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(4.02) | 5 | Our world is charged with both the grandeur of God and the void of his absence. The seven deadly sins are the force causing that hole. They are at work in each of us. They decimate our relationships, our souls and our world. These deadly sins often seem pleasing and good for gaining what we desire, but they are thoroughly poisonous. Conversely, the Beatitudes are Jesus' pictures of a restored creation. The Beatitudes introduced what Jesus said to his earliest followers about a life strong and fruitful. In fact, the Beatitudes give us a glimpse of a world empty of evil and filled to the edges with God's life. Looking at the Beatitudes and the seven deadly sins in turn, we see two paths, two sets of invitations. Both call to deep places within us to come and taste. Both invite us to take up residence. Both present themselves as life as it actually is. But only one will draw us further into reality. And only one will make us happy. "Of the many, many books about the Gospels, or about Jesus, or about Christian morality, only one in a thousand gives us a real breakthrough, a new big picture'. Most are just nice little candles on the cake. Seven is a bonfire. It's not just good; it's striking. It doesn't just say all the things you've heard a thousand times before. And yet it's totally in sync with both the saints and the scholars." --Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College, and author of over forty-five books, including Fundamentals of the Faith.… (more) |
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A Sleep and a Forgetting: There is no remebrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. - Ecclesiates 1:11 A Thousand Deaths: Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? - Galatians 4:16 Skipping Stones: Unreal friendship may turn to real But real friendship, once ended, cannot be mended. - T. S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral Second Chance: It is the blight man was born for, It is Margaret you mourn for. - Gerard Manley Hopkins Breaking the Game: Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the mose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife. - Proverbs 30:33 Lifeloop: Jellicle Cats are black and white, Jellicle Cats are rather small; Jellicle Cats are merry and bright, And pleasant to hear when they caterwaul. - T. S. Eliot, The Song of the Jellicles Burning: With the nawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of an ass have I slain a thousand men. - Judges 15:16 And What Will We Do Tomorrow?: GLENDOWER: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. HOTSPUR: Why, so can I, or so can any man; but will they come when you call for the? - Henry IV part I, 3:1 Killing Children: O the mind has mountains; cliffs of fall Frightful, sheer, no-manfathomed. Hold them cheap May who ne'er hung there. - Gerard Manley Hopkins When No One Remembers His Name, Does God Retire?: Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about the sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow. - Isaiah 50:11 The Stars That Blink: If the goodman of the house had known in what time the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. - Matthew 24:43-44 | |
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To Jay A. Parry, Who has read everything And made it better. | |
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A Sleep and a Forgetting: There was nothing remarkable about a rat failing to run a maze. A Thousand Deaths: "You will make no speeches," said the prosecutor. Skipping Stones: Bergen Bishop wanted to be an artist. Second Chance: By the age of seven Batta was thoroughly trapped, though she scarcely recognized it until she was twenty-two. Breaking the Game: Herman Nuber's feet were asleep, and every timr he shifted his weight they tingled unbearably. Lifeloop: Arran lay on her bed, weeping. Burning: There were exactly twenty ships, and they were exactly alike - vast cylinders, kilometers long and kilometers wide, with slender needles sticking out of one end. And What Will We Do Tomorrow?: Of all the people on Capitol, only Mother was allowed to awaken in her own bed, the bed where she had slept with Selock Gray before his death eight hundred years ago. Killing Children: He heard the door click open but did not turn away from the tall pile of soft plastic block he was building. When No One Remembers His Name, Does God Retire?: The prophet, Amblick, lay dying on a bed they had laid out on the floor of the room the goverment had provided rent-free for their meetings. The Stars That Blink: The Governor owned a telescope, and knew how to use it. | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in English (1)▾Book descriptions Our world is charged with both the grandeur of God and the void of his absence. The seven deadly sins are the force causing that hole. They are at work in each of us. They decimate our relationships, our souls and our world. These deadly sins often seem pleasing and good for gaining what we desire, but they are thoroughly poisonous. Conversely, the Beatitudes are Jesus' pictures of a restored creation. The Beatitudes introduced what Jesus said to his earliest followers about a life strong and fruitful. In fact, the Beatitudes give us a glimpse of a world empty of evil and filled to the edges with God's life. Looking at the Beatitudes and the seven deadly sins in turn, we see two paths, two sets of invitations. Both call to deep places within us to come and taste. Both invite us to take up residence. Both present themselves as life as it actually is. But only one will draw us further into reality. And only one will make us happy. "Of the many, many books about the Gospels, or about Jesus, or about Christian morality, only one in a thousand gives us a real breakthrough, a new big picture'. Most are just nice little candles on the cake. Seven is a bonfire. It's not just good; it's striking. It doesn't just say all the things you've heard a thousand times before. And yet it's totally in sync with both the saints and the scholars." --Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College, and author of over forty-five books, including Fundamentals of the Faith. ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description |
Contains the short stories: - A Sleep and a Forgetting - A Thousand Deaths - Skipping Stones - Second Chance - Breaking the Game - Lifeloop - Burning - And What Will We Do Tomorrow? - Killing Children - When No One Remembers His Name, Does God Retire? - The Stars That Blink | |
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There is indeed some good stuff. "Skipping Stones" is a decent tale about two boys, one rich and one poor, who grow increasingly separate thanks to use of somec (the drug that creates the suspended animation). I also really enjoyed "Second Chance," which deals with some issues of memory manipulation as well.
There are some other solid stories here. "Lifeloop" is a trifle obvious but well written, about a person whose whole life is broadcast (we would now say "streamed") such that the self has become a performance, even more relevant now, I suspect, than it would have been in 1979. "And What Will We Do Tomorrow?" delves into the psychology of Mother, the ancient ruler of Capitol, who uses somec so much she's only awake for a day every five years.
I checked the contents of Capitol against the ISFDB's entry for Worthing Saga as I went, and I have to say, I think Card absolutely made the right call on which stories he kept in print, and which ones he did not. Many of the stories here, especially earlier in the book are bad, clumsy vehicles for exposition about Capitol and somec that don't make any sense, especially "A Sleep and a Forgetting." So Capitol is more an interesting curio than something worth tracking down on its own merits; if you want the good stuff, you can already get that from The Worthing Saga.