Ten Things I Hate about You by David Levithan

Ten Things I Hate about You
by

David Levithan

 

If I be waspish, best beware my sting -- Taming of the Shrew (Act II: scene i)

This little paperback, made into a movie in 1999, retells Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew as a high school drama: Cameron and Joey carry a torch for Bianca. Bianca wants a chance to date. The problem is, Daddy won't let her start dating before her older "shrew" of a sister, Kat, begins dating herself. Solution? Patrick Verona, who's willing to woo the difficult Kat...but only if he's compen$ated for the arduous job.

One thing leads to a-farcical-nother: Cameron tutors Bianca in French ("You speak French?" he's asked; "No, but I will," he vows.). But Bianca falls for the rough charms of Joey. Bianca goes on a date with Joey. Bianca falls out of "like" with Joey. Meanwhile, Patrick perseveres in his mi$$ion to move Kat's seemingly unshakable aversion to "unwashed high school miscreants." Patrick succeeds--then finds himself falling for Kat. Kat discovers Patrick's attentions were fueled by the profit motive ("Only at first!" he protests). It takes some sorting out, but all ends well--as is par for the course in a Shakespeare comedy.

This modern rendition of the drama has its charms. It slips in a couple of allusions to The Bard (Macbeth"s "Who could refrain that...in that heart [had] courage to make love known?"; and "Sweet love, renew thy force!" from Sonnet LVI.)

The story also has its occasional thought-provoking observations: There are two kinds of looking--one respectful, "daring not touch" the apple of one's eye, and the other "that's like slurping a Coke" (page 12). There are two kinds of changes in life: "sometimes...it's totally out of your control....Sometimes, though, you have a say in where your life is going to go" (page 96). There are two kinds of kisses between lovers: a kiss to "shut up" what one's Beloved is saying, and another kiss "because [they] understand" (page 105).

I enjoyed this book: it gave me what I expected--I wanted lightly funny, with touches of teenage angst and earnestness. And that's what I got. It's worth checking out. Students might find it fun to draw out more parallels between this story and the Shakespearean original. And parallels there always are--for while times may change, people, and the love between them, never change. And since "the course of true love never did run smooth", this means there will always be some comedy in the flowering of serious love.

Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer by C.S. Lewis

Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer
by

C.S. Lewis

 

 In this brief collection of letters, C.S. Lewis discusses a rainbow of issues concerning all kinds of prayer: prayers of adoration, prayers of repentance, prayers of petition. Since these are only letters, Lewis's views on these matters are often sketchy, but deeply suggestive. (I think it would be quite interesting to discuss this book with a Christian reading group.)

A few bits I hope to remember from this slim volume:

1) "Does not every movement in the Passion write large some common element in the sufferings of our race? First, the prayer of anguish; not granted. Then He turns to His friends. They are asleep--as ours...are so often, or busy, or away, or preoccupied. Then He faces the Church....It condemns him....There is the State [which washes its hands of His plight]...There is...an appeal to the People [He had served and blessed]...But they have become over-night...a murderous rabble, shouting for His blood. There is, then, nothing left but God. [But] to God, [Christ's] last words are 'Why hast thou forsaken me [too]?'" (page 43) It might be interesting to discuss this passage in connection with I Corinthians 10:13.

2) I very much like Lewis's gloss on the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13). Especially, regarding thy will be done: "...a great deal of it is to be done by God's creatures, including me. The petition, then, is not merely that I may patiently suffer God's will but also that I may vigorously do it. I must be an agent as well as a patient." (pages 25-26) And, yes indeed, this seems true--even in the context of the rest of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7). After all, it's God's will that I not think wrathful nor lustful thoughts, nor be self-seeking in my prayer and giving. For myself, I certainly need a prayer to have the strength to adhere to those parts of God's will! I hope I can always remember Lewis's understanding of that: "Thy will be done--by me."

3) I wonder about Lewis's claim that a true "religion" must contain elements of both: (a) the miraculous ("magical" is his word, meaning an "objective efficacy which cannot be further analyzed [explained?]"); and (b) the moral ("ethical" is his word). Where do you draw the line? Lewis wisely shrugs: "I am not going to lay down rules as to the share--quantitatively considered--which the magical should have in anyone's religious life. Individual differences may be permissible. What I insist on is that it can never be reduced to zero. If it is, what remains is only morality, or culture, or philosophy." (page 104)

As one can guess, I found this book challenging and thought-provoking. I could certainly see myself re-reading it (as I think I'd need to, to fully grasp all of Lewis's remarks on prayer).