In the last couple of weeks, I've had enough time to read three good books. Here are brief reviews that might, or might not, tweak your interest:
BLINDSPOT
Everyone needs a little escape fiction now and then, but this novel has a several unusual aspects. This short novel is a first effort by two historians, Jane Kamensky of Brandeis University and Jill Lepore of Harvard. I would describe it as a murder mystery set in pre-revolutionary Boston, using a portrait painting Scott, an artistically talented "fallen" woman, an educated slave, and various members of Boston society in 1764 to weave a tale of boddice-ripping romance (tinged with a touch of homo-erotocism), slavery and emancipation, women's liberation, and of course, justice. It is written in period language/grammer, and uses a first-person narration by the Scott artist, with simultaneous first-person narration by his apprentice "boy" (as letters to a friend in New York.) The historical picture of period Boston is, I am told, quite accurate, and if only for that alone it was interesting enough for spare-time or travel reading.
DON'T SLEEP, THERE ARE SNAKES
Back to nonfiction, how about a book about lingustics? Seriously, why care about a language spoken only by 4-500 Brazilian Indians, isolated along a short stretch of the Maici River, a tributary of the Amazon in central Brazil. As writer Daniel Everett points out, only by being able to talk to them in their native, uncorrupted, tongue will we learn of their culture and life-beliefs, and how these are similar or (in the case of the Pirahãs (pee'-da-hans) different from other cultures.
Dan Everett started life as a missionary-trained linguist, and was sent to the Pirahãs to learn their language so that he might produce a New Testament in their language and thus bring them to Christ and salvation. He spent the better part of 30 years with this small group, with furloughs to Sao Paulo and elsewhere and breaks to get his PhD in Linguistics and later as a scholar in residence in Noam Chomsky's program at M.I.T. (Chomsky, among other things is considered the father of modern linguistics). Even so, it seems that Everett uses this knowledge of the Pirahãs language to disagree with Chomsky's theory of universal grammar as an inbuilt feature of the brain.
His wife and three young children went with him to live in a primitive, isolated environment, and over the years became the only outsiders accepted to some extent, because no one else had successfully managed to learn the Pirahãs language and speak with them conversationally.
The Pirahãs are unique in that they have no religious beliefs or "origin" stories (No other known culture has lacked these). They just accept things as they are, including illness, injury and death. They are always content and happy with thing as they are/happen. Introduced by Everett to the Pirahãs, social psychologists from MIT thought they were possibly the "happiest" culture in existence.
The first part of the story is a narrative of his life among the Pirahãs, and for me, the more interesting. The second part of the book which explains in more depth the linguistic science, is a bit more pedantic, and frankly I just skimmed this section.
For 200 years, missionaries have failed to convert a single Pirahãs. In the end, the Missionary himself was converted. Unfortunately, when he ultimately "came out" as a non-theist, it brought a considerable reaction, and ultimately a divorce from his wife who had been at his side most of the years in the Amazon.
MISQUOTING JESUS
Here I don't want to get into a debate over the inerrancy of the bible. I include it because (a) it was one of the last three books I read, and (b) it dovetails nicely with "SNAKES" in that it is about language - in this case printed language.
Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At UNC he has served as both the Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies.
In this work, directed at the lay public, Ehrman used his many years as an academic textual analyst, concentrating on the bible, to describe how textual analysis can be applied to ancient manuscripts, particularly biblical texts, to determine among the various versions which are most likely correct.
Here is an excellent review by Anthony Campbell. I could say more, but not better, so click to Campbell's review and decide on your own.
BLINDSPOT
Everyone needs a little escape fiction now and then, but this novel has a several unusual aspects. This short novel is a first effort by two historians, Jane Kamensky of Brandeis University and Jill Lepore of Harvard. I would describe it as a murder mystery set in pre-revolutionary Boston, using a portrait painting Scott, an artistically talented "fallen" woman, an educated slave, and various members of Boston society in 1764 to weave a tale of boddice-ripping romance (tinged with a touch of homo-erotocism), slavery and emancipation, women's liberation, and of course, justice. It is written in period language/grammer, and uses a first-person narration by the Scott artist, with simultaneous first-person narration by his apprentice "boy" (as letters to a friend in New York.) The historical picture of period Boston is, I am told, quite accurate, and if only for that alone it was interesting enough for spare-time or travel reading.
DON'T SLEEP, THERE ARE SNAKES
Back to nonfiction, how about a book about lingustics? Seriously, why care about a language spoken only by 4-500 Brazilian Indians, isolated along a short stretch of the Maici River, a tributary of the Amazon in central Brazil. As writer Daniel Everett points out, only by being able to talk to them in their native, uncorrupted, tongue will we learn of their culture and life-beliefs, and how these are similar or (in the case of the Pirahãs (pee'-da-hans) different from other cultures.
Dan Everett started life as a missionary-trained linguist, and was sent to the Pirahãs to learn their language so that he might produce a New Testament in their language and thus bring them to Christ and salvation. He spent the better part of 30 years with this small group, with furloughs to Sao Paulo and elsewhere and breaks to get his PhD in Linguistics and later as a scholar in residence in Noam Chomsky's program at M.I.T. (Chomsky, among other things is considered the father of modern linguistics). Even so, it seems that Everett uses this knowledge of the Pirahãs language to disagree with Chomsky's theory of universal grammar as an inbuilt feature of the brain.
His wife and three young children went with him to live in a primitive, isolated environment, and over the years became the only outsiders accepted to some extent, because no one else had successfully managed to learn the Pirahãs language and speak with them conversationally.
The Pirahãs are unique in that they have no religious beliefs or "origin" stories (No other known culture has lacked these). They just accept things as they are, including illness, injury and death. They are always content and happy with thing as they are/happen. Introduced by Everett to the Pirahãs, social psychologists from MIT thought they were possibly the "happiest" culture in existence.
The first part of the story is a narrative of his life among the Pirahãs, and for me, the more interesting. The second part of the book which explains in more depth the linguistic science, is a bit more pedantic, and frankly I just skimmed this section.
For 200 years, missionaries have failed to convert a single Pirahãs. In the end, the Missionary himself was converted. Unfortunately, when he ultimately "came out" as a non-theist, it brought a considerable reaction, and ultimately a divorce from his wife who had been at his side most of the years in the Amazon.
MISQUOTING JESUS
Here I don't want to get into a debate over the inerrancy of the bible. I include it because (a) it was one of the last three books I read, and (b) it dovetails nicely with "SNAKES" in that it is about language - in this case printed language.
Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At UNC he has served as both the Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies.
In this work, directed at the lay public, Ehrman used his many years as an academic textual analyst, concentrating on the bible, to describe how textual analysis can be applied to ancient manuscripts, particularly biblical texts, to determine among the various versions which are most likely correct.
Here is an excellent review by Anthony Campbell. I could say more, but not better, so click to Campbell's review and decide on your own.
OUT OF THE FLAMES
Yes, I know I said "three" books, and I already talked about this one in the past, but it's simply one of the best books I've ever read. By Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, it's about many things, including religious history, rare book collecting, and the early history of publishing after Gutenberg. I recommend this wonderfully readable book to friends at every opportunity.
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