It's interesting that these discussions of "how could all the animals have eaten?" are mirrored a lot in fantasy and science fiction. Star Wars and Star Trek are riddled with endless debates over canon with mountains of wikis dedicated to collecting every 'fact' about these fictional worlds and trying to reconcile what would appear to be contradictions or simply things that don't make great sense. The lesson I learned from some of these is that literally anything can be 'head cannoned' into consistency. I think there is a tie in here with conspiracy theories. The key element is a conscious or subconscious decision to suspend Occam's Razor. Occam's Razor would say the reason something doesn't make sense in a fictional world is that the world building was not done well enough. Suspending that allows you to add 'elements' as needed to make it consistent and almost anything could be made consistent if you are allowed to add enough head canon. For example, with Noah you can add the animals went into a deep sleep so needed very little food. That plants grew exceptionally fast after so they didn't starve to death once disembarked on a dry mountain. I remember discovering that Star Trek decided they needed to explain why Klingons looked different in the original series from the first movies and invented some type of long arc about genetically engineered viruses running wild.
What a great collection. I read Joseph and his Brothers ages ago, and Paradise Lost a few in December. Both are totally gripping even to this heathen. A really wonderful video, Steve, thanks.
So interesting, I have the other books by Heller and Wangerin Jr you mentioned, but had never heard of the two you put on this list and they sound much more interesting! I would have personally put in Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman retelling the fall of Lucifer in graphic novel, as well as Lamb by Christopher Moore, just a delightful, irreverent, yet thoughtful book.
Thank you for mentioning Our Lady of the Lost and Found. I love it and have read it many times. I have a small stash of them to give away and it’s a great confirmation present. I would love for you to do a Mary starter kit - Basic BVM!
I’d throw in Under Tiberius by Nick Tosches, a really inventive and surprisingly beautiful novel about Jesus’s “grift” as orchestrated by Gaius Fulvius Falconius.
I'm reading the KJV, 4 chapters a day for 2024 - currently at the end of Numbers. Looking forward to dive into this list when I'm done, especially I, Judas. Thanks for the video Steve
Please don't apologise, ebays greed is not your fault, the books I have purchased i have no doubt will be hugely entertaining, & again thank you for the recommendations.
Right - I wasn't including here books where Christianity plays a big role, although I was tempted! That would have to be another Starter Kit altogether!
The funny thing about taking the Noah story literally is that in the story itself it also says Noah took 7 of every kind of animal.. so there are two accounts. To only focus on 2 is cherry picking the details. But I do think there are worldwide myths that include stories of great floods. I think this is true even among native Americans. So maybe a global flood did happen and we managed to keep that memory alive stretching from way back in prehistory to now.
If a global flood had ever happened while humans have existed on Earth, there wouldn't be any memory to keep alive, since we're not fish! But certainly very bad LOCAL floods have happened, which probably explains why the regions that aren't vulnerable to such floods tend not to have flood myths -
Seriously, this is one of those weird oversights that I hadn't even thought of, but would ABSOLUTELY have requested. I want to read ALL of these.
Timothy Findley is still in print in Canada (The Piano Man’s Daughter is inescapable).
It's interesting that these discussions of "how could all the animals have eaten?" are mirrored a lot in fantasy and science fiction. Star Wars and Star Trek are riddled with endless debates over canon with mountains of wikis dedicated to collecting every 'fact' about these fictional worlds and trying to reconcile what would appear to be contradictions or simply things that don't make great sense.
The lesson I learned from some of these is that literally anything can be 'head cannoned' into consistency. I think there is a tie in here with conspiracy theories. The key element is a conscious or subconscious decision to suspend Occam's Razor.
Occam's Razor would say the reason something doesn't make sense in a fictional world is that the world building was not done well enough. Suspending that allows you to add 'elements' as needed to make it consistent and almost anything could be made consistent if you are allowed to add enough head canon. For example, with Noah you can add the animals went into a deep sleep so needed very little food. That plants grew exceptionally fast after so they didn't starve to death once disembarked on a dry mountain.
I remember discovering that Star Trek decided they needed to explain why Klingons looked different in the original series from the first movies and invented some type of long arc about genetically engineered viruses running wild.
What a great collection. I read Joseph and his Brothers ages ago, and Paradise Lost a few in December. Both are totally gripping even to this heathen. A really wonderful video, Steve, thanks.
So interesting, I have the other books by Heller and Wangerin Jr you mentioned, but had never heard of the two you put on this list and they sound much more interesting! I would have personally put in Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman retelling the fall of Lucifer in graphic novel, as well as Lamb by Christopher Moore, just a delightful, irreverent, yet thoughtful book.
Thank you for mentioning Our Lady of the Lost and Found. I love it and have read it many times. I have a small stash of them to give away and it’s a great confirmation present. I would love for you to do a Mary starter kit - Basic BVM!
Hah! Basic BVM!!!
WOO HOO!!! Thank you for doing this Steve!! 🥰😉🙃
Well, this is interesting. I think a lot of Caldwell is available on kindle. Haven’t checked the other authors. Yet.
What a treat!
Gary Larson, of course, says that Noah separated the carnivores from the herbivores after the lions ate the unicorns.
Coincidentally just bought a nasb bible today to start filling in my western canon gaps
I’d throw in Under Tiberius by Nick Tosches, a really inventive and surprisingly beautiful novel about Jesus’s “grift” as orchestrated by Gaius Fulvius Falconius.
I'm reading the KJV, 4 chapters a day for 2024 - currently at the end of Numbers. Looking forward to dive into this list when I'm done, especially I, Judas. Thanks for the video Steve
Thank you for these suggestions, I've ordered a few already from ebay, but some of them are silly prices..
I didn't check the prices ahead of time, sorry about that!
Please don't apologize, ebays greedy money grabbing isn't your fault, & the books I've ordered I have no doubt I will enjoy.. @@saintdonoghue
Please don't apologise, ebays greed is not your fault, the books I have purchased i have no doubt will be hugely entertaining, & again thank you for the recommendations.
Oh! I, Judas is available on kindle for $2.99
STARTER KIT ALERT 🚨
Julian Barnes' "A History of the World in 10½ Chapters" conatins a hilarious account of life as a stowaway on Noah's ark.😉
I loved this!
Thanks Steve for this video. In Stephen King's DESPERATION, Christianity plays a major role.
Right - I wasn't including here books where Christianity plays a big role, although I was tempted! That would have to be another Starter Kit altogether!
@@saintdonoghue
Thanks again Steve. I will wait on pins and needles to watch the new Starter Kit.
Is King Jesus by Robert Graves worth a read?
It is, yes ... but it's certifiably insane, so proceed accordingly!
The funny thing about taking the Noah story literally is that in the story itself it also says Noah took 7 of every kind of animal.. so there are two accounts. To only focus on 2 is cherry picking the details. But I do think there are worldwide myths that include stories of great floods. I think this is true even among native Americans. So maybe a global flood did happen and we managed to keep that memory alive stretching from way back in prehistory to now.
If a global flood had ever happened while humans have existed on Earth, there wouldn't be any memory to keep alive, since we're not fish! But certainly very bad LOCAL floods have happened, which probably explains why the regions that aren't vulnerable to such floods tend not to have flood myths -