A few days ago, I finished reading Thomas Trofimuk‘s excellent novel, Waiting for Columbus. I cannot recommend it enough.

Yes, I know Trofimuk. We chat at Raving Poets and we’ve enjoyed the odd cigar together. But that’s got nothing to do with why I’m recommending the Edmonton author’s 3rd novel.

I’m recommending it because it’s an exquisitely written book that tells the beautifully tragic story of a man who shows up in a Spanish mental institution believing himself to be Christopher Columbus. He begins to tell his story to his nurse, Consuela, and soon she is entranced by and smitten with this mysterious Columbus. And so is the reader.

Like all of Trofimuk’s novels, Waiting for Columbus is a work of pure poetry. It’s evident, even in his prose, that Trofimuk is a poet at heart. It’s rare that a book evokes images and emotions in me as strongly as Columbus did.

Where Waiting for Columbus outshines Trofimuk’s previous novels—The 52nd Poem and Doubting Yourself to the Bone—is in its storytelling.

Though I greatly enjoyed both of his previous novels, Trofimuk didn’t really capture me with the stories he was telling. I remember the feelings of the books much more than the plots. They are, in a certain sense, like very long poems—they make the reader feel something, but the story takes a backseat to that feeling.

With Waiting for Columbus, Trofimuk manages to keep the poetic language that is so effective at giving his novels a powerful emotional punch, while weaving a truly engaging and unforgettable tale of obsession, love, and loss.

The story is so entrancing, in fact, that as I approached the end of the novel, I actually thought about closing it and putting it down for good. I wanted so badly for it to never end that I gave serious thought to simply leaving the last few chapters forever unread.

Ultimately, I did finish the book and was better for the experience of having read it. Waiting for Columbus is a novel that will stay with me for a long time. And it’s one that I’ll definitely read again. You should too.

The past week has been pretty uneventful, but I have done a few things of note. I’ve also got a few things of note coming up, which will probably result in full-length posts next week or later this week.

For now, though, here is my life in bullet points.

• I finished reading Ham On Rye late last week. It doesn’t count toward my reading list for this year, since I read most of it before the New Year, but I still felt it was worth commenting on. Like most of Charles Bukowski’s novels, the book felt like little more than thinly veiled dairy entries mixed in with plenty of bullshit and embellishment. However, I’ve read most of his novels and I will say that Ham On Rye is definitely the best of them. The writing is good and it’s an enjoyable read. Just don’t expect any sort of profundity at the end.
• I went and saw Daybreakers on Saturday. It wasn’t the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it was an interesting look at what the world might look like if most of the humans in the world became vampires. It was mostly a silly bit of fantasy with some gross-out action bits (lots of exploding bodies), but it was entertaining. It’s a good popcorn movie and, if you’re into vampire fiction, it’s worth checking out; but you might want to wait until it’s in the cheap theatres or out on DVD.
• Local restaurant Skinny Legs and Cowgirls launched their weekend brunch menu on Sunday. I wasn’t able to check it out, because they had already stopped serving brunch for the day when I called to inquire about it, but I did ask about the menu. It’s mostly standard fare—eggs your way, a few different types of eggs benny, and homemade granola—but with a focus on local and organic food. I’m particularly looking forward to trying to the wild boar bacon that’s available with a number of their brunch dishes.
• Back in 2008, Sara took me to Culina Mill Creek for my birthday. It was awesome. On Friday, we’ll finally be checking out the Highlands location for our two-year anniversary.  Like the Mill Creek location, Culina Highlands places a focus on locally produced food. The menus at the two restaurants are very different, despite the fact that they’re part of the same “family of restaurants,” but that’s probably to their benefit (and ours). You get a different experience depending which location you choose to visit. I’ll likely write a review of the restaurant after we’ve visited.

One of my goals for this year is to read at least 25 books. Last night, I completed book number one: Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All.

Written by Unitarian Universalist minister Scotty McLennan, Jesus Was a Liberal, is an exploration of liberal Christianity in a modern context. How do liberal Christians differ from conservatives? Can a Christian be liberal with regard to divisive issues like abortion or gay marriage and still be faithful to Christ?

If this book had been written about 5 or 6 years ago and I had read it at that time—a time when I was exploring the Christian faith—I might be a Christian today. I may have still ended up in the Unitarian church, but I’d likely be there as a liberal Christian, rather than as the undefined pseudo-deist-atheist-internal-contradiction that I am now.

Christianity doesn’t have to be in opposition to gay marriage or a woman’s right to choose, says McLennan. He backs it up with both scriptural reference and examples from the cultural history of both the Jewish and early Christian traditions.

A Christian doesn’t have to believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. It’s OK not to accept the idea of the Trinity (in this regard, McLennan is a Unitarian Christian in the original sense of the term). It’s even OK to think of the virgin birth and resurrection of Christ as metaphorical rather than literal.

For McLennan, liberal Christianity is about applying reason and logic to questions of faith. It’s about finding the truth and value in the Chrisitian master story, even if you don’t accept it all as literal fact. The essence of Christianity, McLennan says, is love, often expressed in the form of social justice movements.

The book is well written and easy to understand. While McLennan doesn’t shy away from biblical scholarship and discussions of abstract ideas, like the mathematical concept of infinity, he presents these things in ways that are understandable for the layperson.

Despite having very little knowledge of the Bible, beyond the few books that I’ve actually read (many years ago), I was able to grasp everything that McLennan discusses in Jesus Was a Liberal.

While the book is primarily intended for liberal Christians, I think that it’s an excellent read for both non-Christians and conservative Christians.

It’ll help non-Christians (especially the non-religious) realize that Christianity is not the exclusive domain of the ultra-conservative, and that Christianity has been and can continue to be an agent for positive change in the world. And conservative Christians will be able to develop a better understanding of the more liberal members of their faith. Perhaps they’ll even realize that just because someone is liberal doesn’t mean that they aren’t a “real” Christian.

Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All is available from Amazon.ca and in most bookstores.