Present Concerns

Present Concerns by C. S. Lewis                    Hardcover: 108 pgs.

This book is a collection of Lewis's essays, almost all written for newspaper and magazine publication.  The author writes about current events of 60-80 years ago, so it would seem they could hardly be called "present concerns."  But in another sense, as editor Walter Hooper explains in his introduction, the subject matter Lewis wrote about is indeed "present" with us today, for in discussing then-current news, he gives timeless wisdom, as true today as it was in World War II or the Cold War, when Lewis wrote about it.

In applying this wisdom to his own time, Lewis is very philosophical (as in all his non-fiction).  Obviously, this kind of writing isn't for everyone--for many, it can be sleep-inducing!  But this book gives the reader small doses of Lewis's philosophizing.  Instead of a whole tome on one subject, in this book, the author leaps from subject to subject, treating each topic in no more than a few pages.  As a result, this anthology may be a good introduction to Lewis for those who have never read his non-fiction.

Unlike his other works, these writings aren't mainly concerned with theology and literature (though these subjects are often touched on).  One theme in several of the essays is equality and democracy.  Befitting his identity as a citizen of England (and that country's constitutional monarchy), he believed things that we Americans (who live in a republic) may disagree with.  Here are some interesting quotes that may be controversial on this side of the Atlantic:

• "Democracy demands that little men should not take big ones too seriously; it dies when it is full of little men who think they are big men."
• "Equality (outside mathematics) is a purely social conception.  It applies to man as a political and economical animal.  It has no place in the world of the mind."
• "Where men are forbidden to honour a king they honour millionaires, athletes, or film-stars: even famous prostitutes or gangsters.  For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison."

I found this book hard to understand in some places.  Even though Lewis wrote about timeless truths in talking about current issues, it was still hard to understand some of what he talks about without knowing more about the then-current events.  The editor shed some light on some of these events, but not enough, in my estimation.

At the same time, there are many great truths that can be gleaned from the parts that are understandable, which still includes most of the book.  For example, in the first essay, "The Necessity of Chivalry," Lewis defines in a different and more relevant way than I have heard before what chivalry is and shows why it is so necessary to civilization.  The best essay may be "On Living in an Atomic Age".  Lewis wrote it during the Cold War, when fears of nuclear war were at their zenith.  Using reason, the author makes his readers see that the specter of nuclear war only reminds us of the necessity of the spiritual world (including God) and the bankruptcy of naturalism.  For these and other examples of Lewis's sanity and amazing insight, Present Concerns earns 3 out of 5 stars in my book (⭐⭐⭐).

Mississippi Solo

Mississippi Solo: A River Quest by Eddy L. Harris     Hardcover: 250 pgs.

I grew up floating on the river.  I used to go fishing with my father and brother on 7- or 8-hour float trips on streams near my hometown.  When we stopped for lunch on a sandbar, we would collect twigs and branches and build a fire on which we roasted hot dogs & heated up beans.  It was probably the most I've ever had to rough it.

The author performs a far greater feat of river navigation in this true-to-life adventure story.  Harris floats solo nearly the entire length of the Mississippi River, from its source in northern Minnesota to New Orleans.  But this is no pleasure cruise.  The author, an African-American hailing from right here in St. Louis, makes the trip in a borrowed canoe, the only motive power his own arm strength, paddling through 2,300 miles of river.  He chooses to make his epic journey in mid-October, when it gets very cold in the upper Midwest.  Making it even more difficult is the fact that he doesn't know much about canoeing or even tying a canoe to the shore.  Harris's inexperience might have doomed the journey.

But the adventurer learns quickly.  He has friends who help him a few times during the journey, but for the most part, he is on his own while on the river.  Harris doesn't even have a cell phone or GPS to aid him; he only uses detailed U.S. Corps of Engineers maps of the river to navigate.  He is largely dependent on the kindness of strangers when he ventures to shore for supplies, meals and to camp for the night.  They generally think he's crazy for taking the trip, yet at the same time admire him for attempting it, which seems to be the reason almost all of them not only assist him, but befriend him (one girl even gets a little too friendly!).  He needs their help, as there is plenty of danger-- from the river itself, from barges, from wild animals and, in one instance, from a couple of hunters that seemed to be out to kill him.  With the help of friends and strangers, along with his own formidable determination, Harris makes it to the outskirts of New Orleans about a month and a half after he put his canoe into the cold waters of Lake Itasca (the Mississippi's source).

