Rob is fixin' to be in open rebellion against Wendell Berry

I must apologize to all those who (like me) have a deep respect for the poet, essayist, and farmer Wendell Berry. If you've read "Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community" you'll likely be aware that Wendell Berry has a deep suspicion of  technological things which attempt to replace things that come from the good tilled earth. As his main example of this, he says that people tell him that in the near future a device will appear that can display newspapers, magazines, and books, and will eventually replace paper-bound books.

As it turns out, whoever told him this is right. There may be others but the "E-book reader" that caught my attention was "Kindle"; the reader created by Amazon.com. This is a 10.3 ounce rectangular device that can hold up to 300 books, newspapers, and magazines (with a slot for an SD card that would greatly increase its capacity).

In the past I haven't been a fan of e-books because I just don't want to read off of a screen - it tires my eyes. However, Amazon.com claims that their screen uses a special E-ink display that uses no backlighting and looks very similar to ink on a page. In addition, since it's not backlit it is just as easy to read outside in bright sunlight as it is inside.

This isn't even what really excites me. What really excites me is how cheap some of the books are on Kindle. I could buy the "Complete Works of Shakespeare" for about 5 $. "The Landmark Thucydides", a book which I will be required to read next year is just 10$. The savings vary but just about all Kindle versions of a book are cheaper than their print versions. Theoretically, the device could pay for itself.

Even though there are many benefits to using this format for reading, I don't think printed books are going to be disappearing just yet. People still like to display their books (and smell them) and I don't think this desire is going to go away with this technology. In any case, I know Wendell Berry won't be getting one (and that's fine with me).

Meanwhile, this is all I'm going to be asking for Christmas.

I had my modern conceptions of fairness blown far, far away

So I'm perusing - no, strike that, try break-neck speed reading - Augustine's City of God, and I come across a quotation of Genesis 17:13-14:

[God spoke to Abraham] "He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."

Let's get this straight: a baby boy who is not circumcised by his parents has already broken the covenant with God. If he dies at nine days old and has not been circumcised, he dies outside the covenant of grace. Whoa.
Then Christ comes and renews the covenant, replacing circumcision with baptism. But does this change the principle? Obviously there is enough condemnation in original sin to damn a babe in arms. Again, the burden must be on the parents.

Whoa! Silent speed reading

I recently discovered, for the first time (through my first Rhetoric lecture with Mr. Wilson), the technique of reading silently (without sub-vocalizing (to use the term Mr. Wilson used). I had thought before that reading silently meant that you weren't speaking aloud. I mastered this type of reading soon after I learned to read. However, in the past when I've read I've always heard the words in my head as I read them. I don't even mouth them with my lips but it is still as if I'm reading aloud. It's kind of cool sometimes because if the author has a distinctive voice (like a foreign accent or something) the words are heard in my head in his accent. Like I said, Sometimes this is great (like when I'm reading poetry; or just for recreational reading) but at other times it's just plain annoying (like when you are trying to read 300 pgs. of Augustine in just one night).

So, I'm just starting to be able to read without that little annoying voice in my head saying every word I read for me. Now, the words go straight from the page, to my eyes and then to my brain. This has lead to a great revolution in the speed and efficiency of my reading. It's truly amazing how much faster I can read if I forgo the audible translation process.

The only catch is that I can only pull this off for roughly half a page and then the words revolt, if you will, and burst into audible form. I hope to get better at this as time progresses. Stay tuned for more news of my mad reading skills.