Followers

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A History of God

"Your pastimes consisted of the strange, twisted and deranged," Crying Lightning by Arctic Monkeys.


The cover.

No, I'm not going to start writing about God. Instead, I'll be writing about a book that writes about God. The same thing? I beg to differ.

"A History of God" by Karen Armstrong is a book that I'm currently reading (yeah, not even finished yet). I borrowed the book from my lecturer, Madam Mariah, or rather, she lent it to me. She said it was an interesting read, so I said to myself "what the heck?" and accepted it like any good student would. Awww~

My first impression was just like most of yours. "What the?" immediately sprang to mind, but because it came recommended by a lecturer, I thought it couldn't be that bad right?

It is 399 pages thick (I triple checked) and consists of 9 chapters (I think). I have so far read until the 253rd page, and I have to say, this is a textbook. If you're looking for a relaxing, easy Sunday afternoon read by the windowsill, this is not it.

It mainly consists of historical facts about what humans worshiped at what time and why. It centers mostly around monotheism (new word!) which is the practice of worshiping one god and hovers a lot around Judaism, Christianity and Islam, although there are some mentions of Hinduism and Buddhism here and there where relevant.

I have to say, it's a good book if you want a deeper insight into the history of these three religions (as the title suggests). It's a good book to discuss, to raise views, points, arguments, discussions and such, but as I said earlier, it's no Black Dress. This book is for serious reading and studying, where every page needs to be broken down into parts where you can scrutinize and find facts.

Obviously, it's not a book that I would usually read, and it shows. It has taken me more than a month to get to even the page I'm putting my bookmark in, mainly because I keep dozing off every 20 pages or so. Sometimes it just takes 5.

Alas, I'm still determined on finishing the book, and moving on to my other books. So wish me luck, and if you catch me snoozing with the book on my face, please give me a whack. Much appreciated.

Cheers!

6 comments:

mademoiselle tq said...

well, wish you to be able to finish the whole book within this year.. :P

anyway, i think you should consider your shoutmix because it seems to be quite wide for the narrow space, isn't it?

anak pak man said...

TQ,
yeah, I need to look for a new one..
can I ciplak urs? hehe

mademoiselle tq said...

haha.. of course u can..
er.. you just changed it?
patutla nmpak familiar jer.. haha

anak pak man said...

TQ,
yeah, tapi yg ni yg lama nya, so xkira ciplak ah.. hehe

mademoiselle tq said...

owh.. boleh je amek yg lama ea? huhu..
template yg sblum ni xguna cbox ke? last msj pn bln september..

anak pak man said...

TQ,
ha, yg sblum ni tataw camna nak cari blek, so biar jala.. hehe..