McEwan's "Amsterdam"

Four main characters take center stage in this short novel by Ian McEwan. Clive Linley, Vernon Halliday and Julian Garmony were all, at one point or another, Molly Lane's lovers. They all share that in common. However, their relationships are far from simple. Clive and Vernon do get along, and at Molly's funeral (at the beginning of the story) they share their sadness at Molly's passing. Julian, on the other hand, is England's foreign secretary--a man in line to become the next Prime Minister. Early on Clive and Julian clash. Clive is a music composer who has been commissioned by the government to write a "Millennium Symphony." I have only read around 25 pages so I really can't go much further than this today. There's the scene at the funeral, and afterwards Clive goes home to work on his masterpiece and we find the third person narrator giving the reader a sketch of Clive's career and efforts. So far, the story is very intriguing and I foresee a great amount of reading this weekend.

I did say I was not going to post anything more on "The God Delusion," but something happened yesterday that made me realize Dawkins was more right than wrong about the negative influence of religion. Religion is making me sad. As I said on the previous post... it's isn't God's problem... it is what people make religion to be. I rather say out loud that I hate/despise someone than pretend that because I am so "holy" those emotions do not knock at my heart. This is reason enough to believe that people use religion to deceive themselves and act hypocritically to those around them. I rather NOT believe than be a hypocrite. I am not sure exactly how to explain this, and I feel that I don't want to keep posting items that do not deal with books directly, but it is hard to understand how people can be so mean, egotistical, downright nasty, and still claim themselves to be followers of Christ. Like I said, I rather turn away from Christ than be a hypocrite. I do believe, but I confess that I am very far (and getting farther) away from Christ's teachings. The only consolation I have is that at least I am being true to who I am... with all my massive imperfections.