I just started reading "Moby Dick" on Scrib'd and liked this little bit of imagery: "Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul..."
Moby Dick is a mountain I've never climbed, despite hearing many praising it from across the pond. I'm not sure how popular it is here in the UK, but perhaps I should pick it up!
Is this your first read-through or a return to an old favourite?
This is my first read through. I've somehow never been drawn to it despite it being a classic, but my husband picked it up and said it was funny, so I decided to try it. I'm not allowed to read ahead of him though. 😊
Do you know others across the Pacific pond who have enjoyed it? Sounds like it might not be as popular across the Atlantic. I'm excited to finally read it. I somehow avoided it throughout high school and an English degree. 😁
"Pacific pond" 😆. Not off the top of my head, no. Not finding people who enjoyed the same books is the main reason I ended up online ;). Some of my newish book club and theology friends may have read & enjoyed it, but it hasn't come up in conversation. I hope you keep enjoying the read.
“ I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.” - Surprised by Joy, C S Lewis (Listened by audiobook)
We read Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling last month for book club. I highlighted a lot in this book. I’ll try and be concise ;). The first:
“…each was great in his own way, and each in proportion to the greatness of that which he loved. For he who loved himself became great by himself, and he who loved other men became great by his selfless devotion, but he who loved God became greater than all. …One became great by expecting the possible, another by expecting the eternal, but he who expected the impossible became greater than all.”
Another: “He had fought with that cunning power which invents everything, with that alert enemy which never slumbers, with that old man who outlives all things-he had fought with Time and preserved his faith.”
Another two related: “For it is great to give up one’s wish, but it is greater to hold it fast after having given it up, it is great to grasp the eternal, but it is greater to hold fast to the temporal after having given it up.”
&
“…to live joyfully and happily every instant by virtue of the absurd, every instant to see the sword hanging over the head of the beloved, and yet not to find repose in the pain of resignation, but joy by virtue of the absurd-this is marvellous. He who does it is great, the only great man.”
I love writing that acknowledges the paradoxes of faith from those who are still faithful; writing that distils a confusion in my mind or affirms that which I felt alone in thinking. Kierkegaard does that. So does Dostoevsky (my favourite author). Others also.
Oh, and editing to add: I read it as a physical book.
This quote feels like a direct response to the one at the opening of Anna Karenina:
"…each was great in his own way, and each in proportion to the greatness of that which he loved. For he who loved himself became great by himself, and he who loved other men became great by his selfless devotion, but he who loved God became greater than all."
Over the past week I've read (on Scribd - soon to be re-branded Everand) Ruth Haley Barton's book, Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experience God's Transforming Presence. To be honest it's the type of book I usually avoid - I read Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline a few decades ago (boy, it pains me to measure time that way, as true as it is!) and was never convinced by it. But I saw a link and - the beauty of Scribd - decided to take a cost-less gander and it drew me in.
I still have reservations about that type of approach to spirituality but cannot deny how much some seem to be helped by it and I don't want to be such a snob that I turn up my nose and turn away. Looking back over the passages I highlighted its clear that a big part of the attraction is a deeper enjoyment of and rest in the adoptive love of God. Here's a sample quote (apologies for the lengthy comment, btw):
"...in the silence we become aware of inner dynamics we have been able to avoid by keeping ourselves noisy and busy. They draw us into spiritual battle: in silence there is the potential for each of us to 'know that I am God' with such certainty that the competing powers of evil and sin and the ego-self can no longer hold us in their grip."
"the purpose of solitude and silence is just to be with God, to commune with him on that beyond-words level that those who are in love know so well." (oops, that's 2 quotations!)
I love that you've shared from a book that challenged you and that, maybe, you found you disagreed with in part. We really ought to follow that example more and read outside of our comfort zone. Thank you so much for sharing.
I have SO many quotes I could add from Daniel Nayeri's "Everything Sad is Untrue", which is a newer book, but has become one of my favorite books of all time.
“Suddenly evil isn’t punching people or even hating them. Suddenly it’s all that stuff you’ve left undone. All the kindness you could have given. All the excuses you gave instead.”
Why reading widely is important: “Dear reader, you have to understand the point of all these stories. What they add up to. Schererazade was trying to make the king human again. She made him love life by showing him all of it, the funny parts about poop, the dangerous parts with demons, even the boring parts about what makes marriages last.
Little by little, he began to feel the joy and sadness of others.
He became less immune, less numb, because of the stories.”
