Friday, September 3, 2004

Refreshing the soul

by Chris Walton

Ah, summer! So many plans undone. Let's see: I was going to go camping, go to the beach, read several novels that remain unread, and my wife and I even talked about taking salsa dancing lessons. Oh, well.

And yet, there were things about the summer that refreshed my soul. I'm thinking, for example, of the novel I finally finished reading last weekend: Yann Martel's Life of Pi, which would be great to read and discuss in a church book group. I'm thinking of a short hike my wife and I took up Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah with one of closest college friends back in June, when we were visiting my parents. (It was a wonderful reunion with a friend I hadn't seen since I moved from Salt Lake to Cambridge, Mass., in 1996 — and a wonderful encounter with a landscape I love deep in my soul, but rarely see.)

So, as the official summer winds down and the church year gets ready to resume in most of our congregations, what moved and refreshed you? Did you have a favorite book? Favorite movie? Favorite meal? Favorite place?

Posted by Chris Walton, September 3, 2004 05:36 PM
Comments:

Mark Brooks says:

September 6, 2004 01:59 PM | Permalink for this comment

I read "The Life of Pi" a few months ago. I've given it to two other people to read so far. I really liked it. I have a question for you: what was the floating algae living island thing? What's it supposed to be?

John Cullinan says:

September 28, 2004 03:26 PM | Permalink for this comment

Summer is pleasure reading, as I'll be back to the "have to" list soon enough in the fall. Summer started with Jonathan Lethem's Fortress of Solitude, and is now winding up with Neal Stephenson's The Confusion. Lethem writes like he invented the English language, and the new one is his most gorgeous so far. The Confusion is part two of his "Baroque Cycle", and is the most fun I've ever had reading an 800+ page novel: Isaac Newton + religious warfare + economic hijinks + plenty of swashbuckling = one more reason why I consistently stay up past my bedtime! Wheee!

Melanie says:

October 3, 2004 05:58 PM | Permalink for this comment

Hey, Chris, this place hasn't been updated in a month and most UU congregations started their church year program after Labor Day. Pick it up, man.

I'm reading Peter Handke's On A Dark Night, a magical realist retelling of John of the Cross's story and recently saw Control Room, the story of Al Jazeera and the Iraq war, which was highly affecting.

I got a job last month, and am concentrating on the things I need to learn to negotiate this career change: I'm turning into a tech geek.