I was annoyed that Harris didn't give more information about himself before launching into the narrative.  But, like a good writer, he reveals much about himself through the narrative.  He makes clear that he isn't used to the back-breaking labor required to canoe down one of the world's largest rivers.  What he is used to is flying to exotic locales and eating fine delicacies, not floating down a river for weeks and eating pork & beans and other simple meals by the campfire.  Why, then, does he do it?  For one thing, as a writer, he's motivated by the adventures of the great author Ernest Hemingway.  He also wants to prove himself in a world with so much convenience that it offers little physical challenge.

Harris is a good writer and his prose is both poetic and descriptive.  At times Harris used figures of speech and personification so much it was a little hard for me to understand what he was trying to say.  But he also describes the difficult journey in a more literal way and ruminates on subjects relating to it, such as whether the Army Corps of Engineers keeping the Mississippi within its present channel and the steps they've taken to ensure it's navigable for shipping are good ideas.

I found this book pretty fascinating-- after all, I love adventure stories.  Like the strangers he encounters in towns along the river, I thought he was a little crazy (especially for not preparing a little better and setting out in the fall), but I couldn't help but admire his daring and determination.  To someone who has only floated down small rivers and creeks for less than a day and was only a little inconvenienced while doing so, his trek is truly amazing and inspiring.  I doubt I'll ever try anything as ambitious as Harris, but it was great to read about, earning this adventure 4 out of 5 stars in my book (⭐⭐⭐⭐).

Sitka

Sitka by Louis L’Amour     Paperback: 352 pgs.         

     This book, originally published in the 1950’s, was somewhat of a departure for Louis L’Amour, who was known for his Westerns.  You could consider this novel a Western, but it’s also different than most books of that genre.  Though it largely takes place in Alaska, our westernmost state, I doubt many people think of Alaska when they think of the Old West!  There are no cowboys, as you would expect to find in a Western, but there is a shootout and a few Indians appear in it (though they are inhabitants of Alaska, not the Great Plains).

     Jean LaBarge, the main character, would easily fit into a Western novel or film.  He is tough, self-reliant, determined, observant and resourceful.  An orphan growing up in the woods of the Northeast, he realizes a dream of becoming a fur trader and becomes a wealthy resident of San Francisco.  But his ultimate dream is to trade furs in the Alaska.  The Russians control that vast territory in this time period (the 1850’s and 1860’s) and forbid outsiders from engaging in that occupation, but that doesn’t stop LaBarge.  He succeeds both in trading furs in Alaska and evading Russian patrols until the very end of the book.  He is quite a Renaissance man— a fur trader, sailor and successful businessman who knows how to get things done.  He even influences events in the halls of Congress and the palace of the Russian czar.


     Some of LaBarge’s exploits are so amazing, in fact, that they seem unbelievable.  This made it a less-engrossing story, since it was more difficult for me to “suspend disbelief”, so as to better enjoy the fictional story.  It’s worth noting that Sitka is not a very “deep” novel— you don’t see a lot of character development.  It’s very much a simple “good guy vs. bad guy” adventure story; unlike many present-day novels, we don’t see an evil side to LaBarge, nor do we see any goodness in the villain, a Russian named Zinnovy.

    As I weigh all the positives and negatives, L’Amour’s “Alaska Western” earns 3 out of 5 stars in my book.  ★★★

 - John W.

Duty: A Father, his son and the man who won the war

Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War by Bob Greene              Hardcover: 296 pgs.

     The dropping of the atomic bomb is a very interesting part of history to me, so this book was a thrill to read, as it’s largely about Col. Paul Tibbets, the man who piloted the plane that bombed Hiroshima.  Greene, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune and Life magazine, narrates how he met, interviewed and ultimately became good friends with the aging World War II pilot (who has now passed away).  The author is obviously very curious about “the man who won the war” and asks many insightful questions; Tibbets responds with some very interesting answers about the war and his general outlook on life.  What’s especially interesting, of course, is reading what Tibbets thought of his bombing of Hiroshima.

