Description, description, description

So a short post, just because I’ve already written 6 pages today on my novel.  This may not seem like a lot, but when you are a stay-at-home mom of a 2 1/2 year old, time and energy are significantly reduced.  I was thinking about my last post and the balance between dialogue and description.  Specifically, what makes for good description.

Description helps the reader to understand and imagine the writer’s world.  It creates a sense of character and place.  For me, as a reader, I sometimes find descriptive passages too tedious–both in classics and in current literature/writing.  Sometimes I just want to “get to the good part” and it seems as though description impedes this.  This can be the downfall of being overly descriptive–it serves no purpose for the plot or characters and actually detracts from them.

When I think about writers who utilize description well, Sandra Cisneros and William Carlos Williams come to mind.  Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street is striking for its vivid, indeed poetic, descriptions.  Through a series of linked vignettes, Cisneros paints characters with precise, vivid language.  The bittersweetness of their stories leaves a tangible ache in your bones.  Williams does the some in his poems.  Again, it is the precision of language, sparse yet sharp and vivid, that leaves the reader with indelible images.

Here’s to concise, vivid descriptions.

If you haven’t already read either of these writers, go to your nearest library.  You’re in for a treat.

[Via http://amyjstrychasz.wordpress.com]

SUFFERING AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD - John Piper & Justin Taylor, Ed (2006)

The only one who has taught me more about the sovereignty of God than John Piper is Jonathan Edwards.  Dr. Piper does not disappoint in this edited work.  The chapters are compiled in a series of transcripts from the 2005 Desiring God Conference, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God.  This review serves as a summary of some noteworthy chapters.

Piper’s opening chapter unfolds ten aspects of God’s sovereignty over suffering and Satan’s role in it.  He points the reader to the eternal and infinite God; a God who stands in sharp contrast to the finite and contingent creature.  The insight that Piper offers in this chapter are simply breathtaking.

Dr. Mark Talbot pens one of the most helpful and beneficial chapters on compatibalism to date.  The doctrine affirms that God ordains everything that comes to pass and also affirms that agents make free, responsible choices.  God never does evil, but he does in fact ordain or decree evil.  Talbot’s explanations are philosophically and theologically satisfying and are expressed with warm pastoral concern.  Pretty good work for a philosophy professor!  Dr. Talbot’s chapter is worth the price of the book.

Steve Saint poignantly describes the murder of his father, Nate Saint and shares his personal pain as a child and the events that God used to soften his heart and make him usable vessel in God’s kingdom.

There are so many rich nuggets in this volume.  Read it and be prepared for the difficult days ahead. Suffering and the Sovereignty of God is a welcome addition to students taking the Veritas course, Mending the Achilles Heel: A Biblical Response to the Problem of Evil.

4.5 stars

[Via http://baldreformer.wordpress.com]

"John Ploughman's Talk" by C.H. Spurgeon

“John Ploughman’s Talk” by C.H. Spurgeon is a down to earth, witty, and swarthy collection of lessons for common people. With selections entitled Idleness, Gossip, Try, and Ignorant People, C.H. Spurgeon’s “Talk” is a fountain of good advice offered in an agreeable and understandable language. “Dont’ count your chickens before they’re hatched,” and “Try, try again,” are just some of the oldstyle anthems used throughout the book. Appropriate for old and young alike, it can be especially poignant for children just entering the working age.

Gist: very highly recommended.

[Via http://takecaptiveeverythought.wordpress.com]

Book Review: <em>The Case For God</em> by Karen Armstrong

Author: Karen Armstrong
Title: The Case for God
Publication Info: Random House Audio (2009), Edition: Unabridged, Audio CD
ISBN: 0307702375

Summary/Review:

From the title this book appears to be an apologetic approach to theism.  Close but not quite.  Karen Armstrong in fact writes an history of religious belief and practice (and the parallel growth of atheism) from prehistoric cave paintings to postmodern philosophers.  While mostly focused on Western thought – and Christianity within that – Armstrong manages to incorporate a lot of world religion which makes a massive topic for a short book.  And yet it’s chock full of fascinating tidbits and connections I’ve never made.

Armstrong’s main points in this book are that literalism – both that which is insisted upon by religious conservatives and railed against by their anti-theist opponents – is a relatively modern phenomenon.    Historically practice trumped belief and our fore-bearers would not comprehend the all-or-nothing approach of today’s religious adherents.

I’m not going to admit that I understood it all, but I did enjoy Armstrong’s writing and ideas and would like to read more of her work.

Favorite Passages:

A good creation myth did not describe an event in the distant past but told people something essential about the present. It reminded them that things often had to get worse before they got better, that creativity demanded self-sacrifice and heroic struggle, and that everybody had to work hard to preserve the energies of the cosmos and establish society on a sound foundation. A creation story was primarily therapeutic. – p. 16

Fundamentalism — be it Jewish, Christian, or Muslim — nearly always begins as a defensive movement; it is usually a response to a campaign of coreligionists or fellow countrymen that is experienced as inimical and invasive. – p. 271

Thus the cosmologist Paul Davies speaks of his delight in science with its unanswered, and, perhaps, unanswerable questions …. Davies has confessed “It may seem bizarre, but in my opinion, science offers a surer path to God than religion.”  He is still asking the primordial question: Why is there something rather than nothing? – p. 310

The ideal society should be based on charity rather than truth.  In the past, [Gianni] Vattimo recalls, religious truth generally emerged from people interacting with others rather than by papal edict.  Vattimo recalls Christ’s saying, “When two or three are gathered in my name, I will be in the midst of them,” and the classic hymn, “Where there is love, there is also God.” – p. 314

Recommended books:
Rating: ***

[Via http://othemts.wordpress.com]

Atlantis Found

Cussler, Clive.  Atlantis Found.  New York:  Berkley, 2001.  Print.

