A Theology Of Reading: The Hermeneutics Of LoveIf the whole of the Christian life is to be governed by the “law of love”—the twofold love of God and one's neighbor—what might it mean to read lovingly? That is the question that drives this unique book. Jacobs pursues this challenging task by alternating largely theoretical, theological chapters—drawing above all on Augustine and Mikhail Bakhtin—with interludes that investigate particular readers (some real, some fictional) in the act of reading. Among the authors considered are Shakespeare, Cervantes, Nabakov, Nicholson Baker, George Eliot, W.H. Auden, and Dickens. The theoretical framework is elaborated in the main chapters, while various counterfeits of or substitutes for genuinely charitable interpretation are considered in the interludes, which progressively close in on that rare creature, the loving reader. Through this doubled method of investigation, Jacobs tries to show how difficult it is to read charitably—even should one wish to, which, of course, few of us do. And precisely because the prospect of reading in such a manner is so offputting, one of the covert goals of the book is to make it seem both more plausible and more attractive. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 20
Page 66
... wants to insist that " in eth- ical criticism of narratives " we need not " make a hard and fast choice between the excluding and embracing modes .... The only fully gen- eral advice inherent in all this is that by taking thought about ...
... wants to insist that " in eth- ical criticism of narratives " we need not " make a hard and fast choice between the excluding and embracing modes .... The only fully gen- eral advice inherent in all this is that by taking thought about ...
Page 73
... wants from John Shade is a transfer of charisma : to be not the recipient of energy but the source of energy , not the reflector of light but the generator of light . Kinbote recalls the moment of Shade's murder by Jack Grey : " I felt ...
... wants from John Shade is a transfer of charisma : to be not the recipient of energy but the source of energy , not the reflector of light but the generator of light . Kinbote recalls the moment of Shade's murder by Jack Grey : " I felt ...
Page 84
... wants your spirit to be its herald , it wants your entire strength in anger , hate , and love ” ( 64 ) . But to raise solitude to this pinnacle is , in the long run , to elevate paranoia to the status of a cate- gorical imperative ...
... wants your spirit to be its herald , it wants your entire strength in anger , hate , and love ” ( 64 ) . But to raise solitude to this pinnacle is , in the long run , to elevate paranoia to the status of a cate- gorical imperative ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
achieve Adam Bede agape Alasdair MacIntyre Alcibiades argument Aristotelian Aristotle Aristotle's attention Auden Augustine Augustine's Augustinian Baker Bakhtin Buffalo Bill C. S. Lewis calls Cartesian Chapter character charitable reading charity Christ Christian circus claim Claudio and Don context course criticism cultural Derrida Dickens Dickens's Dickinson Dinah Dinah Morris discernment discourse distinction Don Pedro essay ethical eudaimonia friendship Gadamer genuine George Eliot gift Gradgrind hermeneutics hermeneutics of love Hero human I-for-myself interpretation Iris Murdoch Jacques Derrida Jesus justice kenosis Kierkegaard Kinbote kind knowledge language literary live magnanimous means Milbank moral narrator neighbor Nietzsche Nietzsche's notion Nussbaum one's oneself pagan Pale Fire passage perhaps person philia pleasure poem political precisely question Quixotic quoted reader Rich Scripture sense Shade simply Sleary Sleary's spirit theology things thought tion Tompkins tradition truth understanding Updike Vereker virtue W. H. Auden words writes Zarathustra