     Tibbets’ perspective alone would make for an engaging book, but the author adds a second layer.  A very skillful writer, Greene weaves in the story of his father’s attitude on life and experience in World War II with that of Col. Tibbets.  The result is a compelling portrait of the opinions and outlook of the World War II Generation.  The book title, Duty, is a great one-word summary of that generation’s emphasis and perspective.

     This is a very well-written book and will help readers of younger generations better understand and appreciate their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents.  Greene’s wonderfully-crafted book gets 5 out of 5 stars in my book.   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐   

 - John W.

A World Lit Only by Fire

Title: A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age             Author: William Manchester            Paperback: 299 pgs.

     I picked up this book to learn more about the Middle Ages, but was somewhat disappointed.  The author writes mostly about the Renaissance, contrasting it with the worldview of what he considers the extremely benighted medieval era.  Evidently, Manchester thought the events of the Middle Ages weren’t worth writing about, as he makes the rather astounding claim that very little of significance happened in Europe during that thousand-year period (roughly 500-1500 A.D.).  He concedes that kings and popes died and new rulers took their places, that wars were fought and that natural disasters wreaked havoc on the population.  Yet it has little historical significance in Manchester’s estimation because the impact of these events on the masses, he says, was “negligible.”  In my view, the author overstates his case— I believe the Middle Ages weren’t as dark as he makes them out to be and that there were many significant events that took place during the era— but his very dim view of the Middle Ages is shared by some historians.

     It’s one thing to have a different historical opinion— an interpretation of the facts that happens to be at some variance with mine.  But it’s a more serious thing when Manchester makes demonstrably false claims in an attempt to show how wretched the Middle Ages were.  One example: he claims that there were no such things as clocks in the Middle Ages, yet the mechanical clock is known to have been invented in the late 1200’s.  I even found an article about a clock that is still intact built in the medieval era (I would guess that it’s not the only one).  Manchester also claimed that educated Christians at the time believed the Earth was flat, yet this claim has long been debunked.  Quotes from Christian intellectuals of the time, such as Bede, Isadore of Seville, Boethius, Hermannus Contractus and Thomas Aquinas, show that they clearly believed that the world was round.


    Manchester accurately describes how discoveries made during the Renaissance threatened cherished beliefs about the world (such as how Copernicus’ discovery of a heliocentric universe imperiled the medieval belief that the sun revolved around the Earth).  These beliefs were thought to be closely related to their Christian faith, though Christians today would not look at them that way.  When these beliefs were refuted, Manchester suggests that it caused most educated people during the Renaissance to turn completely away from Christianity.  This is simply not true; intellectuals did not, for the most part, abandon their faith.  In fact, pioneering textual criticism of the Bible by Renaissance Humanists actually helped lead to the Christian movement called the Reformation.  Educated people in the Renaissance may have been very divided in religion due to that great upheaval, but they still thought of themselves as Christians and found a way to reconcile their faith with the new discoveries.


     In spite of all the above criticisms, I have to admit that this is still a pretty compelling book, which is why I read it in its entirety.  For one thing, the book seems to be generally historically accurate.  Then, too, Manchester tells a great story.  The most fascinating part was the last section, devoted to Manchester’s favorite explorer, Ferdinand Magellan.  As you may remember, Magellan was the Portuguese explorer, sailing under the flag of Spain, who discovered the South American strait that bears his name.  More importantly, this discovery enabled his expedition to be the first to sail all the way around the world (Magellan himself died before his ships returned to Spain).  Reading Manchester’s thrilling account, I certainly learned some interesting things I didn’t know about Magellan.  For example, Manchester writes that he was considered a traitor by his countrymen because his expedition was sponsored by Spain.  The author also describes how Magellan overcame a mutiny during the expedition, showing what an extraordinary leader he was.


     Even though I didn’t learn about what happened during the Middle Ages, I did gain insight into the Renaissance and the mindset of the Middle Ages, in spite of Manchester’s errors.  I give it 3 out of 5 stars.  ⭐⭐⭐

 - John W.

