The Bible, A Biography

Karen Armstrong lite, again. She tries to cover too much ground, too much time, in such a short book. The heart of the book is showing how the different writings became the book that we know as the Bible and then how different times and people have read and interpreted the Bible.

The best part of the book, I think, is her take on how the religion of the temple became the religion of the book, first in Josiah's remodeling of the temple when Hilkiah suddenly "found" the lost books of Moses, then in the Babylonian captivity, finally with the destruction of the temple by the Romans.

Armstrong carefully maintains that the different strands really represent a rewriting and a reinterpretation of the religion that wasn't really codified until much, much later. The same is true of the Jesus movement that gained momentum when the temple was destroyed and then was codified as part of the state religion after Constantine's conversion.

The rest of the book is about the different ways that the Bible has been read and interpreted, and Armstrong is at pains to show that literalism and "inerrancy" is really a huge mistake that misunderstands what the Bible and historical context is all about. She returns to her long standing thesis that when the mythos side of man's psyche is undervalued or ignored, it will often crop back up in grotesque and strident forms, as has happened since the Enlightenment.

Author: Armstrong, Karen

Date Published: 2007

Length: 212 pp

print

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton is probably the least favorite of the "founding fathers/brothers," but probably the most influential in establishing the American government and the American economy. If Chernow is to be believed, Hamilton almost single-handedly established the executive branch of the government, and then fought like crazy to keep Adams and Jefferson from dismantling what he had accomplished.

Chernow also makes clear that Hamilton's greatness came because Washington was able to keep him in check. When the two went their separate ways, Hamilton became a curmudgeon and really kind of lost a lot of his perspective. He also became a bundle of contradictions, as seen in his increasing religiosity, his affair with Mariah Reynolds, and even his duel with Aaron Burr--he refused to shoot to kill--all the while condemning dueling, especially after his eldest son was killed in a duel. 

A fairly poignant story about his wife Eliza, who was faced with his debts and with raising the family alone after Hamilton was killed. Chernow really does turn Hamilton's critics, especially Jefferson, Madison, and Adams, into buffoons and hypocrites, and at times I felt like he had become Hamilton's publicist and apologist over 200 years after the fact.

Author: Chernow, Ron

Date Published: 2004

Length: 36hr 58min

Narrator: Brick, Scott

The Hobbit

This was a delightful listen on the way to Durango and back, but I'm not really sure why it seemed so important in 1968. Maybe that will come when I reread or listen to the Trilogy as well. Was it Bilbo's growth--the newfound confidence and competence when pressed to it--that he found greatness of soul. And yet he was also such an everyman, preferring the ordinariness and the orderliness and the familiarity of his home life. And while luck and magic certainly played such a large part of his success, he was also able to discover and parlay his own talents into a heroic adventure. It's the classic hero's journey a la Joseph Campbell. And maybe that's what I needed to hear on my own quest for adventure and greatness at age 19.

Author: Tolkien, J. R. R.

Date Published: 1937

Length: 11hr 4min

Narrator: Inglis, Rob