My favorite read of 2024 was actually my re-read of The Lord of the Rings. But sticking to new works as usual: I read 28 works of fiction and nonfiction for the first time in '24, and of those I've picked out again my favorite ten. For each book, I've listed some excerpts, not necessarily … Continue reading My favorite reads of 2024
Recently I rewatched the entire "Lord of the Rings" trilogy with my kids, in the extended editions. That's over 12 hours of movies, but my kids were not bored for a minute. After “Fellowship” my son was gushing about how clearly the story was told; and about how the music made him feel, particularly the … Continue reading Rewatching the Lord of the Rings
Why I’m celebrating Dependence Day today and not American Independence. Hint: it’s not because I don’t love my country. Why I’m Celebrating Dependence Day Today
I invited my family to see the April 8 eclipse, and we found a place on a bay in the St. Lawrence River. We had ourselves a grand little reunion up there on the Canadian border, and a great couple of days together. And we got to see a total eclipse, a first for each … Continue reading Reflecting on the total solar eclipse of April 8
I've finished "Paradise Lost," and I thought it would be fun to list all the passages that made me think of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." Many things in "Paradise Lost" made me think of Middle-Earth, some because of their resemblance to Tolkien's creations, others because there was only a superficial similarity and strong differences. … Continue reading LOTR and Paradise Lost
My kids have not grown up on "Star Trek", and until recently they knew nothing about it beyond Spock's ears, a captain named Kirk, and maybe a ship named Enterprise. For our regular movie night I recently picked "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." I didn't tell the kids what I was going to … Continue reading Star Trek II: The Wrath of the Well-Read Villain
I don't know how I've never read John Milton's "Paradise Lost," but I'm here for it now and it's already blowing me away. The first two of its twelve parts are densely filled with poetry that's surprisingly easy to read, and with so many dramatic images that I've lost count. The first surprise for me … Continue reading Discovering Paradise Lost
I've recently finished "The Brothers Karamazov", a book that's tough-to-chew, frustrating, blasphemous, hilarious, delirious and puzzling: in short, a great book. I want to start with just a few *brief* remarks about the Grand Inquisitor story, the parable that Ivan Karazamov composes and shares with his brother Alyosha. The parable is so well-known that I … Continue reading The Grand Inquisitor and Exodus
I chose "Contact", the 1997 Robert Zemeckis film based on Carl Sagan's novel of the same, for a recent family movie night. It was new to the kids. I read the book a few years ago, soon after quarantine began. I had been wanting to show the kids this movie ever since we saw "The … Continue reading Contact movie night
My son Jacob recently chose "The Prince of Egypt" when it was his turn in our revolving "family movie night". He intends to run through all the Dreamworks animated pictures -- a project that should take us about four years, at our current pace -- and "Prince of Egypt", released in 1998, was Dreamworks' second. … Continue reading Prince of Egypt Movie Night
