August 28, 2007
Back to The Book
Alan Jacobs expands on his earlier semi-review of Harry Potter in Books & Culture. It is insightful and entertaining. For example, he deals with some of the many criticisms of the series, and notes a few I wasn't aware of:
[A]nother and different set of critics has emerged here at the end of the series, for whom the evident traditionalism of the books is their greatest flaw. One of the participants in Slate.com's Book Club thinks that the novel, and its epilogue in particular, "feels awfully bourgeois in its concern with little other than our heroes' marriages and children." (I did not know that concern for marriage and children was the exclusive province of the bourgeoisie; but that's why I read Slate, to learn stuff like that.) And as I scanned the blogs I lost track of the number of people who complained that the epilogue, and indeed the whole series, is defaced by "heteronormativity." Not a gay or lesbian couple in sight—though, if it makes anyone feel better, I have seen that a few readers of the previous book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, think that Harry's obsession with finding out what Draco Malfoy is up to marks a welcome homoerotic interlude.
Overall, Jacobs praises the series, arguing that the underlying meaning and imaginative scope transcends the (many) limitations of Rowling's literary skill. His final conclusion:
What do we choose to imagine, when we choose? The answer is always revelatory, which is one of the reasons Chesterton was right to say that "the simple need for some kind of ideal world in which fictitious persons play an unhampered part is infinitely deeper and older than the rules of good art, and much more important." The Harry Potter books remind us of this, and they can be, if we read them rightly, both a delight in themselves and a school for our own imaginings. They have many flaws, but I have not dwelt on them here because I forgive J. K. Rowling for every one. Her seven books are, and thank God for it, always on the side of life.
But you really should read the entire article, not just the two paragraphs excerpted here.
Technorati Tags: books, chesterton, harry potter, alan jacobs
Posted by maphet at 09:43 AM | Comments (1)
August 23, 2007
Links for the day 08-23-2007
How Not to Raise a Genius and Baby Einsteins: Not So Smart After All. My experience, both from our own kids and from seeing others in similar situations, is that many parents feel guilty about using TV as a babysitter. Baby/Little Einsteins acts as a means to assuage that guilt by making the TV-time "educational."
Our kids have learned a few things from Baby and Little Einsteins. Inevitably, though, that is because my wife is sitting there watching the show with them, talking about what is happening, and making the experience active rather than passive. So, of course, in the end, the only way for toddlers to really learn is for parents to interact with them. Any situation where the parent(s) have given up on that and turned over the entire job of parenting to PBS, Cartoon Network, the Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon is a bad situation.
At the same time, the APA pronouncement that children under 2 should never watch TV sounds either like an effort to swing the pendulum in the other direction, or a pronouncement from detached academics and researchers who have never had the pleasure of attempting to put a meal together with an 18-month old screaming bloody murder for no good reason.
Anyway, in other links:
Arthur Miller's Missing Act. Much like "Intellectuals" by Paul Johnson
Google Apps no match for MS Office, report says. Say what you will about Microsoft, there simply are not that many other solutions suitable for enterprise-level needs.
On the other side of the ideological spectrum: Apple Laptops Transforming PC Sales?. The trend away from low prices as the determining mark and towards customer service and reliability also seems to be a good thing.
Posted by maphet at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)
July 31, 2007
On Arcade Fire
Books & Culture really, really likes Arcade Fire:
... Arcade Fire had me at Hello. The music felt somehow medieval and fresh and urgent all at once, with strings and electric guitar, marching band, minstrel/gypsy/ troubadour fare coming out of a tavern full of clear-eyed, optimistic, coed worker priests. It felt wise and young and in unself-conscious continuity with some long forgotten, undeniably authoritative, ancient broadcast, a dusty, old, strong-as-an-oak culture.
Posted by maphet at 08:17 AM | Comments (2)
July 25, 2007
Levels of Etiquette
- Talking loudly in an otherwise quiet place where people are trying to work (i.e., a coffee shop)
- Talking loudly on a cell phone in an otherwise quiet place where people are trying to work
- Talking loudly on a cell phone using speaker mode in an otherwise quiet place where people are trying to work
Extra bonus points for using lots of business cliches, such as "we really need to think outside the box"
Not that I'm complaining or anything
Posted by maphet at 01:46 PM | Comments (0)
July 23, 2007
About The Book
Spoilers ahead. If you haven't finished Deathly Hallows, well, what are you doing reading this? Go read the book. Now. Goodbye.
In brief, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was good to finally get explanations for most of the mysteries. And the battle scene at Hogwarts, in particular, was fantastic.
But my favorite chapter is most likely the last one. The setting at the train station, with all of the heroes now sending their own kids to school was a fitting end to the series. Harry & co. finally grew up, new life (through children) has come, some sort of normality has returned, and Harry now has his own family.
I am also pleased to see I was correct about Snape. I was a bit off on Dumbledore, but the resurrection theme did finally come through.
Overall opinion of the series: I liked Alan Jacob's verdict (borrowing from Chesterton): "the greatest penny dreadfuls ever written." The Potter series is not "great fiction." Compared to something like Tolkien's universe, Hogwarts falls a bit short. Potter's constant tantrums and brooding get tiring at times, for example, and the plot contrivances do stretch believability.
But Potter is still great fun to read. Rowling deals with themes everyone has to struggle with at some point or another - a desire to belong, coping with your own mortality, trying to determine what is right, finding meaning and purpose, etc. And she does it in a creative and, in the end, fun way, using entertaining and sympathetic characters (I'm still sad Remus and Tonks had to die).
