(finally did a full review of No Future Without Forgiveness; please read)
also I finished Long Walk to Freedom (finally, after many many interruptions). I think I am going to read Desmond Tutu's book and a couple of others before I blog a review though. it's hard to review an autobiography, because it's almost like you're reviewing the man and his actions too. well, on one hand, you should, but as far as a literary review goes, you shouldn't. I want to try and avoid that if I can, so I'll put it off a while. I recommend it though. I will probably still end up giving it a 4 or 5. anybody could read this; very unpretentious and direct.
---
I think that Mandela's book is very readable, and without trying to deal with the actual subject matter of the book, I give it a 4.
I started Tutu's book but he is hard to read. and then the subject matter is confessions of torture. I had to forgo it--- it's still waiting on the bookshelf.
quite different in style from Mandela's work. you can tell that Mandela was/is a lawyer and Tutu was/is a clergyman. and then this book is about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa after it became free, while the last book was about ANC's struggle before the country was free.
I am liking this idea of ubuntu. my humanity is inextricably bound up in your humanity. this makes a lot of sense to me, and may ultimately be the reason why I can't just bring myself to go live in a tree and let the world handle its own affairs. (for someone who is so independent of society, I sure do get upset by things that happen to other people. and just the fact that I've got a blog really gives me away I guess.)
I am also thinking that just coming forth and confessing to all your sins (or whatever you want to call them; transgressions, crimes, etc) is a kind of purgatory in itself. a class of hell all its own.
just think: if you actually had to come to terms with all the things you've done.. if you couldn't hide behind that image you have of yourself, but instead had to realize what you really are and what you really are capable of... who wouldn't break down? even if you hadn't murdered anyone or destroyed any villages or pillaged and plundered or anything like that... there would still be enough to break even the strongest sense of pride.
maybe the afterlife has its own Truth and Reconcilliation Commission. on the day of Judgement, you stand before God (and whoever else you believe in), and if you voluntarily confess all your sins in all their details, then you are immediately granted amnesty and allowed into heaven. if you try to hold anything back, or claim that you've done nothing wrong, or claim that what you did wasn't your fault, then instead of amnesty, you receive a trial. and omnipotent all-knowing judges have no derth of evidence to bring forth. you are therefore summarily convicted of your crimes and presented with whatever sentence God et al bestows upon you.
don't you like how I have that all worked out?
well I guess that would be one way of doing it, but don't think that I'm promoting Archbishop Tutu to god or anything. just the usual mulling things over and seeing if any interesting ideas come up.
time to go to bed
No comments:
Post a Comment