The Chancellor Manuscript

I am a fan of the X-Files - right from its music to the tag line "The truth is out there". And that was sort of my introduction to the Bureau - the FBI. But I hadn't heard of its director - J. Edgar Hoover until I saw some program on the History Channel.

And I finished reading The Chancellor Manuscript 2 days back. This novel by Robert Ludlum about the "so-called" secret files of Hoover speculates that he was assassinated.

It was a fascinating book except that I sometimes found the plot too convulated. It could be because I took rather long time reading it - sometimes picking it up after a gap of 1 or 2 days. When I checked on wikipedia,I found that it was written in 1977.

Now, I am back to another of my favorite authors - Agatha Christie and this time it's The Secret of Chimneys. :-))

I read something interesting about Chinese mythology today.

They have a Jade Emperor who comes closest to the concept of God in other religions. During New Year, the chinese burn symbolic paper money to pay for the travel of domestic Gods to Jade Emperor. These Gods report Jade Emperor on home affairs. The chinese smear malt sugar in the lips of their Kitchen God so that He will either give a favorable report on their household or remain silent.

I found this practice rather sweet. Kind of brings the deities within reach of humans - almost making them mortal. This story also brought up another picture - that of hindu God Krishna in his baby avatar with dollops of butter on His lips :-)

I am done with "The Arctic Event". Thankfully, one of the Russians was shown as a noble guy :-)