Kierkegaard, you opresseth me no longer ...well sorta

I wish this post was announcing my completion of the book I wrote about here.  But alas, it isn't.  It's only an update on the situation.

Last Sunday, my wife again insisted that I take a break from it and read something I'll enjoy and come back to K.  She knew I wouldn't just give it up completely.  Then she said, why don't I start something else and read 10 pages of K each week and then I would finish it around when my summer started (I have a 9 month contract each year...!).  The thought intrigued me, she pressed, and then I finally agreed, diving into a short novel I've had my eye on.  Short, especially since I feel the need to catch back up to my normal book reading pace after months of Kierkegaardian oppression.  At least I've been listening to audiobooks and getting a reasonable amount of my own writing done in that time or else I would feel like a complete slacker.  Now, I just feel largely slackery.

Almost a week into this new plan, I'm already almost a third done with this book, short though it is.  And it's so marvelous - reading both fiction and something I'm enjoying.

Kierkegaard, I think you're a great and important philosopher, but I don't anticipate reading another one of your works for a long time.

Oh, Kierkegaard

While it is without a doubt not a long book, I have been reading Training in Christianity by Kierkegaard for way too long.  And I don't mean to dissuade anyone from reading it, because, and I mean it when I say this, I think that it's a good and worthwhile book... But!  I have been trudging through it for weeks upon weeks and I look longingly to our bookshelves at multiple other books I want to read next.  When I approach this book it's not without a sense of some dread because I know that just reading ten pages in one sitting is a feat and if I do I'm gonna feel like a champ.  Only intermittently have I had the urge with this book to sit down and dive in - and when I have, it hasn't been because it's so enjoyable, but because I... must... finish... it... soon!
 
And while he is making more than three points, it feels like he makes the three same points over and over in slightly different contexts.  And while I like the enthusiasm in his writing, I won't agree with anyone who says that he is a good writer.  Perhaps his style is necessary for his content, in fact I would say it almost definitely is - especially in his pseudonymous works, of which this is nominally one... but.. ahh!

Again, don't let me deter you from reading this book.  I have underlined a good bit in it.  It has made me think and reflect on important topics, it has revealed to me new and interesting ways of thinking about Jesus and Christianity and the church.  But please know, dear reader, that I will be very happy when I finally finish it.