Besides being a superb storyteller (see the quote I posted by Imani Perry), it was so impactful to me because even though there was pain in his story, he did not write as one bitter. He wrote from the perspective of an innocent - as though the pain had not yet caused him to give up hope. We often look at our circumstances and wonder if it is worth carrying on. Nayeri's story argues that it is. We see his family continue to carry on. It is the only book that, after finishing it, I immediately re-read it. I just could not move on to another book.
I have it marked up with underlines, comments, etc. I could hardly pick my favorite lines to add to this thread.
"But if the exile can tell a story that gets to a fundamental truth and also tell you something about two core human feelings, loneliness and homesickness, along with a yearning for a place where they once belonged and/or a reality that has evaporated, then they have acquired an essential wisdom, earning the title of storyteller." -Imani Perry, "South to America"
I found this quote to be profound. It explains why we love the writers we love.
“Are we perhaps guilty in our theology of upholding a Savior who gave his whole life for us, but not seeing him as the Groom who absolutely desires and delights in us? In the Song [of Songs], we not only see his desire, but his desire arouses our own. And we long for that day when we will consummate that desire.”
Aimee Byrd, The Sexual Reformation, physical book.
"...we not only see his desire, but his desire arouses our own" is a brilliant line.
Byrd isn't an author I find myself agreeing with all too often, so it is a delight to read this and find so much common ground. Thank you so much for sharing Brother!
'Paul's right - the whole creation is moving, the whole great complex show has started so that we may eventually obtain the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, but to see it, the artist says, you have to stop and really look for it, look with X-ray eyes.' The remarkable ordinary, Frederick Buechner. Real, actual book.
I only read physical books. I tried an e-reader for a while, but found that I missed the sense of place in a physical book. I haven't tried audio books seriously, but will do that at some point.
That's great! I love physical books, but the benefits of eBooks—especially on Logos Bible Software—means that I read about 40-50% of my books in that format. I mostly "read" fiction audiobooks, but if you're interested in looking into the benefit of audiobooks more broadly, you might be interested in this article I wrote a few weeks ago, "On Listening Well":
I just started reading "Moby Dick" on Scrib'd and liked this little bit of imagery: "Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul..."
Moby Dick is a mountain I've never climbed, despite hearing many praising it from across the pond. I'm not sure how popular it is here in the UK, but perhaps I should pick it up!
Is this your first read-through or a return to an old favourite?
This is my first read through. I've somehow never been drawn to it despite it being a classic, but my husband picked it up and said it was funny, so I decided to try it. I'm not allowed to read ahead of him though. 😊
I love Moby Dick! I read it years ago, but distinctly remember being struck by the paragraph that begins with the line you quote :).
Do you know others across the Pacific pond who have enjoyed it? Sounds like it might not be as popular across the Atlantic. I'm excited to finally read it. I somehow avoided it throughout high school and an English degree. 😁
"Pacific pond" 😆. Not off the top of my head, no. Not finding people who enjoyed the same books is the main reason I ended up online ;). Some of my newish book club and theology friends may have read & enjoyed it, but it hasn't come up in conversation. I hope you keep enjoying the read.
“ I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.” - Surprised by Joy, C S Lewis (Listened by audiobook)
Thanks for sharing, and for the great example of a quote that has been transcribed, rather than copied out.
I always love reading Lewis.
We read Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling last month for book club. I highlighted a lot in this book. I’ll try and be concise ;). The first:
“…each was great in his own way, and each in proportion to the greatness of that which he loved. For he who loved himself became great by himself, and he who loved other men became great by his selfless devotion, but he who loved God became greater than all. …One became great by expecting the possible, another by expecting the eternal, but he who expected the impossible became greater than all.”
Another: “He had fought with that cunning power which invents everything, with that alert enemy which never slumbers, with that old man who outlives all things-he had fought with Time and preserved his faith.”
Another two related: “For it is great to give up one’s wish, but it is greater to hold it fast after having given it up, it is great to grasp the eternal, but it is greater to hold fast to the temporal after having given it up.”
&
“…to live joyfully and happily every instant by virtue of the absurd, every instant to see the sword hanging over the head of the beloved, and yet not to find repose in the pain of resignation, but joy by virtue of the absurd-this is marvellous. He who does it is great, the only great man.”
I love writing that acknowledges the paradoxes of faith from those who are still faithful; writing that distils a confusion in my mind or affirms that which I felt alone in thinking. Kierkegaard does that. So does Dostoevsky (my favourite author). Others also.
Oh, and editing to add: I read it as a physical book.
These are excellent!
This quote feels like a direct response to the one at the opening of Anna Karenina:
"…each was great in his own way, and each in proportion to the greatness of that which he loved. For he who loved himself became great by himself, and he who loved other men became great by his selfless devotion, but he who loved God became greater than all."
