Travel Reading: Madonna House Part 3

During the four months of reading the below books, I've been at a farming community in the middle of nowhere (if anything can be called "the middle of nowhere", rural Canada can), with no electronics. It is far too difficult to write up proper reviews in these circumstances, so I'm continuing the Travel Reading series, where I simply write a couple sentences about each book read, and leave it at that. Here goes the third set of three:

"Poustinia" by Catherine Doherty
Grade: 3 1/2 stars
I love the idea of Poustinia--it's epic. And some of Catherine's ideas are just so true and beautiful, and not something you see talked about anywhere else (at least in our culture). But I struggled a lot with her style, especially her seeming anti-intellectualism. This was a very up-and-down reading experience for me because of that. But I recommend this heartily! I think almost anyone could get something new and helpful out of it, at least.




"The Power and the Glory" by Graham Greene
Grade: 5 stars
SO Catholic, in the best possible sense of that phrase. Greene gets so many things--what real sanctity is, the silliness that is sin, and how people think deep down to themselves. He reminds me of a grittier version of C. S. Lewis in those ways. This is a book worth a good, long sit-down discussion over beer or hot chocolate. Yet all this might give the impression that it's a "difficult" book, or preachy, or only relate-able to Catholics or something, but that's totally false. It's easy to read, excellently written, brilliant characters, gets to the bottom of LIFE. Man, I don't even know how to describe my thoughts properly, but I am so glad I finally got around to reading this.


"In the Night Garden" by Catherynne M. Valente
Grade: 4 stars
The structure of this book! It totally thrilled me. A layered, interlocking series of tales and stories, with unexpected connections and call-backs and Inception-like depth. The unending nature of the structure was a little annoying for me personally, though. I wanted everything wrapped up in the end, in an incredibly complex bundle of imagination and creativity. Instead it emphasizes the fact that stories don't really have a beginning and end, which is probably actually the best route to take, despite my personal preferences.



"The Return of the Prodigal Son" by Henri Nouwen
Grade: 4 stars
A beautiful little book that gives you a new appreciation for Rembrandt's famous painting. I didn't find it quite as helpful as the last Nouwen I read, but excellent none the less.







"Shirt of Flame" by Heather King
Grade: 5 stars
Profound and difficult and consoling simultaneously. It came at an absolutely perfect time in my life, and gave me a relationship to St. Therese for which I'll be forever grateful. Also good coming so soon after The Power and the Glory, since King also get the grittiness and paradox and beauty of Catholicism.






"Paladin of Souls" by Lois McMaster Bujold
Grade: 3 stars
The gods in this series! With the religion in this series, and how Bujold presents the theist character of Cordelia in the Vorkosigan saga, I can't help but think she's had some experience of Faith. She just seems to get how it works (though the Bastard weirded me out a bit...). The rest of the aspects of this story were good enough, and entertaining, but I think the first book, The Curse of Chalion, remains my favourite by a large margin.





(There are some personal notes below this break. Feel free to skip them; they are pretty unintelligible anyway.)

Travel Reading: Madonna House Part 2

The last four months or so, I've been at a farming community in the middle of nowhere (if anything can be called "the middle of nowhere", rural Canada can), with no electronics. It is far too difficult to write up proper reviews in these circumstances, so I'm continuing the Travel Reading series, where I simply write a couple sentences about each book read, and leave it at that. Here goes the second set of three:

"Discovering the Feminine Genius" by Katrina J. Zeno
Grade: 2 1/2 stars
It was a little simplistic for where I'm at right now--or perhaps it's complex enough but just made for a different sort of person? Despite the fact that she and I have a fairly similar background in some ways (Catholic upbringing, down to the playing spoons till midnight). Most of the book didn't seem to relate to me or be that helpful. Yet... a few key points in it were the starting off points for some major growth these last few months, so I can't help but recommend it.




"Wild Seed" by Octavia Butler
Grade: 4 stars
A fairly different feel to this book than what I'm used to. Quite intensely personal for a speculative fiction book, without being overly emotional or having that "literary fiction" style that isn't my thing. Don't really know what else to say about this book, but it was good stuff. Hopefully I'll get to more Butler soon.





"Spiritual Formation" by Henri Nouwen
Grade: 4 1/2 stars
This book helped me a lot. Nouwen has such insight into the human journey. Also there are some cool new ideas to try for me, like "Visual Divinia". I just wish I'd gotten around to studying my notes (found below) properly when the book was still in my possession and fresh in my mind...






