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. |
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Page 53
... attention to slow down and linger intently over an object , to hold and sculpt every detail and particular in it , however minute " ( Toward 64 ) .7 An indifferent reading , then , will neglect partic- ulars , will be content to acquire ...
... attention to slow down and linger intently over an object , to hold and sculpt every detail and particular in it , however minute " ( Toward 64 ) .7 An indifferent reading , then , will neglect partic- ulars , will be content to acquire ...
Page 54
... attention : Celebrities love to have dedicated fans , but they dread the fan who becomes obsessed - fulfilling the etymology of the word " fan " ( = fanatic ) —and turns into a stalker . The malevo- lence of attention is one of the ...
... attention : Celebrities love to have dedicated fans , but they dread the fan who becomes obsessed - fulfilling the etymology of the word " fan " ( = fanatic ) —and turns into a stalker . The malevo- lence of attention is one of the ...
Page 55
... attention for its substance ; the love of our neighbor , which we know [ through Christ's answer to the scribe's question ] to be the same love , is made of this same substance . Those who are unhappy have no need for anything in this ...
... attention for its substance ; the love of our neighbor , which we know [ through Christ's answer to the scribe's question ] to be the same love , is made of this same substance . Those who are unhappy have no need for anything in this ...
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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