My Titus 2 Order is Here!

[Trynn]

The review compares the Moody kids to Rod and Todd Flanders, the vapid, personality-free, God-bothering kids from The Simpsons.

that link just showed all the reviews for that book, so I was confused.

[Naga Viper]

that link just showed all the reviews for that book, so I was confused.

Oh, huh—it takes me directly to that review. If you sort by date, it's the newest one. [shrug] It does say some nice things about the first book, but I don't think Steve's gonna be too happy if he happens to see it.

[Lyle Lanley]

Yeah. The Moodys are just like the Flanderses, but without the comedic stylings of the writers of The Simpsons. I tried reading it a while back. I think if I try again imagining it with the voices of Rod and Todd Flanders it might be bearable.

I imagine the Moodys would have a conversation like this...

Lisa Simpson: Where are the dice? 
Todd Flanders: Daddy says dice are wicked. 
Rod Flanders: We just move one space at a time. It's less fun that way. 

[FloraDoraDolly]

Sarah's ideas of Indonesia and Africa sound like something a kid that has only read picture book about animals or something similar to the Jungle Book. She may not even know Africa is a continent. Soap was new to people in Indonesia? Does she know that they have universities? Running on water? Electricity? Does she really believe that Africa and Indonesia are basically filled with people living in the wild and are shocked to see th wife man? Does she know there are even wife people from various countries in Africa? 

 I am sure she thinks these people will be saved, in more ways than one, when the white evangelical Christians arrive. She must have been raised to believe every stereotype, particularly the negative ones. What is more maddening is that Steve and Teri know that none of this is true and they allow her to look foolish. All of her stereotypes are racist, the problem is that I am not sure she even understands that.

Sarah can't even go to the children's section at the local public library and read 4th grade books about other countries. Everything she knows comes from homeskool textbooks and maybe some missionary materials.

[nastyhobbitses]

Sarah's ideas of Indonesia and Africa sound like something a kid that has only read picture book about animals or something similar to the Jungle Book. She may not even know Africa is a continent. Soap was new to people in Indonesia? Does she know that they have universities? Running on water? Electricity? Does she really believe that Africa and Indonesia are basically filled with people living in the wild and are shocked to see th wife man? Does she know there are even wife people from various countries in Africa? 

 I am sure she thinks these people will be saved, in more ways than one, when the white evangelical Christians arrive. She must have been raised to believe every stereotype, particularly the negative ones. What is more maddening is that Steve and Teri know that none of this is true and they allow her to look foolish. All of her stereotypes are racist, the problem is that I am not sure she even understands that.

Wait, I'm a bit out of the loop -- where can I read about Sarah's views of other countries?

I doubt she even realizes that Africa has a lot of very big, advanced, and even quite cosmopolitan cities -- Nigeria has the third largest film industry in the world behind the US and India, Bamako in Mali is considered one of the music capitals of the region, Nairobi and Addis Ababa are major commercial and political hubs in the east of Africa, and Cape Town and Johannesburg just hosted the goddamn World Cup five years ago. It's like she's stuck in 1844, when most Western white people assumed that Africa was some homogenous vast, uncivilized place (which of course justified racism and subjugation of black people and African civilizations). And Indonesia, while it does have to compete with Singapore and Malaysia economically, is a modern, diverse nation -- and it's worth mentioning that as a predominantly Muslim country, keeping clean is very important. They probably knew about soap and regular bathing before Europeans cottoned to it.

[blessalessi]

Wait, I'm a bit out of the loop -- where can I read about Sarah's views of other countries?

 

There was a description of a visit from a missionary in the first Moody book that Sarah gave away free on Amazon for a few days the other year. You can also get the book free on loan if you take a trial of Kindle Unlimited.  I read a couple of Maxbooks that way.

[helenprev]

You've reminded me of the story of 'Studying Titus' in The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass, Aged 45 3/4

It's an amusing tale which some may enjoy https://books.google.com.au/books?id=8HGATDMiWLwC&lpg=PA108&ots=7otnrsAhPI&dq=adrian plass titus&pg=PA108#v=onepage&q&f=false

That's exactly what I always think of whenever I see 'Tits2'!

[Jana814]

Yeah. The Moodys are just like the Flanderses, but without the comedic stylings of the writers of The Simpsons. I tried reading it a while back. I think if I try again imagining it with the voices of Rod and Todd Flanders it might be bearable.

I imagine the Moodys would have a conversation like this...

Lisa Simpson: Where are the dice? 
Todd Flanders: Daddy says dice are wicked. 
Rod Flanders: We just move one space at a time. It's less fun that way. 

that's a great comparing of The Moody's & the Flanders!  

[Jana814]

And that ignorance is by Steve's design, of course. Anything that isn't white, middle-class, American, Steve-approved (the last being the most important) culture doesn't really exist and if something doesn't exist then what's there to know? Making assumptions and making up stuff about far-off places is a-ok  because what part of the target audience is going to really care? As long as it fits into their preexisting narrative then there's no reason for any of them to raise an eyebrow.

agree!! 

[TheJewAmongUs]

 

Also, Sarah doesn't know what an epilogue is. Hint to Sarah: it's not telling your readers this is the last book in the series. 