"Fortress in the Eye of Time" by C. J. Cherryh
Grade: 3 1/2 stars
Entertaining and atmospheric with some great relationships of all sorts. The central friendship was my favourite (Tristen and Cefwyn), but there was a small element of romance that was really great too (Cefwyn and .... I forget her name). The Tristen & Mauryl and Cefwyn & Idrys (Master Crow!) relationships were also great. The main issue is that it wasn't quite gripping enough to make me seek out the sequels immediately, and I'm going to forget the myriad names and world-building details that are necessary to understand even a little bit of what's going on. Cherryh is not someone who explains things unnecessarily--one of my favourite things about her, but still, it's going to make this difficult...


"The Psalms Are Our Prayers" by Albert Gelin
Grade: 3 stars
If I hadn't read The Case for the Psalms by N. T. Wright earlier in the year and loved it, I might have been more impressed by this. As it was, it was good but not particularly new or striking. I also found the style a bit disconcerting--perhaps it was the translation? My spiritual director recommended this book and this author, though, so I'd like to try another book by him at some point.




(There are some personal notes below this break. Feel free to skip them; they are pretty unintelligible anyway.)

These Beautiful Bones

by Emily Stimpson

Why You Will Like This Book:

• It's a discussion of the profound Theology of the Body, but focusing on the neglected parts (i.e. the non sex parts).
• She gets the beauty of simplicity, the earth, daily life, and all those Hobbit-ish things.
• It's inspiring. It makes me want to pray well, eat well, exercise well, dress well, live well.

And Why You Might Not:

• I think it could turn off non-Christians and people who were less "Conservative" (see important note below*). It sometimes has that "the modern age is the most horrible age" point of view, which bothers me somewhat, though it's too complicated to get into why I think it's inaccurate.
• I also didn't like it all that much when she did talk about sex and gender. I thought it lacked complexity of thought, and didn't go beyond stereotypes enough. Though again, it probably won't bother most Conservative Christians who are relatively normal (unlike me, apparently).

Acedia & me

by Kathleen Norris

Why You Will Like This Book:

• It's about what I believe is one of the primary sins of our age: sloth (in all its forms).
• There are so many fascinating points to ponder, scattered throughout the book. And so many differing points of view on this one, ever pervasive issue.

And Why You Might Not:

• I found it a little meandering sometimes. It was just the style, and this is not a criticism per se, but sometimes I prefer books which state their point a little clearer, without circling.
• For Catholics, there are a couple of weird points theologically speaking, but these are few and far between, so I wouldn't worry overmuch

The Case for the Psalms

by N. T. Wright

Why You Will Like This Book:

• Inspiring ideas about how to pray, sing, and live the Psalms in your life
• Fascinating information on the original Hebrew

And Why You Might Not:

• His writing style is not the most engrossing. It's not difficult to read or anything, and the content makes up for it, but I still found myself having to re-read sentences a few times to understand properly.

Not God's Type

by Holly Ordway

Why You Will Like This Book:

• Conversion stories FTW!
• Ordway is a fencer, an academic, a lover of Lewis and Tolkien. Sounds like just my cup of tea; I would love to meet her.

And Why You Might Not:

• I wouldn't recommend this to non-Christians, unless they were really open to Christianity.

God and the Astronomers

by Robert Jastrow

Why You Will Like This Book:

• Although written by an agnostic, it discusses how the Big Bang Theory (not the show) and other related cosmological theories are surprisingly true to Genesis. It also discusses the scientists involved in these discoveries, and their reluctance to agree to something so seemingly Christian. (The second idea especially is not one discussed frequently, which makes this book cool.)

And Why You Might Not:

• It's really short and there's not a lot there besides the central idea and some short scientist biographies.
• It's really not a great book physically, either. The layout is confusing, they typesetting is strange, and there are page errors. 

Let Your Life Speak

by Parker J. Palmer

Why You Will Like This Book:

• It's beautiful, poetic, true, unusual.
• But with all this, it's very easy to read (and short).
• And I think it's ideas might be very important indeed for our modern life, where people forget their human nature.

And Why You Might Not:

• It's not Catholic, and often not specifically Christian. Some could be put off by this, because the ideas, though (I think) terribly important and true, could easily be misconstrued without the understanding of Christian moral theology.
• And that's my only criticism, because it's beautiful.

Gay and Catholic

by Eve Tushnet

Why You Will Like This Book:

• Orthodox Catholic, yet gritty and real.
• Written in an amusing and engaging style, drawing much from her own experiences.
• Discusses really important topics to our times: love, community, friendship. All of which are under appreciated or misunderstood these days.

