The books I will be writing a bit about today are especially interesting to me as I have recently heard each of the authors speak about their books and experiences leading up to the writing of them.
.
The first book, The Cellist of Sarajevo, is a proof copy that I got at the general book fair in Victoria. The book will be available in stores in April. Galloway is a Canadian author who lives near Vancouver and teaches writing at the University of BC and at Simon Fraser University.
.
The first book, The Cellist of Sarajevo, is a proof copy that I got at the general book fair in Victoria. The book will be available in stores in April. Galloway is a Canadian author who lives near Vancouver and teaches writing at the University of BC and at Simon Fraser University.
Galloway has spent time in Sarajevo and has written this fiction piece to express what life was like when the city was under siege. He has condensed the time period to about a month. The story begins with a dreadful mortar blast that kills twenty-two people waiting in a bread line. A cellist views this from his window. To honor those who lost their lives, every day for twenty two days, the cellist dresses in his tuxedo, sits in the crater and plays Albionoi's Adiago. This is very dangerous. The cellist, the mortar, and the music is a true bit in the story.
The cellist is one of three central characters getting by while being held hostage in their now unfamiliar city. One of the characters is a girl who calls herself Arrow. She is a trained sniper, a defender against those who threaten, from the distant hills, the towns' people. She does not go by her given name. That person did not hate and could not do what she finds herself doing now. War changes people in all sorts of ways - makes them into people they never imagined being. At the same time, there are brave breakthroughs of beauty and grace under hideous duress.
The second book is entitled Amish Grace.
I heard this author speak at a local church and I was very much impressed with his grace, compassion, humility and knowledge. Donald Kraybill, lives near Nickle Mines, Pennsylvania where you may remember a horrific shooting took place in an Amish school in October of 2006. Ten girls were shot, five died and four have recovered. The fifth is semi comatose. Because Kraybill studies and writes books on Annabaptists, including Mennonites and Amish, he was called upon by news media the days after the shooting to answer hundreds of questions.
This book is not so much about violence as it is about forgiveness. The journey, that is this story, unfolds revealing four surprises. First, it was a horrible surprise that a such violence could strike in such peaceful surroundings. Second, the forgiveness expressed by the Amish, was very surprising to most outside the community - especially the speed with which it was offered and the actions that accompanied it. Thirdly, the Amish were surprised that forgiveness was surprising. Fourthly, it was surprising that very soon forgiveness became the media focus - transending the tragedy. In fact, some 2,500 news pieces written about forgiveness resulted .
The authors, there are three, look closely at the topic of forgiveness - what forgiveness is and what it is not. (Many Christians will say "forgive and forget" - not something I agree with. I think forgiving and remembering is more the point and how we remember - how we frame what we remember is the key.) Some of the questions addressed are; What is Amish forgiveness? Is Amish forgiveness different than regular Christian forgiveness? Doesn't forgiveness take time? Is forgiveness the same as pardon and does it minimize the evil that was done - saying it doesn't really matter? What can we take from this story?
In addition, there is a fantastic appendix for further reading on forgiveness. Already this book has lead to two other books I would like to read. One being, The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness, by Simon Wiesenthal. "A true story [I understand his own story] of a Nazi's plea for forgiveness to a Jewish Prisoner, with subsequent reflections on the prisoner's silent response." Wiesnethal asks many in his book, "Had you been asked, what would you have done?"
The book was funded by a group called the Fetzer institute, whose mission is to raise awareness in the global community of the power of love and forgiveness. Their slogan is, "Change everything. Love and Forgive." See http://www.fetzer.org/ The royalties from the sales of the book are going to Mennonite Central Committee to help children who have been hurt though poverty, war or natural disaster. Already 40,000 has been raised. There are a number of good reasons to buy and read this book in my opinion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update on my niece Kim. She is still in pain, neck and back, but she is home walking about and beginning to do stairs. She was unable to finish the volleyball season. I hope she is able to get back to school following this week, which is reading week. Physio therapy will be beginning soon. Thanks for your prayers and thanks for asking Jill.
Wow - white out!
Here they are! No I didn't pen them up as soon as I arrived - they were giving us the tour which included the beds. This is Eva's and they both wanted to go in and be a couple goofballs for us right of the bat. 
