Book Review

Hey, folks, Easter isn't over until Pentecost. Don't forget to get that dusty Book down off of your shelf and review the Greatest Story Ever Told. In case you haven't read it in a while, it goes like this:

The people were living in darkness, under the rule of fear and death. There were prophesies of a savior, but the people had grown accustomed to their way of living and weren't keeping watch. Even so, the promised child was sent to them, born to gentle and loving human parents. As he grew, he formed a core group of followers and gathered unto himself the outcasts, the have-nots, and the rejects of his proud and elitist culture. Because of the good he did, he was called before the leaders of his people, the ones entrusted with power and supported by the faith of his people, and was tried unfairly, accused of breaking the rules. He willingly went to his death, but when he died the power of evil and death was broken, and he was raised to life as the savior of all. After that, he married his best friend's sister and settled down to raise a brood of kids named after his dead friends and relatives.

Oops, sorry-- that was the wrong book. Well, as long as we're on on the topic of recycled stories, I just finished reading a current hit (although I haven't seen the movie version). It's about a plain, socially awkward teenager who moves to a dreary new place and is involved in a near-traffic-accident with this guy Edward. He's got an overhanging brow and his old-fashioned nature is at odds with his brusque manners. There's tons of sexual tension from the get-go, but he knows he's bad for her because of his terrible secret. Plus he's way older than she is. They snipe back and forth--the dialog is terrific, always amusing and often surprising. This romance takes hundreds of pages to develop, but the rich characters and landscape are enthralling and make every moment worth savoring. Highly recommended.

And as long as we're on a gothic novel roll, I'm currently rereading an old favorite, real chick-lit. It's about a plain, socially awkward young woman who begins as an unloved orphan, passed around from one uncaring guardian to another, and finally finds herself in an old and stately manor in the middle of the windswept moors. The master of the house is rarely around, traveling abroad as he tries to forget the dark secret that he keeps locked away down a lonely corridor. Our heroine wakens to hear strange cries in the night. What could it be?

But enough of this nonsense. You really should be reading your Bible. It has all of the coolest stories. When I was little, my favorite one was Judges 4, where Deborah, the ruler of Israel, leads a rout against the foes of the Israelites, and a Kenite woman named Jael catches the Canaanite commander sleeping and hammers a tent peg through his head. Now that's good literature.