I have been intrigued by the ESV because it’s a more word-for-word translation but is a bit more readable than the NASB. I already have a few NIV Bibles and the NIV is great, but I have enjoyed the NASB and now I’m giving the ESV a shot. Please don’t comment with a big heated argument about translations. I’m just not up for it. I’m all for sharing what you like, but please don’t come here claiming only one is correct.  I don’t want to be a critic, I want to build the church. if you were at catalyst west coast.

I found the perfect one. It’s an ESV Personal Size Reference Bible. It doesn’t have two columns on the page. It’s all one column like a normal book. It’s light and a good novel size, but the letters aren’t too tiny. So I’m gonna take it home now and keep reading the book of John starting in chapter 6 where I left off in my NASB either with my preaching Bible at church or from my iPhone.

What’s your ideal reading Bible???

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

This book was super strange and disturbing at times, but had witty writing that reminded me a bit of Hemingway at times, but much more philosophical. In short it’s the story of a man named Dorian Gray who has a picture of him that reveals his soul and ages while he does not. There is a madness that he sinks into and a search for redemption. Great writing.

2. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

This is the story of a German soldier in World War 1. It is some of the most beautiful writing that I have every experienced reading. I recommend this book to anyone at anytime. There is adventure, tragedy, joy, brotherhood, and survival all told from what we Americans consider the enemy. This soldier on the front doesn’t know anything of politics or reasons for the war. He just wants to live and help his friends stay alive.

3. Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana by Anne Rice

This is the second book in Anne Rice’s series on Jesus. Apparently she had a major transformation and now wants to write books about Jesus instead of vampires. It’s a scary thing to do – write a book about Jesus with Jesus as the narrator/first person of the book. This book takes place when Jesus is 30 years old and includes the months just prior to his baptism by John, the wilderness temptation, and culminating with the wedding of Cana. I love her writing and the spirit she brings to the words and actions of Jesus. It seems right on to me. It deals with some of Jesus struggling with feelings of love for a woman and He knows that He will never marry and has to put those feelings away. At times that can seem awkward, but it was a good portrayal of humanity/divinity. I liked this book and recommend both of these Christ the Lord books as long as the reader remembers that they aren’t reading and inspired book.

Here is why I’m not into the hype about The Shack. I’m not anti-The Shack. I’m not against it like it’s the devil or something. I know some people have found it helpful to relate to God. I just hope it’s the God of the Bible they are relating to and not the God of William P. Young. But mostly I just don’t like it. Here’s why. I don’t think God is sarcastic and I just don’t think God talks like this. Overall, I feel like William P. Young is a below-average writer that took on a task that Tolkien, Lewis, and Dostoevsky would have found challenging. It’s a scary task to try and be the voice of God. To say, “This is what God would say and this is how God would speak.” I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot-pole. The chances of being wrong and struck by lightning are far too high for me. Now, I read this post by Randy Harris and I have talked to him a lot about this. I read the post a long time ago and I don’t remember exactly what he said and I want to keep it that way while I write this, but I thought I should link to it in full disclosure.

The whole plot-line was a bit disturbing being a father of two daughters, but that’s not why I didn’t like the book.

Here are some of the quotes that I think are weird about this book:

1. After Jesus drops the sauce that Papa (God the Father) cooked we have this exchange. “We were going to have this incredible Japanese sauce, but greasy fingers over there,” Papa nodded toward Jesus, “decided to see if it would bounce.” “C’mon now,” Jesus responded in mock defense. “My hands were slippery. What can I say?” Papa winked at Mack as she passed him the rice. “You just can’t get good help around here.” Everyone laughed.

So this isn’t a huge theological error or something. It’s just cheesy. And I don’t picture the Father and Jesus mocking each other in heaven.

2. “Hmm,” grunted Mack. “Nothing too common about her!” “True, that,” responded Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t say “True, that.” That would make him a dork. He is not a dork.

3. “You seem to be especially fond of a lot of people,” Mack observed with a suspicious look. “Are there any who you are not especially fond of?” She (God the Father) lifted her head and rolled her eyes as if she were mentally going through the catalog of every being ever created. “Nope, I haven’t been able to find any. Guess that’s jes’ the way I is.”

