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The Jevlir Caravansary

Author: jevlir

  • Hell Fire and Damnation

    [This is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance to any real person is purely unintentional.]

    After 10 days, or perhaps it was a hundred, the angel returned. This time he looked like a pillar of darkness, as dark now as he had been bright before. How did I know it was the same angel? I just knew.

    “Where am I?” I asked again.

    “You are where you belong.”

    “This can’t be heaven.”

    “Why not?”

    “Well, there are no harps, no streets of gold, no sign of friends and loved ones, and I haven’t seen Jesus.”

    “Do you want to see Jesus?”

    Suddenly, I wasn’t sure. But that was impossible. All my life, I had talked about seeing Jesus. It was the most important thing to do when I got to heaven. I had preached it to congregation after congregation.

    “Everyone ends up where they belong,” intoned the angel again, looking helpful.

    “But I belong in heaven. I accepted Jesus as my personal savior. I depended totally on his grace. I should be in heaven.”

    “Well, perhaps you are.”

    (more…)

  • Mixing Genres or Strong in Multiple Areas

    One of the things that makes me do some thinking when I write on this blog is that I am not entirely certain of why I like the things I like. This is especially interesting when I encounter a story that I do not enjoy, and yet that I think is well written. Something in my occasionally logical brain is offended at the realization that my enjoyment doesn’t fully follow my more technical appraisal.

    Now it may simply be that I have not done enough serious looking at the literature that I read. If I study it more closely I may do a better job of determining why I like certain things but not others. At the moment I believe that characterization impacts my appreciation of a story much more than plot. I have read some stories in which I thought the plot was not all that good, but yet I enjoyed it because of the quality of portrayal of the characters.

    But what I have noticed over the last few weeks is that I truly like stories that are very strong in more than one area. I could call it mixing genres, but these are truly properly fitted into a single genre; they just offer elements of another.

    For example, I like military fiction. I like military history as well, but military fiction is fun. I also like science fiction. But some of my favorite science fiction writers are folks who do a good job combining good military writing and science fiction, such as David Weber and David Drake.

    In recent reading suggested by my wife, I read Nora Roberts’ books Sacred Sins and Brazen Virtue. Normally I dislike romance, but the mixture of elements of mystery and a small amount of suspense made that reading workable.

    I’m not trying to get technical here–not that I could in this area–I’m just looking at what I like. I’m also not trying to be prescriptive. It’s not that such stories are better; I just enjoy them more.

  • And then Brazen Virtue

    I did it again.  I read Brazen Virtue, the sequel to Sacred Sins.  Still enjoyed it, though romance will not become a favorite.

  • Blogroll Addition: Nuggets of Gold

    I located this site because it was added to the Moderate Christian Blogroll.  The writer uses stories in a very inspirational way.  I intend to keep track of it, so even though I display the Moderate Christian Blogroll, I’m going to add it to my standard blogroll of writing blogs.

    I’d  particularly commend the post titled The Missing Baby.  It’s a creative combination of story and scripture.  Good stuff!

  • Book: Sacred Sins

    My wife introduced me to J. D. Robb, and I have been enjoying Eve Dallas ever since. Occasionally she and I exchange books, though to be honest, our reading lists don’t overlap all that much, either in fiction or in non-fiction. A few days ago she handed me a couple of Nora Roberts books (I’m sure most readers know that Nora Roberts writes also as J. D. Robb), and said she thought Roberts was warming up for the Dallas books with these.

    The first I read was Sacred Sins, which I have just finished. I will read the next book which she also gave me. I don’t like these as well as the J. D. Robb books, and a little look at the types of things I do read would probably tell you why. I’m not long on books with a great deal of characterization, and romance normally has to be kept to a minimum.

    At the same time, this book would make an excellent place to discuss the difference between a mystery, and a romance that has some mystery in it. I think this is a romance with a touch of mystery. The male lead character is a homicide detective, and thus it is natural that police procedure and investigation would be involved. But Roberts doesn’t dwell as much on crime scene issues and the investigation as she does when writing about Eve Dallas, for example.

    The female lead is a psychiatrist, contracted to provide a profile of a serial killer. There <em>is</em> action of the normal crime type, but the <em>real action comes between those two characters, whose nature, background, and training makes them see things differently. They are nonetheless attracted to one another. As someone married to a woman with a very different personality than mine, I can empathize.

    I was surprised by the quality of the portrayal of the thinking of the characters throughout. I was also surprised by the ending, though I thought of it a few pages before it happened and then dismissed it as impossible. As soon as I had done that, it happened. So much for my guessing abilities. I’ll blame it on the romantic nature of the book, and the unsystematic presentation of evidence, and go on.