And Why You Might Not:

• She doesn't try to explain the Catholic teachings on sexuality. If you're looking for a good way to convince people or yourself, this is not it.
• Some of this might bother you, whether you agree or don't agree with the teachings of the Church on human sexuality. She is upfront enough with her sexuality, and compassionate to other LGBTQ people, that a traditional Catholic could be uncomfortable (though she is completely orthodox herself), and she is Catholic enough that a normal, non-homophobic, non-Catholic person could think her ideas lacking in tolerance.

Becoming a Parish of Intentional Disciples

edited by Sherry A. Weddell

Why You Will Like This Book:

• Following up on her excellent and important book Forming Intentional Disciples, Weddell gathers a few people with real world experience in implementing these new ideas on evangelization, and gets them to discuss their thoughts and practical methods. 
• Seriously, I really think these ideas are important and vitally necessary for the Church in the West. If you're at all involved in the life of your parish, you really should read this book. (Although you should probably read Forming Intentional Disciples first. Especially if you're not involved in your parish life.)

And Why You Might Not:

• Obviously if you aren't Catholic, or at least Christian, this book won't mean much to you.
• It's too short. There was some good stuff in there, for sure, but it's such a slim book. I wanted more perspectives. More ideas. More things people have tried that did or didn't work. More stories.

Arriving at Amen

by Leah Libresco

Why You Will Like This Book:

• A new convert explains her unique perspective on the Faith and how she learned to integrate these totally new concepts into her life.
• For a cradle Catholic such as me, this is a very refreshing look at familiar and old-hat aspects of the Faith.
• Plus there's Les Miserables! and cognitive biases! and Shakespeare! and other such awesome things!

And Why You Might Not:

• There are a lot of references to math and logic and musicals and things not everybody enjoys. Leah has a particular kind of brain, which is pretty much mine except smarter, but I know it isn't for everyone.

Salt and Light

by Mark Shea

Why You Might Like This:

• Orthodox, balanced, lacking in political affiliation, and spiritually uplifting musings on some of the most important tenets of our Faith.

And Why You Might Not:

• If you're like me and read Mark Shea's blog fairly often, there might be not a lot of thoughts that are really new.
• Sometimes I wanted it to go a little deeper into the meanings, especially of the Beatitudes. I know this wasn't really what the book was about, but some of the chapters still seemed pretty short.

The Work of Mercy

by Mark Shea

Why You Will Like This Book:

• Inspiring and well-written book on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
• Mark Shea is very balanced in his opinions. It is a gift of his, I think, to not fall into political ideologies that tend to snare other people. Neither Left nor Right are free from his criticism or approval.

And Why You Might Not:

• There are not as many practical suggestions as I wanted--it's more short musings than an explanation or a handbook. (It does give a helpful list of resources for practical action at the end, though.)

Disorientation

ed. by John Zmirak

Why You'll Like This Book:

• This book can help save you from intellectual destruction. The series of essays ranges from "Sentamentalism" to "Utilitarianism", taking on Hedonists, Relativists, Cynics, and more.
• There is a great recommended reading list at the end of each essay. More books to read! (In fact, I think this is my favourite aspect of this whole book.)

And Why You Might Not:

• A bunch of the essays are a bit simplistic and not as nuanced as they could be. The necessary shortness is part of it, of course. But still, many just go over the basics of an opposing point of view, without trying to either add more depth to make it interesting or add other points of view to make it balanced and accurate.

Opening to God: A Guide to Prayer

by Thomas H. Green, S.J.

Why You Should Read This:

• A practical, insightful, interesting introduction to the spiritual life.
• It's for beginners (meaning ordinary practicing Catholics, not brand new converts), but it has a depth that is refreshing considering the number of simplistic, schmaltzy books.

And Why You Shouldn't:

• If you're not Catholic, you might find it hard to stomach/understand/enjoy. Obviously.
• If you are SO Catholic that you've moved beyond such a beginner's stage. Considering how useful I found it, having been a practicing Catholic for my whole life, and someone who knows her Faith pretty darn well--I think it would still be helpful to most people. (Specifically those in the first age of the interior life, which I'm assuming is most people.)

Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols in Everyday Life

by Elizabeth Scalia

Thoughts: A short book about the real meaning of idolatry, and how the fact that we don't literally worship other gods doesn't mean we're all good on that front. Scalia fills her book with interesting examples and insights from her own life, using everything from politics (adherents to both parties) to the internet to actually writing this book.

