365 Challenge, Day 45: Aaron's Book Club (Part Two)

One of TJ's new coworkers gave me what is probably the most thoughtful gift I have ever received for my birthday this past March.

Flag Day had occurred two weeks prior to my party, and this particular co-worker showed up to the event with a copy of Pedro Páramo, by Mexican author Juan Rulfo.

I had never heard of the book, or author, before. Neither had he, though he went on to explain that he had learned that Juan Rulfo had been a very famous author that lived near Guadalajara. He thought that, were I to read Pedro Páramo, I would have something to discuss with the locals once we arrive at post.

He was right.

Over the course of the last two days, I finally made time to read Pedro Páramo. I find only a little shame in admitting that I have no idea what it's about.

Don't get me wrong...I loved the book. It's just one of those that you have to read a second time to understand.

Pedro Páramo is the story of Juan Preciado and his mission to fulfill his deceased mother's last request - that he journey to the town of Comala and meet his father, Pedro Páramo, whom his mother had left prior to his birth. The journey leads him to what can best be described as a ghost town. There are no people here. Only echoes of the past. Echoes that Juan is inexplicably able to interact with.

What follows is a whirlwind story that left this particular reader with more questions than answers.

Told in a style known as "magical realism," Pedro Páramo takes place both in Juan's present and Pedro's past. There are no chapter divisions to tell your mind when the story flow changes. You must remain sharp or risk losing your sense of direction...just like Juan Preciado. By the end of the novel, I was not even certain that Juan Preciado still existed...or if he ever had. I think that was the point, but a second reading will tell me for certain.

I start my Spanish class on Tuesday. Pedro Páramo will most assuredly stay on my book shelf, to be read again at a later date. I like to think that, when that day arrives, I will be able to comfortably forgo the English language translation that I currently own in favor of a Spanish-language copy.

As someone that likes to read, I had already considered the fact that finding English-language books might be more difficult while living abroad. Now, thanks to this birthday present, I am eager to read more from the local talent, in the local tongue.

What better way to make new friends than through their entertainment media?

365 Challenge, Day 42: Life, the Universe, and Everything

In Douglas Adams' science fiction masterpiece, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, supercomputer Deep Thought is tasked with discovering the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. After 7 1/2 millions years, Deep Thought finally determines the Answer to be "42." Unfortunately, The Ultimate Question itself remains a mystery.

I had a racquetball date at the Jewish Community Center this morning. Camera in hand as I walked down 16th Street, I expected today's photo to be a shot of the JCC, or perhaps the racquetball courts within. Instead, I found this church...

And in front of it, a sign that stated the following:

What Is The Connection Between

Dan Brown's

The Lost Symbol

and Church of the Holy City?

√ p, 463, 12th line from the bottom!

Having read the book prior to leaving Orlando, I certainly couldn't remember any sort of connection between the two. "The Lost Symbol" was the only book in Dan Brown's Robert Langdon trilogy to not feature the church prominently. I had assumed this would be a good thing, as I recall neither "Angels & Demons" nor "The DaVinci Code" painting Christianity in a positive light. So what, then, could be contained within the pages of this third novel that warranted attention? Since my copy of the book is currently housed in a storage facility somewhere in Maryland, courtesy of the US Department of State, I headed to my local Barnes & Noble to find out.

To provide some framing for what you are about to read, I will say that this (very minor) plot point revolves around a threat by the story's antagonist to release an edited (and thus, out of context) video to the media that demonstrates a number of rituals sacred to the Freemasons.

"With the exact model number, Nola had been able to cross-reference compatible carriers, bandwidths, and service grids, isolating the laptop's most likely access node - a small transmitter on the corner of Sixteenth and Corcoran - three blocks from the Temple."

That's it. Really. That's what all the ballyhoo is about. That was boring. I already knew that the church stood at the corner of Sixteenth and Corcoran, as would anybody that passed by. That couldn't be what the sign meant, could it? I doubted it, so I read further.

"Nola quickly relayed the information to Sato in the helicopter. On approach toward the House of the Temple, the pilot had performed a low-altitude flyover and pulsed the relay node with a blast of electromagnetic radiation, knocking it off-line only seconds before the laptop completed the transfer."

That didn't tell me anything, either. So instead I decided to look the church up. It took some digging to find just what type of congregation one would find at Church of the Holy City, but I finally discovered that it is part of the National Swedenborgian Church.

Like me, your first thought was probably, "The what now?" Sadly, Wikipedia offers more information about the church than the official website. Click here to learn more.

Emanuel Swedenborg has been compared to Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith in a number of ways, including their mutual reference to the highest heaven as "celestial," in concert with the usage of the apostle Paul (Corinthians 15:40-42).

Now, given the fact that three other structures share the corner of Sixteenth and Corcoran, I feel that the church's perceived connection to Dan Brown's book is just as flimsy as this blog's introductory paragraph is to the body of the text, but there you go.

And at least this is Day 42 of the 365 Challenge.

More fun with the number 42:

• The angle in degrees for which a rainbow appears
• The eight digits of pi beginning from 242,422 places after the decimal point are 42424242
• In Judaism, the number of the "Forty-Two Lettered Name" ascribed to God
• Fox Mulder lived in Apartment 42 at 2530 Hegal Place, Alexandria, Virginia in Fox's The X-Files
• Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson's jersey number
• Number of gallons in a barrel of oil
• 42nd Street is a popular movie, musical and thoroughfare in New York City
• The number of illustrations in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

365 Challenge, Day 22: Aaron's Book Club (Part One)

Today, I'd like to talk to you about glee.

No, not the hit FOX television show. No, not the wildly popular music that is currently trending more iTunes downloads than American Idol.

Instead, I want to talk to you about a new book series based on the television show and music.

Let me preface this by saying two things:

#1 - I don't normally read "literature" based on television programming. I tend to think it's trite, unimaginative, and unnecessary. Not to mention the fact that it usually contradicts the media it is based on.

#2 - I was bored today. And I love me some glee.

It was a quick read. Something one might finish off during an afternoon at the beach. As for me, I burn easily, so I read it in bed.

All told, glee: The Beginning was much better than I expected, and I seriously recommend it to any and all "gleeks." The book delves into events occurring prior to the pilot episode of glee and does a great job of establishing a status quo for the main cast.

My biggest concern about the transition to the written word was that there would be an inability to enjoy the musical numbers. I was right in that fear, but it is such a trivial concern. After a season with the glee kids, the show is more about the characters than it is about the singing. And thanks to the written word, I feel that I understand each of them better than I did before.

And that's what makes glee so great. No matter how old you are, no matter how far removed you are from high school, you can stilll relate to these kids. Each slushie thrown in their faces, each coming out story, each struggle with weight, each desire to be more popular. We all know, to some extent, what they are going through. The humor is but a backdrop. These are the laugh-to-keep-from-crying moments in everyone's lives. If you don't watch glee, you really should. If you do watch glee, you should read this book.

The book was penned by one Sophia Lowell. If her name sounds familiar, I couldn't say why. A Google search shows that this was her debut novel. She is working on a sequel, though, that is due in February. I'll be picking that up, too.

Oh, wait. Can I get a volunteer to please pick this up and mail it to Mexico?

Hello?

Anyone?