Thursday, August 09, 2007

Wicked Thoughts

Hey, I know we're both busy and whatnot so I thought I'd toss another iron into the fire here to try and reinvigorate our discussions. This particular spark comes from a book I'm reading now entitled, Wicked. The author builds off of what we know from Frank L. Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story and builds a backstory to it, detailing the childhood and young adulthood of the Wicked Witch of the West. Essentially, how'd she come to be who she was? Interwoven within it are all these politically and socially intriguing plotlines and a very interesting discussion on the nature of evil as well. It's pretty great so far. Not quite the family-friendly environment that the movie possessed but really fun to read and think about.

Well, there's this one part during which a character, Fiyero, witnesses a mindless bit of politically sanctioned violence which is shrugged off by many around him. Here's the very brief thought that follows:

"Was it an accident I say that, Fiyero wondered, looking at the manager with new eyes. Or is it just that the world unwraps itself to you, again and again, as soo as you are ready to see it anew?"

I think that second line gives us a lot to discuss. Is that the way the world works for you?

Friday, August 03, 2007

It's Been Too Long

Okay, it's been too long since we've discussed anything here but both of our lives have been understandably busy. But, let's kick things back into high gear. I'm going to take a page out of your book and offer a link to something but this one is actually linking back to my blog. I'm in the midst of reading this book right now called An Emergent Manifesto of Hope and I posted some quotes from the different authors that I found insightful. Was wondering what you thought about some of these?

Give it a read and let's discuss!

Here's the link: Emergent Hope