Kinships

Kinships by Antonin Sertillanges, OP, translated by the Dominican Nuns of Corpus Christi Monastery, Menlo Park, California, 234 pages

In considering the nature of the world and the moral order, Fr Sertillanges never forgets that it is a natural order animated by love.  Kinships reflects on that love and the response it demands, for it is nothing less than the charity of Christ, a love of "renunciation and generosity", not self-indulgence.  It is in this light that he reflects on the bonds of religion and society, not as chains that enslave, but as our means of escape from selfishness.

Whether read on its own or in conjunction with Recollection and Rectitude, Kinships is involving, if a bit uneven.

Rectitude

Rectitude by Antonin Sertillanges, OP, translated by the Dominican Nuns of Corpus Christi Monastery, Menlo Park, California, 244 pages

If "recollection" is the awakening of the mind to the order of the world, "rectitude" is the orientation of the will into harmony with that order.  The word Fr Sertillanges returns to again and again in these reflections is "integrity", by which he means, not merely "uprightness", but the disposition of every part of the whole human person according to the hierarchy of values.  This right order of the soul is built on a foundation of humility - humility, which is strong where pride is weak.  Sin disorders the soul and disintegrates the personality.

The meditations in Rectitude seem generally stronger than those in Recollection, although this is probably primarily the result of a tighter thematic focus.

Recollection

Recollection by Antonin Sertillanges, OP, translated by the Dominican Nuns of Corpus Christi Monastery, Menlo Park, California, 235 pages

In this collection of reflections Fr Sertillanges seeks to summon the reader to recognition of the reality of the world and his own place in it, to the human condition in all its high dignity and abject wretchedness.  To do so, he calls upon his own wide learning, including quotes and allusions from sources from Aquinas to the Zend-Avesta.  Life, he tells us, must be understood and lived in the light of eternity.  The recognition of a reality by which we are produced and which we cannot reproduce demands a response.

Recollection is often excellent but becomes thin in places, despite the book's high purpose and the author's considerable erudition.

Saul

Saul by Robert Browning, 45 pages

In Saul Browning portrays a moment in time.  The old king has been brought to the brink of the Great Mystery, and has shrunk back defeated, crushed by the immensity of the Divine.  The shepherd boy is brought to him, to soothe him, as he has before, with his gentle pastoral songs and psalms.  The young David, through Saul's dark despair, is likewise forced to contemplate the Sublime, but unlike Saul he finds the twist that turns life's tragedy into comedy.

     ...O Saul, it shall be

     A Face like my face that receives thee, a Man like to me...

Wales

Wales: Epic Views of a Small Country by Jan Morris, 458 pages

Owen Glendower is a mere historical footnote, an upstart who, despite a few early successes, was ultimately defeated by the overwhelming power of England and hounded to an obscure death.  Owain Glyndwr, by contrast, is the last of the great Welsh rebels, a sacred king with a mystical, even magical, connection to the land itself, a national hero who, like Arthur before him, may not be dead at all, merely sleeping, awaiting the appropriate hour for his return.  They are, of course, the same person, and although such things are never so simple, it is mostly correct to say that Owen is that person as viewed through English eyes and Owain through Welsh, especially after the rise of 19th century Romantic nationalism.  It is the latter who is the Muse of Jan Morris' exploration of the past, present, and future of Wales, and that prism through which the whole is viewed.

This is both fitting and invigorating.  Fitting, because so much of Welsh history is as obscure as the exact circumstances of Glyndwr's death.  Invigorating, because the reenchantment thus effected brings to life the history, land, and people of Wales in a way a more dispassionate, sober analysis never could.  Of course, in the process the fantasy sometimes becomes difficult to disentangle from reality, but this, too, is true to life.

