Father Fiction... Things that made me think

95% of prison inmates are men
85% of these are from fatherless homes
      I hadn't heard this stat before, I think the first stat is more shocking than the second.  What makes men more corrupt than women?  Is there some other reason for this stat?
What are your thoughts?


There will always be a reason to feel sorry for ourselves. And sometimes it really is appropriate to grieve something terrible that has happened in our lives. But we also have to move on; we have to set ourselves free from the trap of self-pity.
      

Father Fiction - Donald Miller

I found this title at my online library.  It was an experiment because I had not used this before.  I went through about 100 of their books and placed on hold the ones that looked interesting.  This book, however, was ready to borrow straight away along with a couple of others.

I got the book just because of the author.  I've heard a lot of people talking about 'Blue Like Jazz' as a good/ controversial read so I thought this might be similar.  The only thing I thought after considering the title was that this could possibly be about wrong thinking about God - Father Fiction.  I was slightly off on this.

As I listened, I realized that this book was not aimed toward me.  Father fiction, as I could have easily seen if I had had the front cover of the book, is for a 'fatherless generation.'  This, it seems, is Miller's autobiography.  One that took a long time to pluck up the courage to face and write.  It also contains chapters that you would find in these guidance books such as one on sex and on work ethic.  I think these are what he sees as some of the main issues that affect fatherless children.

He grew up for most of his life without a father and although his mother brought him up very well he always felt as though he was missing something.  He has some figures in his life whom he projects his fatherlessness onto (as he himself describes) including John, his photographer friend who brings him under his wing.

I was surprised that he is not married with kids - I guess this is my presupposition of renowned and accepted authors.

I felt a strange kind of immaturity from Miller (says me who laughs at fart jokes), I'm not sure if this was just because of listening to the story of his younger self or because he is in a different place to me.  It seemed that, although he had a lot of good thoughts and a grip on psychology, he didn't necessarily have it all together.  Perhaps this was because some of these thoughts on parenthood, for example, were not self experienced but learned from others.

True to form (so I hear) Miller is very honest and has great stories to take the reader on a journey.  I think it is a good read for the fathered or fatherless and should make you feel thankful for having The Father who cares for you.

Here are a couple of quotes that made me think.

Things that made me laugh - Garrison Keillor pt3

A guy walks into a bar in Cork, in Ireland, and asks the barman: "What's the quickest way to get to Dublin?" 

"Are you walking or driving?" asks the barman. 

"Driving," says a man. 

"That's the quickest way," says the barman.

An accountant is having a hard time sleeping and goes to see his doctor. "Doctor, I just can't get to sleep at night."

The Doctor replied "Have you tried counting sheep?"

The accountant stated "That's the problem - I make a mistake and then spend three hours trying to find it."

Three professionals were sitting around talking about the oldest profession.

The Doctor says, "Well, the Bible says that God took a rib out of Adam to make woman. Since that clearly required surgery, then the oldest profession is surely medicine."

The Engineer shakes his head and replies, "No, no. The Bible also says that God created the world out of void and chaos. To do that, God must surely have been an engineer. Therefore, Engineering is the oldest profession."

The Lawyer smiles smugly and leans discreetly forward. "Ah," he says, "but who do you think created the Chaos?"

Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

This one was a quick library visit pick up.  I remember thinking 'Eoin Colfer is a pretty talented writer' after reading 'Plugged'.  This being his famous book it should be even better.  The only thing I was skeptical about was that it said recommended for 12-17 year-olds.  Being slightly past this age group (my wife just chuckled as I wrote this) was this going to be a boring childish read?

My wife did, however, reassure me that this kind of book can be a fun quick read like 'The Hunger Games.'

I read/listened to the book in one day.  I think it was about 7 hours long, which went quickly.

The story line was as follows - Artemis Fowl is a rich youth who has experienced a lot of adventures with fairies (not the fairies that you picture when you hear the word) and their magic and is therefore wise beyond his years.  His mother contract some kind of disease, which Artemis diagnoses and has to go back in time and battle himself for the cure... (it seems slightly forced when you read it like that but flows naturally in the book)

The suggested age range is probably because it is entertaining enough to keep teenagers attention and therefore mine pretty well also. Despite the younger intended audience the plot was still fairly complicated. The twists and turns and then paradoxes of the time stream and time travel meant you had to think intensely about what was going on especially as there were two sets of the same character.  I appreciate these kinds of things because it usually gets my mind going even after I'm finished reading.

One of the nuances of the story was the contrast of its mythology with common stories such as 'Lord of the Rings' and folklore. For example, dwarves appear somewhat kind hearted, crackens are docile creatures, centaur are fat and lazy and demons are nerdy.  All of these little subtleties made me smile and enjoy the story even more.

It did seem like the kind of book that would have many sequels and prequel about it.  (after I wrote this I looked it up and realized this was the sixth book in the series, probably why there was not a lot of character development.  In light of this I should probably do some research before I read books like this, especially one with a subtitle on the front cover)