The Close Reads Mailbag Debut
In which we answer your questions + provide the reading schedule for the next book
What’s happening, Close Readers?
Yesterday I jumped over to the Facebook group and requested questions for this new email feature. Each month, we’ll be taking your questions and answering as many as we can. I said you could ask us anything and boy did you.
This should be . . . interesting.
Question 1 is from Sarah: What is your process for choosing the books that are covered on Close Reads? I would love to know how you narrow down all the amazing literature that is out there. And also, what is the most effective way to make a book recommendation to be covered in future episodes (for example My name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok, hint, hint)?
Consider your recommendation heard, Sarah. Although I make no promises. That would be dumb. I don’t like to say “no” to people (being a 3 and all) and if I started making promises I would have to start saying “no” to people who I generally like and then I’d have all kinds of inner turmoil to work through. That said, I do try to get a sense of what books are getting buzz on the Facebook page. What books are people talking about? What books are people confused about? What books are people shouting about and then tagging me alongside weird emojis and memes that don’t make any sense.
Also: I make a point to mix up eras, genres, traditions, etc. I try to make sure we read plenty of women authors, and genre fiction at least once a year, and I try to be mindful of the seasons. And, frankly, it’s important to me that we read books that not everyone is reading and talking about at least a few times a year (as with our next book, The Rector of Justin. More on that later).
Question 2 is from Jessi: Do you have any encouragement for someone who wanted to make her own kombucha but didn't think about the longterm commitment she was entering into?
Jessi, Jessi, Jessi. Why, yes, I do. My encouragement is to give up because kombucha is gross. I mean to make kombucha you have to use a thing that has the acronym SCOBY because no one wants to be reminded that they are making a beverage using a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. If your acronym for your beverage sounds like the name of an evil syndicate that Tom Cruise is going to take down in the next Mission Impossible movie (or an exercise you do in physical therapy) then you probably shouldn’t spend too much time on it. I mean has poetry taught us nothing!?
Or were you asking whether I have advice for a more general problem about making commitments without thinking through the consequences? On that front, I have much to say, and (being a 3) I say just dive in. What’s the worst that can happen? You have a dead SCOBY? That thing practically started dead so who cares?
Question 3 is from Katie: Which classic book do you think is overrated? IF YOU DARE.
I have to be honest. This question sounded eerily like a threat, to which I offer the greatest moment in cinema history.
The truth is, almost every book ever written is overrated, to some degree. Let’s highlight the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid, and Hamlet as the markers of greatness. That means every other book that anyone anywhere says is as good or better than those is overrated. Is this a cop out? Yes, definitely, and also, no, not at all.
Also: Ulysses. And Wuthering Heights. And maybe Jane Eyre (even though I kind of enjoy it). And Brandon says The Last of the Mohicans. So.
Question 4 is from Reed: How do I get an atheist to at least look at the Bible the way we look at the Iliad, the Odyssey, etc.?
Hold on. We’ll come back to this one.
Question 5 is from Carol: What is a Cubs fan's consolation?
You know, Carol, this is a great question. Here are a few ideas: 1) Take solace in the fact that two other NL Central teams from the midwest made the playoffs on the Cubs behalf; 2) Re-watch highlights videos from the Cubs’ World Series from a few years ago. YouTube has plenty of clips. Given the 100 previous years of suffering, you should still be on a victory high from 2016; 3) Read Boethius. He seems to have answers about such things.
Questions 6-9 are from Tabitha: 6) What did the ambrosia (nectar of the gods) taste like? 7) What is the best translation to read of the Iliad (if you think that Emily Wilson’s Odyssey is the bomb diggity?) 8)Would CR ever consider reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? 9)What is a good Agatha Christie novel to give to an Agatha newbie?
I actually love this question about ambrosia. First, because I really like church potluck ambrosia (since I have a soul). And second, because I’ve long been fascinated by the concept. I even wrote a poem about it once. Some scholars believe ambrosia refers to a liquid and others believe it refers to a solid food, which apparently has led other scholars to believe that it refers to honey. Which is intriguing when you think about it in connection with the Israelites and Canaan and manna and such. Plus honey has long been considered a cleansing food, thanks to its anti-septic properties, and (as it turns out) Wikipedia tells me that fermented honey probably preceded wine in the Aegean world. So that seems like as good a guess as any.
As for the Iliad translation: Around here we’ve been really into Peter Green’s recent version.
And let’s just say that I wouldn’t not consider Charlie. Let me tell you an anecdote. The first time I ever spoke to my wife’s aunt on the phone was when we called to tell her that we were engaged. Bethany and I were twenty and twenty-one and we knew that her aunt would think we were crazy. And when I handed the phone back to my wife-to-be her the first thing her aunt said to her was, “well, he’s very diplomatic.”
Re: Agatha Christie: I think I would suggest The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for three reasons: 1) You have to start with a Poroit book, which eliminates And Then There Were None; 2) It takes place in a house in the English countryside, which is essential and thus eliminates Orient Express; and 3) It’s plot twist and denouement were incredibly influential in the history of mystery fiction. It’s great and it’s a great entry way.
Okay, let’s go back to this serious question from Reed: How do I get an atheist to at least look at the Bible the way we look at the Iliad, the Odyssey, etc.?
To help with this one, I turned to our very own Heidi White, who insisted over on the Facebook thread that she had things to say about this. And this is what she did, in fact, hav to say about it:
A core activity of the classical mind is the contemplation of the good, the true, and the beautiful. Modern folks predominantly assess the Bible through the criteria of goodness and truth, but rarely beauty. In other words, they truncate the experience of reading Holy Scripture. This is a tragedy because the Bible is the greatest literary masterpiece in the history of the world. Atheists may not engage the Bible with the same rigorous inquiry for goodness and truth employed by Christians, but it behooves all people to read Scripture with a humble posture toward its unmatched beauty. Join your atheist friends in a reading of the books of the Bible with the highest literary quality, perhaps the book of Job for its magnificent poetry or Ecclesiastes for its circular structure and masterful imagery. For guidance, I recommend the works of Hebrew scholar, Robert Alter, or literary critic, Northrop Frye, who both write extensively on the Bible as literature.
Thanks to everyone for sharing questions! We’ll do this again soon.
But before you go, here is the reading schedule for The Rector of Justin, which we will start next week:
Week of October 7: Chapters 1-5
Week of October 14: Chapters 6-9
Week of October 21: Chapters 10-12
Week of October 28: Chapters 13-18
Week of November 4: Chapters 19-24
Week of November 11: Q&A Episode
Happy reading,
David