Tuesday, April 21, 2020

The Longest Lent--Easter Blessings


God is pouring so many blessings upon our family during this pandemic. Books are just one of them. A while back, I'd read in Publisher's Weekly about a new book, The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity: a Tale of the Genius Ramanujan by Amy Alznauer, illustrated by Daniel Miyares. Holy smokes! I love his work. And after I took a peek with the Amazon Look Inside feature, I began to drool and knew I had to have it--the writing lyrical and luminous, the art capturing the beauty and pathos of this great mind. Then I read an interview over on Picture Book Builders and entered the giveaway and I WON!!!



The book arrived last week, along with a letter and a card made by Meltem Aktas. I love Byzantine art so what joy to know of Meltem and her work. I'll be sending links to our pastor at St. Clare of Assisi because we'll need art for our new church! I've read the book numerous times and shared it with the whole family. It is amazing how Amy has written about something complex so beautifully. It really does give you a glimpse into the mind of God. I felt the same way as a scientist--there is such beauty in numbers and patterns. I wept reading about the "thoughts of God on your tongue." How frustrating to not be able to share them with anybody! But thank God, Ramanujan wrote to Hardy and decades later Amy's father went to Cambridge and came across a box of paper including the Lost Notebook by Ramanujan. This book wouldn't exist otherwise and neither would I have gotten to know Amy. I've been perusing her gorgeous website with an invitation to Enter the Stories. I discovered that she was at the movie premiere of Ramanujan among other interesting bits... 

Amy has two more picture books coming out this year--The Strange Birds of Flannery O'Connor and Flying Paintings: the Zhou Brothers: a Story of Revolution and Art. Soooo exciting!!! You all know my own love of Flannery. I'm going to have to wait to get these books but in the meantime, I bought her memoir, Love and Salt: a Spiritual Friendship Shared in Letters. What a joy to read these private thoughts of two friends as they navigate marriage and motherhood and careers. They walk together, and together seek God. I loved this format because it is so raw and personal and honest and echoes so many of the thoughts I've shared with my sister and friends on my own spiritual journey. I'm in the middle of it and bawling. I'm also delighted by our similarities--the Ayn Rand phase, the Teresas, the preoccupation with death, the acedia, vainglory, and wonderment. This book is a treasure. I often think the most important writing I do is hidden--writing letters, writing prayers, writing hopes and dreams--and this book reminds me that it's good. To parody the last line of Charlotte's Web and Casablanca: It is not often that someone comes along who is a convert, a mathematician, and a good writer. I pray this is the start of a true and beautiful friendship. Deo gratias!

6 comments:

Mirka Breen said...

Winning always gives a boost, regardless. But winning a much wanted something is a double lift. As if the universe is saying, "I know you."

Vijaya said...

Yes! I think of it as a God-wink.

Katie L. Carroll said...

Those illustrations are gorgeous!

Sue said...

So great when we see that God has shown up.

Vijaya said...

Katie, I love his work. He also did the illos for Jody's book A Chip of the Old Block.
Sue, so true! I can't stop smiling.

Jenni said...

This looks like an intriguing book. I was always looking for interesting picture book biographies about mathematicians and scientists when my boys were young. And they both still love science!