Briefly: Book Notes and One Note On Music

I got these books at the library yesterday, but I told Michael I felt I needed to finish at least one book before starting another. Robert G. loaned me The Papa Prayer by Larry Crabb that I haven't started yet, and of course the three from the library already mentioned.

So I finished More Than Words last night. Hurray! Not that I was happy to see the book end, but that I had actually completed some one thing that I was reading. That made room for the Evelyn Waugh, borrowed on the recommendation of Gregory Wolfe in my favorite More Than Words essay, Evelyn Waugh: Savage Indignation. In this essay Wolfe mentions other Catholic authors (O'Connor and Greene included) who wrestle with matters of faith within the framework of their books, a subject I am more than interested in.

The problem I have with Waugh is that I'm not always good with satire. On occasion irony is beyond me, and this makes Waugh, for me, rather difficult to understand. As I told Michael, I'm almost finished with the book, but I'm not sure I really know what is going on. Nontheless, there are bits and snatches of the book (Decline and Fall) I recognize as pretty cool, and I imagine that if I continue to think about it for very long after the book has been read I might be able to figure out a thing or two, for example this advice give to Paul Pennyfeather as he takes his place as a schoolmaster at Llanabba Castle, "We schoolmasters must temper discretion with deceit (24)."

In other news, I found out today that one of my favorite musicians, Don Chaffer, has just put out a new solo album disguised as a different sort of project. The record is called The Khrusty Brothers, and is purported to be a record by an Appalachian Family, but is actually just good old Don and Waterdeep. I must have this record. Maybe for my birthday. I enjoyed listening to clips from this record, and Waterdeep's latest, Heart Attack Time Machine, on www.waterdeep.com. Actually, I didn't have to listen to Heart Attack Time Machine because I participated in the pre-release of the mp3 files months ago. If only I could learn music production from Don Chaffer, that would be something.