Fathers and Sons

Consider this book the Trilogy in our most recent MOP reads. It’s a book about life. I read it years ago; kept it, and want to share it. Interestingly, this novel is in fact the first in a trilogy by the author.

It is with some degree of trepidation that I dare to say the author is not one of us. I suspect it may be an unveiled confidence laying bare my pomposity that shields my fear from this fostered bias.
I expect you lay bare many hidden gems mining the pages of this novel.

Here are clues that will lead you, with minimal research, to its one word title disclosure that begins with a time honored consonant. These clues and the Published critical acclaims that follow  promoted will direct you to the source of this Pulitzer Prize nugget.

“(Blank) is a book that deserves to be read slowly, thoughtfully, and repeatedly”. Good novels about spiritual life are rare. This is one of the best.”
”You will hang on every word.”
“(Blank) is a quiet, deep, celebration of life that you must not miss.”
“This is a morally and emotionally complex novel where every word matters. A classic that should be read, savored, and read again.”
(Blank) is the rarest of books. The disarmingly simple prose in this novel is filled with profound wisdom.”
“Quietly powerful and moving articles of faith.”
(Blank) is a quiet, deep celebration of life that you must not miss.”

The 2004 book spins a moral tale that touches humanity regardless of gender in about 250 pages.

I endeavor to enjoin our minds to expound the “between the lines wisdom” of this novel over the holiday season, which extends through my January birthday.

Enjoy,
I remain Pompous

Demon Deception

Gentlemen of the parchment,

Halloween fast approaches. Soon, we will inevitably find ourselves partaking in the activities that surround this strange holiday - trick-or-treating, costume parties, carving pumpkins, apple bobbing etc. But there is a spiritual side that must be explored further. A darker side. A side that is intent on securing the damnation of good men like ourselves.

Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith. 1 Peter 5:8–9

Building upon the spiritual exploration of our last book (Siddhartha), I want us to look more at another element of life - spiritual combat. The secret and interior art, an invisible struggle in which we engage every day against the temptations, the evil suggestions that Our Father Below tries to plant in our hearts through the help of his legion of demons.

The powers of demons are greater than those of humans, and their powers can fool us if we are not careful. Demons have the power to communicate with other demons and with human beings. They are very intelligent - and have knowledge of human beings throughout history, and thereby know all human languages, including ancient ones. They know our personal habits and behaviors. And they use all these things to deceive us.

The author of our next parchment will be no stranger to you. He is one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. Unsurprisingly, he shares many similarities to myself - your beloved Lord Lloyd de Papel. Born in the same city, almost 85 years to the day before I. Raised in the Protestant faith. His older brother's name you ask? - Warren.

It is with great honor and privilege that I get to add this man's name to the list of authors in our ever-growing library.

With great anticipation I, Lord Lloyd de Papel, present to you my selection:

Click here to reveal selection

Seekers of the written word. By now, no doubt, your thoughts go to "parched" before "parchment" as I, your brother McPageturner has left your thirst unquenched like a prisoner of Zanzibar. Fear not, as my selection now will prove quickly consumed yet deliberate on the uptake, serving to simultaneously extinguish the desperately burning fires in the loins of your imagination while providing the long burning nourishment required by the intellect.

The photo accompanying this post should strike with immediate resonance in a true MOP, as a program with that particular style, wit and staying power is most certainly mandatory viewing for those moments when one's parchment is set on the side table in support of a brief diversion. Although our author was famously reclusive, he has voiced himself twice on the Simpsons and has appeared three times, always wearing a bag over his head to conceal his true identity. Our author, along with another celebrated MOP author Kurt Vonnegut, studied at Cornell University where he attended none other than Vladimir Nabokov's Literature 312 class. What a web the MOP spins

By now you are but a quick google search away so I'll spare further delay. Our author is Thomas Pynchon, and our book selection was written during a time where Pynchon wrote that "he was facing a creative crisis, with four novels in progress, announcing: "If they come out on paper anything like they are inside my head then it will be the literary event of the millennium"

Our selection is not the author's most celebrated work, though it has won the Richard and Hilda Rosenthal Foundation Award and appears on TIME's 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005, a completely arbitrary date range to be sure. It's a book Pynchon calls "a short story, but with gland trouble" which will only help to expedite our consumption and satisfy our eagerness to discuss parchment once more. With great anticipation I, Margraff Readie McPageturner, present to you our long overdue selection:

Thomas Pynchon

The Crying of Lot 49