Blue Like Jazz
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller came at the recommendation of my step-dad. I had never heard of it at the time and already had a ton of other, more classical books on my "to-read" list. So I didn't plan on reading it for quite a while. Last month, my wife and I made a trip down south for several days and while we were there I grabbed my step-dad's copy and starting reading it. It sucked me in. I finished seventeen of the twenty chapters before we left and promptly ordered my own copy from Amazon as soon as I got back home. Slight shipping delay b/c of the holidays... but I finally received the book and have just finished it.
My rating? 5 Thumbs Up! (out of 5, in case you are wondering)
Read on...This book is an extremely easy read. Thats not to say it isn't deep or thought provoking. It is. But it reads like ... well, a blog. Its as if Donald Miller has kept a record of his heart's course through life over the past five years or so, organized it, boiled it down, and put it on paper for all to see. I like that he is honest about his prejudices ("against very religious people"), his ignorant assumptions ("First you live in community, and then you drink punch and die."), and his purpose for writing the book ("I want Jesus to happen to you the way He happened to [us]. This book is about the songs my friends and I are singing. This is what God is doing in our lives. But what song will you sing when your soul gets set free? I think it will be something true and beautiful.").
Some quotes from the book that I found to be either funny or thought provoking:
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RE: Pride and Prejudice being "the heart of the woman"... and after admitting he couldn't make it through the book b/c it was too boring -
"I keep the book on my shelf because girls come into my room , sit on my couch, and eye the books on the adjacent shelf. You have a copy of Pride and Prejudice, they exclaim in a gentle sigh and smile. Yes, I say. Yes, I do."
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"The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me."
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"I was talking to a homeless man at a laundry mat recently, and he said that when we reduce Christian spirituality to math we defile the Holy."
**************************
Anyhow... I won't bore you by typing a bunch of quotes from somebody else. But I do highly recommend the book.
Get it. Read it. Thank me for it later.
My rating? 5 Thumbs Up! (out of 5, in case you are wondering)
Read on...This book is an extremely easy read. Thats not to say it isn't deep or thought provoking. It is. But it reads like ... well, a blog. Its as if Donald Miller has kept a record of his heart's course through life over the past five years or so, organized it, boiled it down, and put it on paper for all to see. I like that he is honest about his prejudices ("against very religious people"), his ignorant assumptions ("First you live in community, and then you drink punch and die."), and his purpose for writing the book ("I want Jesus to happen to you the way He happened to [us]. This book is about the songs my friends and I are singing. This is what God is doing in our lives. But what song will you sing when your soul gets set free? I think it will be something true and beautiful.").
Some quotes from the book that I found to be either funny or thought provoking:
**************************
RE: Pride and Prejudice being "the heart of the woman"... and after admitting he couldn't make it through the book b/c it was too boring -
"I keep the book on my shelf because girls come into my room , sit on my couch, and eye the books on the adjacent shelf. You have a copy of Pride and Prejudice, they exclaim in a gentle sigh and smile. Yes, I say. Yes, I do."
**************************
"The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me."
**************************
"I was talking to a homeless man at a laundry mat recently, and he said that when we reduce Christian spirituality to math we defile the Holy."
**************************
Anyhow... I won't bore you by typing a bunch of quotes from somebody else. But I do highly recommend the book.
Get it. Read it. Thank me for it later.
posted by Miroslav at 4:53 PM
2 Comments:
Glad you were finally able to read it, you should have just taken it with you. Papa
Yeah... I suppose I should have. But I wanted a copy on my shelf to refer to / lend to others. Plus, I figured I'd get it in a couple of days. Usually Amazon is pretty good with shipping, but this time it took WEEKS. DOH!
Thanks for suggesting it to me! Much love to you...
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