Just beginning to get into this tale of Los Angeles by one of the most gifted and reclusive story-tellers of our age. His prose is so sharp that you feel like you are immediately pulled into the drama that revolves around a private investigator and a cast of 60's era LA "Hippie Freaks" - Pynchon has said that LA is the main character in this novel so that is exciting seeing as - I Love LA!
I have said many times, about the Bible, that the more you read and study it the more questions it raises and that those that are the most steadfast and certain in their positions are typically the one's who haven't done much digging. The more I 'dig in' to the text of scripture, or the whole amazing, reckless and cosmic story line, the more I find myself in a labyrinth of interpretations and potential ambiguities. The Evolution of God is a book for those who are interested in the 'digging'. Wright digs deep but not where you might expect.
I assumed, unwisely, by the title and the fantastic color choices of the cover that I was going to be reading a very different kind of book. It looked very clinical and self important at the same time. Instead of exploding our minds with succinct presentations of scientific data that show that the idea of God 'evolved' in the human mind, Wright digs into the Old Testament. I mean really deep into the Old Testament. Pointing out the similarities of the Polynesian Hunter Gatherer societies with the hunter gatherers of OT Canaanites. He raises some provoking questions about the possibility of the monotheism of the world three largest religions (Judaism, Islam and Christianity) evolved out of the Pantheon of Canaanites gods. The Yahweh that we now understand seems according to the comparative textual evidence as a fusion of both the god EL (the god of gods) and the God of War: Yahweh. although this is shocking partly because of how it resolves the scattered dual nature of the OT God who has so many names (even in the Hebrew texts themselves) seems to be so violent and waring in the OT and more loving and merciful in the NT through the incarnation of Jesus.
He says a great deal of things that will make your head spin as he pulls you into a winding web of translation, editing and interpretive license that all come along with a modern rational reading of scripture. I love the fact that he is so deeply engaged with the text and is actively wrestling with how exterior forces such as economics, international stability and others have a major impact on the way God is viewed. When it served the consolidation of power to unite behind 'the One True God", Yahweh was left standing in the wake of Israel's great reformer king Josiah. After his men got ahold of the scriptural texts (which where not canonized, yet, beyond the first five books of the OT) the OT takes a decidedly monotheistic turn towards the God of War - Yahweh, who can beat his rival Baal at his own game by raining fire or just simply raining. He shows convincingly during passages from Elijah's life (like the one I just notes where Yahweh and Baal have a steel-cage-to-the-shame battle) that a turning point of political and evolutionary forces swiftly consolidated the nation of Israel out of the Canaanite peoples of Northern Judea (or the Promised Land).
I don't agree with everything he says but he has really forced me to take a larger view of all things related to the scriptures. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in 'digging' but be willing to sort through a few heavy coughing nights before you find the diamonds.
I recently had the chance to view the new works on display at the Central Bank of the Bahamas gallery by John Cox and Heino Schimd. The security (and policeman) would not allow me to take any pics so sorry you will have to go see for yourself. Heino's work offers shadowy human forms that are upright but appear suspended in a state of visual tension by the style of the painting or drawing. The figures invite reflection and show a fine grasp of the mechanics of human anatomy. The figures are extremely minimal but seem to give off an emotional quality or depth by their positioning and posture. They seem sad or trapped, I couldn't decide for sure. I might be way of the mark here because they also have a sense of motion that captures the frenzy of modern life. each of Heino's series are striking and startling in their simplicity.
John Cox's new work appears to be a movement within his I against I series, incorporating both the single worded themes (this time rendered in a more integrated and personal way into each piece) and the use of boxing figures. The works explode the series into new color palates while also incorporating new elements of pattern and symbolism. Most of the works seem closer to John's roots and incorporate a broader range of his styles than anything I've previously seen. There seem to be hints both to his artistic influences like Rauschenberg as well as an engagement with cultural mores (see Jesus as an example) It seems that although these large canvases (each with it's own a small red square asymmetrically attached to the side) The canvases convey a sense of dreamlike vision. Perhaps we are staring into visual maps of the mental states of Heino's suspended figures, we are peering into the suspended unconscious that hides behind the physical. Together Heino capturing the shadowy outside of the physical world that we see and John presenting us with the interior meaning maps that prop up this shadowy world is a very heady and full visual presentation of the : Physical.
First of all I have to admit a distaste for Matt Damon, so seeing him as an out of shape man 10 years older than Matt is, wasn't a thrilling visual. The Informant tells the true tale of a very wacky bi-polar corporate executive who stole somewhere between 9 and 11.5 millions dollars from his corporate fat cat bosses. The story is interesting but unravels by placing Damon at the center even when his behavior is outrageous it is polite and without any real clear motive. I was amused to see Joel McHale from The Soup as an FBI agent (wonder if he will one day be nominated for an academy award like former Soup host Gregg Kinear?) It won't be for this wooden and almost invisible role. Scott Bacula fails to make the quantum leap he would have needed to resurrect his career as his acting is staid and pedestrian. If it wasn't for the lunacy of the story I would probably have walked out...
