Books I Read in 2022, Vol. XIII

 

UNSCROLLED: 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle with the Torah
Edited by Roger Bennett

Fifty-four writers and artists grapple with the Torah and the 54 portions read during the year. In an eclectic array of forms - from stories, poems, memoirs, scripts, and plays to a graphic novel and even an architect's rendering - these entries bring new meaning to the Torah, its value, and its place in the life of anyone interested in Jewish culture and identity. Read Damon Lindelof, creator of Lost, writing about Abraham's decision to sacrifice his son - as Abraham is observed by psychiatrists after the fact. Or Sloane Crosley, imagining Pharoah's neurotic fury as he researches "boils," "lice," and "plague of frogs" on WebMD.

The first thing of interest about this book I want to say is that it cost me all of twenty-five cents. Yeah...the library was having a sale (four books for a dollar) when I was picking up the first season of Happy Days I had on hold, and this looked interesting. And it is! The second thing of interest is that all 54 of the writers have a Jewish heritage, but I'm pretty sure that only a few of them actually have a Jewish faith. From the editor's introduction: "The conversation forced the group to confront a number of questions, most glaringly, how long it had been since they had last read a biblical text. The majority had stumbled through the Tibetan Book of the Dead, The Prophet, or Siddhartha in their college years, but if they retained any sense of the Bible, it was typically a vague memory, forged in youth, of crudely constructed, sanitized tales badly told - a stark contrast to the nuanced narrative they now grappled with."

That being said, I gained quite a bit of insight, both theological and sociological, by reading this collection. Feel free to borrow it.

First line: Every book has a founding story.

Page 56, Line 5: But he should not have worried.

Last line: Now I imagine they are engrossed as Jacob's vengeance-seeking sons brutally massacre men who had raped their sister, or marveling when Bezalel is miraculously able to procure the dolphin skins necessary to complete the Tabernacle in the middle of the wilderness, or stunned as the earth opens up to swallow the leaders of Korah's rebellion whole: realities that are even more chaotic, complicated, and engrossing than the most colorful rush-hour subway car in New York City could possibly be.

Lightyear: Why All the Fuss?

 

Thanks to Daughter Buckeye's subscription to Disney+, Beloved and I watched the latest Disney/Pixar movie, Lightyear, last weekend. [Disclaimer: everything I write from here on reflects my views and opinions and shines no light on what Beloved thought or thinks.]

First of all, the concept of making the movie that inspired Andy's love of the Buzz Lightyear action figure in the Toy Story franchise is brilliant.

Second of all, the execution of that concept was less than brilliant. Don't get me wrong, the movie looked amazing and had a few elements of grin-worthy humor and wow-inducing action, but the whole plot about (spoiler alert?) Buzz Lightyear learning that he can't always accomplish tasks by himself and needs to accept help from others is so cliche as to be trite and not emotionally engaging in the least.

Third of all, you may recall a relatively short-lived outcry against the film because of a reported kiss between two females. Well, let me say this about that:

       1.  Yes, two female characters got married, but if they ever kissed, I never saw it. (There was a sort of montage of scenes that showed the passage of time. MAYBE the alleged kiss happened then but was so quick that I missed it?)

       2.  And so what? Which is more damaging, a cartoon depiction of a daily reality or another round of ammunition in the fight to paint Christians as hateful bigots?

Seriously, I am so weary of bandwagons and left-bashing and name-calling...all done in the name of Jesus.

Whatever happened to "and they'll know we are Christians by our love"?

Books I Read in 2022, Vol. XII

 

PRIBBLE DIVES IN: A Professor Pribble Mystery
Sarah Hume

A sleepy college town. A brutal murder. A passel of peculiar witnesses. Meet the people of Muscatatuck, Indiana, and follow the adventures of an unlikely crime-solving duo. Detective Jackson Reed digs through conflicting evidence and contends with the town's oddball residents to uncover the truth. Professor Peregrine Pribble deploys his natural nosiness to help solve the crime. And the outcome is not what you'd expect in this hometown whodunit.

It's not every day a person can say they just finished reading a novel written by a high school classmate who also happens to be the daughter of their former minister. But today is that day for me. Sarah worked for decades at a small college in Huntington, Indiana, and has set this mystery in a similar place, full of what I am sure are personal references to the kind of folks she spent years working alongside. I love the way Sarah plays with words and says totally honest things in absolutely humorous ways. Take her bio, for instance: "Sarah Hume lives a long way from anywhere you have visited in the rural Midwest. She has been on a diet since 1995 and feeds any stray cats that wander up. Sarah is currently working on her second novel in the Pribble series. At least, that's what she tells her publisher." TWO THUMBS UP!

First line: In the chill of early morning on Sunday, February 25, Almeda Bishop lay awake.

Page 56, 5th sentence: Services will be held there at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Last line: And that the instant her body was discovered, the clock in the tower of College Hall stopped dead.