I have heard mention of this book in class quite a few times this semester. Curiosity got the best of me and I ran out and bought it, and so glad I did! I'm not that far into it, but it's a pretty hilarious take on living biblically and following the Bible's rules as closely as possible. The very opening of the novel gives the reader a quiet excitment that A.J. Jacobs will probably be pretty unsuccessful at following the Bible literally:
'It's the first day, and I already feel like the water is three feet over my head. I have chosen September 1 to start my project, and from the moment I wake up, the Bible consumes my life. I can't do anything without fearing I'm breaking a biblical law. Before I so much as inhale or exhale, I have to run through a long mental checklist of the rules' (15).
Getting around day to day proves difficult enough for me; I'm a space cadet 90% of the time. But having a strict set of rules to adhere to every day would be absolutely maddening, or at least I think it would be. Jacobs (nice last name) tries to follow the rules of the most famous book of all time. You would think he would get a little support, right? Or at least understanding? Most of the time, he gets neither, and many people cannot figure out why he is even troubling himself with such an impossible task. His own wife gets so fed up with his unwillingness to touch her or anything she's touched while menstruating that she touches everything in the house, and Jacobs is forced to reside in a tiny, untained corner. It puts into perspective some of the impossible aspects of the Bible, and makes me very thankful for my less structured life. I haven't finished the book yet, but I'm glad I bought it!
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