Skip to main content

The Platypus Reads Part XII




Well, events of the last month have derailed much of my proposed blogging. Thoughts on Dune have gotten overwhelmed by my current reading of The Half-Blood Prince (A day late and a dollar short, but I'm almost done with the series). Still, I may attempt to restart that thread at a latter date.

With N.T. Wright in the bag, the new theological work is Bishop Ryle's book on holiness. We're reading through it for faculty devotions. I've wanted to dig into Ryle for a while, so now I get my chance.

I've also finished the first edition printing of The Book of Lost Tales I that my in-laws were nice enough to get me for Christmas (The picture above is J.R.R. Tolkien's painting of Taniquetil). I recommend it for lovers of The Silmarillion and those who have a keen interest in artistic composition. If you're in the mood for more of The Lord of the Rings it comes off as fragmented and frusterating (That was my impression when I first picked it up many years ago). You can also look at it as "a different version" or "an earlier telling" of the major events of The Silmarillion (which is essentially what it is: the earliest drafts of Tolkien's legendarium). All in all, I enjoyed the read and look forward to snagging a copy of volume II. I highly recomend volume III, The Lays of Beleriand, as well as the recently released Children of Hurin.

Well that's all for now. I'm off to run errands, but remember: "the Platypus speaks Truth!"

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Platypus Reads Part XXVII

Thoughts after reading the "Iliad" to prepare a Greece unit for my students: -Hector is a jerk until he's dead. He even advocates the exposure of Achaean corpses and then has the cheek to turn around and ask Achilles to spare his. He rudely ignores Polydamas' prophecies and fights outside the gate to save his pride knowing full well what it will cost his family and city. After he's dead, he becomes a martyr for the cause. -Agamemnon has several moments of true leadership to balance out his pettiness. In this way, he's a haunting foil to Achilles: the two men are more alike than they want to acknowledge. -We see that Achilles is the better man at the funeral games of Patroclos. His lordliness, tact, and generosity there give us a window into Achilles before his fight with Agamemnon and the death of Patroclos consumed him. -Nestor is a boring, rambling, old man who's better days are far behind him, and yet every Achaean treats him with the upmo...

SNES as Money Well Spent: Platypus Nostalgia

I got my Super Nintendo Entertainment System when I was eleven years old.  That's a couple years after it first came out.  The occasion was a little dramatic: to celebrate the end of a two-and-a-half year course of treatment for cancer.  I had no idea that it would be waiting for me at home after the final doctors visit.  It was a nice spring day, the trees were waving gently in the breeze outside the bay windows.  With a cup of tea resting on the coffee table, I set down to play.  What was that first game?  It was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past .  Around twenty years later, my SNES still works as does that Zelda cartridge.  It's been a long way from boyhood in Southern Connecticut to manhood in North Houston, but I'm still playing. Why am I still playing?  There were stretches when I didn't.  Many times, I've just been too busy.  There were also seasons when it felt embarrassing to still be playing video games....

Under the Moon: The Platypus Reads Part LXVI

My wife and I were discussing our favorite books from the Chronicles of Narnia on our way back from lunch.  My wife, true to her sunny personality, is a staunch fan of "The Voyage of the Dawntreader."  I can't argue with that choice but, when push comes to shove, "The Silver Chair" has always been my favorite. I have a bit of a theory.  I think "The Voyage of the Dawntreader" is Lewis' grail legend.  If that's so, then I'd hazard a guess and say that "The Silver Chair" is his "Pilgrim's Progress." -just think about the shape of Puddleglum's hat and the fact that he lives in the Fen Country and you'll see what got me thinking down this line. That brings me to why I like "The Silver Chair" so much.  When I was little, we had a children's version of "Pilgrim's Progress" that my mom used to read to me.  I lived in New England and the Christianity I was raised with had a heavy tin...