kristendom's blog

A Tyrannical Democracy at Work

Thu, 2006-09-14 12:25 — kristendom
Your threats are so undemocratic. Keep your tone for your wife, whom I presume you batter. And if she is dead then I know why. I'll be happy if you remove my account from this progressive sheet.

Success, Wealth, and the Good Life

Wed, 2006-09-13 12:56 — kristendom
My father did not leave me any riches, but at his deathbed he whispered to me something that is even better─a good piece of advice: “If you exploit alcohol,drugs (crack,marijuana), sex (prostitution, pornography), and gambling, you can be rich in no time but poor in spirit. If you read books you will be wealthy and also rich in spirit. You choose.” Kristen and I believe that books are the sure road to a good life, and that fervent belief is shown in Kristen’s book reviews and articles.

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Book Review

Sun, 2006-09-10 11:40 — kristendom
A discussion about belief by PaulEdward Snyder as posted in PBA (Progressive Blog Alliance) prompted this review. Whenever doubt assails me, I turn to The Tragic Sense of Life and my faith is quickly restored. Faith and reason. The man of flesh and bone. Immortality. These are the themes Unamuno discusses with the ardent --fanatical I'd say--hunger for God. Thinkers such as Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Spinoza, he discards, preferring the passionate and suffering ones instead:
Among the men of flesh and bone there have been typical examples of those who possess this tragic sense of life. I recall now Marcus Aurelius, St. Augustine, Pascal, Rousseau . . . Kierkegaard─men burdened with wisdom rather than with knowledge.
There are some fine translations of this book, but I prefer J. E. Crawford Flitch’s who has taken the trouble to add his own Endnotes. Believers as well as unbelievers could well profit from Unamuno’s book.

American Poetry is Alive and Well!

Thu, 2006-09-07 13:51 — kristendom
What a lovely juxtaposition: One Mexican and one American: Two unyielding women poets. Paintsgalore our American muse from Florida sings with the same sweetness and vigor as Sor Juana Ines did. And both understand men, no doubt. While Sor Juana (the first feminist of the Americas) rebelled against the machismo of her times, Ashlee (Paintsgalore) does, too. But her message is cryptic and yet firm. But, let me not spoil the delight--let me not hold you back from the ecstasy of fine poetry:

Wishing You a Long Happy Weekend

Fri, 2006-09-01 16:54 — kristendom
From Kristendom in the Big Apple: Rockefeller Center Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Opinion by Sonia Beltran (Myspace.com) Time in Literature

Wed, 2006-08-30 08:01 — kristendom
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Latin Americans have a different sense of time from Americans. To them, “mañana” means in the near and far future, never tomorrow. While Americans are impatient, unwilling to wait, Latinos wait things out. Then from the future they long for an earlier time. With this preamble in mind, we can begin to understand their time. Garcia Marquez packs in one hundred years of teeming life into an instant of insufferable solitude. Likewise Borges turns one minute into a year for a character to finish writing his play and not leave it undone as he is about to die. Cortazar in a short story splices an Aztec war with a motorcycle ride in the Twentieth Century. And this is no exaggeration: Marciano Guerrero in his debut novel—The Poison Pill—turns an instant into eternity when God allows the protagonist to see the seventh day for which there’s no evening, or night, or motion—only God. Eternal peace.

Book Review: Marciano Guerrero's The Poison Pill

Wed, 2006-08-30 07:55 — kristendom
Not since reading Murakami's Wind-Up Bird and Garcia Marquez's One hundred Years of Solitude have I been so energized by a book till now. Marciano Guerrero'sThe Poison Pill is subtitled "Business (Gothic) Thriller," but it is more than that. The prose is rhythmic and easy flowing which might lead one to believe that it is simplistic. Because the author dispenses aesthetic, philosophical, and literary allusions with artistry and transparency, it doesnt detract from the main themes. For example, as a character is about to die, he refers to a knife as having balance, harmony, and radiance. According to James Joyce these terms are in sum Thomas Aquinas' model of beauty. I also like the name of a Dominican Doctor: Esculapio Gallo. Well, Socrates last words were: "I owe a rooster (Gallo) to Aesculapius"--meaning no pharmakon could save his life. It just happens that the doctor's patient is also doomed. By now you may be thinking this is a coincidence. Not at all. You will also find meaningful allusions to Borges, Poe, Vargas-Llosa, Dante, and other literary giants. One can also learn about business; but that is material for another review. And so is the coincidence of Ivon Bates (hero) and Norman Bates (Psycho) commiting the same heinous crime. But enough. Here are two other choice books...Happy reading.

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Book Review: Gunter Grass's The Tin Drum

Wed, 2006-08-30 07:43 — kristendom
Fleas biting an elephant’s skin: that’s the image that comes to mind when I read all the negative criticism being lobbed at Gunter Grass’s revelation that as a teenager he was a member of Hitler Youth. What is noble is that no book─in politics as well as in fiction─has done more than The Tin Drum to advance the creation of a freer and progressive Germany. Also, it is hard to imagine magic realism without Grass’s prototype: Oskar Matzerath, the boy who willed himself to stop growing. The influence that Grass had on Rushdie,
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