Wishful Drinking

Title: Wishful Drinking               Author: Carrie Fisher           Hardcover: 163 pgs.       

      This book is quite a departure for me; I don’t think I had read any Hollywood celebrity memoirs before picking up this autobiography.  But, informed about how great it was in the earlier review on this blog and being a fan of her comedy, I thought I’d give it a try.  I was not disappointed.

     Fisher, the now-deceased actress who will forever be Princess Leia to legions of Star Wars fans, had a very hard life.  She was born a Hollywood princess, the daughter of celebrities Eddie Fisher, a famous singer in the 1950’s, and Debbie Reynolds, an actress remembered largely for her role in Singin’ in the Rain.  The first, and perhaps most profound, misfortune to befall the author was the divorce of her parents after her father’s affair with Elizabeth Taylor.  She writes that she dreams (as an adult) that he would come back home to give her a good upbringing, but her wish never came true— her parents never got back together.  She very seldom even saw him.  It exemplified to me the power of fathers in their children’s lives— power both to bless and to curse.  When she grew up, Fisher, like so many Hollywood stars, struggled with substance abuse.  More unusually, she was also afflicted with a mental illness: bipolar disorder.

     But as serious and tragic as these bare facts may sound, this is truly a book of comedy.  The actress suffered so much, presumably, that the only way she could stay sane was by making light of her troubles, as she does in this writing.  I found these memoirs hilarious and very clever, often making me laugh out loud!

     The only major issues I had with the book were that the writing rambled to some extent (it’s very colloquial) and that the author used some crude language.  For the latter reason, I wouldn’t recommend it for children or grown-ups who are very sensitive to vulgar language.  But, for me, the comedy more than made up for all this, so I would still recommend it to most adults.

 - John W.

The Odyssey of Homer

The Odyssey of Homer by Yuri Rasovsky          Audiobook: 8 hours         334 pages     

     A few months ago, after trying to decide what book to read next, I settled on an ancient classic— a book that people have loved for thousands of years (and one of the oldest stories of Western civilization).  I was hoping that I, too, would enjoy it.

     What I checked out isn’t exactly the epic poem written by Homer, however; it’s not even a book I could actually read.  Rather, it’s a radio play that I listened to on audiobook— but it follows the story described in the ancient poem.  Odysseus is a Greek king who fought valiantly in the Trojan War, but is prevented from sailing home to his beloved wife due to the anger of Poseidon, god of the sea.  Instead, he and his men are forced to wander the seas for ten years, enduring terrors such as being captured by the hideous monster Cyclops.  Odysseus also faces temptation in the form of the beautiful, but deadly, song of the Sirens (mythological creatures that are half-woman, half-bird) and the enticement of another female, Calypso, who imprisons him and offers to make him her immortal husband.  Meanwhile, back at home in Greece, Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, faces her own temptation as she endures the harassment of a rowdy, lawless group of men who vie for her affections.  They’re also gradually eating her out of house and home.  Finally released by Calypso, Odysseus arrives home in the end, wreaks bloody vengeance on the suitors and reunites with his faithful wife.

More interesting than the story itself to this history lover were the discussions of classical scholars at the end of each disc in which they explained the culture of Homeric times.  The society described in the play reminded me a little of the Old Testament— there was a lot of emphasis on hospitality to strangers and again and again you hear people and gods referred to not only by their given name, but also their father’s name (e.g. “Odysseus, son of Laertes”; “Athena, daughter of Zeus”).  Genealogy was apparently as important to the Homeric Greeks (called “Achaeans” in the story) as it was to the ancient Jews.  Since I’m somewhat familiar with the Old Testament, these characteristics made the book seem interesting and somewhat familiar to me.  A huge difference between the Old Testament (and modern Western culture) and Homeric culture, however, is polytheism: the Greeks’ worship of many gods.  It isn’t just that they worshipped more than one God, it’s that their gods are so different than our modern conception of the Deity.  Their gods don’t seem to be exemplars of any kind of morality (on the contrary, they’re sometimes petty and mean), but essentially fallible humans who happen to have supernatural abilities.  The main gods in the story are Poseidon, who is Odysseus’ vindictive enemy, and Athena, Odysseus’ staunch ally.  Poseidon makes Odysseus and his men’s lives pretty miserable, while Athena uses her power to help Odysseus finally get home and take vengeance on the suitors.

