Main

January 30, 2006

Henry Ríos: Heaven = Forgiveness

Bleary-eyed this morning because I was up until 2 AM with a murder mystery I just could not put down. I could not stop reading until I got to the end and found out the "whodunit" answer.

"The Burning Plain" is taut, polished writing that moves with brisk structure and strong lyric description. Some of the phrases are so wonderful that you have to read them over just to enjoy the words.

The characters evolve with strong visual and psychological depth. It's a fiction way to reflect on social policy, philosophy -- theology. Here is one of the dialog moments between the hero, Henry Ríos, and his friend, Grant:

Grant: "Of course I believe in an afterlife. Don't you?
Henry: "In heaven and hell? No"
He put his arm around me. "Heaven and hell? You're just like Hugo. He can only imagine heaven if there's a hell. Well, you're both Catholic, after all. Me, Henry, I think it's all heaven. Great food, good weather, hunky guys."
"You're describing San Francisco," I pointed out.
"Why not?" Why shouldn't it be lke this, but without the suffering?"
"Even for those who inflict suffering?
"We all inflict suffering, honey," he said. "And we all suffer. Why not a world where everyone forgives everyone else for good?"
"Not everything can be forgiven," I said.
He shook his head. "That's why you worry about hell."

"Burning Plain" is Michael Nava's penultimate (Nava has retired the lawyer-detective Henry Rios) in a seven-book mystery series that shows the bad and good textures of American society. It's been called a bildungsroman that is an American Classic.

Happy reading.
am

Posted by at 8:23 AM | | Comments (0)

November 16, 2004

Conference on Hispanic Catholic Materials

MACC has announced a gathering of publishers and users of Catholic Hispanic Materials to figure out what to do to serve the growing Hispanic Catholic community. Serving on the steering committee, I'm thrilled at the prospect of frank talk and creating thinking about the creation and sharing of materials that serve the religious needs of Hispanic Catholics. Video, websites, music, books, lesson plans, animations, hopefully will be part of the discussions that begin October 12 in the afternoon, go on all day 13th, and conclude at noon on the 14th. This is by invitation, so if you know of anyone who wants to join in this conversation, link them to the website.
Adán

Posted by at 8:06 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 18, 2004

Chicana Poetry

"Printed Revolutionary" by Maribel Ledesma reminds me this morning of the power of art.

Adán

Posted by at 9:43 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

April 15, 2004

Latinos/as and same sex marriage

There is a lot of legal maneuvering going on in Massachusetts by people opposed to same sex marriage, but it looks like May 17, 2004 will see marriage licenses issued for same sex couples. Hurrah. Lalo Alcaraz has an insightful cartoon about this.

Adán

Posted by at 6:37 AM | | Comments (0)

March 24, 2004

Mariana De La Noche

Last night's episode of "Mariana De La Noche" had an incredible fire scene that looked awfully difficult too shoot. This fire scene sets up a connection between the hero, Ignacio and the evil mine-owner, Marcia. Marcia will seek to destroy the love between Ignacio and the heroine, Mariana. This telenovela pits miners against wealthy, arrogant landowners while uncovering the human connections that cross class and economic boundaries.

It airs on Univision at 7 pm, CST. Be wary, this website is horribly commercialized with all kinds of garrish and in-your-face pop-ups, dissolves....yuk.

About 3 million US Hispanic households watched Mariana De La Noche last night. That's about 12 million people. This telenovelas continues the public discourse/reflection about economic just issues in Latin America and also in the US.
AM

Posted by at 10:13 AM | | Comments (0)

November 29, 2003

Thanksgiving

I miss my mom at thanksgiving. I call one of my sisters at whose home we used to gather to celebrate and eat turkey with the trimmings: chile verde, beans, tortillas. This year i cooked and had an enriching banquet w/friends who are now family. All is grace and we have so much for which to be thankful.
Then, there is the knowledge that our war with Iraq is causing death-destruction, and I feel that the devil is walking on earth with renewed vigor.
This on-line discusson in a native american comic website is a reminder of the ongoing wars that we live with here and which we export elsewhere.

Tomorrow I leave on a 17-day work trip to Europe and will not have ready access for blogging. Have a blessed Christmas, a joyous Jan. 1 celebration.

Adán

Posted by at 2:05 PM | | Comments (0)

November 21, 2003

Chicano Spirit

I like the many facets in this undergraduate essay, "The complexities of the Chicano Spirit," written in 1997 by sophomore Rebecca Rodriguez at UT, Austin. I found it while looking for any mention of religion in chicano scholarship. I think there was traditionally a general blind spot about religion in Chicano studies and increasingly new scholars are beginning address religion head on. This essay does that.

Of course, David Carrasco has been a leader in this regard, and this article about the way he conducts his courses at Harvard is an insight into the "look and feel" of religion as it is mingled with contemporary culture. Note how in this essay the "religious" is easily blended with other themes. I like that a lot.

Posted by at 8:00 AM | | Comments (2)

November 6, 2003

Identity from the grassroots

Yesterday I talked and linked about Guadalupe and identity. Here's a blog about identity that made me laugh. Adelante, Marcos.
Adán

Posted by at 2:55 PM | | Comments (0)