Kindling

I'm officially part of the e-book bandwagon now. I held out for (what felt like) a long time, but thanks to my brothers' generous Christmas gift, I'm now the proud owner of an Amazon Kindle. Obviously the disappearing of "real" books is to be mourned with the passing of vinyl records and film, but there are clearly a lot of benefits.Having a large library (easily 60% of my total possessions, now mostly boxed up in my brothers' attic) is not conducive for a nomadic lifestyle. Simply put I don't like to travel with more than I can comfortably carry, and books are heavy. I also have a propensity to get paper cuts.

My first digital read will be a classic that has been long overdue for a revisit. Points to whoever can identify it without a Google search.

Orhan Pamuk

"Four years after I first left Istanbul, while traveling through the endless steppes, snow-covered mountains and melancholy cities of Persia, carrying letters and collecting taxes, I admitted to myself that I was slowly forgetting the face of the childhood love I'd left behind. With growing panic, I tried desperately to remember her, only to realize that despite love, a face long not seen finally fades."

Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, 6.

Right now I am captivated by the works of Orhan Pamuk. Pamuk is a professor of literature at Columbia University and the only Turk to receive a Nobel Prize. Right now I am reading My Name is Red which is a murder mystery that takes place during the Ottoman Empire. Each chapter is written from a different perspective, often very unlikely ones at that. So far, it's been great. Once I finish this book I am moving on to his more recent work, Snow.

Fall Reading Daze

I acquired several books over Fall Reading Days (which is ironic considering we are supposed to be reading assigned reading during our break). Perhaps the book I am most excited about is Refractions, which is a collection of essays on art and faith by Japanese Christian artist Makoto Fujimura. Tim Keller wrote the forward.

I also bought and finished Flannery O'Conn0r's first novel, Wise Blood. The book's skeleton is a collage of various short stories she had previously written, which admittedly feels a little disjointed at times, but I do not think that it detracts from the thrust of the book. If anything, it was interesting to see how she developed the characters from their embryonic versions. As always, it was especially interesting to see O'Connor's perspective on God, depravity, and divine grace in her native South. As a southerner by birth, I completely concur with O'Connor's commentary:

"anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic."

Birthday List

The anniversary of my birth is approaching, and some of my readers might be interested in buying me a present to commemorate the occasion. So as a service to you I thought I might compile some items that I would like to be possessions.

Traditional Caps are my favorite espresso beverage and this cappuccino cup from espresso parts would be a fitting vessel.

The Arizona Cardinals have been my favorite football team since I understood what football was, which was approximately around age six. This retro shirt, though anachronistic (the Cardinals were in St. Louis if not Chicago around the vintage this shirt imitates), is very cool.

Eckhard J. Schnabel is one of my favorite scholars, and his two volume set Early Christian Mission is a magisterial work. I feel embarrassed that it is not on my book shelf.

And as long as my library keeps on expanding, this customizable stamp would be exceedingly useful. Not only do I loan out quite a few books (many of which do not make it back to me), but my flatmates and I have a very similar book collection, largely because 3 out of the 4 of us went to the same college. Anyway, I can just picture this gorgeous fluer de lis surrounded by "from the library of M. J. Butterworth" on each title page.

So in conclusion, I would like to thank you in advance for the gift(s).