Books I Read October 10th, 2021

What can I tell you man, it's been a busy couple of weeks. Been doing things and driving places and seeing people and whatnot. Been writing about things. Been cooking a lot, but that isn't much use to you. One thing I basically haven't been doing is reading, which I'm a little ashamed of but fuck it man gimme a break.

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie – A sprawling, chaotic, almost vertiginous novel about men and women, god and the devil, the East and the West, basically everything. Reminded me a bit of Pynchon with the madcap pacing and the large cast of semi-fantastical characters, though I found Rushdie's underlying humanity warmer and more profound than Pynchon's shrill anti-technocratic obsessions. Complex and entertaining, a rare book worth its reputation.

Ancient Israel: The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings: A Translation with Commentary by Robert Alter – 'Go and stand on the mountain before the LORD, and, look the LORD is about to pass over, with a great and strong wind tearing apart mountains and smashing rocks before the LORD. Not in the wind is the LORD. And after the wind is an earthquake. Not in the earthquake is the LORD. And after the earthquake—fire. Not in the fire is the LORD. And after the fire, a sound of minute stillness.'