A main issue for me was that it didn't have quite enough personal connection for me. Not that I don't have idols, because I definitely do. But her examples were often not from areas that affect me too much (politics, sex and coolness; even technology is not as applicable, since my problem with technology has different roots). "The Idol of Plans" chapter was the best for me in that way. I am really not good at just trusting God and letting go. This all ties in with just generally wishing it were a little longer and more in depth. But I think probably that for what it is, it is quite fantastic. The central idea doesn't need too much in depth explanation--it's just a simple idea that most of us haven't thought about yet. And keeping that in mind during one's day-to-day life could help one's spiritual life significantly.

Also, she has a cool explanation of the beatitudes, which need explaining to people more often.

Also also: cool cover. It draws you in, makes you try to figure out what all the little icons mean. And suitable for the book, which is modern, fairly short, and full of little examples.

Grade: 3 1/2 stars

Jesus-Shock

by Peter Kreeft

Thoughts: This is a slight volume, all about how Christ, when truly encountered, inspires shock (whether positive or negative). And if he doesn't, it's because you're not looking at Him fully. Initially, it made me pause, and think about my own relationship with Him, which is the point of this book, I think. But after that, it didn't do as much for me.

I feel a bit bad criticizing something which has such an important and really, if you think about it, little-heard message. Kreeft is definitely right about how important it is. But it was all a bit ... poetical ... for my taste, after the initial reminder and self-examination. I tend to be more enthused and impassioned by abstract philosophy or concrete instruction than by poetry or turns of phrases.

However, I did get a book recommendation out of it! I'm always looking for those. It was The Divine Milieu by Pierre de Chardin, and sounded very interesting.

Grade: 3 1/2 stars, with the extra 1/2 star for the importance of the message and content

The Bad Catholic's Guide to the Catechism

by John Zmirak

Thoughts: Witty, insightful, and a rather hilarious general look at the teachings of the Catholic Church. Zmirak gets the both/and nature of the Church--it's grittiness, humanness, and, yes, catholicity. And although the preface seems to indicate it's meant for non-Catholics, I actually learnt some things myself. For instance, I didn't know that the it was only a widespread Western theory that the Spirit is generated by the perfect mutual love of the Father and the Son. I had thought that was part of doctrine. There was also a fascinating discussion on how most polytheistic tribes said their ancestors used to worship one, highest God, before they decided they needed several more "hands-on" gods because God wasn't answering prayers promptly enough. (pg. 2) He didn't back this up with a reference to the study, though, so I'm going to have to research this. Similarly, he claimed that the Benedictines offered the first advanced schooling to women in Western history, which would be another fascinating fact, if true. (pg. 94)

I must admit, though, I'm glad that I agreed on almost everything he said, because otherwise this would be hard to read. His wit is acerbic and very sarcastic, and would be hard to stomach for many non-believers, I think. Also, as a note, I didn't agree with everything he said. Just as a small example, I found his discussion on men vs. women on page 33 a bit annoying. I am definitely the kind of person who would crash her car while pushing a radio button, not when lapsing into deadly indecision. My multi-tasking skills are not of the highest calibre.

But all in all, decidedly worth reading, if only for how funny it is, and the random interesting asides. In some ways, Zmirak reminds me of a grumpy, Catholic, Bill Bryson.

Grade: 4 stars (maybe 4 1/2?)

Travel Reading Part 6

For the last three months, I've been gone, walking across Canada with a group called Crossroads Pro-Life. I was very, very busy, but I did manage to read a few books. Blogging about them was a different story, however. So it's been so long now since I read many of them, that I thought I could do travel posts like I did last summer, and just write a couple sentences for each book.
So here goes the second Crossroads multi-review post:

"Rome Sweet Home" by Scott and Kimberly Hahn
Grade: 4 stars
For me, being a Catholic who grew up on Scott Hahn and Protestant conversion stories, there was nothing very new in this book. Still, it was well written, and it was interesting to read something that was so personal. It showed the same story from both Scott's and Kimberly's point of view, which sometimes I found slightly repetitive and sometimes I found fascinating.