     I like a lot of action in what I read (or listen to, in this case) but there wasn’t much of it in most of the story.  The audiobook is divided into eight episodes, one per disc, but the only action-packed ones are discs 4, 5 and 8; the rest of the story is rather slow.  Still, it kept my attention enough that a few times I forgot to make turns I needed to make as I listened to it while driving, so rapt was my attention on the story.

I was hoping I would enjoy this story, since it’s a classic, and I did to some extent.  I initially didn’t like it very much, but the story grew on me.  I also find Odysseus’ virtues of good leadership, perseverance and resourcefulness admirable.  But I wish there had been more action and found the world of the Homeric Greeks (especially their conception of deity) hard to relate to and therefore to appreciate.  In sum, I’d say The Odyssey is a fairly good story, but not one of my absolute favorites.

 - John W.

The Screwtape Letters

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis      Paperback: 211 pgs.       

     This inventive and witty satire consists of letters purportedly written by a demon named Screwtape, offering advice on how best to ensure the damnation of a human soul.  Though it is an old book— Lewis wrote it (and it is set) during World War II— it is just as relevant to a 21st century audience as to those who read it over 75 years ago.  What shines through the most to me is Lewis’ amazing wisdom and insight into human nature and the nature of good and evil.  Lewis sees through temptations into the core issues involved and then explains it all to us through the pen of the fictional Screwtape.  It is therefore an excellent source for Christians to go to for knowledge of the real devil’s strategy and tactics.  The only major temptation missing here, as Christian writer Steve Farrar points out, is the attempt to keep people from studying the Bible.  We never see Screwtape urge his nephew to keep his “patient” (the man he’s tempting) from God’s Word— yet this is surely a major part of the devil’s strategy in real life.

     The edition I read also includes a speech by Screwtape, called “Screwtape Proposes a Toast,” written in 1959.  Lewis imagines here what Screwtape would say at a graduation ceremony of demons about to go out on their first assignments.  Lewis, through the mouth of Screwtape, explains the dangers of excess in democracy (resulting in evil and injustice), especially in our educational system.  Lewis even posits an interesting theory of why the United States fell behind the Russians at the beginning of the Space Race in the late 1950’s.

     One thing to keep in mind when reading this book is the “demonic” authorship.  What Screwtape loves, Lewis means us to hate; what the demon hates, we should love; what he thinks is good, we should abhor and vice-versa.  Also, demons aren’t exactly known for telling the truth, so in a few cases, Screwtape’s descriptions and judgements may not be entirely accurate.  Nevertheless, Lewis has made Screwtape’s observations mostly very accurate, so as to explain truth through the demon’s pen.  Not that Christians (let alone non-believers) are likely to agree with everything Lewis says.  I certainly don’t, but my disagreements with him are very few and far between.  To me, this is still one of the greatest books I’ve ever read; a great guide to truth, temptation, human nature, good and evil, and even reason.  I highly recommend it!

 (posted for John W.)

Waking the Dead

Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive, by John Eldredge             Hardcover: 244 pgs.         

