Persistent but not Consistent
Yea. It's been far too long.
I overbooked myself for Fall semester '06. That lead to illness at the start of the Winter '07 semester. (I still can't get used to them calling it "Spring semester" - it starts in January, for crying out loud!) And starting off two weeks behind in HW for my first grad level course while teaching 5 classes was not my idea of a good start. So I dropped my course. Sigh. But I will begin again in September with a better sense of my limitations.
I thought I'd get back into blogging by commenting on a book that I read over the Christmas break for relaxation. The Philosophy of Tolkien, by Peter Kreeft has been most enjoyable and enlightening.
The first quote that I'd like to share is a reflection on the discrepancy twixt the book's wild popularity and the critics' disdain.
"So it is no surprise that in a culture in which philosophers scorn wisdom, moralists scorn morality, preachers are the world's greatest hypocrites, sociologists are the only people in the world who do not know what a good society is, psychologists have the most mixed-up psyches, professional artists are the only ones in the world who actually hate beauty, and liturgists are to religion what Dr. Van Helsing is to Dracula - it is no surprise that in this culture the literary critics are the last people to know a good book when they see one."
Yes. The book is uplifting and insightful. Kreeft can at times be rather poetical for a philosopher. But occasionally you will run across a bit of corn like the Van Helsing/Dracula bit.
I'll share more of my favorite passages later.
I overbooked myself for Fall semester '06. That lead to illness at the start of the Winter '07 semester. (I still can't get used to them calling it "Spring semester" - it starts in January, for crying out loud!) And starting off two weeks behind in HW for my first grad level course while teaching 5 classes was not my idea of a good start. So I dropped my course. Sigh. But I will begin again in September with a better sense of my limitations.
I thought I'd get back into blogging by commenting on a book that I read over the Christmas break for relaxation. The Philosophy of Tolkien, by Peter Kreeft has been most enjoyable and enlightening.
The first quote that I'd like to share is a reflection on the discrepancy twixt the book's wild popularity and the critics' disdain.
"So it is no surprise that in a culture in which philosophers scorn wisdom, moralists scorn morality, preachers are the world's greatest hypocrites, sociologists are the only people in the world who do not know what a good society is, psychologists have the most mixed-up psyches, professional artists are the only ones in the world who actually hate beauty, and liturgists are to religion what Dr. Van Helsing is to Dracula - it is no surprise that in this culture the literary critics are the last people to know a good book when they see one."
Yes. The book is uplifting and insightful. Kreeft can at times be rather poetical for a philosopher. But occasionally you will run across a bit of corn like the Van Helsing/Dracula bit.
I'll share more of my favorite passages later.
posted by Rich @ 11:14
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