Lucy Crown, by Irwin Shaw … I read this one about 2
weeks ago, but didn’t get the chance to review it before our mini vacation. In the
summer of 1937, Lucy Crown, a wife and mother, has an affair with a college lad
and is caught by her son (the college lad was hired by Lucy’s husband to watch
after and insulate the boy from his overprotective mother). It’s a kind of coming
of womanhood (for lack of better terminology) … Lucy has been a subservient, beautiful
wife to her husband, Oliver, and a very devoted mother to her sickly son … Oliver
isn’t a bad guy/husband. He’s doing what most men did back in the day (run
things, including his wife’s life). Lucy ultimately becomes bored with her role
in her own life … getting caught by the husband is one thing, but getting
caught by their son is a nightmare that upends the applecart in more ways than
one … although Lucy personally grows from her affair with the college boy, she rejects
the scorn she knows she’ll have to endure from her husband and son (but it is
her son’s scorn she most fears) … when she agrees to return to her husband
after the affair is revealed and discussed, it is only under the caveat that their
son isn’t in the mix (he’s to attend boarding school, etc.) … he’s to remain out
of her life. It’s a pretty harsh condition, but the husband has been weakened
by the surprise of the affair and he agrees to the terms. What follows,
although the novel starts long after the incident (and we regress back to it) makes
for very compelling reading.
Flash forward through
the Second World War and, well … you know the deal here, amici … NO SPOILERS …
it’s a wonderful read that TK VERY
HIGHLY RECOMMENDS … and we’ll be reading a lot more of Irwin Shaw in the
near future.
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of
Nazareth, by Reza Aslan … a
topical book (New York Times Bestsellers list for I don’t know how many weeks,
but it was a pretty significant number) … let me start by saying I had (and have)
absolutely nothing vested in the religious arguments surrounding this book
and/or the topic (historic Jesus, the man), but it is what I found
exceptionally interesting—the account of Jesus the man (not the messiah). The
author uses a boatload of sources (see his endnotes and bibliography). Truth be
told, I have no idea what is or isn’t valid. I take the author’s word (he’s a
Ph.D in religious study and an expert on the New Testament). I wasn’t looking
for proof of anything while reading. Having zero belief in gods of any kind, I
found Aslan’s presentation interesting. (i.e., “Yeah, makes sense to me. And good for Jesus” … (because according
to Aslan, Jesus the man was one
righteous dude; the kind of revolutionary (and/or) radical I could support; he
spoke for those in need and against those who would subjugate others)).
The Jesus presented
in Zealot is a human with liberal
thoughts about the age old problem of rule by oligarchy. In his time, that
oligarchy would’ve been the Roman Empire and its Jewish lackies. Aslan goes on
to explain and detail how and why the Roman Empire became the Holy Roman
(Christian) Empire through neat tricks of the spin trade (what most of the New
Testament appears to have been).
So it goes …
What I may find even
more interesting is the reaction to the book by believers (those who will read the
book) … I say “may find” because I know of only a few Christians (for example) that
have read the book. Far too many, I fear, are put off by right wing (i.e., FOX
NOISE) spin condemning the book as an attack on Jesus by a Muslim (see videos
below). Even self-professed liberal, Bill Maher, takes issue with the religion
of Islam … but Bill can and does get a bit hysterical at times, and he's often way too
sure of his hypocritical self for me.
I borrowed the book from
a Christian co-worker who is very open minded and hasn’t bought into the
extremist Born Again version of Jesus (i.e., that the Bible is the word of God,
no matter how contradictory and/or absurd its stories may be). I look forward
to hearing what my wife thinks, if she reads it. She’s a cherry picking
believer of Christian faith, and although she doesn’t accept the Catholic
Church and/or its rulebook hypocrisy any longer, she likes the new Pope
(because he’s not the same as the old Popes) and she does occasionally attend
mass.
Another co-worker
who is a Born Again Bible thumper, refuses to read the book and claims, upon
reading the following paragraph (which is part of the last paragraph of the
book), that the author “is just another
Muslim looking to slam Jesus and Christians.”
Oy vey …
Lifted from the last
paragraph: “… the one thing any
comprehensive study of the historical Jesus should hopefully reveal is that
Jesus of Nazareth—Jesus the man—is every bit as compelling, charismatic, and
praiseworthy as Jesus the Christ. He is,
in short, someone worth believing in.”
It’s a shame my Born
Again friends (and they are friends) refuse to accept the above as a possibly valid
perspective of Jesus. To the blind faithers there is but one Jesus (the Christ)
and all the tall tales in the Bible, no matter how contradictory and/or absurd,
and/or factually wrong, are validations of an omnipotent being spun into
eternity by the Roman Empire 2000 years ago.