Yes! I am almost positive that Tolstoy would have read Kierkegaard. Dosty too. K is such a conflicted thinker - a man after my own heart 😏.
Over the past week I've read (on Scribd - soon to be re-branded Everand) Ruth Haley Barton's book, Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experience God's Transforming Presence. To be honest it's the type of book I usually avoid - I read Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline a few decades ago (boy, it pains me to measure time that way, as true as it is!) and was never convinced by it. But I saw a link and - the beauty of Scribd - decided to take a cost-less gander and it drew me in.
I still have reservations about that type of approach to spirituality but cannot deny how much some seem to be helped by it and I don't want to be such a snob that I turn up my nose and turn away. Looking back over the passages I highlighted its clear that a big part of the attraction is a deeper enjoyment of and rest in the adoptive love of God. Here's a sample quote (apologies for the lengthy comment, btw):
"...in the silence we become aware of inner dynamics we have been able to avoid by keeping ourselves noisy and busy. They draw us into spiritual battle: in silence there is the potential for each of us to 'know that I am God' with such certainty that the competing powers of evil and sin and the ego-self can no longer hold us in their grip."
"the purpose of solitude and silence is just to be with God, to commune with him on that beyond-words level that those who are in love know so well." (oops, that's 2 quotations!)
The more quotes the better my friend!
I love that you've shared from a book that challenged you and that, maybe, you found you disagreed with in part. We really ought to follow that example more and read outside of our comfort zone. Thank you so much for sharing.
I have SO many quotes I could add from Daniel Nayeri's "Everything Sad is Untrue", which is a newer book, but has become one of my favorite books of all time.
“Suddenly evil isn’t punching people or even hating them. Suddenly it’s all that stuff you’ve left undone. All the kindness you could have given. All the excuses you gave instead.”
Why reading widely is important: “Dear reader, you have to understand the point of all these stories. What they add up to. Schererazade was trying to make the king human again. She made him love life by showing him all of it, the funny parts about poop, the dangerous parts with demons, even the boring parts about what makes marriages last.
Little by little, he began to feel the joy and sadness of others.
He became less immune, less numb, because of the stories.”
“A patchwork story is the shame of a refugee.”
I still haven't gotten around to reading Nayeri's book, but I really must.
Thank you for sharing. If you could pinpoint the most profound way the book affected you, what would it be?
Besides being a superb storyteller (see the quote I posted by Imani Perry), it was so impactful to me because even though there was pain in his story, he did not write as one bitter. He wrote from the perspective of an innocent - as though the pain had not yet caused him to give up hope. We often look at our circumstances and wonder if it is worth carrying on. Nayeri's story argues that it is. We see his family continue to carry on. It is the only book that, after finishing it, I immediately re-read it. I just could not move on to another book.
I have it marked up with underlines, comments, etc. I could hardly pick my favorite lines to add to this thread.
"But if the exile can tell a story that gets to a fundamental truth and also tell you something about two core human feelings, loneliness and homesickness, along with a yearning for a place where they once belonged and/or a reality that has evaporated, then they have acquired an essential wisdom, earning the title of storyteller." -Imani Perry, "South to America"
I found this quote to be profound. It explains why we love the writers we love.
“Are we perhaps guilty in our theology of upholding a Savior who gave his whole life for us, but not seeing him as the Groom who absolutely desires and delights in us? In the Song [of Songs], we not only see his desire, but his desire arouses our own. And we long for that day when we will consummate that desire.”
Aimee Byrd, The Sexual Reformation, physical book.
"...we not only see his desire, but his desire arouses our own" is a brilliant line.
Byrd isn't an author I find myself agreeing with all too often, so it is a delight to read this and find so much common ground. Thank you so much for sharing Brother!
'Paul's right - the whole creation is moving, the whole great complex show has started so that we may eventually obtain the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, but to see it, the artist says, you have to stop and really look for it, look with X-ray eyes.' The remarkable ordinary, Frederick Buechner. Real, actual book.
Excellent, what a beautifully simple, yet penetrating truth. How often we forget this!
Thank you for sharing. Do you usually read physical books over other formats, or do you read a mixture?
I only read physical books. I tried an e-reader for a while, but found that I missed the sense of place in a physical book. I haven't tried audio books seriously, but will do that at some point.
That's great! I love physical books, but the benefits of eBooks—especially on Logos Bible Software—means that I read about 40-50% of my books in that format. I mostly "read" fiction audiobooks, but if you're interested in looking into the benefit of audiobooks more broadly, you might be interested in this article I wrote a few weeks ago, "On Listening Well":
https://www.ravenswritingdesk.co.uk/p/on-listening-well