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Last Book Read:
This was a birthday gift from the SHW, though I had to wait until she was done reading and laughing hysterically at it. I guess the added anticipation was part of the present.
The author attempts to spend a year following all the rules of the Bible. Amusement and insight follow.
The most impressive aspect is how he manages to avoid the easy shots. While the incongruity of some rules with modern life create humor, he is usually respectful to the history and to the people who genuinely believe it. (The second most impressive aspect is that his wife is still married to him at the end of the year.)
As I learned from reading Karen Armstrong's books, ritual is important for its own sake. It doesn't matter if the ritual is eating an injection molded bread-like disk or calculating the minimum distance along the surface of a sphere between two locations. The point is that sharing a ritual helps create a community and provides an opportunity for an individual to see oneself as part of something greater.
This was a pretty good book, though I would probably recommend using the library. It does make me want to check out his previous book where he reads the Encyclopedia Britannica from cover to cover.
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