Seriously, God the Father says “jes’ the way I is?” This whole sentence is just so trite and cliche and dumb I can’t even express it enough.

I do admit that there are good things in the book too. The whole concept of Mack having to deal with his own hatred to God for the tragedy and the way he works through it is cool. I guess I just wish that William P. Young whispered his idea into the ear of Anne Rice or Eugene Peterson or Wendell Berry or Frederick Beuchner.

HT:
Marko

Books:
1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It becomes a bit over-the-top at times, but the plot is riveting and the writing style is enjoyable while being literary. I think this has the potential to be a modern classic.

2. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. I have never read this classic and I have just recently started exploring Hemingway. I actually really enjoyed this book even though most people I talk to hated it. I love the commitment and love the boy has for the old man. I love the old man’s determination and love for the boy. I only wish Hemingway didn’t always have to break my heart.

3. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. I avoided this book because of it’s commercialization by Starbucks. I just get annoyed by people who think they can read a book from Starbucks or buy a (RED) product or go to an Invisible Children event and think that they are “doing something” for Africa. My mom gave me this book before I left and I LOVED IT. I highly highly recommend it. It’s an incredible and true story of this boy who has his entire life turned upside down in so many ways. Go read it.

By the way, I officially HATE Sparks Notes and all those things. So many high school kids have never read a book because they just read the Sparks Notes. It’s also weird that no one has heard of Cliffs Notes anymore. What happened to them? They should all be banned by the government. That’s a legislation I would vote for.

I also finished the new Harry Potter book yesterday. It was a pretty tidy ending with some sad stuff. I liked the ending after all seven of those books.

The book is set in WWI Italy where the main character, Frederic Henry, is an American lieutenant serving with the Italians and leading a group of ambulances taking injured men back from the front. He has a charming wit and makes many friends near the beginning of the book and begins to use that charm on an English girl named Catherine who is a nurse. They begin a coy sort of romance just behind the front between Italy and Austria.

Then Henry or Tenente as he is called in the book is sent to the front and his leg gets badly wounded by shrapnel from an artillery explosion. He then gets sent back to Milan to a hospital and Catherine is sent there as a nurse. They fall deeply in love and are constantly drinking – to the point where he becomes jaundiced. It’s the sort of drinking that sounds very romantic – different Italian wines and brandies and vermouth in cafes and ristorantes. But its all the time throughout the book. They find out that Catherine is pregnant just before he is sent back to the front. While up there, a massive retreat is ordered for the Italians. While he is retreating with his men many bad things happen and he is separated from all but a few. While they are crossing a bridge into a city while marching with hundreds of other soldiers he notices that all the officers are being taken to the side and “questioned.” It turns out that people don’t like the idea of a retreat and are forming a new army and killing all the officers. Henry escapes by jumping into the river and then gets on a train and hides. He makes it back to Milan to find out that Catherine is in a small village near the border of Switzerland and Italy. He goes there and before he is arrested they both escape in a rowboat across a lake into Switzerland. She is drinking with him and helping row the boat.

They make it to Switzerland and are living happily, deeply in love, continuing to drink fancy wine and have a romantic life until it comes time to have the baby. They head to the hospital where she excessively takes the “gas” for pain. The doctor declares that she must have a c-section after her blood pressure drops drastically (remember this is WWI).

The baby is delivered dead and shortly thereafter Catherine dies. The End.

AAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

This book was superbly written and it was so fun to listen in on the playful conversations between Henry and Catherine. Henry overcomes so many difficulties – being at the front of WWI, getting a huge leg injury, going back to the front, escaping assassination, finding his love, rowing 28 km across a lake at night in the rain to escape, AND THEN THE GIRL AND THE BABY DIE!!

AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so frustrating. It turns out that Hemingway was a huge drinker, served in WWI, and ended up committing suicide later in life.

It’s so sad that people will throw away brilliant gifts and beautiful relationships for the love of alcohol and self.

Great book, but like many other great books, very frustrating. This is a picture of Ernest Hemingway in Milan in 1918.

Check out the story here.