     From the title, you might think this book is about the zombie apocalypse, but this is no horror story!  There is, however, a sense in which most Christians are zombies, according to Eldredge (though he doesn’t use that analogy).  After all, Jesus promised His people abundant life (John 10:10), but the lives of most believers fall far short of this amazing promise.  The question is, why?  Eldredge argues that most Christian teaching, emphasizing “sin management” or mere intellectual knowledge of doctrine, doesn’t help us find this life in part because it doesn’t emphasize the importance of our hearts.  We usually think of the heart as the seat merely of our emotions, but the author shows that the Bible speaks of it as far more than that: as the source of our motives, deep thoughts, creativity and courage.  Citing Romans 10:9 & 10, he even shows that it is part of the means by which people come to faith in Christ.  Perhaps the most controversial thing Eldredge writes is that the Christian’s heart is good— that the oft-quoted verse about the heart being deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9) does not apply to believers.  Christ gives us the abundant life when we engage our hearts through what the author calls the “Four Streams”: walking with God, receiving His intimate counsel, deep restoration and spiritual warfare.  Eldredge especially emphasizes spiritual warfare; he often brings it in even when talking about the other streams.  This resonated greatly with me, as spiritual opposition well explains why things are often so difficult in my life, especially in my spiritual life.  Eldredge doesn’t blame demons for everything, though; their activity doesn’t absolve Christians of sin and unwise choices.  I found most of the author’s arguments very convincing, though there are a few things I didn’t agree with or wasn’t sure about.  I also found his interpretation of a few Scriptures to be questionable.  Nevertheless, I still would highly recommend this book.  It gives hope that, in spite of great opposition from the Enemy, Christians can find, more and more, the life Christ promised us.

Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army’s Victory That Shaped World War II

Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army’s Victory That Shaped World War II by Stuart D. Goldman            Hardcover: 185 pgs.             Genre: History, World War II, Mongolia, China, Japan, Soviet Union

     Nomonhan is a Mongolian village straddling the boundary between Mongolia and Manchuria.  Today, Mongolia is an independent country and Manchuria is part of China, but in 1939, on the eve of World War II, the former was a client state of the Soviet Union, while the latter region was controlled by Japan.  The border between them was hotly disputed at the time— so hotly disputed, in fact, that an undeclared war erupted between the Japanese and the Soviets near the small village.  In this book, author Stuart Goldman makes the case that this forgotten border war significantly influenced World War II.  As a result of being soundly defeated by the Russians in the conflict, Goldman contends, Japan turned its attention toward expansion into Southeast Asia, putting it on a collision course with America and resulting in the Pearl Harbor attack.  Hence, the so-called “Nomonhan Incident” (also known as the Battles of Khalkhyn Gol) had a major influence on America’s entry into the war.  Another effect of the decisive Soviet victory, according to the author, was enabling Russia to survive the German invasion of 1941 and ultimately drive the Germans out of their country and all of Eastern Europe, helping to win the war for the Allies.  Goldman gives us a look at the diplomatic strategies of Britain, France, Nazi Germany and Russia leading up to the Second World War, allowing this reader, at least, to better understand the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis agreement.  The author paints Stalin, especially, as a very shrewd leader.  I found these passages fascinating, but they make up less than half of the book.  Most of the book, understandably, talks about the conflict itself (the movement of armies on both sides), but in a very detailed, academic way that I found boring and hard to slog through.  I’m sure military historians and military personnel would find this part fascinating, but I think the average reader would agree with my assessment.  My opinion about the book, then, is divided: one “thumb up” for the diplomatic history and descriptions of grand strategy, but the other “thumb down” for an overly-detailed narrative of the conflict itself.

The Problem of Pain

The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis             Paperback: 162 pgs.           

     Writers are often said to “spill a lot of ink”, as the saying goes, with their wordy compositions, but Lewis, on the contrary, did his best to conserve ink.  He had a knack for writing short non-fiction books, yet they are chockful of concentrated truth.  This book is a good example of his conciseness.  He manages, in less than 200 pages, to show why suffering in this world is inevitable and why God is justified in allowing it— clearly, no easy feat!  It should be noted that this book is not a manual on developing the patience and fortitude to go through suffering; it is instead an answer to the intellectual objection of pain as a reason for rejecting Christianity.

He methodically discusses all the relevant subjects related to the topic of suffering: God’s omnipotence & goodness, human sin and pain, the Fall, and suffering as it relates to heaven and hell; he even includes an illuminating chapter about why animals suffer.  Every time I read Lewis, it makes me want to pick up Aristotle, Plato, Augustine and other ancient and medieval writers he quotes, as he does in this book.  I may get around to these classics one of these days, but I’m not sure they can summarize their teachings and make them as intelligible to this modern reader as Lewis does.