TK recommends this
book but ONLY if you have an open mind. TK respects your right to not have an
open mind on this subject (or any other). We here certainly are certainly
closed-minded about a few things ourselves (i.e., no more designated hitters, both
major political parties in America, etc.) …
Tampa Bay … turned out to be a very exciting 4 days for the ugly Knuckster and his
Principessa … Saturday night’s game vs. the Ottawa Sanitationals was a 2-1 loss
in a dopey shootout (I’m closed minded about those too), but it was my first
hockey game in 25+ years … and I saw lightning inside the building (I kid yous
not) …
My wife knew what
they were, but I was kind of dumbfounded. “How do they do that?” I said. “What
are Tesla Coils for one-thousand, Alex,” she said, and then I said, “What the
fuck are Tesla Coils, Alex?”
On day two we
spotted Brian Boyle in a Champions sports bar … and then we watched my beloved
New York State Buffalo Bills get waxed by the New England Cheatriots.
Day three we hooked
up with Judy and Andy Pereiro. Judy and Ann Marie attended and graduated nursing school together and have remained great friends since. Andy drove us to their castle north of Tampa and
I had a brief romance with their dogs (boxers) Buster and Milo (Milo couldn’t
stop kissing me, but seriously, can yous blame him?) … Andy handed off a ton of
cigars for me to enjoy back here in Jersey. After a quick dinner at our hotel
restaurant, we all went to the revenge match-up from the playoffs a year ago (Bolts-Expos)
… it’s a little bit different when our starting goalie is around … not to
mention our new bolstered defense (Anton Stralman made an incredible save). Our
Bolts scored a TD and kicked and extra point against the Expos of Montreal
(7-1) … Steven Stamkos scored a hat trick … and our guy, Ryan Callahan, had an
assist (from his knees—one of Stamkos’ goals) AND Cally scored his second goal
of the season (in just 4 games). Victor
Hedman scored a goal and had 3 assists (4 total points) by game’s end. It was a
classic blowout.
Day four we met up
with Tony and Mike Liberti and toured Ybor (I keep mispronouncing the place,
calling it Eye-bor rather than E-bor) City (but I’ve mentally started a new crime novel because
of Ybor City). We ate and visited a cigar store where the woman rolled them (that's actually her above) on
the scene … and I purchased some Cuban flag espresso cups … and later we
enjoyed some very special company before heading off to watch the Bolts take on
the New Jersey Deviled Eggs …
What special company yous ask? Well,
Tony Liberti is originally from Rochester, New York, and was neighbors for many
years with the Callahan family. Yes, THAT CALLAHAN FAMILY. It was a
beautiful reunion between former neighbors (Tony, his son Mike, and the Callahan
clan (Donna, Mike and their eldest son, Mike) … Ryan was preparing for the game
later in the evening) … Both the Callahan and the Liberti clan were about as
nice as people can be. Mr. Callahan (the big guy) had my wife and myself in
stitches with tales from Rochester. Donna Callahan is a former literature major
with a feisty 99 year old Mom (born in Milan, Italy). Very cool people and a
very cool few hours were spent in terrific company. Tony and his son never
mentioned anything about meeting up with the Callahan clan while we were in
Ybor City, and when he wanted to cross the street to the restaurant near our
hotel (in the rain), I kept thinking: This
guy has more energy than most teenagers! We were in the restaurant talking and
Tony kept looking at his watch (and then I’m thinking: this guy is gonna call his bookie for the lines tonight) … but then
in walked the Callahan clan and it was a pleasure to watch their reunion with
Tony and his son, Mike (who is a devout Bills fan). Anyway, it was a great last day of the
vacation topped off with that incredible reunion and the chance to meet the
family of our favorite player.
Oh, the game …
right. Well, we lost that one but Evgeni Nabokov really played well in goal
(spotting Ben Bishop for the night). We hung out at our room afterward and
enjoy Tony and Mike’s company for a few more minutes before saying goodbye (and
encouraging Tony’s son to get back to writing a book he’d started before his
computer broke down). My ongoing words to Mike Liberti are these: If a former
window cleaner, street meatball like myself can pursue a dream and get it done,
a young stud with a ton of energy can do it blindfolded. So, you go Mike
Liberti! Write that book!
And look what the Principessa and Nonno caught for Evelyn Amelia Stella ...
The Thunderbug ... Evelyn Amelia is the THUNDER!
—Knucks
Ben Afleck vs. Bill
Maher & Sam Harris
The now infamous
Fox-Aslan interview (could the woman doing the interview be any more dense?) …
Where comedian Bill
Maher made an ass out of his arrogant self …
I know, I know …
yous want music … so here (how could I resist this one?) ...