Scoop

Scoop by Evelyn Waugh, 321 pages

William Boot is not a reporter, rather, he writes the nature column "Lush Places" for the Daily Beast.  It is only through a misunderstanding that he is dispatched to the obscure African nation of Ishmaelia, where the Fascist Blacks are fighting the Communist Reds, except that in this case the Blacks call themselves the Whites and the Reds call themselves the Blacks and there seems to be more fighting among the foreign press corps than among the native people.

Waugh's breezy satire of the self-referential world of the press will not cease to amuse as long as reporters and politicians remain.

Annapurna

Annapurna: The First Conquest of an 8000-Meter Peak by Maurice Herzog, translated by Nea Morin and Janet Adam Smith, 223 pages

In 1950, Maurice Herzog led a French expedition into Nepal's Kali Gandaki gorge with the intention of scouting and scaling one of the two peaks over eight thousand meters high bordering the canyon.  Exploring and finding Dhaulagiri too forbidding, they chose Annapurna, the tenth highest mountain in the world, as their target.  Overcoming all obstacles, Herzog and Louis Lachenal became the first men to summit an eight-thousander - at the cost of most of their fingers and toes, which had to be amputated as the result of extreme frostbite.  Annapurna is Herzog's conversational account of the expedition, a "record... of men at grips with Nature at her most pitiless... of their sufferings, their hopes and joys."

England

England: An Elegy by Roger Scruton, 247 pages

England: An Elegy is philosopher Roger Scruton's paean to an England that disappeared in his lifetime.  During the decades following the Second World War, a culture that relied on enchantment was subjected to a rude disenchantment by "seditious bigots" enflamed by a prejudice against history and tradition - but placing blame is not the purpose of Scruton's work.  He writes to praise what was lost, not to blame her murderers.

Central to Scruton's celebration of the England that was - not the "Merrie England" of legend but England as it lived and grew down through the centuries - is his awareness of her as primarily a work of moral imagination, endowed with her own personality through the contributions of her members and the landscape from which she was born.  The key to that personality is found in the quality of reserve, a skeptical distance conducive to honesty and its daughter virtue, humility.  This emotional distance makes possible a gentle neighborliness quite different from the impassioned involvement which so easily turns into meddling.  Scruton admits that the old England was not perfect - nothing merely human is - but at least it was something, and, for his part, he sides with "somewhere against nowhere".

Cosmopolis

Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity by Stephen Toulmin, 209 pages

In Stephen Toulmin's exhilarating history of ideas, "cosmopolis" is defined as a worldview that unifies the vision of the social world of humanity with the world of nature.  The medieval cosmopolis, which combined a Ptolemaic astronomy that understood the earth as lying at the bottom of the cosmos with a theological social orientation dominated by the Church, faded into an urbane skepticism during the Renaissance.  This was replaced, in turn, by a new cosmopolitical vision, joining together Cartesian philosophy and Newtonian physics.  Toulmin identifies this union as the wellspring of modernity, noting that, contrary to the standard account, it represented a narrowing rather than a broadening of mind.  The late twentieth century, in this view, represents the dawn of another skeptical age, wherein the embryo of the next cosmopolis will form.

Toulmin's argument is marred by some questionable judgments (that Baroque art was "histrionic and grotesque", for example) and exaggerations (while not as oppressive as often imagined, the Middle Ages were hardly as open-minded as he implies).  More incredible is his too-easy identification of postmodern nihilism with Renaissance humanism.  Yet the greatest difficulties are raised by his enthusiasm for the adoption of ecology as the new model for social order, in which he is seemingly oblivious to the obvious problems of invoking biology as a political principle.  Nonetheless, these problems are ultimately forgivable, if only because his book is so rich in audacity and explanatory power.

Lebanon

Lebanon: A History 600-2011 by William Harris, 283 pages

William Harris' Lebanon follows the history of the fascinatingly diverse peoples dwelling in the shadow of Mount Lebanon beginning with the Arab conquest and ending with the Arab Spring.  Down through the centuries, Maronite Christians, Shiite and Sunni Muslims, and the Druze have lived, fought, and suffered with each other as great empires rose and fell around them.  Last century's Maronite-led, Western-mediated attempt to unite this complex patchwork, further complicated by an extensive diaspora, into a single modern nation-state soon collapsed into sectarian strife, civil war, and a new series of foreign occupations.