When a small town mine owner finds evidence of an ancient civilization buried in an old mine shaft, regional experts are called in.  Soon though, they find their lives in jeopardy; someone wants the secrets of the ancients to stay hidden.

Clive Cussler is always a good standby for adventure, and Atlantis Found is no exception.  Fast-paced and catchy, Dirk Pitt and his sidekick Al have come to the rescue again!

[Via http://jennclimenhaga.wordpress.com]

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

 “Once upon a time, I did not live in Shady Pines. Once upon a time, my name was not Alice. Once upon a time, I didn’t know how lucky I was.”

When Alice was 10, Ray stole her away from her parents. She’s now 15, and thinks he is growing tired of her. Constantly living in a state of fear, she doesn’t doubt her death lays ahead of her.  She welcomes it. However, what Ray actually has in mind for her is much worse; he wants her to find him a new Alice, a much younger girl for his exploits. A new girl will likely mean death for Alice, which will end her pain, but can she force her life on someone else?

Living Dead Girl is an emotionally difficult read, made more so by the intentionally stylized writing. Elizabeth Scott writes in short, quick sentences, spoken only from Alice’s point of view. It is highly effective at expressing Alice’s thoughts and connecting the reader to the story. Alice is such a compelling character and Scott does an amazing job at connecting readers to a story that is not only difficult to tell, but goes beyond the capacity of our imaginations. It is a quick read, but very haunting. This book does have a significant amount of violence and sex, and the topics (pedophilia, rape, abuse, abduction) might be very uncomfortable for some readers. Nonetheless, it is an incredibly significant story.

You might like Living Dead Girl if you enjoy books with: stylized writing, quick to read, fast paced plots, emotionally provocative storylines

Other books by Elizabeth Scott: Bloom, Perfect You, The Unwritten Rule, Stealing Heaven, Something, Maybe, Love You Hate You Miss You

If you enjoyed Living Dead Girl you might also like: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Touching Snow by Sindy M. Felin, Boy Toy by Barry Lyga, Leftovers by Laura Wiess, Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson and Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess

Additional Info: Awards include YALSA Best Book for YA (2009), BCCB Blue Ribbon Award (2008), ABC Best Books for Children (2008) – for more see author website

Author Website found here.

Rating: W4/4   C4/4   P4/4   O4/4   PP2.5/4   CR2/4

Grade: S

Covers

 

[Via http://creatingdiscussion.wordpress.com]

Why am I hiding behind my camera?

When I signed up for Facebook, I was immediately “faced” with a huge problem: I had no photos of my face. None. That was because I was always behind the camera instead of in front of it. I took pictures of my friends, my kids, my kids with my husband, my kids with my parents or parents-in-law or other relatives or classmates.

(Occasionally, my feet or arms wound up in the picture, too, but there wasn’t a single photo of my face. That’s a big problem on Facebook because people want to see, well, your face. After all, it’s not called “Armbook” or “Footbook.”)

I thought about this recently when I read the novel The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw. One of the main characters, Midas Crook, hides behind his camera. He is a socially inept man who prefers to view the world through his camera lens.

It’s safer there.

His one romantic relationship ended when he realized that he was only attracted to the version of the woman he had caught on film, not the living and breathing woman that she was when his camera was put away. Instead of social interaction, he has film and black-and-white photos and people reduced to what slow light and silver nitrate make them.

People are easier to deal with when they are flat and two-dimensional.

3-D people can be disturbing: knowing all three dimensions of them forces me to share all three dimensions of myself. Scary.

Recently, a friend remarked that she enjoyed my blog posts because I’m so “transparent.” I’d love to think that I really am transparent, that my blog readers know the real me, that my life is an open book.

Sure, my life is an open book . . . in a foreign language.

All too often, I’ve hidden myself from other people. I hide . . .

• behind a camera because being in front of it means I might be captured in an unflattering pose;
• behind a book (either someone else’s or my own) because characters in a book are easier to deal with than real life people;
• behind a computer screen, “connected” on the Internet, because it’s easier to connect with other people when I can disconnect with them just as easily by shutting down the computer.

An actual person won’t go away if I click a mouse or turn a page or delete a photo on my digital camera. Like Midas Crook, I often prefer two-dimensional people to three-dimensional, and for the same reason: intimately knowing others can be terrifying.

About halfway through the book, Midas has an epiphany:

He imagined dying and being cut open and there were all his bones and muscles and his bared arteries and capillaries leading to a cavity in his chest where, instead of a heart, he had his camera.

For too long, he has defined himself and others by photography; now he must decide if he is willing to take the risk of setting aside his camera and learning to love other people.

What would an autopsy show within me: a camera … a book … a computer… or a heart?

What would it show within you?

More to the point, what are you going to do about it?

Even more to the point, why are you still on the Internet? Shut down that computer and go talk to a real person.

[Via http://lauradroege.wordpress.com]