Lastly, I haven't seen anything else like this, but the point where Potter gives himself up to be killed by Voldemort was strangely reminiscent of Aslan's giving himself up in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Dark forest, evil baddie circled by minions, silent and un-protesting, but knowing victim, and so on.
Posted by maphet at 05:07 PM | Comments (1)
July 20, 2007
Speaking of being an adult
For the record, I think Snape turns out to be good.
I re-read Half-Blood Prince earlier this week to refresh my memory before reading Deathly Hallows. In many ways, Rowlings portrays Snape ambiguously. You could make the case, I think, that Dumbledore saw his death coming and even had a hand in it. And, otherwise, Snape does not actually hurt any of the "good guys" - he keeps passing on an opportunity to hurt Potter and goes so far as to make sure Potter does not use any of the deadly curses. Lastly, Dumbledore seems to have a solid reason for trusting Snape, but it is never given. So perhaps that reason will come out in book 7.
Speaking of Dumbledore, I am curious to see if Rowling expounds any more on his death. His burial hinted at a possible resurrection motif - a motif encouraged by the constant presence of a phoenix. Further, while death is a constant theme, if not the theme, of Potter, Dumbledore has been one of the few characters who seems to have a handle on the whole mortality thing.
Or, like hundreds of critics, I could be over-reading this. I'll find out tomorrow (provided the USPS does its job).
Posted by maphet at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)
Trying to stay cool
Between work and vacation, blogging has been nill lately. But, I don't think this blog is dead just yet.
Since I'm in this situation myself, one theme that has been of interest to me lately is that of the current crop of twenty- and thirty-somethings trying to define what adulthood means. One the one hand, for example, are the New Victorians. On the other hand are the grups/yipsters/yindies/whatever.
(Both articles are fascinating; this post is really just an excuse to link to them.)
Part of me sympathizes with the grups/yipsters/yindies - I was even, coincidentally, listening to Arcade Fire while reading the articles. And spending the rest of my life working in middle-management in a cubicle does sound like a level of hell. Perhaps that is merely because I have seen Office Space 10 too many times. Or, perhaps the grups really are on to something - you should work to make your life a little more meaningful by infusing it with "passion", beauty, art, and some excitement.
At the same time, I think the New Victorians have a slightly better end of the deal. One of the key things the "grups" article brings out is the blending of childhood and adulthood:
This is an obituary for the generation gap. It is a story about 40-year-old men and women who look, talk, act, and dress like people who are 22 years old. It’s not about a fad but about a phenomenon that looks to be permanent. It’s about the hedge-fund guy in Park Slope with the chunky square glasses, brown rock T-shirt, slight paunch, expensive jeans, Puma sneakers, and shoulder-slung messenger bag, with two kids squirming over his lap like itchy chimps at the Tea Lounge on Sunday morning. It’s about the mom in the low-slung Sevens and ankle boots and vaguely Berlin-art-scene blouse with the $800 stroller and the TV-screen-size Olsen-twins sunglasses perched on her head walking through Bryant Park listening to Death Cab for Cutie on her Nano.
There are a couple of ways, it seems, to bridge the generation gap. One is to make adults like children. The other, and what the New Victorians seem to be kind of pointing to, is to make children into adults.
I think this is because, in the end, one of the fundamental aspects of being an adult, and especially of being a parent, is self-sacrifice. Giving up the $450 jeans and the snowboarding vacation in order to pay for diapers, for example. Being willing to be slightly uncool in order to make sure your family is adequately provided for. Working at a job that is, at times, dull and rewarding in order to stay out of debt. And so on.
Still, I don't plan on giving up the Decemberists any time soon.
Posted by maphet at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)
May 03, 2007
Links for the day 05-03-2007
At Lonely Iraq Outpost, GIs Stay as Hope Fades. Depressing article on fights in Iraq.
Thought crimes? Think again. I am truly sorry for this woman's loss. This is one of the bizarre articles I have come across, however. I hoped for a reasoned defense of the hate crimes legislation, but this just does not make sense. Almost all of her defense of the legislation consists of calling its opponents hateful, manipulative liars, which seems even more incongruous in context.
And what does this mean: "Let each of us be mindful that the only crime of thought we can commit this week would be to let these divisive politics get in the way of what is right and what is just. It’s time for all Americans to be able to live their lives free from hate violence."? Is she suggesting that all opponents to her point of view are guilty of thought crimes? Does she think that hate violence (is there any other kind?) will ever be removed? Is she aware of how fascist this sounds?
The overblown charms of Spider-Man 3. Fun review of SP3.
John Franke and the Character of Theology. Paul Helms on John Franke's attempt at non-foundational theology.
Posted by maphet at 05:18 PM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2007
Links for the day 05-01-2007
Christopher Hitchens Explains It All For You
Atlanta ranks 13th in pollution, Lung Assoc. says
Why David Evans bet against Brian Schmidt over global warming
Posted by maphet at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2007
The First Entry of the Second Weblog
So, here it is. Nothing special, or profound, or life-changing. Just another entry to another blog.
My last blog was here, but it kind of died off over the last year or two. Now that I have moved to Atlanta, have a little more free time, and am itching to write something other than project proposals or documentation, I might as well give it another shot.
I tend to be interested in a number of different things. This blog, as I have time and motivation, could deal with anything from politics to theology to technology to philosophy to photography to movies to books to kids (have 2 and one on the way) to switching to a mac to living back in the South to who knows what. Some of these subjects I know something about, many of them I don't. It is up to whoever may read this to discern which is which.
Or, I may post random links and YouTube videos. Who knows.
Posted by maphet at 09:29 PM | Comments (1)