Book Reviews

[Justtristo]

Have just started "Misquoting Jesus; The Story Behind What Changed the Bible And Why" , Bart D Ehrman

I had come across the basic premise of the book before,but never in so much scholarly detail.

So far,it makes anyone who says "I believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God" look even more ignorant than I had thought.

That it was a best seller suggests the book's targeted readers; people like me; literate and interested,but not biblical or classical scholars.


The entire Wiki article is worth a read.

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why is a book by Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[1] The book introduces lay readers to the field of textual criticism of the Bible. Ehrman discusses a number of textual variants that resulted from intentional or accidental manuscript changes during the scriptorium era. The book, which made it to the New York Times Best Seller list, is available in hardcover and paperback.[2]

Ehrman recounts his personal experience with the study of the Bible and textual criticism. He summarizes the history of textual criticism, from the works of Desiderius Erasmus to the present. The book describes an early Christian environment in which the books that would later compose the New Testament were copied by hand, mostly by Christian amateurs. Ehrman concludes that various early scribes altered the New Testament texts in order to deemphasize the role of women in the early church, to unify and harmonize the different portrayals of Jesus in the four gospels, and to oppose certain heresies (such as Adoptionism). Ehrman contends that certain widely-held Christian beliefs, such about the divinity of Jesus, are associated not with the original words of scripture but with these later alterations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misquoting_Jesus

If you have not read the other works by Bart D Ehrman, please read them which would the following;
Jesus Interrupted
Lost Christianities
Forged: Writing in the Name of God--Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are

That sounds fascinating. Is that the one often quoted as evidence for the existence of kingdom of David? Mentions Israel? I vaguely remember it from Finkelstein's book,I think.

Would you mind giving a a brief outline of one or two of the book's ideas/arguments?

The Bible Unearthed did have a discussion about the Tel Dan Inscription. Finkelstein argued while the united monarchy did not exist, there was very likely a historical King David who founded the royal house of Judah. Although Finkelstein did note that if David existed he was more like a tribal chief than a king in a lot of modern people's eyes.

[Justtristo]

I am currently reading through Earl Doherty's revised version of The Jesus Puzzle entitled Jesus: Neither God Nor Man. This book is massive at around 500,000 words and 818 pages.

So far I have finished 12 out of 35 chapters (not including the numerous appendices at the end). My opinion of this book is extremely favorable, once I have finished the book I will write a more detailed review.

Also at the moment I am reading via Google books Philip R Davies book 'In Search of Ancient Israel'. I might write a review of that book once I have finished it.

[5thHorseman]

Currently reading: Carry on Jeeves by PG Wodehouse. Collection of 10 short stories about the fictional Bertie Wooster and his manservant Jeeves. Bertie is a buffoon and Jeeves always gets him/and/or his friends out of tight squeezes. Supremely well written by probably the greatest humorist in literary history. I have read 8 so far, and although you know how it's going to end(well) the enjoyment stays as you want to see how they get there.

Brilliant books, would recommend to all. Incredibly easy to read, although it is posh 1920's English, what what old bean.

[Epimethean]

I LOVE Wodehouse's stuff.

[Justtristo]

I am currently reading through Earl Doherty's Opus Magus Jesus: Neither God Nor Man - The Case for a Mythical Jesus. So far I am up to Chapter 23 or so out of 35. However I will give a brief review about the book, overall it is the best book on the "historical Jesus" I have ever read. While it could use a bit of polish, Doherty certainly knows his stuff as well as any ‘professional’ biblical scholar and it shows in the incredible amount of research he has done in presenting his arguments.

Doherty argues very well not just from non-biblical sources, but the New Testament letters as well that Jesus was a totally mythical character. For example I agree with Doherty if Jesus was a historical character, the epistle writers would have appealed to Jesus as an authority in boosting their arguments. However they don’t because Jesus did not exist in anyway what so ever.

I will write about about this book, once I have finished reading it.

