.  The same author behind solanin did this series.  I've only read one chapter so far, but it seems good so far.

Continuing with my English class, I am still reading through Frankstein and will soon enough behind A Brave New World.  Also, for the fun of it, I am reading Congo and for Halloween, I've decided for the first time to read Dracula.

[SkullBat308]

The State in Capitalist Society: The Analysis of the Western System of Power- Ralph Miliband

[lester1/2jr]

HOw to s**t round the World 

 I have a gift certificate to a local bookstore, but I thik I'd be a little embarassed to order this and I really doubt the library has it

[BeyondTheGrave]

Guerrillas: Jounerys Into The Insurgent World