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Author Archives: smellincoffee
Player Piano
Player Piano© 1952 Kurt Vonnegut352 pages “I’d be in exile now, but everywhere’s the same…” Not since the roaring twenties was American society so giddily obsessed with newfangled stuff than in the 1950s. Americans were awash in material prosperity, … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, science fiction
Tagged futurism, Kurt Vonnegut, Man vs Machine, science fiction, technology, Technology and Society
4 Comments
A Ghostly Watch and Wait: A Reading
“The most hideous scenes of all, however, were enacted in St. Sophia. Matins were already in progress when the beserk conquerors were heard approaching. Immediately the great bronze doors were closed, but the Turks soon smashed their way in. The … Continue reading
Between the Testaments
Between the Testaments© 1960 D.S. Russell176 pages The sudden eruption of Christianity from Judaism is inexplicable when considering only the Protestant Bible. From nowhere burst the Trinity, Satan as a rebel, and an obsession with … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged Books of the Septuagint, history, intellectual history, Judaism, religion
1 Comment
NaNoWriMo 2014
It’s National Novel Writing Month again, and I’m once again tasking myself with the challenge of writing 50,000 words before November is out. The challenge starts on November 1st, of course. I have an idea in mind that’s a quasi-fantasy … Continue reading
The Unknown War
The Unknown War© 1931 Winston Churchill396 pages The war to end all wars, what Sir Winston Churchill aptly described as the world crisis, began when a Serbian partisan assassinated the heir of Austria-Hungary’s throne, setting into motion a Rube Goldberg … Continue reading
Gone Girl (No Spoilers)
Gone Girl© 2012 Gillian Flynn432 pages Gone Girl is a dark pleasure, a thriller driven by loathsome people whose greatest achievements are an exercise in sociopathy. Like The Sopranos or The Tudors, the story is a gripping one, utterly captivating and … Continue reading
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist© 2011 Brad Pitre240 pages Communion, the eating of bread and wine regarded as the body and blood of Jesus, is the heart of liturgical worship. Its place in Christian history holds such … Continue reading
They Thought They Were Free
They Thought they Were Free: the Germans, 1933-1945346 pages© 1955 Milton Mayer How could ordinary, decent people abide the Nazis for the span of twelve years — to allow a baby born at the NSDAP’s seizure of power to practically … Continue reading
A Reading on the Eve of Destruction
We know no spectacle in human history more instinct with pathos than that of these twelve million men, busy with the cares, hopes and joys of daily life, working in their fields or mills, or seated these summer evenings by … Continue reading
The Belt of Gold
The Belt of Gold© 1984 Cecelia Holland305 pages Two Frankish brothers returning home from a pilgrim to Jerusalem become unwittingly involved in a palace coup when they rescue a damsel in distress on the road to Constantinople. When … Continue reading
Posted in historical fiction, Reviews
Tagged Eastern Rome/Byzantine, historical fiction, Medieval
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