[Rev. Rye]

Here's a copy of my latest list of book reviews:
I tried, a few weeks ago to try to see if I could get a shortlist of books I could use to create my annual list of "The best books (of the many I read in) 20XX." Including the audiobooks I've been listening to, I must have been reading no less than 100 books over the course of the year. But the shortlist had no less than 40 books as I was starting it. As of right now, there's 47 books on it, including the book I'm reading right now, World War Z. So, I decided to divide the list into two parts divided at a rather convenient point: July 1, 2011. Granted, the first part of the shortlist was still rather ungainly (28 books), but I've still been able to whittle that down to a managable number. So, without further ado, here are the top 11 books I've read in the first half of 2011.
11. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
While the book's pacing is quite glacial, especially in comparison to the many film versions that have been obstensively based on this book, what really struck me about the book was the fact that it had a very different tone from the movies. The fact was that the book really has a great sense of tragedy that seems to be missing from the film version. Viktor Frankenstein tampers in God's domain by reanimating dead tissue and escapes responsibility by fleeing from his creation, and his monster, named Adam being the well-read (seriously; he reads Plutarch, Milton, and Goethe) monstrosity that he is, cannot be expected to be able to fit in society. Given how well-known the character of Adam is, the sheer amount that got lost in the sands of time is simply staggering. Since I've frequently mentioned the films, I should probably recommend the original 1931 James Whale film for its fame, the 1957 Hammer film for its thrills, the 1974 Mel Brooks film for its humor, the 1994 Ken Branaugh film for its fidelity (and its unintentional humor), and the Andy Warhol version for its utter insanity.
10. Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
I have not bothered to read Seth Grahame-Smith's other works in the Pride and Prejudice with Zombies series. As a man who has a lot of stuff he'd like to read, and as a man who thinks that Mark Twain's assessment of Jane Austen was too nice (her wit is nonexistent; all praise of her character-building ability are rendered pointless when one reads Dostoevsky, whose novels routinely contain almost the entire spectrum of thought and behaviour; and everything else about her works is insufferable to the point where playing Russian Roulette seems like a be a valid, sanity-preserving alternative whenever my mother drags me to an adaptation of her works), reading those books just hasn't been that high a priority. With this book, however, I knew I had to read it, especially after Linkara gave a shout-out to the book in one of his reviews. I've been interested in Lincoln most of my life, especially after all the times I went to Springfield with my family and toured Lincoln's world. What's really impressive is how, not only is the plot interesting, the supernatural events are linked to the events of the real world in such a way that it's almost likely that there was a big coverup to hide the fact that vampires walked the Earth, but the fact is that Seth Grahame-Smith gets so much of the history correct. Granted, he may get the dynamics of slavery a little over-simplified, but in this regard, he's almost as good at historical fiction as George MacDonald Fraser was.
9. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
When I was a member of Newspeak Dictionary, I had somehow managed to get through several years on a board devoted to politics and dystopian literature without having read Brave New World, and only having read 1984 once. For whatever reason, in February, I decided to give it a look. It was really much better than I thought it would be, and Aldous Huxley is brilliant in the way he not only builds this world where humans are born through cloning, humans are conditioned to be sex-crazed from preschool age on, and art is limited to interactive pornography, he is also brilliant in the way he is able to link those with contemporary culture. Of course, on occasion, the book shows its age: Huxley refers to the interactive skin flicks as "feelies", no doubt as an analogue to "talkies," a term that was still in parlance when the book was written, in 1931, and even the music that Huxley talks about seems to be an extension of the big band music that was popular when the book was being written. He does, however, manage to pull off the "false protagonist" device pretty effectively, even if it's not as clear as it could be when Bernard stops becoming the main character and John does.
8. Barney Ross by Douglas Century.
When the Borders stores were closing, I decided to pick this book up. I was impressed with it. I wouldn't think that I would be interested in this story of a real-life boxer, but there was really a lot to be interested in: this nice Jewish boy from Chicago starts a career as a boxer, retires after a particularly bad loss, joins the War effort, fights in Guadalcanal, gets addicted to morphine, recovers with the help of Hashem, and even tries to advocate a relatively sane drug policy. For what it's worth, his grave is in the Rosemont Park Cemetery. I'll be sure to find a good pebble for his grave before I visit.
7. Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.
Unlike every other item on this list, I had to read this play for an Intro to Drama class in Oakton. I'm now in the process of writing a big essay about it in another class at Columbia. Despite the fact that I read it for class, I really loved it to the extent that I had to include it on my list. Why? Because this play is composed in such a way that it's almost perfect. Why? Just read it.
6. The Visit by Freidrich Durrenmatt
All right, I must admit that, after calling one play "almost perfect," it does seem odd putting another play immediately above it, but just hear me out. Another book I bought when the Borders stores were closing, this play is really just one that really appeals to my sensibilities even more than Tennessee Williams' does; the play is a meditation on the nature of capitalism: a small town is in the throes of poverty when a favourite daughter comes back and offers the town $1 billion on the condition that they kill a man who wronged her in her childhood. How long does it take before the town finally kills them? How much is it possible for us to laugh at the way the townspeople try to deal with the offer? Durrenmatt is one of my favourite authors for two reason: one is that he's that rarest of creatures, a postwar German novelist who doesn't talk about the Nazis, and the second is that he's basically German's Kurt Vonnegut.
5. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
It's very hard for me to explain just why I love this book. The fact is that it covers a lot of subjects, and does all of it in this very wry sensibility. All I can ask is why do I not read more Vonnegut?
4. Popular Crime by Bill James.
I first read about this book in an issue of Wired that was lying about my workplace. What really struck me was the fact that not only was this guy attempting a truly far-reaching history of man's fascination with crime, but the fact that he had decided to create a scale of evidences that could establish guilt. I have had no interest in his previous work, since I don't care about sports (at least I don't care about the ones that involve balls), but this book I just had to get. I wasn't disappointed. His book covers 200 years, and, although he does often gloss over serial killers, he's only got 400 pages to cover. One thing that really did disappoint me was that he didn't include a full version of his checklist of the evidence that he kept talking about and applying to criminals. Perhaps the reason this was done was because he was a little uneasy about the consequences that applying the list to the modern justice system would be. After all, he created a scale where 100 points was guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and that was sort of like the old, medieval system, where one or two well-chosen pieces of evidence was incontrovertible proof of guilt. However, according to Bill James, even the most glaring smoking gun, DNA Evidence was only worth 80 points on a possible 100.
3. J.D. Salinger by Kenneth Slawenski.
I heard about this book soon after it came out. My parents checked it out of the college library for me, and I only got around to reading it by the time we took the train ride to New York. It's rather fitting that I spend much of the time going to New York reading about one of my favourite New York authors. With regards to the biography itself, it really does put a lot of Salinger's writings into their proper context. He even manages to summarise stories that were either unpublished, or stories that Salinger never bothered to put into book form. And, furthermore, it even puts what I did know of Salinger's life into an even better context. His habit of seclusion really made a lot of sense when you realised how much his life was ruined by paparazzi trying to intrude on it, much to the point where he actually gave out a red herring on the jacket cover of Franny and Zooey. Slawenski even made clear just why Salinger stopped publishing; after his Glass family stories were met with a collective cry of "They changed it, so now it sucks," he just got tired of it all and stopped publishing.
2. Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
I read this in audiobook form (mainly as a result of some speculation that one section of Thirty H's was a shoutout to the book) during the big blizzard that happened in February. Even without Jules Feiffer's illustrations, I loved this book. On the one hand, it's a book that's rather heavy-handed with its "learning can be fun" message, but, unlike a lot of pieces that are this heavy-handed, Norton Juster really does make this book really fun to read; its characters are zany personifications of different concepts, and words and numbers are things you can eat. And now there's going to be a 50th Anniversary edition published in hardcover and that's definitely something I'd like for Christmas or my birthday.
1. Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
This is just the single best novel I've read all year. You're probably aware of the novel's plot, you probably know how much wit is packed into it. Just go out and get it. I've already got two copies; one in paperback with an introduction by Jeffrey Eugenides, and one in hardcover that I got in a Barnes and Noble Leatherbound Classics edition.

