Platypus of Truth

Pictures detail "The Headless Emperor" from Charles Williams The Kingdom of the Summer Stars and the lair of Grendel's Mother from Beowulf .  Copyright 2011 James R. Harrington.  All Rights Reserved.

Setting: A Higher Plane of Noetic Consciousness John Piper, Pope Benedict XVI, and the Ecumenical Patriarch stand/hover/exist before three ornately carved podiums. Enter Simon Peter with Fanfare and angels attendant bearing his keys. Simon Peter: I am come now even from the Eternal Presence here to dispose a matter of great import.  Know you that in the Highest Heaven it is decreed that the Lady who has been twice wounded shall now be made most whole.  Therefore, gird yourself most manfully to make answer to the question I will now present, for upon your reply does rest the state of Christendom entire.  For be it known that whosoever of you givest that reply which in my Master's sight is most seemly and most true shall even so win for his party the keys wherewith all authority to loose and bind resides. Benedict XVI: Most gracious Apostle and primary holder of that see in which now by Grace Divine I sit, we are most eager and most obedient to accept thy divine...

For with my own eyes I saw the Sibyl hanging in a bottle, and when the young boys asked her, 'Sibyl, what do you want?', she replied, 'I want to die' . We went to a lecture this weekend on Annihilationism given by Edward Fudge.  Briefly stated, Annihilationism is the idea that souls in Hell are eventually destroyed and cease to exist.  Though Fudge cast his claims purely in the light of truth and falsity, I couldn't help getting the impression that Annihilationism is put forward as a sort of "nice" alternative to the endless conscious torment envisioned by the Traditional Doctrine of Hell.  Of course this begs the question of whether existence is a great enough good to be worth retaining in spite of any pain.  I have heard proponents of the Traditional Doctrine of Hell assert that it is "nicer" than Annihilationism because at least it allows the damned the good of existence.  There are other alternatives, however.  George MacDonald was influ...

Now that school's started, it's back to serious reading.  I've got a couple of books on Art History and culture going as well as "The War That Killed Achilles" by Caroline Alexander.  In addition, I've also just finished "The Spartacus War" by Barry Strauss (always a favorite).  There's still a little time for fun, however, and that's meant re-reading the Harry Potter series with the wife and "Leaf by Niggle" by J.R.R. Tolkien.  Right now, that makes my head hurt, but once things settle down a little I'll have to organize my thoughts and let you know what I'm thinking.  Meanwhile, the Platypus is sensing the return of all things pumpkin...

I started blogging about Diana Wynne Jones' "Howl's Moving Castle" while we were still only half way through .  Having finished the book I am pleased to say that my enthusiasm for it remains unabated.  True, there is a considerable amount of divergence with Studio Ghibli's adaptation, but that only means that some aspects of the ending, and several extra layers of plot remain unspoiled for the reader.  Both the book and the movie are strong enough works of art in their own right that they each can be enjoyed without detriment to the other. It should also be emphasized, however, that while there are places where the two works diverge, they still share many points in common.  The movie can be seen more as a simplification of the book than a departure from it.  Pick up the novel yourself and see what you think!

September is here and Summer has ended (even if it doesn't feel that way outside) and it's time for the 2011 Summer Reading Awards, or as I like to call them: "The Seven Heavens of Summer Reading."  The awards were established in honor of Michael Ward's "Planet Narnia," in which he claims that the seven books of The Chronicles of Narnia are ordered around the seven planets of medieval cosmology.  In that spirit, each award is given to honor an excellent book whose content is in keeping with the attributes of one of the "seven heavens."  With that bit of background, let's cut to this year's awards. Moon: "Howl's Moving Castle" by Diana Wynne Jones  For the sphere of madness, flux, and change, there could be no better match than this story of magical transformations, mistaken identities, and mad Welshmen. Mercury: "The Four Quartets" by T.S. Eliot  In the matter of manipulating language, T.S. Eliot's Nobel...