Postby Kaori » Thu Feb 17, 2011 5:56 am
As of last weekend, finally finished reading Works of Love by Kierkegaard. Some chapters in this latter half of the book were better than others, and I didn’t feel that the chapters at the very end were the strongest ones in the book—there were other parts that I found more moving. Nevertheless, the book as a whole was in turns beautifully poetic, psychologically insightful, and deeply profound.
Also recently finished reading something I’ve been working on for even longer, which is the first volume of Twelve Kingdoms: 月の影 影の海(上)For those familiar with the Tokyopop translation, this is the first half of Sea of Shadow (I don’t understand why Tokyopop chose to translate only the second half of the title, but oh well). The author puts the main character through a series of trying events that bring all of her flaws and evils to the surface. It is kind of like opening an infected wound; her problems were there lurking under the surface all along, but the things that happen to her bring those things to light (and in some cases exacerbate them). The resulting downward spiral is pretty fascinating. As a note on translation, I checked my understanding of the book with a fan translation by Eugene Woodbury; I strongly dislike the Tokyopop translation for a variety of reasons, but Woodbury has some errors here and there, too, so there isn’t really a translation I can recommend as being particularly good. I suppose if forced to choose between the two, I would choose Woodbury, though.
Next up, I have begun rereading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which is a straightforward and easy read compared to Kierkegaard.
Let others believe in the God who brings men to trial and judges them. I shall cling to the God who resurrects the dead.
-St. Nikolai Velimirovich
MAL