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August 25, 2008
Books : Books 2008/08/25
Current count of books pending to be read: 91
Read three, purchased one
Books finished this week:
Post-Charismatic?by Rob McAlpine
The Pentecostal/Charismatic branch of Christianity has over the years (particularly recent years) has fallen into certain excesses in their pursuit of God. There was the superiority complex of the “Latter Rain” movement, the domineering attitudes of the “Shepherding” movement, the outright greed (and no little sense of superiority) of the “Word of Faith” movement, and the weirdness of things like the “Toronto Blessing”. If you don’t recognize these terms, be happy. These excesses have driven many from the churches that have embraced them. This books is two-thirds historical study of where the church has gone wrong and one third a contemplation of what do to as a result. It is well written and certainly recommended to anyone who has been turned off from the Charismatic movement (or Christianity itself) by these teachings.
I’ll also note that the author has not been able to find a US distributer for this book, and so it is only available in North America through Amazon Canada.
Johnny Depp: A Kind of Illusion
by Denis Meikle
While I have a great respect for the acting profession (another of my own roads not taken), I rarely read actor biographies, contenting myself instead with watching “Inside the Actor’s Studio”. Johnny Depp is however someone with whom I was willing to make an exception – his choices of roles he has taken as well as his choices in how he performs those roles has always fascinated me; and this book did manage to fill in a few of the details I was missing.
Psychoshop
by Alfred Bester and Roger Zelazny
Alfred Bester was one of the most innovative Science Fiction authors of his generation, with a very distinctive style of writing. When he died in 1987, he left behind an incomplete manuscript for a final novel. Roger Zelazny was one of the most innovative Science Fiction authors of the next generation, who also had a distinctive (and occasionally parodied) style, and was offered (and accepted) the opportunity to finish Bester’s final novel. Psychoshop is the result of this posthumous collaboration. An interesting story about a pawn shop that deals in human (and otherworldly) attributes. You can sell your ability to play the violin and purchase some else’s discarded precognition. Of course the story is about more than that; but saying more would spoil things.
An interesting book, and generally fairly seamless between the two authors (despite their individual styles). The descriptions of the two fights are clearly Zelazny’s hand (he was an expert in various martial arts and always describes any combat in great detail); and the pace of the opening sequence was pure Bester; but otherwise it is hard to tell who did what.
Computer Games Played: None
DVDs Watched: none
Next Book:
Posted by Steven at August 25, 2008 05:00 AM
