June 12, 2015
Tricking Kids into Reading Good Literature
Wondering what to give your kids or grandkids to read to instill in them
a love of reading? Maybe some Charles Dickens or Mark Twain or
Charlotte Bronte? Problem is, if you don't pick well, they'll get the
impression that good writing is boring and they'll never come back. Stefan Beck has a solution:
The best crime writing is excellent prose at the sentence level, and while it may not be up to the standard of a Melville or Twain (what is?), at least it handily surpasses the best-written [young adult fiction]. . . . If kids today need to be tricked and conned into reading something worthwhile, something as morally instructive and beautifully written as it is entertaining, then these bloody, crazy books ought to enjoy pride of place in every school library in America. | ||
Transgender and the Bible
Transgenderism remained a hot topic this week, at least at CT online, with tremendous traffic for two pieces. We featured a personal testimony about dealing with a family member who transitioned, and a piece about the psychological dimensions
of gender dysphoria. Theology was implied in both pieces, but not made
explicit. We're working on that as we speak. But in the meantime, here
is Peter J. Leithart's bracing theological take on the matter.
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We're Living in an Era of Peace!
That's hard to believe, but that is one compelling conclusion reached by this fascinating animated documentary.
And it has a point, relatively speaking. It's one of those moving
graphics that gave me a number of "that's amazing" and "aha" about World
War II and today's wars.
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The Meaning of Mowing
It's a prosaic act, one which Jonathan Franzen said was "among the most
despair-inducing of human activities." Nick Ripatrazone begs to differ,
and helps us grasp the beauty of cutting grass in lines alternative
light and dark: "[the] stripes and patterns were forms of revision, our
home made new." Ripatrazone takes us on a literary tour
of grass, lawns, and mowing, mixing in his own mowing history. Some of
us attend weekly to this mundane task that nonetheless remains a source
of pride: "[Most days] I simply head out to the lawn with the same
source of pride that I bring to words. I want the lawn to look nice
because it is ours."
One More Thing
Some of you subscribe to this to learn when I've posted something new. Here's the latest, reminding us that the traditional view of marriage is the overwhelming view of Christians present and past.
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Grace and peace,
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