Book idea
At this risk of giving away an idea, I have a great book project idea (to go along with my book on teaching in an open access colleges and on evangelical uses of deTocqueville). The name of this book would be All the Ways to Say He Died: Gleanings from the Obituaries.
I thought of this yesteday in reading, well, the obituaries of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Most of them say either "He died," "She passed away," or "He went home to be with the Lord." But there will occasionally be a unique one. I propose to go through the archives of obituaries and find all the interesting ways family members find to express the thought, "He's dead."
Case in point: "(Name), 82 years after being born in (Town--and by the way, a town very far from here) has left a gaping space in this world and in the hearts of her family and friends on Thursday, November 20, 2008."
Maybe I have a perverse sense of humor, but I find this funnt. Number One, the wording seems to hint at blame--as if Name created this gaping space on purpose. Number Two, the grammar; am I the only one who seems to feel that last prepositional phrase is out of place? To me it reads that the only time the gaping space will exist in time is on that one day. The "82 years after being born" doesn't help either. And Number Three, the missed poetry. I know the writer of this obit was trying to devise a creative metaphor for death, but it just doesn't work for me.
I am reminded of John 11 (my favorite passage in the Bible). Jesus is forced to say plainly, "Lazarus is dead" because in trying to be more gentle or oblique by calling death "sleep", the disciples were missing the point. In this vein, the announcement of my death will be sufficient (and I hope a long time from now!) and I will instruct my descendants to keep it short and simple.
I thought of this yesteday in reading, well, the obituaries of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Most of them say either "He died," "She passed away," or "He went home to be with the Lord." But there will occasionally be a unique one. I propose to go through the archives of obituaries and find all the interesting ways family members find to express the thought, "He's dead."
Case in point: "(Name), 82 years after being born in (Town--and by the way, a town very far from here) has left a gaping space in this world and in the hearts of her family and friends on Thursday, November 20, 2008."
Maybe I have a perverse sense of humor, but I find this funnt. Number One, the wording seems to hint at blame--as if Name created this gaping space on purpose. Number Two, the grammar; am I the only one who seems to feel that last prepositional phrase is out of place? To me it reads that the only time the gaping space will exist in time is on that one day. The "82 years after being born" doesn't help either. And Number Three, the missed poetry. I know the writer of this obit was trying to devise a creative metaphor for death, but it just doesn't work for me.
I am reminded of John 11 (my favorite passage in the Bible). Jesus is forced to say plainly, "Lazarus is dead" because in trying to be more gentle or oblique by calling death "sleep", the disciples were missing the point. In this vein, the announcement of my death will be sufficient (and I hope a long time from now!) and I will instruct my descendants to keep it short and simple.
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