Not that this is easy to read— Lewis’s writing skill makes it more understandable, but it still is philosophy, which is, of course, challenging to understand, especially for the non-academic.  There are a few other complaints I had in reading it.  For one, Lewis believed in evolution and mentions it here— a fact that will no doubt bother other Christians, as well— but it is only a relatively brief point; he doesn’t talk about it throughout the book.  I also have a problem with how he seems to take apart the argument for God’s existence from nature in the very first chapter, an argument that Scripture itself endorses (Psalm 19).

If you’re looking for a way to escape your troubles & get lost in another world, this may be the worst book to pick up, as it’s all about our troubles in this fallen world.  But if you want answers to questions of why you suffer, why the world is full of pain and how God can be just in allowing it, this book is generally a great read.  Lewis makes a very convincing case— and he only spilled only a little ink in doing so.

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis              Hardcover: 189 pgs.             

Imagine being transported to another world when you open the door of a wardrobe!  That’s what happens to four English children in this classic juvenile fairy tale, set during World War II.

The title summarizes the book well.  The lion, Aslan, is the Christ-figure of the book.  It is he who saves Narnia, long oppressed by the witch.  He even rescues a traitor, one of the children from our world, though, as with Christ, it costs him his life.  It is by Aslan’s power that the children become kings and queens over Narnia.  The witch is the villain of the story, a cruel tyrant who has made Narnia into a kind of frozen wasteland— a place where it is always winter, but never Christmas.  The wardrobe is the means by which the children in the story get into Narnia from our world.  Narnia, after all, is in a different world and can only be found by entering the armoire (when the magic works, that is).  Though they’re not mentioned in the title, the children— Peter, Edmond, Susan and Lucy— are also important to the story.  Even Santa Claus (or Father Christmas, as he is known in the book) makes an appearance.

George Bernard Shaw comically observed that the British and Americans are separated by their common language.  Lewis was an Englishman, so Americans may find certain words and phrases of the “queen’s English” Lewis uses puzzling.  Those unfamiliar with mythology may have a harder time understanding Lewis’s description of such creatures as centaurs, fauns and satyrs.  Other than these difficulties, it reads easily, as one would expect from a juvenile book, and is a truly wonderful and meaningful story.  The sense of adventure and parallel to the Christian gospel make it one of my favorite books.  As a Christian, I find that it fleshes out, through the character of Aslan, the wisdom, mercy, majesty and greatness of God.  But, as I wrote when reviewing The Magician’s Nephew, you don’t have to be a Christian to appreciate this very well-written adventure story.  Thus, whatever your religion (or age), I highly recommend it!

The Magician’s Nephew

The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis           Hardcover: 202 pgs.             

     I opted for some light reading over the holiday weekend, so I read a few books from The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis.  The series may be classified as juvenile fiction, but it has much to teach adults, as well.  The Magician’s Nephew is the first book, chronologically, in the series, but it was actually the sixth book published (older editions list the books in the series in publishing order, while newer editions opt for the chronological order).  This isn’t a big problem for a reader new to The Chronicles— for the most part, this book stands on its own— but there are a few references to The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe (published before The Magician’s Nephew) that someone unfamiliar with the former book wouldn’t understand.

Whether you read this book first or sixth in order, it’s a quick read (as you would expect from a juvenile book) and a very engaging prequel to the series.  Lewis tells the fascinating story of how the land of Narnia was created, and how humans in our world discovered and began to rule over it.  Humans also corrupt it by introducing the evil witch that also appears in The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe; indeed, much of the book is about morality, as one might expect in a fairy tale.  What might be surprising for those unfamiliar with Narnia is that a talking lion, Aslan, is a central character.  Aslan is the creator of Narnia and the Christ-figure in the story— and indeed, in the whole series.  I’ve classified it as Christian literature, but no doubt non-Christians will also enjoy it, as its spirituality does not make it inaccessible to unbelievers.  There is a lot of action— in fact, the accidental adventures of Digory and Polly remind me a lot of similar ones in Star Wars: A New Hope and The Phantom Menace.

As this is one of my favorite books of all time, this classic work of fiction gets two thumbs way up from me!

Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks

Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks by Ken Jennings              Hardcover: 266 pages           

     Have you ever spent hours looking at maps, fascinated with things like the courses of rivers, latitude and longitude, state and national capitals, the highest and lowest points of a state and why states are shaped like they are?  If so, you are the “title character” of this book— a “maphead” (aka geography wonk or cartophile)— and will love it.  If you’re not so inclined, but are curious how anyone could possibly find maps that interesting, you may also enjoy this read.  Personally, I’m in the first category; I can still remember going on car trips as a kid and following our route very closely on a road atlas, counting the number of water towers of small towns we passed through to assess the size of the burg (the more water towers, the bigger the town).  Jennings, the Jeopardy! champion and fellow map nerd, has written a very engaging book that makes us cartophiles feel less isolated in our pastime (or, in some cases, obsession).  Cleverly using geography terms as chapter titles, he discusses different kinds of geography wonks, including highpointers, geocachers, road atlas rally racers, confluence hunters and antique map collectors.  Jennings interviews contestants of the National Geography Bee (with a cameo appearance by Alex Trebek) and puts the often-decried American geographic ignorance in some perspective.  He talks about maps of imaginary worlds, like ones of Tolkien’s Middle Earth included in the pages of Lord of the Rings, and how technology is making paper maps obsolete for some of their traditional functions, while at the same time potentially making geography more engaging than ever.

The Quick and the Dead

The Quick and the Dead by Louis L’Amour        Paperback: 154 pgs. (155, including the author information at the end, which I read)     

     This book is quite a departure for me: I had never read a Western before, but a co-worker convinced me to try reading Louis L’Amour, the classic Western storyteller.  It was a good book and very much what you would expect in a Western.  But this story— and all L’Amour’s books— is truer to the real Old West than many Hollywood stories, as L’Amour does a lot of research to make his fiction as true to history as possible.  Of course, it’s still fiction— the characters and the story are made up— but it is based on authentic situations in the Old West.  It revolves around a family setting out for the West and the tremendous challenges they face, which they never came up against back east— especially a gang of rustlers, intent on robbing them and kidnapping the wife, that chase them across the prairie.  A stranger, Con Villian, shows up in the first few pages to help the greenhorns deal with these difficulties throughout their journey.  Villian is an excellent backwoodsman: a laconic, plain-spoken crack shot with amazing awareness of what is going on around him (rather like an Old West Jason Bourne).  These are necessary skills on the frontier and greatly increase the odds in the life-and-death struggle the family has with the gang.  The man of the family, Duncan, in contrast to Con Villian, believes he can reason with the bad guys and so thinks he can avoid having to kill them.  Yet he finds out that the rustlers are not reasonable; things don’t work out like Duncan hoped they would.  I can’t tell you how things do turn out (that would be a spoiler!), but it is worth the read to find out, especially since it’s a short book.  Enjoy, partner!

The Fall of Japan

The Fall of Japan by William Craig         Hardcover: 368 pgs.       

According to the history account we learned in school, World War II ended after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The unprecedented destruction prompted Japan’s surrender; it then signed the surrender document in Tokyo Bay two weeks later on September 2, 1945 (almost exactly 6 years after the conflict began).  This book gives the details of those events, showing that the “real-time” situation was very complicated and could have ended quite differently.  It also covers the weeks and months leading up to the defeat, including a narration of the ferocious Battle of Okinawa (the last battle of the war), the firebombing of Japanese cities and the development and dropping of the atomic bombs.  Craig shows that surrender was what you might call a “process” for the proud Japanese.  Even after the Japanese government had officially given up, some Japanese soldiers refused to do so, instigating rebellions and an attempted coup to keep Japan in the war.  The Pacific war was a very bloody and cruel business and its end was also gory and brutal, as this book shows.  We see especially the agony of atomic bombing victims, the terrible privations of American POWs at the hands of the Japanese and the tragic suicides of many Japanese officers to avoid dishonor and somehow atone for Japan’s defeat.  But there is also hope, as some Japanese leaders come to terms with their defeat and the Americans show magnanimity toward their formerly bitter enemies.  If you can handle the descriptions of slaughter and suffering, this is a very informative book for better understanding the end of the war and the beginning of the friendly relationship America and Japan enjoy today.