Books I Read

  Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid | Goodreads Another reading club adventure. Lady Macbeth is the story of Shakespear's Macbeth as told from the perspective of Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is one of the Bard's plays that I haven't been able to sit through. I decided that this might be a motivation for getting that done. Found a version with M Fassbender that looks pretty good. Shakespear tells a story set in Scotland around 800-900ce. The film gets this right, it's damp, cold and bleak. Structures are gray stone and the clothing is course and dull. Existence is precarious and the people are killing each other to rule moss and rock. For me there needs to be good presentation. It allows me to get a sense of the nuance of what the story is trying to convey. Macbeth is darkness. A decent into cruelty and self-immolation in pursuit of an always elusive destiny's end.   Lady Mabeth started out as a prequel to the start of the play. She's presented both as a young girl but als...

  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53946.The_Reformation This is the third book I’ve read in as many months that really shook me. The previous two reviews are certainly not my best efforts but these last few months have been like drinking from a firehose. Each of the books were over 600 pages with this one clocking in at just over 700. I have tackled history books of this length before and enjoy the depth and detail. What I was not prepared for was the complete shattering of my conviction that freedom and democracy was ever a goal for western civilization. I am at a loss for words. So much information. It’s hard to focus on any particular narrative. What lessons do I draw from the chaos of the past? Msgr. MacCulloch has delivered on all the reviews praising his work. He has done exhaustive research and created a magnum opus concerning the events of what we know as the Protestant Reformation. He starts with an excellent prolog as to the situation of the western Christian chur...