Harris consciously concentrates on the political rather than cultural history of Lebanon, an odd decision for the history of a country that did not have an independent political existence until the twentieth century.  The result is a narrative offering a wealth of facts, but a paucity of understanding.

LaRose

LaRose by Louise Erdrich.  372 pages

Late one summer, Landreaux Iron is out hunting deer along the edge of the property that borders his own. He's confident in his shot, but then realizes he's hit something else: his neighbor's five year-old son, Dusty. Landreaux's own son, LaRose, has been close friends with Dusty and horrified at what he has done, Landreaux and his wife, Emmeline, turn to an Ojibwe tradition for guidance. They decide they will give LaRose to Dusty's parents, Peter and Nola.  LaRose is quickly absorbed into his new family, even as he is gradually allowed visits with his own family. As years pass, this shared relationship begins to link the two families. However, another man in the community, one with a longstanding grudge against Landreaux, is determined to raise trouble and threaten the tenuous peace between the two families.

My summary of this book feels lacking, partly because there is way more going on in this book than just the story of the boy being shared between two families.  I found this to be a complex story, and while I appreciated what the author was doing, and her writing style, the story just didn't resonate with me.  I may try reading The Round House by Erdrich and see if I like that story any better.

Yesterday

Yesterday by Felicia Yap.  352 pages
"How do you solve a murder when you only remember yesterday?"

In this world that is very much like our own, classes are divided by how much each group can remember. Monos, the majority, have only one day's worth of memory. Elite Duos have two days' worth of memory.  Monos are excluded from holding high office and demanding jobs, and Claire, a Mono, and Mark, a Duo, have a rare mixed marriage.  However, they are a shining example of a vision of tolerance and equality. However, then a beautiful woman is found dead in England's River Cam. Her diary reveals that Mark is her lover, and he's a prime suspect in her murder. The detective investigating the case has secrets of his own, which just serve to complicate the case. And, when everyone's memories are constantly erased, how can anyone tell fact from fiction?

This story is told from four perspectives: Claire, Mark, the investigator and the dead woman. You get both their perspectives and some of their diary entries, which adds an interesting element to the book. Everyone in society is required to keep a diary, but when you have people writing things as they see them, and perhaps even leaving out details, it's next to impossible to tell if any of these people are reliable narrators.  The investigator, for reasons of his own, is determined to solve the case in a day, so there is a relentless pace that drives this whole story.

I found this to be a really inventive scenario for a society, and definitely a real twist on the idea of a reliable narrator.  The story is a combination of mystery and suspense, keeping you unsure until the end about who murdered Mark's lover.  Definitely an interesting read.

The Shack

The Shack by William Paul Young         Audio Book: 8.5 hours   Hardback Book: 266 pages      