"Sword Art Online 1: Aincrad" by Reki Kawahara
Grade: 2 1/2 stars
This is a Japanese light novel, and thus is (surprise, surprise) rather on the light side. Apparently there are a number of sides stories that used to be included online, and are also in the anime. I think those scenes would have filled this out a little more and made it more enjoyable. I generally have a rule that if a manga came before an anime, I have to read it before watching it. I do not have the same rule with light novels, and this is partly why. The anime has more depth and more story. (I think in the future I will try to watch the animes first, and if I really enjoy it, will read the light novels to get a different perspective on the characters.) But there was some cool stuff in here. Interesting ideas about living a video game.

"The Icebound Land" by John Flanagan
Grade: 2 1/2 stars
Third book in the Ranger's Apprentice series, after The Ruins of Gorlan and The Burning Bridge. I found this one slightly slower than the first two, but it may have been my mood at the time. And there was an awesome section with Horace, which I was very happy to see. Hopefully he continues to grow more and more awesome.




"The Last Guardian of Everness" by John C. Wright
Grade: 4 stars
A fantasy novel with a dream world, many mythological references, a rising and terrible evil, betrayal and disguise and mistaken identities. The imagery was fantastic, and was definitely my favourite part. But I liked almost the whole cast of characters, who were mostly interestingly nuanced. As a note, because I like to keep track of these things, my favourite character was Peter, although Azrael was quite fascinating too (the part where he rides home with a certain character was hilarious).


"Mists of Everness" by John C. Wright
Grade: 3 1/2 stars
Technically I finished this after my summer travelling, but it's the sequel to The Last Guardian of Everness, so I thought I'd stick in in the same post. These two books were basically two halves of the same story, not a book and its sequel (sort of like the three LotR books are really just one book). However, I didn't actually like this one quite as much as the first. It seemed a little more disjointed, plot-wise, than the first. It was still very enjoyable, however. I loved when the characters all got their particular weapons and were using them like bosses. Also, John C. Wright is Catholic, and I could see some themes that resonated with me because of this. I'm definitely going to try out more of his books (especially his scifi, which is what he's most known for).

A Severe Mercy

by Sheldon Vanauken

Grade: 4 1/2 stars

Thoughts: Amazing book telling the story of how the author, "Van", and his wife Jean ("Davy") met each other, married, met C. S. Lewis, converted to Christianity, and suffered through Davy's illness and eventual death (not a spoiler--he gives it away in the first chapter).

Beauty was a very strong theme in this book. Their journey started with beauty, with a pagan appreciation of creation, and ended with a fuller, though more sorrowful, appreciation of Beauty Himself. Here's a quote on beauty from right near the beginning:

"[Beauty was] for him the link between the ships and the woods and the poems. He remembered as though it were but a few days ago that winter night, himself too young even to know the meaning of beauty, when he had looked up at a delicate tracery of bare black branches against the icy glittering stars: suddenly something that was, all at once, pain and longing and adoring had welled up in him, almost choking him. It was long afterwards that he realised that it had been his first aesthetic experience. That nameless something that had stopped his heart was Beauty. Even now, for him, "bare branches against the stars" was a synonym for beauty." (pg. 7)

Linked strongly to beauty, and also mentioned frequently throughout this book, were ideas on eternity and timelessness. I've always found Lewis's descriptions of this to be the most inspiring I have ever read, and Vanauken obviously has similar ideas. The description of the "moment made eternity" (pg. 69) on their boat the Grey Goose is too long to quote here, but it is profound and I understand completely what he is describing, though I don't think I've ever experienced it to quite the same degree.

There were of course many other interesting observations and discussions. I liked his thought near the beginning about emotions, that "maybe girls with their tears and laughter were getting more out of life" (pg. 8). I liked the idea they had that "one might wake the other in the night and ask for a cup of water; and the other would peacefully (and sleepily) fetch it", and that "[they] considered it a very great courtesy to ask for the cup as well as to fetch it" (pg. 31). I try to explain this idea to people when they're feeling bad for asking me to do something--that they are actually doing me as great a courtesy as I am doing them. They don't often want to accept that, but I was happy to see someone agrees with me at least. I also found his discussion on women vs. men on page 194 rather interesting, although too short. It's a topic I think about frequently, and haven't yet decided my thoughts on. I believe he discusses this further in Under the Mercy, though, so I shall look forward to that.

An added bonus are the letters by C. S. Lewis to Vanauken (shown in this book in their entirety), which are little gems of Lewisian wisdom. I am very glad I discovered them. I found his letter about homosexuality (pg. 146) particularly interesting. (You can find the relevant part of that letter online.)

I would love, in conclusion, to quote the last chapter on loss and beauty, sorrow and joy, but this is not the place for it. Go read it yourself.