Mary D. mentioned how she is troubled by the Christian Conservatives who believe that Harry Potter is pushing a pagan point view. We would not want our kids to become witches would we? Well, as opposed to journeying back to the Salem Witch Trials or the Spanish Inquisition, above you will find an alternative.

Peace!

I want to apologize for my tardiness. It has been a weird few days. Well, anyway, here we go.

1. In general, what did you think of Descent into Hell by Charles Williams? Did you like the author's style?
2. Did you like te use of the "play within a play" system?
3. What did you think of Wentworth? What is up with the whole succubus thing?
4. How do you feel about Pauline? Her relationships with her grandmother and Stanhope?

and finally

5. What do you think of The Doctrine of Substituted Love? (Table of Contents)

It is a strange little volume, I have to admit. But still, I liked reading it. It was a recomendation from a professor. It is an historical document of sorts. Williams' connection with Lewis and Tolkein is facinating to unearth in the reading. What do you guys think?

Hmm. Since Tripp hasn't been around yet to post a question, I'll start.

So, whaddya think?

I've just added my erstwhile blog to my profile in case anyone cares to read it...it might change things a little to actually have an audience! Thanks!

Hi everybody! I just wanted to thank Kate for introducing me to the group and also thank everyone who gave me a warm welcome. What can I tell you about myself????

I am originally from New York, but am currently living in Philadelphia. I moved here to go to graduate school and then stayed after I finished. I am a medical reference librarian at the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital. I love music and books. I have my own website, and I enjoy writing music reviews for various online music sites.

I look forward to participating in next month's discussion of Don Quixote!

Okay gang, I know you have a few days to finish up this odd little book. Still, I wanted to give you a little food for thought.

Charles Williams was one of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein's cohorts at Oxford. All these guys were part of a wider religious movement that was colored by quasi-Victorian images and a fairly conservative Christian doctrine. If it is not apparent in reading the book, Williams is attempting to spell out a certain mystical Christian theology.

I suggested this read not to create converts but because I actually think it is a cool book and, if you believe Amazon's reviewers, the book is a great example of an entire genre common in the early to mid 1900's: the Spiritual Shocker. The closest thing we have to this genre now would be stuff like the Left Behind series and anything by Peretti. Not good theology, but entertaining stuff.

So, um, right. I hope this book does not offend. But if it does, well, I can deal with that, too. Just remember, if you are slogging through it, Descent into Hell is still shorter than Don Quixote!

another new member! Her name is Mary Carmen and she has a blog (click here). We have been chatting quite frequently via emails and IM's. I have also been reading her blog for a while now and I know she will really enjoy this book blog. I will let Mary C fill in all the fun details!
Let me be the first to say "Welcome Aboard!"

Welcome to our new home!

Now that we're set up in our new digs, I'd like to ask everyone for a couple of favors:

1. Please click around and let me know via the comments if anything is broken.

2. If you have a web site and are linking back to BookBlog, please update the link.

Thank you all for your hellos, I'm happy to join you. And thank you Andy for the introduction. I'm looking forward to the help and inspiration for getting through Don Quixote, which I started this summer as part of a literature meets life blog that began as my life vis a vis Don Quixote and quickly turned into my life vis a vis In Cold Blood (which I actually finished) and then came to a screeching halt.

Any poets among us? Where is everybody from? I live in New Haven, work a fairly dull but flexible job, write poetry. I have a daughter in college and an eleven year old son at home. I'm reading My Antonia right now, and The Tao of Equus which is a gift I recieved today and which is so far quite wonderful...it's spirituality meets the horse story in Jungian depths, and fits perfectly with The Red Pony which I am also reading to my son. It is a gift from my niece who as I write is on her way home from somewhere near Afghanistan where she has been stationed (and flying around!) for several months.

Since Poisonwood Bible is fresh for most of you, can anyone tell me all the meanings of the Congolese(?) word for potato and god, and what the word was? I don't have the book handy. I seem to recall the entire story coming to a head in the explication of this term. Am I remembering correctly?

I'm ready to descend into hell now...

And the bookblog has another new member! Please welcome my friend Kathy Douglas.

Besides IMing certain bookblog members during the day (from her desk at Yale) and soaking in her hot tub by night, Kathy is an accomplished poet. She writes poetry that I can actually understand, which maybe says more about me than her.

Although she has two -- yes, two -- MFA degrees, one in museum studies and one in poetry and literature, and although she is very smart, Kathy is one of the most down-to-earth people I know, so don't let the degrees scare you.

More information? Because I'm unoriginal, here's her bio from the journal that our graduating class published: "BA, MFA. Mother of equally amazing Maureen and Drew. Daughter of Margaret, of Mary, of Margaret, of Sarah. Published: Calyx, Sahara, I Am Beautiful: A Celebration of Women."

Anyway, enough resume stuff. Welcome, Kathy.

For those into nonfiction, Katharine Graham's Personal History is pretty spectacular. Granted, I'm a journalism junkie and therefore biased, but it's good stuff. (Rich, I wonder how you would react to her budding feminism and analysis of Watergate. Hee!)

I know we don't discuss nonfiction books, but does anyone have any favorites they want to recommend?

My personal picks are:

West with the Night (Memoir of Beryl Markham, a horse trainer and later pilot in east Africa who became the first person to fly across the Atlantic east to west)

The Last Apocalypse (History looking at the state of the world at the last turn of the millenium)

The Fatal Shore (Robert Hughes on the convict founding of Australia)

Pretty much everything by Bill Bryson (travel/language)

Pretty much evertyhing by Tim Cahill (Travel -- and the man who came up with the best description of a durian ever: "... tastes like an onion-fed mouse crawled inside a mongo and died." True! And smells like a diaper.)

What do you suggest?