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book.   I had heard the premise after seeing mention of the film.   I haven’t seen the film and I don’t want to give it away nor do I want to give too much away on the book, suffice it to say I was pleasantly surprised.    The book hit me from left field with the earthly stuff that takes place.   I did not have a clue on that so WOW factor there.   I did not see that coming until it was in front of me.   It is a very emotional story.   Lots of ups and downs and contemplations thereof.    I enjoyed many of the concepts,   thought the characters and representations of the triune God very well developed and the arguments pro and con very well thought out.   I have to say, to me, the horror of something that happened did not seem to be answered but glossed over.   There were many discussions on it but never the extraordinary explanation that couldn’t be there because honestly how could an explanation really be understood of those incredibly awful happenings in such a way as a human mind could undertake to understand such atrocities?   Some reasons were given as to why a person becomes a monster and why a monster preys on the innocent but I kept feeling like somehow I wanted or needed the characters of the Godhead, the Supreme Beings of the Universe to tell me more in this story.   Now don’t get me wrong, they tell a lot and say many thought provoking things and offer great understanding of some very hard to decipher topics but while I liked the book and liked the characters, I felt like the relevant issues was ice and the characters were skating on top of it and all around it.   Talking about it but not aggressively giving any comfort for the awful picture you are left with even after all is said and done in the story.    I did like the book.    I liked all the characters but somehow I was left feeling the burning question was never answered though I know it was addressed in several different ways.    I am glad the story was fiction but in real life when you hear of such things my mind always goes to the suffering of the one involved not the peace of no more pain when the crossover occurs, though that is very important for the comfort of the souls involved.    The book was written for the catharsis of the Young Family to cleanse and reunite them all after a long dark spell the family went through from there friends were given copies who had friends who wanted copies and it blew up from there.    Well done, Paul Young (he doesn’t go by William).

Shinto

Shinto: The Way of Japan by Floyd H Ross, 171 pages

Although few Japanese identify themselves as "Shintoists", Shinto rituals and festivals remain extremely popular in Japan.  According to Floyd Ross, this is entirely consistent with the fundamental orientation of the religion towards practice rather than doctrine.  As a result, in this study Ross concentrates on the study of "Shrine Shinto", the religion as expressed in formal worship and associated popular festivals, rather than "Folk Shinto", the traditional beliefs of the Japanese countryside, or "State Shinto", the reformed religion developed during the Meiji era and dismantled by the Allied occupation, although he is also clear that the various forms of Shinto are interrelated.

Unfortunately, despite his own explicit statement of distrust in the infallibility of the social sciences, Ross relies on them in practice, to the point of assuming that, when the myths do not fulfill the theories of comparative religion, the myths must have been changed.  This dovetails with his preoccupation with a Shinto purified of foreign - primarily Buddhist and Confucian - influences, a Shinto which may never have actually existed and is certainly not the Shinto of today.  This results in a presentation which. while interesting and informative in places, overall fails to satisfy, revealing as it does more about the author than the subject.

Nimona

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson.  262 pages

Dragons! Science! Nemeses! All of this and more are contained in this fun, sharply funny, irreverent graphic novel. We have a villain, Lord Ballister Blackheart, who has a vendetta against Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics. Enter Nimona, an impulsive young shapeshifter who is itching to take on the role of Ballister's sidekick, encouraging him along into her small acts of mischief. However, when her interactions with their enemies start to build into more vicious battles, Ballister has to admit that he's not quite sure where Nimona's powers come from, and if she's truly able to control herself.

I absolutely loved this graphic novel (enough that it's on my book wishlist). Even though it's aimed at a younger audience, there's plenty of subversiveness and storyline to entertain adult readers. Nimona is a charming character and I loved her right away, even though I suspected there was more to her than she was revealing at the beginning.  I also liked that her interactions with Ballister, and Ballister's interactions with Goldenloin, helped give insight into all of the characters. There were things to think about in this story, too, so it's not just a cute story about a shapechanging sidekick; there is exploration about self-knowledge, and the story has a lot of heart (and the ending may surprise you, too).

Domina

Domina by L.S. Hilton  320 pages.

This sequel to Maestra finds Judith Rashleigh in Venice, with her own art gallery and using the name of Elisabeth Teerlinc. Hoping she can finally stop running, she's got the life she dreamed of, not to mention the interest of a Russian billionaire.  However, when she has a chance encounter in Ibiza which leads to a corpse (for once, not one of her own doing), she finds her life is back on the line.

This story is a true sequel, where you really need to have read the preceding book to understand what is happening here. Judith is not a likeable character (at least, I don't think she is), but she's compelling. It's intriguing to read this story and see how she's going to find a way out of the situation she finds herself in. When I think about her character, I think about an eel - she's strong and slippery and out for her own survival. The author does a nice job of creating a rich story, and it's easy to envision the settings, which is important because they influence the story. Judith will lie, steal and manipulate anyone she can just to make sure she's surviving (and thriving, if possible).  I did feel that this sequel wasn't as strong as a story as the first one, but I kept reading because I was curious about what was going to happen.

