Odd Ducks

    A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa is an odd duck of a book. I do like odd ducks. When I looked to see how this book was classified, I found it spanned several categories: autobiography, fiction, history, feminist literature, and literary criticism. Ní Ghíofa chronicles a fraught time in her life in relation to a famous Irish poem of lament written by Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill called Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire. I've seen A Ghost in the Throat referred to as autofiction, a new category for me. The book is about women finding their voice: the thread of a female text runs through the book and the poem.  Ní Ghríofa is known for her poetry, which is evident in her writing. Her words, phrases, and cadence are lyrical and memorable. I listened to the audiobook and it helped me hear the correct pronunciation of the Gaelic names. In the end, Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire is read in Gaelic, and then Doireann Ní Ghríofa's translation. 

I feel I'm not doing this book justice, but I recommend it. 

    I feel the need to read theology books. I want to understand and grow in my faith. However, I struggle to connect with books that others find efficacious. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Life Together is a Christian Classic that has been quoted and recommended often. It didn't speak to me, I think because my heart bends towards legalism, not grace and kindness towards others or myself. Tell me the rules so I can keep them and create evidence of being righteous, approved, and virtuous. Bonhoeffer's book was filled with rules of being "good." I finished it and was discouraged. 

Not everyone feels as I do.

 book_review_life_together_by_dietrich_bonhoeffer

    Drawn to the Light: Poems on Rembrant's Religious Paintings by Marily Chandler McEntyre was a lovely book I received for Christmas. I would read one or two poems before bed. McEntyre's poems deepened the experience of the paintings. A poem that stood out for me was Christ on the Cross (53). She speaks as Rembrandt painting this horrific scene:

Let my hand not recoil
from the body's truth,
nor my brush stray from the story.
Let me be true to the darkness
you entered, O light of the world,
and to the awful beauty
of your agony.

🐣

Happy Easter