[5thHorseman]

Just a quick review on a few recently read book.

The Inimitable Jeeves

Yet another collection of Bertie Wooster and chums being saved so quiety and wonderfully by the wonderful, as ever, Jeeves. No need to say anymore as these books are all the same, but yet they remain moresome.

Lying - Sam Harris.(kindle)

A superb read about lying, particularly good bit about white lies and how they are pointless and eventually create problems, i recommend this to everyone, you will learn something and next time you tell a porky, you will feel a tang of guilt, only about 30 pages too.

Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell

I have a new favourite book. This is the finest Orwell book I have read. He wrote this a few months after leaving Catalonia, it's a lookback at his time, from arrival to leaving, with some fantastic moments, like attacking the fascists in the deep night, to the Communist propoganda lies and them turning on PUOM and the Anarchists.

Love, Poverty and War - Christopher Hitchens

Another collection of essays from my hero. As usual the quality if top notch, but I cherry picked the subjects I wanted to read about. I read approximately 3/4 of the essays, I especially liked the one, pre and post 9/11.

Curently reading, Letters to a Young Contrarian - Christopher Hitchens.

Books to read; Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis, The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Islamist - Ed Husain.

[5thHorseman]

Letters to a Young Contrarian: Christopher Hitchens. Great if short book on being human and about thinking and not going with the crowd when you know you're right etc.

Lucky Jim: Kingsley Amis. Didn't overly enjoy, couldn't get into it so quit it after about 1/5th of novel, maybe try again another week.

The Islamist: Ed Husain. Excellent book on Ed's life and his movement towards radical Islam and then leaving it and how it works etc, very good.

The Hobbit: J.R.R. Tolkien. Wonderful novel, not need for review, i'm sure many of you have read it.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: Jim Le Carre. Superb spy book (not normally my thing, but the film is out soon so I thought i'd read it first) I didn't get it for first half of the book as the advert for the film misled me, but once I caught up on myself I found it an excellent book, well written and follows a realistic and intruiging story line.


Currently reading: Thank you, Jeeves. P.G. Wodehouse, 1/3rd through, as always, wonderful.

Upcoming books:

Anarchism and Anarcho-Syndicalism: Rudolph Rocker. (48 pages ish)

[Justtristo]

I am reading at the moment The Mythic Past by Thomas L Thompson, I have to say the book so far has been pretty good. Also Thompson argues well for his position using the archeological and textual evidence.

One of the things noticed whikle reading the The Mythic Past is that Thompson argues for D or Deuteronomist source in the bible being written around the time of the Hasmonean dynasty (140-37 BCE). The D source of the bible is considered to be more than just sections of the Torah, it also includes the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings and Jermeiah. Thompson really argues so well for this position that it seems pretty credible instead of some whackjob idea.

[Tempus]

1. Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
This is just the single best novel I've read all year. You're probably aware of the novel's plot, you probably know how much wit is packed into it. Just go out and get it. I've already got two copies; one in paperback with an introduction by Jeffrey Eugenides, and one in hardcover that I got in a Barnes and Noble Leatherbound Classics edition.

I really enjoyed that too.

The last two books I read were Rabbit, Run by John Updike and Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott and I'd highly recommend both. Flatland was interesting to read, particularly when the protagonist tries in vain to explain the two-dimensional world he lives in to the inhabitant of a one-dimensional world.

I'm currently reading The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe.