Category: Myth – spirituality

A Comic-Con footnote

by Nick Owchar, posted in A Game of Thrones, Books, Comic books, faith, Myth - spirituality, religion, spirituality, Superheroes

I was standing outside the convention center for Comic-Con 2014 on Saturday -- it was hot and noisy, and waiting for the traffic signal to change was even more unpleasant because of the Christian evangelicals positioned at various crosswalks. As we waited to cross the street, they blasted our ears with their mini-speakers. All of us, … Continue reading A Comic-Con footnote

Mystic moments: Taliban poetry and more

by Nick Owchar, posted in Books, Myth - spirituality, Myth -Poetry, Poetry, Writing

What's the purpose of poetry? A news story made me think about that question again. It also made me take a fairly recent book down from my shelf that I haven't looked at in a while, Poetry of the Taliban, edited by Alex Strick Van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn (Columbia University Press). The Times of … Continue reading Mystic moments: Taliban poetry and more

Books of death: new in bookstores

by Nick Owchar, posted in Book reviews, Books, Cancer, Death, Julian Barnes, Myth - spirituality, Poetry, Writing

When Julian Barnes writes about losing his wife to a brain tumor, he writes instead about the adventures of 18th and 19th century balloonists. It makes for the most unusual kind of memoir -- and it highlights how truly difficult it is to express what we're feeling when one of our loved ones dies. The … Continue reading Books of death: new in bookstores