“As we know if we don’t worship something healthy we’ll end up worshipping, more often than not, something rather unhealthy,” he says. “Look at our consumer culture. Look at our celebrity culture. You name it. We worship the wrong thing; or if not the wrong thing, something that doesn’t actually feed us in a deep way.”
Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/film/chosen-one#6OPdBlfxz3yBKgtp.99
Saturday, 5 November 2016
Friday, 4 November 2016
Review: Brooklyn
Brooklyn by Colm TóibínMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Context is a crucial element to understand for reading any text. Whether this is the context in which a text was created, the context of the author's own biases or judgements, and the context in which you personally are reading the text. Or in the case of this review, the context in which I read Brooklyn.
This is important, because for the last six months I have been inactive on Goodreads due to five major reasons. The first is that I moved to the country at the start of the year. The second is that I became a provisionally-registered English teacher. The third is that on June 25th I married my beautiful wife. The fourth is that I have been busy as a result of the previous three. The fifth however, is that I have during my few moments of free time begun writing consistently on the concept for a novel, and also have taken to blogging over at jterrington22.blogspot.com.au (which is also where my Goodreads reviews will simultaneously be published along with other thoughts, opinions and reviews of other things such as films or video games etc.)
It is in this context that I found myself picking up Brooklyn as a Year Twelve VCE English text. Upon reading through it I found myself impressed by the manner of its construction and the variety of themes it tackles. It is in many ways a highly feminist text (in other words it positively tackles issues that do and have affected women), a beautiful literary historical novel, and an interesting look into one young Irish girl's transitioning life from girlhood to womanhood.
Eilis Lacey is an intriguingly passive character, a young girl offered the opportunity of a lifetime - to travel to Brooklyn where a steady job and better lifestyle awaits her than offered in Ireland. The one issue is that Eilis never wanted to travel to America. She is, at the novel's opening, presented as perfectly content to remain in a state of simplicity in Ireland. However, because her family (her mother and her elder sister Rose) insist, Eilis never complains and obeys their desires. The question hovering over the story from the beginning revolves around whether Eilis can ever become an active agent in her own lifestory. And it is this question which Colm Tóibín seeks to answer as Eilis transformatively finds herself captivated by her own spontaneous love story.
While hardly the most elaborately written novel, there is a beauty in the simplicity that Tóibín constructs his tale with. The entirety of the plot is presented as if the reader is directly hovering above Eilis' shoulder, viewing her every decision and occasionally deriding her naivete. It is this which allows the author the authority to channel secrets and hidden character motives across the plot. (Why did Eilis' sister want Eilis to be the one to travel to America? (view spoiler))
The novel rotates through a myriad of thematic content: racism, feminism, family, migration. All themes entirely relevant for today's audiences, given the lack of stability in the modern world due to these themes. It is the ways in which the novel presents these themes however, that is truly excellent: African American women shopping amongst 1950s white-Americans, Eilis gradually developing the ability to choose what she wants, Eilis leaving her family behind.
For all of these reasons, I classify Brooklyn as a satisfying and entirely 'neat' novel. It is a novel that displays technique, editing polish and clever thought without the 'purple prose' that some authors lavish upon their work. It is a novel which some readers may find lacks in terms of its emotional pull, with such a passive protagonist. However, it is the way in which Colm Tóibín presents Eilis as passive which provides a wonderful frame for him to display the potent and important thematic elements.
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"It's not about you!"
Psalm 19:1 For the director of music. A psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
God spoke to David through the very universe around him. In the same way, God often speaks to me. It might be someone directly addressing me with a specific word, it may be some fact of nature that reminds me of God, or it may be a repeated word or idea. In the past week God has been speaking to me through the repetition of this one phrase: "it's not about you."
I first encountered this phrase while watching Dr Strange and something about the line resonated with me. Then the same phrase or one similar was stated in church the following morning. Then yet again, I read an article about a doctor giving advice to other medical practitioners. He wrote the following:
One attendee lamented about caring for a patient who was recovering from a procedure that went against her own personal values. She said she was distressed and angered by this; I believe what she hoped for was for me to embrace her distress, validate it, provide words of comfort and support and give advice on how to change. Even though, mind you, she said the patient was happy and very comforted by her care. I looked at her and responded.You see, this very phrase has been a constant reminder to me this week about what I signed up for in two cases. The first and most recent case is in my marriage to Jeanille. I signed up to a life which is not about me: it's about my spouse. The challenge for husbands from a Biblical perspective is to love your wife like Christ loved the church and laid down his life (Ephesians 5:25 paraphrasing) and that means recognising that my life is one which requires daily sacrifice. Te second, but more important case, is in my relationship with Christ.