It's not labeled the epilogue, though, just 10 years later. What Sarah calls the epilogue is her just explaining that she felt the Lord's calling to end the series, but she really likes to write children's literature, so she'll has another series coming forth. 

It's official. At Teri's SOTDRT they don't learn to count past 10.

[slickcat79]

Sarah probably bases her interpretation of other countries on foreign missionary tracts from the 20th (or even 19th) centuries. Dwight Moody was known to be a proponent of missions and he lived in the 1800s.

To be fair, even the modern influences that she might be exposed to probably don't show her anything different. While I'm not sure that the Maxwells have ever met Shrader or any of the Kellers, John does a mean imitation of Nathan Price in 1960s Congo. Never mind the fact that most of his "Dark Africa" converts already have things like facebook accounts, because not only do they already have soap, but internet is a thing, even outside of 'Murica

[nastyhobbitses]

Sarah probably bases her interpretation of other countries on foreign missionary tracts from the 20th (or even 19th) centuries. Dwight Moody was known to be a proponent of missions and he lived in the 1800s.

To be fair, even the modern influences that she might be exposed to probably don't show her anything different. While I'm not sure that the Maxwells have ever met Shrader or any of the Kellers, John does a mean imitation of Nathan Price in 1960s Congo. Never mind the fact that most of his "Dark Africa" converts already have things like facebook accounts, because not only do they already have soap, but internet is a thing, even outside of 'Murica

I'm always incredibly irritated by how little depictions of Africa have changed in Western mainstream media. Though I'm very pleased that Arthur ran an episode where a Senegalese boy transfers into D.W.'s class, and she sincerely believes that he lives on top of a volcano in a hut and rides elephants to school. He tells her that he's never even seen an elephant, since he lives in an apartment in a major city, and then he shares his favorite foods with her and encourages her to learn more about what Senegal and Africa are actually like.

[IreneIssh]

I'm always incredibly irritated by how little depictions of Africa have changed in Western mainstream media. Though I'm very pleased that Arthur ran an episode where a Senegalese boy transfers into D.W.'s class, and she sincerely believes that he lives on top of a volcano in a hut and rides elephants to school. He tells her that he's never even seen an elephant, since he lives in an apartment in a major city, and then he shares his favorite foods with her and encourages her to learn more about what Senegal and Africa are actually like.

Wow. That's really cool. I never saw that episode, but I'm really glad it exists. That must have been after my Arthur watching days. PBS is so great. 

[johnhugh]

Duh—I should just bring over the relevant part of that Amazon review. [smacks head]

Tween sibs Max, Mollie, and Mitch are ostensibly the stars, but their overly earnest, chore-loving ways render them as interchangeable as Rod and Todd Flanders from The Simpsons. Kids don't generally care about naturalistic speech patterns, but they notice when the dialogue is this off-kilter:

"This is hard work—but I like it!"
"I enjoy it too! Good, hard work will build our muscles and make us strong."
"Iron helps us play!"

One of those is a Simpsons quote. The other two are actual lines from the book. These people are not great conversationalists.

Classic - though Steve has had a brush with the Simpsons before  - remember Stevie?

After Poor Sarah posted a Mothering Sunday blog, Marge S commented how she and her sisters Patty and Selma took their mother to a restaurant called Moe's for a Mothers Day lunch.... 

[quiversR4hunting]

I've been reading FJ too much.

 I think someone has written a wishful thinking book about the Maxwell ladies. Or Sarah has a pen name and she has written a fantasy je novel!

My daughter brought home a book fair the title of a book featured "The Lost Track of Time" by Paige Britt  and the summary "Penelope's mother schedules every minute of her life, until the day there's a gap in her schedule...and she falls into the adventure of a lifetime!"

*info taken from scholastic book flyer

[nastyhobbitses]

Wow. That's really cool. I never saw that episode, but I'm really glad it exists. That must have been after my Arthur watching days. PBS is so great. 

That's why I always get so mad at people who want to cut its funding. The positive influence it's had on kids (and adults) for decades is incalculable.

[IreneIssh]

That's why I always get so mad at people who want to cut its funding. The positive influence it's had on kids (and adults) for decades is incalculable.

Oh man, dont even get me started on that. It's so infuriating. The whole "moving sesame street to HBO" thing is just heart breaking. One of my best friends learned English as a second language and credits sesame street with getting her through elementary school. If I ever somehow became a millionaire, I would give a ton of money to pbs. 

[metheglyn]

I loved that series. I didn't realize till years after I stopped reading them that she never aged the characters. 

A I recall, she actually did age the characters early on. At least in the original editions, the first four were actually in seventh grade when they started the club. They went through the first summer for real then started eighth grade all excited about being a year older. That allowed them to later bring in the now sixth grade Mallory, who I believe had been introduced as a fifth grader or over that first summer. They never aged again, though, despite all the summer and winter holiday special books.

[fiery redhead]

Just as long as Lucas isn't based on John Shrader. Talk about a lateral move.

What if Sarah were to have a crush on another fundie, as that's all she knows. She is not allowed to talk to guys in real life, but she is sheltered from celebrities, so instead of a normal celebrity crush perhaps she longs for some kind of fundie royalty.