Pages

Friday, November 11, 2011

Nerd New Year

Happy Veterans Day and Happy Nerd New Year (11/11/11, with my hope being to post my doubled good wishes at 11:11 a.m., my time). You can celebrate and donate to charity here, at Nerd New Year, right on up to 11:11 p.m.

Meanwhile, thanks for everything to the veterans and the nerds.

I’m reading Home, finally, by Marilynne Robinson, the companion book to Gilead, a book I loved. I have to read things at the right time, and this is the right time.

I am powerfully moved by her quiet, character-driven prose. Here we are in Glory’s point of view, via third person limited omniscience:

Maybe great sorrow or guilt is simply to be accepted as absolution, like revelation. My iniquity/punishment is greater than I can bear. In the Hebrew, her father said, that one word had two meanings and we chose one of them, which may make it harder for us to understand why the Lord would have pardoned Cain and protected him, and let him go on with his life, marry, have a son, build a city.  His crime was his punishment, which had to mean he wasn’t such a villain after all.

I’m not going to make my 11:11 posting time, as I have to run out now…

Once again, Happy Veterans Day and Happy Nerd New Year.

6 comments:

  1. Ah, a new years for nerds. What a relief!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am reading something at the right time too. Maybe that's an 11/11/11 thing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The cover of that book makes my head feel cold. Seriously. They need an alternate cover.

    I sit under the atomic clock at work and took a picture of 11:11:11 right on time. Got some cheers, too. smile.

    sarah

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, I hope you will post that picture!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am so glad you are reading Home.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Me, too, Kim. It is gorgeous and hitting the spot.

    ReplyDelete

Go ahead and comment, and I will publish it after I get an email notification! Thanks!