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April Books

Well, school ended mid-month so a lot of fiction and shorter encyclicals have dominated my readings the last few weeks. Without further ado:
1. Theology and Joy by Jurgen Moltmann with an extended introduction by David E. Jenkins(having read 8 or 9 of Moltmann’s larger works this one actually surprised me quite a bit. It seemed to have some very “unMoltmannish” thoughts and phrases. Still, as with everything he writes, quite worth the read).
2. The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses by C.S. Lewis.
3. Writing in the Dust: After September 11 by Rowan Williams (not to be mistaken with Rowan Atkinson).
4. My Life for the Poor by Mother Teresa (edited).
5. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (so you would think a day in the life of some dude would be pretty boring [like Ulysses for example. That book is the biggest waste of time… ever. Never has such a shitty piece of literature received such widespread acclaim] but not when that dude is a prisoner in a Russian labour camp!).
6. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (what can I say, anybody who wrote both Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure deserves to be read extensively).
7. HappinessTM by Will Ferguson (you wanna know what’s cool? Getting books in the mail from friends, that’s cool).
8. Epileptic by David B. (an autobiographical illustrated novel [like Blankets by Craig Thompson] published in six parts in France. I had previously found the first three parts in English and the last two in French. I never found the fourth part. Then I found all six in one English edition and now I finally get what the hell went on in the last half — my French isn’t so great).

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  1. HappinessTM was a great book. I picked it up in a similarly unexpected manner as your receiving it in the mail. I bought it on sale at a Barnes & Noble as a quick read in between unpacking boxes during a weekend I moved. It was a small but tasty morsel of sarcasm, cynicism, and pissed-offness at such a narcissistic society. For those of you who are particularly put off by the likes of Dr. Phil this book will be a new form of “self-help.”

  2. I also chuckled throughout HappinessTM. The thing that really cracked me up was that right after I finished the book I ran into a fellow I knew who started ranting and raving about this new self-help author who offered, (I kid you not), “advice about everything from smoking to sex.” He then pulls out a picture of this guy and, sure enough, he looks exactly like the supposed guru in HappinessTM.
    I’m not speaking from experience but a good way to ruin a friendship is to laugh your ass off as your friend tells you about the person that changed his life.

  3. After reading Ivan Denisovich, I fell in love with Solzhenitsyn. He gets better and better. The First Circle has to be one of my favourites but it is a bit of a longer read than Denisovich!

  4. Hey, I was wondering if anybody would pick up on that reference. Figures it would be you since you know everything about everything related to pop culture.