Saturday, 30 October 2021

LIGHT READING

 I've been planning to read all of Shakespeare's plays for a while now. Whenever I watch quiz shows like Eggheads or The Chase  I often get the answers wrong when the question is about characters in the plays, especially the more obscure ones.

Yesterday I took out the  'The Globe Illustrated Shakespeare' tome


This thing is massive - 22 cmx 30cm and 12 cm thick. It's going to take a lot of reading to get through it.

While digging it out of the bookcase I noticed this:


It's hard to miss it really but it's been hiding amongst the big old books on the bottom shelf - hey, there's an idea for a new series - 'Books in our 'library'. This is fairly substantial being 32 cm x 26 cm and 6 cm thick. It is a first edition, published in 1921.

Treasury of Catolic  (sic) Doctrine with Biographies of Illustrious Saints Containing Teachings of the Holy Catholic Church as Interpreted By the One True Church Founded By Our Divine Saviour

          - Biblio.com.au 

It's a bit battered, having been referenced a lot over the years. The front 'Presentation' page has my dad's name in it.


I don't know when it was given to dad. His family was mainly Methodist. Maybe when he married mum (Catholic family) he was told by the priest to brush up on the Catechism before he was allowed to wed. Anyway, this book was our 'family bible'. It will be quite useful for looking for quotes to lambast educate Robert with.

The second page in has a kind of statement about what the tome is about:


I particularly like this bit which is written in capitals.:

"CATHOLICITY THE SAFETY OF THE COMMONWEALTH," "SOME ALLEGED DANGERS CONSIDERED," AND "WHY CATHOLICS INSIST ON CATHOLIC SCHOOLS," 

Yes, definitely presented to dad before being allowed to marry mum in the late 1940s.

The next page  carries a kind of special offer or discount voucher:


"To fathers and mothers. Every time that thou shall instruct their children in the Christian Doctrine an indulgence of one hundred days."

It's not good grammar I know but, when the content is nonsense does it matter?

It's a kind of bribe or inducement with the reward being a discount of 100 days off hell.  Richard certainly should have instructed his children in christian doctrine because we all know where he's going.

There are nearly 700 pages of drivel but fortunately there are black and white and colour images to break up the monotony of nonsense like this:

"But we may apprehend what we cannot comprehend, as, in eternity we shall see God as He is, but not wholly, for the Beatific Vision is finite. but the Object and Source of bliss is infinite."

Well, to me that sounds like the psychedelic ravings of William Burroughs or Hunter S Thompson.

 I do like this image though which is at the front of the book:


I can't help imagining a caption under Jesus saying "Oh God, another 690 pages to go."


4 comments:

Richard (of RBB) said...

I worked with a young gay teacher on Friday. One boy told him he was Catholic and couldn't put up with a gay teacher and stormed out. The guy, a very good teacher, was obviously upset - he told me all about the incident, which I hadn't seen. I patted him on the shoulder and told him (or reminded him) that catholics don't have a great track record with empathy.

Richard (of RBB) said...

"I always guessed that you teachers look after your own. I feel for the boy."

So, would you want your gay nephew treated like that - made to feel like he was worth nothing? I don't get what is wrong with you Catholics. Who would want to be in a place called Heaven with all you unempathetic fuckwits? Hell for me please, if you sadistic self serving people should turn out to be right.

THE CURMUDGEON said...

"This post makes you look a little stupid."

Ha, not as stupid as your comments make you look Robert.
Once again you back the wrong horse and are a shining (or the opposite of shining) example of the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church.

THE CURMUDGEON said...

He should change his blog name to 'Robert the Unempathetic Sinner'.