Recently Reading

The Witch of Blackbird Pond
I never read this as a child, and I don't really know why. I remember seeing it on the Accelerated Reader list, I remember loving Sign of the Beaver, and I remember continually passing on it in the library. Probably because there was a girl on the cover and I figured it was going to be all about girl stuff. It was fine. Between Hawthorne and Arthur Miller, I feel like the American Puritans are already over-represented in American literature and not too historically. Might have to read some American history at some point if I want another side of the story.

The Old Arcadia
A huge, sprawling book. Impossible for me to appreciate before about five years ago, because so much of it assumes a working knowledge of Greek poetry, history and style. (I'm sure a lot of it still went over my head.) A wonderful tale though, and incredible craftsmanship in the eclogues and the structure. Put me in the mood for a Shakespeare or two after a longish winter off. The story centers around two princes who try to get to two secluded princesses by dressing as a woman and a common shepherd, with all sorts of confusion following each.

Hatchet
I read this book over and over as a child, and I remembered lots about the hatchet and the fires and the airplane, but almost nothing about the divorce and the personal metamorphosis of Brian. A wonderful book, just as good as I remembered on re-reading.

How to Eat Fried Worms
An accurate description of little boys in every possible way.

The End of Poverty
Jeff Sachs' book on the Millennium Goals, global economics, and American indifference. Tightly structured, engaging, and compelling. It was written in 2002, and I'd like to find some information about how his projects have progressed since then. Mostly I just haven't mustered the energy to do a google search. (Yes, he is right on about American indifference.) The problem with being incredibly ignorant about a subject (like economics) is that when you read someone who writes well about a contentious issue, you run the risk of becoming a blind disciple without ever hearing the other side of the story. I think I might be about ready to be a blind disciple of Jeff Sachs.

The Bacchae
A wild, nearly terrifying play about the arrival of Bacchus in Thebes and the death of the unbelieving King Pentheus. Very interesting to read about the ideas of reverence due to the gods, the penalties of unbelief, the nature of mortal hubris, and the demands of justice in a purely pagan context.

ei d'estin hostis daimonon huperphronei,
es toud athresas thanaton egeistho theous

If there is anyone which despises the gods,
looking unto this man's death let him reckon the divine.