This is the third, and probably the final, post in a series about some of the books I had thought I lost or forgotten I had, and was pleased to find when I cleaned out a cupboard. They are in no particular order.
The Bible
This was the real treasure. I found 5 Bibles. The first was a leather-bound NIV (New International Version) that my mum gave me for Christmas in 1989, so it has a lot of value for me. After all these years of heavy use in all kinds of places, and storage in non-ideal conditions during certain periods, it's not in very good condition physically.
Another one that was a gift is an NIV Life Application Study Bible, which my girlfriend, at that time, gave me for my birthday in 1993.
Then there is a Good News Bible. It's one of those ones with the brightly covered hard back - and the printing is actually on the cover, so no dust-jacket. It's a specifically Australian edition. The full title is actually, Good News Bible - Revised Australian Edition. And it has those cartoon like images that I like so much in the Good News Bible. Because I've hardly used it, it's in virtually new condition. I've never been a huge fan of the Good News Bible....I think in the trade off between textual richness and accessibility, it errs too much on the side of accessibility. But still, especially as I get to know the Bible better, I like having a full range of different translations. Something I'm interested in exploring is, what is it that makes this an Australian edition...like, how is it different from other Good News Bibles? [I imagine Jesus greeting the prospective disciples with G'day Mate....and things like that....the feeding of the 5,000 with snags and sliced bread, instead of loaves and fishes...no]
I really think each translation has its own strengths and weaknesses. For a long time, I only used the NIV, but then when the New Living Translation (NLT) came out (1996), I heard good things about it and started reading it. Part of what was good about it was that it was noticeably different from the NIV, which is probably because it's more of a thought-for-thought translation as opposed to a word-for-word translation, whereas the NIV translators strove to strike more of a balance between the two approaches. The New American Standard Bible goes to the opposite extreme - where the NLT is primarily thought-for-thought, the NASB is very much a word-for-word translation (not that a translation can ever be perfectly word for word, because different languages are structured in different ways). For that reason, the NASB is highly respected and it's the Bible of choice for a lot of churches and ministers. Definitely, I think word-for-word is preferable for study purposes, because you can do more of a close reading of the text. I haven't read the NASB but I have one on order from Amazon.
In my experience with the NLT and NIV, I've found passages in the NLT that cast a new and interesting light on things. It seemed more clear and meaningful than the NIV in those examples, but then there were other times where I would read a passage in the NLT and be disappointed because some of the meaning was lost. But that's always the case. There are parts of the Revised Standard Version (which, along with the King James Version, was the first translation I read) that are very meaningful to me, and when I read those same passages in the NIV, the slight difference in wording seemed to make a big difference in the meaning and I felt like something was lost.
The other two Bibles are both different editions of the NIV, both with unique characteristics and both in pretty good condition.
The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine De Pizan (Translated by Earl Jeffrey Richards)
Ever since I first heard about this book, I wanted to get a copy of it, but it wasn't widely available. You wouldn't find it in the classics section even of the bigger bookshops. Now, with the internet, it's a lot easier. I can't remember how I actually got a copy. I remember I ordered it from somewhere though, in the early 2000s. I ordered 2 copies - 1 for me and 1 for a friend of mine.
The book was written in French in 1405 and it's basically about how great women are. Christine writes about the contribution women have made to civilisation and gives lots of examples from history and literature - referencing Virgil, Ovid, Homer, Greek myths and other history. She mounts an argument for the intellectual and moral excellence of women, and specifically refutes prevailing negative views. So, this is surely one of the greatest feminist texts ever, especially when you conisder the time in which it was written.
A Short History of the 20th Century by Geoffrey Blainey
I bought this in a pack of two from the post office, but I can't remember what the other book was. I like it because it's in such good condition, it's an interesting subject, it's not that short, after all (around 500 pages...I don't like short books), and I was just happy to see it and find out I still have it.
Mila 18 by Leon Uris
My interest in this book was inspired by my mum. It was one of her favourite books, which she read multiple times and found very inspirational, even though, as she said, the subject matter is kind of bleak. It's a historical fiction account of the uprising of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto - when they fought back against the Germans, and fought back with fortitude and fury, and won, at least temporarily. Such heroism is always moving. Such courage is of a finer quality than the courage of the one with all the advantages and odds on their side.
Mao: The Real Story by Alexander V Pantsov with Steven I Levine
I've always - at least as far back as I can remember - been fascinated by China - it's politics, history, society, culture - and other Asian countries too, to some extent, but I ended up learning more about China. I've always been drawn in by the tension between what is the same - our common humanity - and what is different - the difference between culture and society. And Mao is, of course, one of the central figures in the history of modern China.
I like this book physically too. It has a nice (appropriately) red hard cover, the paper is a creamy colour and good quality, and it has that effect where the outer edge of the paper isn't straight up and down - it's kind of jagged....it's called deckled or uncut edges. That used to be how all books were made but in modern times, it's an aesthetic choice.
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That brings this series to an end. I might do something similar with some of my other books - like, go through some of the books in my 'to be read' pile and write about them, or write about some of the books on my Amazon saved for later list or my goodreads lists. I might do a books IV, but it won't be my next post.
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