Boundless

Boundless by Jillian Tamaki.  248 pages

This collection of short stories takes a blend of realism and humor and mixes it with distinctive art to create an interesting exploration of the lives of different women. One woman, post-breakup, becomes obsessed with the mirror Facebook of herself, imagining a life that she could live.  In another story, a woman finds she is steadily shrinking in size, the world around her at first being scary and then receding.

I enjoyed some stories more than others, but that's typical for me when I'm reading short stories. I appreciated how the art in this book gave the stories an emotional feel -- words without the art would fall completely flat, I think.  Not my favorite graphic novel, but an interesting read. I'd suggest this for readers who enjoy Adrian Tomine's work.

Rogues

Rogues edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, Hardback book: 810 pages

This is a collection of 21 original stories. Some of the authors include Gillian Flynn, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, Joe Abercrombie, Connie Willis, Scott Lynch and George R.R. Martin. Some of the stories have a fantasy element and others are just fiction.

What is a rogue? In the introduction Martin provides us with descriptions such as: "Scoundrels, con men, and scalawags. Ne'er-do-wells, thieves, cheats, and rascals. Bad boys and bad girls. Swindlers, seducers, deceivers, flimflam men, imposters, frauds, fakes, liars, cads, tricksters..." Who wouldn't like stories about those types of people? Well, maybe not everyone.

I enjoyed this collection a lot. There were some stories that I thought were just ok but I loved most of them and now have some new authors to add to my already overlong reading list.

One of my favorites was "Tough Times All Over" by Joe Abercrombie. In a city where almost every one is a criminal, a courier must deliver an important package but then she loses it. It continues to change hands, sometimes being stolen by someone else. Can she recover it in time?

Another of my favorites was "Tawny Petticoats" by Michael Swanwick. Darger and Surplus have recently arrived in New Orleans (one in which there are sea serpents and zombie laborers) and are seeking a female confederate for their con. They find one named Tawny Petticoats. Their con involves conning some unsavory characters. Will they pull off their con, be betrayed by Tawny or will they be the ones conned by the ones they are attempting to con?

A third one of my favorites was "Now Showing" by Connie Willis. It is about a young woman named Lindsay who is in college and the man she was dating named Jack. He had left her in the lurch. She runs into him at the movie theater and finds out he is an agent for the government investigating consumer fraud or is he? It doesn't sound entertaining but Willis does a great job of making it fun.

Carnivalesque

Carnivalesque by Neil Jordan     288 pages

When the boy looked out the car window, the carnival looked just like any other. But of course, it wasn't. The hall of mirrors invites Andy in and then he walks right into a mirror. The boy that walks out of the hall of mirrors isn't Andy, but that boy goes home with Andy's parents. Andy, meanwhile, is trapped until a girl from the carnival pulls him through and out, and into another world of a carnival where anything might happen.

I thought this was an interesting book and enjoyed the dark undertones of the story. There are definitely some disturbing elements to the story and the part with Andy's parents and the boy that looks like, but isn't, their son have a strange feel to them. You're not sure what's going to happen and whether or not Andy's mother is going to figure out what's happened. Andy, or Dany as he's now known to the carnival, has a more interesting storyline, and I liked how the author wove a backstory about the carnival and the magic that it holds.  It'd suggest this book to readers who liked Dr. Strange and Mr. Norrell.

Nimona

Nimonaby Noelle Stevenson, 266 pages

“Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel has been hailed by critics and fans alike as the arrival of a "superstar" talent (NPR.org). Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are. But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.”  This was a pretty good graphic novel.  I would highly recommend it to teens, especially girls who are looking for strong female characters.