    I’m not going to make a habit of reading romances, but if I were to do so, this would be the kind I’d go for. I rate this a 4.

  • Christian Carnival CCIV Posted

    . . . at Parableman.

  • The God-Talk Club – Voting I

    [This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters, places, or events to reality is strictly coincidental. It is also part of a series. Characters who have been introduced in previous episodes will not be re-introduced. You can find a list of characters from episodes up to this one here.]

    Only four members of the God-Talk Club had gathered this evening. They were Mark Morton, who was taking a break from studying for a test in his systematic theology class, Jerry Simonson, more determined than ever to reach Mark with the gospel, even though Mark was a seminary student, Mandy Kelly, who never missed her prescribed break from home life, and Justine Reeder.

    “How is it that I never see you studying?” Mark asked Justine.

    “Oh, I study! I just don’t do it here.”

    “But I never see you studying on campus either.”

    “You never see me on campus.”

    “I have too seen you. A couple of times. I just never see you studying or in class.”

    “I know,” said Mandy. “She’s so smart she doesn’t have to study!”

    Justine looked embarrassed, but didn’t say anything.

    “If you don’t mind my asking,” said Mark, “What’s your GPA?”

    “I do mind you asking,” Justine replied. “I think that’s rude!”

    “I bet it’s so high you’re afraid we’ll think you’re boasting,” said Mandy.

    Jerry looked embarrassed. One of his problems with this group was that he was very courteous. It was hard for him to get his viewpoints taken seriously in this group without being blunt, and to be honest quite rude. “How about the election? Have any of you decided who to vote for?”

    There was a moment of stunned silence at the obvious change of subject, then Mandy laughed. “Yes, Grandpa! We’ll settle down and be a little less rude,” she said.

    “I didn’t mean that.” Jerry paused. “Well, I suppose I did. But I’d still like an answer, if anyone is willing.”

    “Why don’t you go first?” asked Mark.

    “Very well,” said Jerry. “I’ll be voting for Fred Thompson in our primary.”

    “Do you think he still has a chance?” asked Mark.

    “I don’t know, but I think he best represents my values—smaller government, private education options, and pro-life.”

    There was another long pause. Jerry looked from one face to another. Had he stepped over a line with these folks by asking their political views?

    “OK, I’ll go,” said Justine. “I’m voting for Barack Obama.”

    (more…)

  • Prescriptive Grammar

    This post uses the phrase “prescriptivist blowhards,” which I wish I had coined, about this prescriptive nonsense, which surely deserved it.

    The meanings of words are determined by the way in which they are used.

    Syntax is determined by the way people actually write and talk.

    Prescriptive grammarians can yell and talk all they want, but it will still work that way, just as it always has. “They,” for example, is a plural pronoun because people used it that way. It can become a singular pronoun in certain circumstances for no better reason than that, surprise, people use it that way.

    I do want grammarians and grammar teachers to be a bit conservative about the language. They shouldn’t be early adopters of every new way of expressing a thought. But uptight prescriptions are just silly, and can, nay should be ignored.

    (I think much the same way about artistic and literary value.)

  • Book: Cat in a Midnight Choir

    I just finished this book by Carole Nelson Douglas, and as usual I loved it.  Definitely a 4, maybe better.

  • Book: Body Movers

    I could just rate this one a three, and let it go at that, but then I might be unfair to the author.  You see, the book is well written, but unfortunately had the bad luck to hit too many of my pet peeves, not about writing, but about people.  I just plain didn’t like the characters all that much, and sometimes I really don’t enjoy reading books about people I truly would not care to meet.

    Basically, I felt that the action started slowly.  The first half of the book kept me busy disliking the major characters.  It got better toward the end, but I never did warm up to the people. Carlotta Wren’s parents have abandoned her and her younger brother, whom she has raised.  He’s pretty much a 19 year old obnoxious ingrate, and spends his time messing up her life.

    She, of course, being his sister, continues to put up with all this and kind of babies him along, while being threatened by various loan sharks and other unsavory characters.  She is, nonetheless, the most likable character in the book.

    The mystery is good, but it seems to me that the folks in the story solve it rather accidentally, which didn’t exactly excite me.

    If you don’t have the same pet peeves as I do, you may well like this, because the story and the characters are built up quite well.  I do like the technique by which we become acquainted with each person and learn more of the background.  Because of those factors, I will certainly read another book in this series at some point.  I’m just not in a hurry.