The Rule of Four

I finished reading (listening to) The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason and it brought back a lot of memories. The book focuses on two main characters trying to discover the secrets of an obscure 15th century text while dealing with school, relationships, and of course the evil advisor trying to thwart progress. It was a lot of fun - it touched on all aspects of Renaissance thought as well as remind me of working on my own thesis at the last minute. Perhaps even more significant than all of that was its portrait of friendships. I became quite nostalgic as it described this close-knit group of four students living in the dorm together. Back in Roberts Hall at ACC there were four of us sharing rooms. We were only translating the Greek New Testament, didn't have evil advisors, and of course nowhere near the caliber of Princeton. Aside from that I am left with a longing for those old roommates, who couldn't be spread out much further than we are now. Shannon in the army out in the Mojave Desert in California, Scott building cabinets with his brother in Indiana, Zach teaching English in Poland, and of course me up here in New York. I think Scott is probably the only one who thought he might actually end up where he is right now, as for the rest of us...I doubt it.