:: thoughts on a few good books...

work has been slowing down a bit. the first couple of weeks i had to answer calls back-to-back. but since then, there have been a lot of new hires and now it's to the point where i get a call every half an hour.needless to say, that can lead to lots of free time where all you can do is stare at the walls of your cubicle. so i've been bringing a book and reading in between calls. and i've been able to read a lot. so far i've finished tracy kidder's justice to the action that farmer has taken just to stop at that. it's really stirred a desire to do more. it's something that, as a christian, i know i'm supposed to be doing anyway. but this is a story that shows how practical and important it is to do something that will make a difference in the lives of those around me, in the lives of the poor and down-trodden, in the lives of the people that everyone else would have given up on. here's a video interview that 60 minutes did with farmer in cange, haiti and zanmi lasante. it will give you more of a picture of farmer's life's work. also, you can check out his organization, partner's in health, in the list of links to the right...



after that great book, i started reading an completely different book. chuck palahniuk's fight club is a book that i've been looking forward to getting to. i really liked the movie, starring brad pitt and edward norton (oh, and meatloaf). so, i was eager to read the book and see how they stacked up. and they did so surprisingly well. there were some parts that were omitted from the movie, but i could see why some of them were left out to keep the story moving. there are some lines in the movie that are directly from the book. that's another thing that i've really enjoyed about the book. palahnuik has a great style of writing. he keeps things short and to the point, but each short line is packed. he also writes in a style that both makes sense with the major plot twist of the story and also seems to vibrate on the same wavelength as my brain. what i mean to say is, it's very random and fast-paced. there are whole chapters that seem to jump back and forwards between two stories almost seamlessly. this book, like the movie, isn't for the faint of heart. there is a good bit of violent, graphic content. but i really enjoyed reading it. it was actually one of the fastest reads i've ever been through.

i'd like to get into the importance of being foolish, as i love manning's take on religion and grace, but it's getting late. i've already gotten a lot out of the first half of the book. but i want to finish it, probably tomorrow, and then i'll get back here and share my thoughts on it.

more to come...