Not Just Another Grouchy Grammarian

Musings about language, books, grammar, and writing in general

Archive for the month “January, 2017”

21 Jan 2017

Reading, Religion, and My Quest for Knowledge

As you guys know, I am a reader. Nothing makes me happier than to curl up with a good book, whether it’s a hardcover or on my Kindle. What you may not know (unless you know me in real life) is that I read multiple books over the same period of time. I might grab a good Lawrence Block mystery in the morning (which I will undoubtedly finish at one sitting because I can’t put it down), and then dip into a few chapters of a cookbook. In the evening, I might read a bit about meditation or a few chapters of a biography.

This year, I am taking on two major reading projects. The first is to read the Bible (both Old and New Testaments) in a year. I’m using a New Revised Standard Version because I cannot find my King James version. I love the way the language is used in the King James. The New Revised Standard is a bit too modern for my taste but, in the smallish doses I read each day, it will serve. The reading plan I am using for this is www.walkthru.org’s “Walk Thru the Bible.

The other project is reading the Talmud. Since I cannot read Hebrew, I am reading the Koren Publications English version of the Steinsaltz Edition. The first three volumes, covering the first two tractates, arrived yesterday (I opted for “real” books for this, rather than an online or PDF version). I cannot claim to be going full Daf Yomi on this project — the reading for today is in the 26th volume, and I suspect it would take forever to catch up. However, I will advance at my own pace – I plan to try for at least two dafs a day on days when I don’t have doctors appointments or other things scheduled.

Now, those of you who know me know that I am not particularly religious so you might raise the question of why I am taking on these two projects. Well, I have always loved learning about religions, and I think it’s time to take the next step and start going deeper into that. I do not intend for these to be the only religious books I add to my list — there are a number of other religions I am also interested in. It just seemed to me that my own religion and the other major religion (Christianity as a whole, rather than any one sect of it) would be the proper place for me to start.

So, my reading multitasking just got bigger by two projects. We’ll see if I can stick to them.

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15 Jan 2017

Alexander Hamilton Comes to Town

Hi! I know it’s been a while, but I was off having spinal surgery.

The book I want to talk about today is Ron Chernow’s  in-depth biography of Alexander Hamilton. I bought this e-book because, like most of America, I was fascinated with the alexander_hamilton_ron_chernowsubject after hearing the score for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s play, Hamilton.

That Hamilton was, like many New Yorkers, an immigrant, was just part of what made him so fascinating. That his main weapon was words was another thing. I felt that this biography not only brought the man to life, but also brought to life the milieu he lived in. Further, the book didn’t reduce his foes or colleagues to cardboard characters. You could really feel the intensity of Hamilton and his colleagues and foes as they struggled to create and defend a new nation. Further, the political infighting was fascinating, especially given the election we recently had. Also, the writing itself was good

Also, the writing itself was good.Many history books are so dry that they remind me of bad textbooks. Alexander Hamilton avoids that fault. The writing is concise, but lively. While it was not a book I could read in one sitting, often I would sit down to read a chapter or two, get caught up, and be reading far longer than I had planned — sometimes deep into the wee hours of the night.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in history, both of the United States and New York, or in biographies of the founders of our country.

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