Best Ofs- And More

Of course, we like to think all the links we provide here are the best, but for your summer linking pleasure, here

are some from past postings you may not have had time to view before. Look under AUTHORS for interviews with best-selling fiction writers, under DEBATE for a unique argument against atheist Richard Dawkins, under LECTURES for a series of Yale University videotaped lectures about the Old Testament and under THOUGHT for Margaret Visser’s thoughts on faith and thankfulness.

You can also keep scrolling down (or click on the links right in the right hand corner here) for this year’s latest materials, including letters from Jean Vanier, and the story of a man who found grace through hymns.

AUTHORS

Khaled Hosseini is the author of the best seller, The Kite Runner. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, revolves around the lives of two women in Afghanistan from before the Russians invaded to the present day. As one review noted, it returns to the same theme as Hosseini’s first book: “the strength of the human spirit in lives overwhelmed by cruelty.”(The Economist May 26, 2007)

In this BBC interview, Hosseini talks about growing up in Afghanistan, his first novel’s success, and about writing his second novel from the perspective of women.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/openbook/openbook_20071223.shtml

In our library: A Thousand Splendid Suns Call number FIC Hos

Anne Rice has been best known for her vampire novels. But her latest book is a novel about Jesus: "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt". It tells the story, from 7-year-old Jesus' perspective, of his family's flight from Egypt and return to Nazareth.

In this interview, Rice talks about the book, and her return, about 10 years ago, to her Catholic faith.

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/178/story_17806_1.html

Source: beliefnet.com (beliefnet.com is described as the world’s largest spiritual, multi-faith website) Length: 2 pages

In our library: Christ the Lord Call number FIC Ric

For an earlier interview with Anne Rice in which she talks about the writing of Christ the Lord (as well as Hurricane Katrina, as she is a former resident of New Orleans) you can also visit:

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200512/20051216_rice.html

Source: PBS. Dec. 16, 2005

DEBATE

Terry Eagleton is a Professor of English Literature at Manchester University, as well as a Marxist and an atheist. This is his very critical review of Richard Dawkins’ book, The God Delusion

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n20/eagl01_.html

Source: London Review of Books, Oct, 19, 2006

In our library: The God Delusion Call Number 200 Daw

The Dawkins Delusion, Alister McGrath Call number 211.8 McGrath

LECTURES

Yale University lectures on the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible

Many of the world’s top universities have begun to offer lectures from their most popular courses and professors online,for free. Yale University is one of these. Here is the description of the course on the Old Testament from Yale’s website:

This course examines the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) as an expression of the religious life and thought of ancient Israel, and a foundational document of Western civilization.

There are 24 lectures, about one hour in length, taught by Professor Christine Hayes, the Robert F. and Patricia Ross Weis Professor of Religious Studies in Classical Judaica at Yale.

http://open.yale.edu/courses/religious_studies/introduction-to-the-old-testament-hebrew-bible/home.html

In our library:

Essays on Old Testament Interpretation, Edited by Claus Westermann. In our Bible section.

Moses;The Revelation and The Covenant, by Martin Buber. Call number 221.92 Bub

The Bible Jesus Read, by Philip Yancey. Call number 221.6 Yan

THOUGHT

Margaret Visser is well known to many Canadians. The 2002 Massey lecturer’s latest book is The Gift of Thanks. Visser is a Christian, who has said she had a strong conversion experience. She has a doctorate in classics from the University of Toronto, and says she returned to the Catholic church through understanding how Christianity radically changed the world.

In this article, Visser talks about her new book, the importance of gratitude, and also some of the reactions she’s received to her Christianity.

http://www.catholicregister.org/content/view/2224/854/

Source: The Catholic Register, Sept. 11, 2008

This next article is a reprint of an interview from the Catholic New Times about her Massey Lectures, called Beyond Fate, in which Visser discusses her views of Christianity and the ancients at more length.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MKY/is_/ai_111696819?tag=artBody;col1

Original source: Catholic New Times, Jan. 5, 2003

In our library, by Margaret Visser: Geometry of Love, The : Space, Time and Meaning in an Ordinary Church

Call number 726.5 Vis