Thursday, November 29, 2007

New Book

The title of the book is Chapter War the book is by Ben Counter

published in 2007


The book is fiction

The book is 413

For someone how doesnt know the story line (it is based of the warhammer 40k universe and such...its a game that you play and it has a whole story behind it.) it would be incredibly challenging but will be less challenging for me since I know the story/history of the topic but will still be a task to undertake.

even though the book is twice as long it is a much faster read than my previous book, my last book taking me 20 min. to read a 2 to 3 pages, I think i will enjoy the plot better, I really like Sci.fi books, be able to keep up with my blog posts better and all around enjoy everything a little more.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Post BA

Even at a young age Hitchens saw flaws in religion(s). He says if Jesus was able to cure a single blind man why not cure blindness completely? Why, do you have to publicly say that he was a miserable sinner? And why is the way of creating life(sex) so taboo and wrong? In his later years he still questions faith in a higher power because of the many wonders of the world that couldn't be created by a god. And again why would something(The Catholic church) that so condemns sex have some of its more powerful leaders involved in child rape? He wonders why people aren't more interested in the surroundings and nature and the the cosmos yet to be explained but instead feel how unworthy they are of something so "Powerful". Hitchens asks why we aren't learing more about the teachings of life's sciences and mystery from people like Steven Hawkin and literatures of life's meaning from Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Schiller and Dostoevsky. While reading this I had a profound thought of my own. Why, if we were created in the image of god why aren't we worthy of him?

Outside Reading Book: Post A

Servile: Slavishly submissive or obsequious; Fawning.

Befouled: To cast aspersions upon; speak badly of.



Example 1: Imagery;

" She would take me and my fellows on walks, in an especially lovely part of my birth country, The amazing variety to be found in a hedgerow; the wonder of a clutch of eggs found in an intricate nest; the way that if the nettles stung your legs(we had to wear shorts) thare would a soothing dock leaf planted near to hand."

The passage creates a vivid picture in my mind and it gets the reader to feel the sting of the nettles.



Example 2: Metaphor;


"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of the heartless world, just as it is the spirit of the a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people."


The author uses metaphor when he says that religion is the opium of the people. Marx doesnt mean that literally but rather he suggests that religions soothe and calm people just like opium.


Example 3: Irony;

" Why, if god was the creator of all things, were we supposed to "praise" him so incessantly for doing what came to him naturally?"


What appears to be true on the outside, when looked at from different angle, really isnt true at all.

Quarter 2 Outside Reading Book

The name of the book is God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. The author is Christopher Hitchens

The first edition of this book was May 2007.

God is Not Great is a nonfiction book.

This book is 287 pages long

I read at a average pace and it took me 15mins. to finish 2 pages. There at least 5 words that i had no idea what they meant. And I re-read the majority of the 2 pages. well i suppose thats what you get from one of the "Top 100 Public Intellectuals". He was dubbed this by Foreign Policy and Britains Prospect. Well he is British that might explain some of it.


I chose this book one because my dad said it was very good and two because I read a page and was like "Holy Cow! This guy is a genius." this book has really made me think and i have come up with a few (retoricle) questions of my own.