Robyn's Page

Robyn's Currently Reading

Caught in the Web of Words by Elizabeth Murray

-Started June-ish

-Rated 10/10

-An amazing biography of an amazing man, James Murray, the head editor of the first published Oxford English Dictionary.

-I also plan to post a more detailed review/commentary on the main page. Eventually.

Chivalry by Zach Hunter

-Started in October

-Rated 6/10

-A discussion of how the knights' code of honour applies to society today, particularily in our generation. Zach Hunter, modern day abolitionist, writes about the ways that this generation has done an extraordinary job taking up chivalry and social justice around the world, but has a hard time applying it with our neighbours.
-Update: The writing is atrocious...well, that's not really fair. I described it to my youth pastor as "very readable" since he simply writes the way he talks leaving grammar, sentence structure, and any sort of voculary behind. Regardless, it's still a pretty good book, which, if you know me well, is a huge compliment since I'm such a stickler for great writing. A very well timed book as well, given current high school/college culture.

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
-Started early January
-Rated 7/10 (so far)
-This one has been on my list for a while, and I grabbed a copy the other day; printed in 1965 and still in pretty great shape (the print date matters more to me than it should...) I'm not sure how much you know about it, but it's pretty weird. I thoroughly enjoy books about people with mental illness (I can relate and I find the human brain particularly fascinating when it works in a way that most would call "disfuncional.") If I could travel back in time to a couple of days ago, when I started, I would tell myself to wait until I could read the whole thing in one sitting, but it's still been good. I have a feeling this will be one that I read more than once, just since it's so short and I suspect I'd get different things out of it with each reading.

Robyn:

As long as I can remember, math and science have been my passion, but as I explore more branches of life, they've become more akin to something I'm pretty good at, but not my only passions. I have this tendency to grab onto a topic, dive right into it, and be ready for the next within a year or two, so to explain what I like, what my "thing" is would be difficult. Since it set my heart on fire about 2 years ago, apologetics is what I enjoy. The past 3 years I've found myself working to help abolish modern day slavery among other social justice projects. The past 6 months, I've been fixated on the Oxford English Dictionary and the story of how it came to be. This week I'm reading the autobiography of an English major who went to Oxford to study 17th-18th century literature, so I'm getting into that.

I am the most sceptical person I know (though also rather open minded which leads to some interesting inner dialogue,) and I'm not easily swayed by ideas or theories; I am, however, easily influenced by style, particularly in music and literature. I find myself speaking and writing in ever changing styles, as I enjoy the various styles of others (just imagine what it was like for my family the week this summer when I went a little Edgar Allan Poe crazy.) This letter is not the way I always write, but it is one of the genres I enjoy; later this afternoon I will be finishing an essay on the politicization of Western NGOs, and it will require a completely different "hat" which I enjoy just as much.