Off the shelf: video podcast
Lately I've found it hard to keep up posting about new books I'm reading – even though I'm always reading books. So this is an experimental new "Off the Shelf" segment: I've recorded a short video talking about some of the things I've been reading lately, new books and old.
I dislike talking into a camera like this – but if you find this sort of thing enjoyable, let me know and I might do some more video-posts from time to time.
Books mentioned in this video:
- Augustine, The Trinity, trans. Edmund Hill (New City Press 1991)
- Garry Wills, Augustine's Confessions: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books; Princeton UP 2011)
- Brian Stock, Augustine the Reader: Meditation, Self-Knowledge, and the Ethics of Interpretation (Harvard UP 1996)
- Lewis Ayres, Augustine and the Trinity (Cambridge UP 2010)
- Mark A. Noll and Carolyn Nystrom, Clouds of Witnesses: Christian Voices from Africa and Asia (IVP 2011)
- Mark Twain, Autobiography of Mark Twain, ed. Harriet Elinor Smith, Volume 1 (University of California Press 2010)
- David Crystal, Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language (Oxford UP 2010)
- Gordon Campbell, ed., King James Bible: 400th Anniversary Edition (Oxford UP 2010)
A very nice mixture of books, very nicely discussed. By the way, does the plant get enough light? :-)
Keen Reader - have you forgotten the illuminated texts?
Hi Ben,
Really enjoyed the post. How do you find time to read so much? As young undergrad I find it tough to get through everything I need to (and it's not even that much!!) Can you give me some tips/advice on prioritizing reading? How may I cultivate my literary life in order to read more effectively and efficiently?
Ben,
I like this media as well, I mean youtube vid.; keep'm coming! I've been wanting to read Ayres book on Aug., so thank you for the heads up on that one. And that KJV looks sweet, and heavy.
Ben, you should definitely re-do your 'Church Dogmatics in a Week' in video format.
Thanks Ben. I prefer to read your reading reflections (not sure why - you are very fine to look at..), but if time requires it, having your talking head is better than not having anything from you, by far.
I enjoyed it. You have my vote to keep doing the video format.
Great, I enjoyed it. Could you also do something live, take questions and call ins? Look fwd to it, obliged.
I like it a lot, Ben. Hope you keep it up. But absolutely no pressure from this reader; academic life is cluttered enough without us readers from far flung places clamoring for yet another post!
The Oxford Quatercentary Edition of the KJV that you mention does not "reproduce the original typeface." As you should have deduced from the history books you have read, the KJV was originally printed in Black-Letter Gothic typeface. (Here is a sample image.) You will notice that the title page of the volume you have states that it is "An Exact Reprint in Roman Type." (Despite its title, it is not an exact reprint, as the version you have also omits the shorthand found in the original printing including the "R rotunda", the "Tironian et", and even the well-known "long S".)
The edition which is in your possession is, of course, a reprint of the well-known 1833 Oxford edition (reprinted in 1911 and now again in 2010) which claimed to reproduce, in Roman type, the features of the first 1611 edition
Ben, That was great. Very enjoyable. Keep it up.
How do you read so much so quickly?! You put me to shame :)
Danny asks how Ben can read so much. Well, he says you can read the Wills book on the Confessions, which presumably is not light reading, in an hour. Its 150 pp. long. QED.
I too loved the video, Ben. But it would be an immense shame, exceptionally gifted and glittering writer that you are, if the visual-oral begins to muscle out your posts.
Thanks for this, Ben. While listening to you, I spent a good deal of time looking at your study. And I have to ask: Given some of the volumes on your shelves, are you a millionaire?
Thanks for this great post Ben! It was especially good to see your face and hear your voice. BTW, how is the class on Ausgustine going? All best!
like Kim, I would be sad if this replaced your writing. But since you're so far away, it is great to see you and hear you talking about books. It almost feels like you're sitting here in my living room with me! I really enjoyed this format and hope that you do post some more in due course.
As an addition to an account of Augustine's life, I would recommend "The Devil and His Pomps in Fifth-Century Carthage: Renouncing Spectacula with Spectacular Imagery" by D.G van Slyke, in Dumbarton Oaks Papers, v59, 2005. (Spectacula including the ampitheatre of wild animals mauling and destroying each other.) A discussion of issues about the late-Antique world that is not entirely irelevant to our own, I think. DWLindeman
Ben,
This was GREAT. I hope this becomes a regular feature of F&T. My vote is that you keep writing AND recording.
Lastly, much like Daniel I too am impressed by how quickly you read. I think a post about how you do it, maybe something like "my reading habits" would be great.
Thanks again for this post.
Beats the Tuesday Book Club on ABC Ben!
We may all envy Ben's ability to read much quickly, nonetheless, I think we should also take into account that everyone has different thinking and reading styles. If reading as Ben does works for him, it may well be a gift. But there's no sin in reading slowly either. I think it's about who we are, and what we need when we are reading. I.e. reading slowly may be a gift too, just as Ben-like celerity is a gift. (Reading is often an aesthetic encounter between the author and the reader.) Students may well need to develop strategies for reading some material fast, but that can be done in various ways. Moreover, re-reading should not be discouraged. As Robertson Davies said "We never read the same book twice".
DWLindeman
More!
Also, can you read some Job for us too?
This is great. Enjoyed it very much. It would be wonderful to have video's of this type (on books & reading) from time to time. Many thanks.
Thanks, Anonymous - very sensible comments.
yes, please. this was great to listen to while i was getting ready for work.
Hi Ben,
I really appreciate both your site and your video. I'm a Presbyterian country pastor in Pennsylvania/USA, and I have been blessed by your site many times. The video is a wonderful format, as well, and I agree with the idea of putting your "Barth in a Week" up on video. Thank you! Your work is enriching to my mind and soul! Matthew Young
Video a great idea. Really interested in hearing what's good to read on a variety of topics. Thanks for the work you do Ben. Peter Lockhart
Excellent. I agree with virtually everyone else here. Please continue this but, of course, please comtinue your writing as well.
Very nice. The bit about reading Job made me smile as I recalled my husband reading Aristotle to our daughter when she was about the same age as your friend's baby.
Thank you, Ben. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
Very nice; you make me want to go read!
Ben--let's just say that as much as i love book reviews i wouldn't read your reviews but i would watch your video comments on them. Its much more relaxing than reading a book review in my opinion.
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