“So what? That’s your job. You are supposed to provide care regardless of your values.”
She snapped at me. “Yeah, but what about me?”
“What about you?” I replied. “It’s not about you. It’s about your patient. It’s about caring for your patient. That’s what you signed up for.”
Paul recognised that his life was no longer his own (Galatians 2:20). For the Christian, the life that we live is truly no longer about us. Hearing this phrase repeated by people, films and situations around me was a fantastic reminder about the true purpose of my life. Engaging in every activity that I undertake may be fantastic, however I am wanting more and more for everything that I do to point directly back to the cross.
A key root of sin I believe lies in self-centeredness, in taking God's own position in our lives and becoming the God of ourselves. Jesus was sinless and perfect because as both God and man he was fully dedicated to sacrificing himself and ushering in the Kingdom of God. The question remains: how can we live lives where 'it is not about you' and become people moving ever closer to God's great plans for our lives!
Review: Empire of Storms
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. MaasMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Empire of Storms is the penultimate novel of the Throne of Glass series. Like many popular novels it has its flaws, but it is a novel which continues to develop the characters and the relationships between characters. Some readers may harbour a belief that Sarah J. Maas is balancing too many characters and that she does not handle this dynamic element well. Others may argue that this novel does not progress the overall plot particularly well, that they feel that Maas is simply 'making things up as she writes.' I for one find the positives of this novel contribute immensely to the running plot, and thoroughly enjoyed reading this work.
At the end of the day a review should serve a purpose. It should be the same as how teaching English should serve a purpose, or how a house should serve a purpose. If I cannot convince my students that English lessons teach them life skills then I become a poor teacher. A house without the ability to be a shelter to its owners merely becomes four walls and a roof. An excellent review, should therefore seek to convince the reader of the reason why they should or should not continue to participate in using the product. It becomes difficult then to write a review of a series of books, five books into a running series.
Why is this? It is because by this stage most people likely to read this review will be A) readers thoroughly enchanted by the series or B) disenchanted readers seeking to find any reason to continue. I propose therefore, that a review of any book in a series should aim to convince existing readers as to whether it is worthwhile for them to continue reading and to convince readers who have not read the first books in the series to begin reading. With that in mind I will suggest why you should or should not read this series.
1. Why you should read the A Throne of Glass Series:
a) Because it is popular: While this is hardly the most compelling reason to read any novel, often popularity stems from a reason. In this case, there are characters and a story world that characters have bought into and loved.
b) Hulu are making a tv series: Again, while hardly the most compelling reason to read a series, it is a reason. Who wants to be behind with a book series when the television series is releasing?
c) Because of the magic and world: A world of Faery, witches with iron teeth, assassins and evil kings is one of those fractured fairytale settings that is difficult to ignore.
d) Adventure, character development and cliffhangers: You have a group of interesting
e) The moral themes of good versus evil: Given that the main character is an inhuman assassin, yet somewhat relateable, the novels do explore a series of intriguing moral dilemmas that are worth considering in YA fiction.
2. Why you should not read the A Throne of Glass Series:
a) If YA fiction with all its tropes and archetypes is not your cup of tea: They feature in this series somewhat prominently.
b) If you cannot stand wish fulfilment: I skipped a few chapters in this particular book because they were hopelessly sappy wish-fulfilment love scenes. My personal rule of thumb when it comes to romance scenes in books is that you do not have to describe everything as it would be in life and that you should also avoid including information which takes your audience away from your characters and plot. The love scenes in this book in particular break all of those rules.
c) If the idea of a fantasy world of witches, assassins, evil kings etc. does not fascinate you then avoid this series at all costs. They are the focus of this series.
In short I believe the positives for reading this series outnumber the negatives. However, it is up to the individual to choose between whether they want to spend their time (or money) reading this, or investing elsewhere. In terms of popular YA fantasy fiction I rank it amongst the finest series I have read, but as stated it is not without its flaws.
4.5 stars
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