Reflections of the Psalms and Carpe Jugulum

I finished two books today~ Haha, I think I read more when I'm stressed, must be some natural reaction :p

Reflections on the Psalms, by C.S. Lewis,is unlike any Bible commentary/study that I've read before. But then again, I don't really read commentaries on a regular basis(: But, C.S Lewis being the genius he is (-Narnia!-) makes it really interesting. And I don't know why, but ever since I first noted the Chesterton influence on him, I've been seeing it quite a lot. Which is way cool. I wish I saw it earlier, then maybe I could have done my EE on something like "Intertextuality between C.S Lewis and G.K Chesterton". Of course, this would require me to actually narrow it down to two books. Now, I feel like doing a Literature degree, just so I can write a thesis on this. It'd probably be pure suicide though, since I'm quite terrible at literature.

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchet is "the first novel to feature Vampires". Which is really cool. Actually, Mark brought 3 books for me, but turns out I read 2 of them already. Sorry Mark! And it's quite cool (in a coincidental way), how this book was given to Mark's older brother by Aunty Florence. So in a way, this book "comes" from her too. Well, it's a small world.

Carpe Jugulum is a play on the phrase Carpe Diem (It is italicised because according to MONG, foreign words are supposed to be) or "Seize the Day", in this case, Jugulum = Jugular = Throat. So it means "Seize the throat", which makes sense, since it's a vampire story. I have this strange feeling that the story is very suited for analysis. If only I could have these sorts of books for course work.

Because I realise that I don't normally give summaries of the books I read, for some weird reason, Vampires have come to Lancre to 'take over' with their mind control (suddenly, I'm reminded, Professor X from X-Men. And I don't even read/watch the series). There are two, maybe three people who aren't affected: Agnes (because of Perdita, her inner-mean-girl self, making her immune) and Oats (who, due to all the books he reads, is in two minds over everything). And of course, Granny Weatherwax.

The main message of this book is about how everyone has to make a choice (ok, maybe it's not the main message, but it's one of the important ones), and the important thing is to be responsible for it. Of course, they take God out of the equation, which messes up their conclusion. But nothings perfect. So, I'll end with part of a quote from the book for you to ponder:

"only those with their feet on the rock can build castles in the air."