Friday, March 05, 2004
Well, I guess I will give my opinions, even though I have only read Orthodoxy, and I don't think I even finished it yet.
I must say, I thought it was candy. I enjoyed reading it sentence by sentence. Beautiful sentences, things wonderfully said. Still, after a chapter, I would look back and have a hard time piecing the sentences together to get the point. Not that there was no point, but it was just not always obvious to me. I like you analogy to Coulter, Rachel.
A couple months after reading the book, I really can't remember much of anything. Granted, most books I read largely slip from my mind. This book seems to have almost entirely disappeared. Maybe he was speaking to issues that are not as big today, and therefore it didn't impact me as much. I mean, I think I remember some stuff about fairy tales, optimism and pessimism and...well...that's it. So, anyway, in the long run it seems I was not impressed. Then again, as you point out Danny, people love him, so I am probably missing something.
I must say, I thought it was candy. I enjoyed reading it sentence by sentence. Beautiful sentences, things wonderfully said. Still, after a chapter, I would look back and have a hard time piecing the sentences together to get the point. Not that there was no point, but it was just not always obvious to me. I like you analogy to Coulter, Rachel.
A couple months after reading the book, I really can't remember much of anything. Granted, most books I read largely slip from my mind. This book seems to have almost entirely disappeared. Maybe he was speaking to issues that are not as big today, and therefore it didn't impact me as much. I mean, I think I remember some stuff about fairy tales, optimism and pessimism and...well...that's it. So, anyway, in the long run it seems I was not impressed. Then again, as you point out Danny, people love him, so I am probably missing something.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Finally, I want to mention that I have seen the Passion, I am sure others of you have too. Lets chat...what did you think? What was the short term impact and the relatively long term impact? What about the controversy around it? Was it too violent? Etc... Talk amongst yourselves.
Joe, you asked me a couple of days ago what it is like to work for Michael Novak. You invited me to brag, but I will try to decline that invitation. On most days I have little or no contact with Professor Novak, other than maybe a five minute conversation with him on the phone. He has been working in his Delaware home recently. These conversations are usually about the project I am working on, they are not about the news of the day or his philosophy on whatever. I have had a number of projects since I started. The largest was probably my research on John Kerry and his proposed tax increase. I was asked to find the demographics of those people who make over $200,000 in income every year (which is the group Kerry hopes to tax more). This project was something of a nightmare for me, since I am not particularly well educated in tax law, however after many weeks I think I was able to nail down some pretty interesting information.
The second large project, one that I am currently working on, is editing his forthcoming book, The Universal Hunger for Liberty. It is a collection of essays essentially about the 21st century and his prognosis for the expansion of liberty. Turns out he is pretty optimistic. He talks a great deal about the Catholic ethic and how it promotes political and economic liberty (democracy and capitalism). He also spends much time on Islam, attempting to develop from Islamic theology and philosophy a similar ethic of liberty. A third major component of his book is his argument for what he calls Caritopoilis (spelling?), which I believe is the City of Friendship. I have not yet read that chapter, but it has something to do with Augustine and adapting his City of God to today. Anyway, I have been proofreading and, stunningly, offering critiques to Professor Novak on where he is not clear and where I disagree. He is always very receptive to what I have to say, which truly impresses me. Therefore, seeing a book come together has been very interesting and educational. I think it will be a good book, I look forward to seeing it in the bookstore.
The second large project, one that I am currently working on, is editing his forthcoming book, The Universal Hunger for Liberty. It is a collection of essays essentially about the 21st century and his prognosis for the expansion of liberty. Turns out he is pretty optimistic. He talks a great deal about the Catholic ethic and how it promotes political and economic liberty (democracy and capitalism). He also spends much time on Islam, attempting to develop from Islamic theology and philosophy a similar ethic of liberty. A third major component of his book is his argument for what he calls Caritopoilis (spelling?), which I believe is the City of Friendship. I have not yet read that chapter, but it has something to do with Augustine and adapting his City of God to today. Anyway, I have been proofreading and, stunningly, offering critiques to Professor Novak on where he is not clear and where I disagree. He is always very receptive to what I have to say, which truly impresses me. Therefore, seeing a book come together has been very interesting and educational. I think it will be a good book, I look forward to seeing it in the bookstore.
Joe, as I read that First Things piece, I was reminded of the way I feel much of the time when I am reading the news lately. Despair. It seems to me that there is little or no hope that we can push back the rushing tide. Homosexual marriage, for example, seems almost impossible to stop. Now that homosexual activists have fire in their bellies, they will scream and they will shout for years. Do we really have to sit around as one judge and one mayor after another decides to ignore the law. Has this nation gone mad? Bork says in Slouching Toward Gomorah that he does not believe anything short of a World War or crushing depression will change the situation. Is it even feasible that the sexual revolution will end now that we are a society addicted? There are so many examples. I do have hope in one area, and happily that is abortion. I do believe we will live to see the day when Roe is overturned. There is also a small hope inside of me that one day we who are pro-life will be looked at as the great defenders of the weak of our generation, the way abolisionists once were. Maybe it is a fools hope. But other than the question of abortion, I can not even muster the a hope crazy enough for a fool.
