READ THIS.
From time to time, I invite you to pick up a book I couldn’t put down, but also something with less overt literary value. So far we’ve covered A Place to Stand by Jimmy Santiago Baca and random online reviews, here, and I paired Meghan Daum’s The Unspeakable with bad kid jokes, here.
This Read This and That post, however, may be the ultimate proof that real reading does not need to mean Tolstoy, Crime & Punishment, or “To be, or not to be.” And light reading does not need to mean questionably judicious Facebook posts, Buzzfeed listicles, or the back of a KitKat wrapper. Real reading and light reading can be one. If a picture essay book, and a comparative analysis of the Psalms and Hip Hop lyrics don’t make that point, it cannot be made.
Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh, is an illustrated collection of personal essays about “Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things that Happened.” Allie touches on crucial topics, like how to (i) confess to your entire family that you accidentally lead them to believe you love hot sauce “with the fiery intensity of ten thousand jalapenos,” but you’ve only pretended that it is your unique, special thing for 20 years and would have preferred toys for Christmas, (ii) find your way home, when your mother has lead you too far into unfamiliar woods for anyone to find their way back, but denied that she was lost for far longer than she should have so as to not scare you, (iii) evict an evil, violent goose who has trespassed into your home and also managed to terrorize you from the backseat of your car, and (iv) make your way to a cake that has been locked away from you in a patrolled room and eat it entirely alone.
As if these topics were not enough of a contribution to literate society, Allie also uses her humor and simple but emotionally fluent drawings to also discuss depression and identity issues. Allie’s retelling of her own experiences is casually bold, and a soothing way to learn answers to questions no one has the audacity to ask aloud, even of themselves.
Allie’s book is based on her successful blog, which is no longer updated, but remains a treasure-trove of picture essays. Find them for yourself, first at http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com, and then wherever you prefer to buy “real light” books.
In addition, the magic of words can sneak up on you where you least expect it. There are connections to be made and appreciated, advice abundant, all around us. I like to take things out of context and put them into my own. To show you what I mean, I share with you the product of a comparative analysis between the Psalms of the Holy Bible and the most famous Hip Hop lyrics I know. My conclusion is—they are the basically same.
|
PSALM |
HIP HOP |
|
Literal Plagiarism |
|
| Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!
Psalm 47:1 |
Clap your hands!
Every hip hop song ever |
|
Money Trouble |
|
| The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives.
Psalm 37:21 |
Bitch better have my money. Pay me what you owe me.
Bitch Better Have My Money, Rihanna |
|
Haters |
|
| Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
Psalm 3:1, 6 |
Many men, wish death upon me Blood in my eye dawg and I can’t see I’m trying to be what I’m destined to be And n—– trying to take my life away Many Men (Wish Death), Fifty Cent |
|
Guests Who Overstay Their Welcome |
|
| This is my resting place forever; here I dwell, for I have desired it.
Psalm 132:14 |
We ain’t, goin’ nowhere, we ain’t, goin’ nowhere, We can’t be stopped now, cause it’s Bad Boy for life Bad Boys for Life, P. Diddy |
|
Real Talk |
|
| My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips.
Psalm 89:34
|
Renegade! Never been afraid to say What’s on my mind at, any given time of day Cause I’m a renegade! Never been afraid to talk About anything (anything) anything (anything), renegade! Renegade, Jay-Z and Eminem |
|
Alienation |
|
| I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children.
Psalm 69:8 |
Ever since I left the city, You got a reputation for yourself now Everybody knows and I feel left out Hotline Bling, Drake |
|
Rejection |
|
| The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
Psalm 118:22
|
It’s time to face the facts That I’m the one that’s got away Lord knows that it would take another place, another time, another world, another life Best Thing I Never Had, Beyonce |
|
Conspiracies |
|
| Their offspring you shall destroy from the earth, and their descendants from among the sons of men. For they intended evil against you; they devised a plot which they are not able to perform.
Psalm 21:10-11
|
Alright check it, let me tell you this in closin’ I know we might seem imposin’ But trust me if we ever show in your section Believe me, it’s for your own protection Cause we see things that you need not see And we be places that you need not be So go witcha life, forget that Roswell crap Show love to the black suit, cause that’s the Men in That’s the Men in… Here come the Men in Black (here they comeeeee) Men In Black, Will Smith |
|
True Love |
|
| You know my sitting down and my rising up; you understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
Psalm 139:2-3 |
Baby you’re my everything, you’re all I ever wanted We could do it real big, bigger than you ever done it You be up on everything, other hoes ain’t ever on it I want this forever, I swear I could spend whatever on it … And I say the same thing every single time I say… You the fuckin’ best Best I Ever Had, Drake |
|
Say It Again |
|
| Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever: To Him who alone does great wonders, For His mercy endures forever; To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, For His mercy endures forever; To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, For His mercy endures forever… Psalm 136:1-6… |
What a man, what a man, what a man, What a mighty good man Gotta say it again now What a man, what a man, what a man, What a mighty good man He’s a mighty mighty good man What a man, what a man, what a man, What a mighty good man Yes he is What a man, what a man, what a man, What a mighty good man Whatta Man, Salt-n-Pepa |
Read this, that, or anything!
To send reading suggestions of any variety, email monica@mysomewheretobe.com