2016 Books III
Living Buddha, Living Christ, Thich Nhat Hanh
5 stars
First Sentence: Twice in this book Thich Nhat Hanh puts before us a pwerful image of Christian legend: In midwinter St. Francis is calling out to an almond tree, "Speak to me of God!" and the almond tree breaks into bloom.
Thoughts: Hanh doesn't so much compare Buddhism and Christianity as much as he finds the common ground between the two religions. He's not trying to combine the two, just to show their similarities and differences and in the end create a new understanding between both faiths. I like it because Hanh's the only religious writer I've ever read (not that I've read much in that field) who suggest coming to the Christian God through the Holy Spirit rather than through Christ. The Holy Spirit tends to get ignored in Christian circles. It's just kind of there to round out the Trinity.
Mike Nelson's Death Rat!, Michael J. Nelson
4 stars
First Sentence: Given his advancing age and his current stature in the business community, Pontius Feeb knew that it was unseely for him to be driving giddily through town at midday, whistling and thinking fondly of spit-roasted chicken and buttered fingerling potatoes.
Thoughts: Pontius Feeb, a history writer, former journalist, and employee of a medieval-themed fast food chain, takes a trip to the bookstore where he sees that the most popular books are survival tales. On a whim he decides to write his own (fictional) story set during the short-lived Minnesota gold rush in which a prospector fights a six-foot-long rat in a mine shaft. No one wants to buy the story, though, since Ponty doesn't look like the kind of person who would write thrilling action tales. Enter Jack Ryback, Ponty's co-worker and aspiring actor who does look the part. Jack sells the book...as nonfiction. Now Ponty and Jack have to convince the residents of Holey, MN to go along with the story for a cut of the profits. Unfortunately, King Leo, a completely insane funk superstar, reads the book and decides to hold a revival to summon the Holey Rat. Then it gets a little weird.
The Scions of Shannara, Terry Brooks
5 stars
First Sentence: The old man sat alone in the shadow of the Dragon's Teeth and watched the coming darkness chase the daylight west.
Thoughts: Three hundred years have passed since Allanon's death and magic has faded from the Four Lands, save for the Shadowen, a group of mysterious creatures who feed off the leftover magic. Cogline, a failed Druid, brings the remaining Shannara children to the Hadeshorn to speak to Allanon's shade. Allanon tells them that they have to recover the lost magical talismans to restore magic to the lands before the Shadowen destroy everything. Par and Coll Ohmsford go in search of the lost Sword of Shannara, Wren Ohmsford has to find the missing Elves, and Walker Boh has to restore Paranor, the ancient Druid stronghold. Par and Coll, along with the requisite Prince of Leah, find the sword easily only to be thwarted by the Federation Searchers who, thanks to a spy in the ranks, have been following them the whole time.
The Pillow Book, Sei Shonagon
4 stars
First Sentence: In spring it is the dawn that is most beautiful.
Thoughts: This is essentially Shonagon's diary. Along with recording the events at court, she also wrote brief vignettes, poems, lists of things she liked and disliked, and various rules for how to treat a lover. I know very little about Japanese culture, so I found this fascinating. If you're like me make sure to get the Penguin edition because the endnotes add a lot of background information about the culture.
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeannette Winterson
1 stars
First Sentence: Like most people I lived for a long time with my mother and father.
Thoughts:Three months into the year and we already have a top contender for the Unbearably Pretentious Award. The book starts off well enough, recounting what it was like to grow up in a fundamentalist household where life revolved around the church and missionary programs on the radio. But once Winterson starts school it devolves into pointless allegorical fairy tales and meandering reminiscing that threatens to go somewhere but never really does. The story picks up when Winterson and her girlfriend are drummed out of church but quickly falls to pieces again. Winterson leaves town, returns, and with no explanation is suddenly reconciled enough with her mother to visit at Christmas.
This book won the Whitbread (now Costa) Prize in 1985. According to Wikipedia "The awards are given both for high literary merit but also for works that are enjoyable reading and whose aim is to convey the enjoyment of reading to the widest possible audience." They must be using some new definition of "enjoyable reading" that I am unfamiliar with because for such a short book this was a slog to get through.
A Treasury of English Poetry, Mark Caldwell (ed.)
3 stars
First Sentence: English possesses the richest poetic tradition of any Western language.
Thoughts: This is a little bit better than the American version. Of course, a lot of the big names in English poetry are British anyway, as opposed to the American volume which had a lot of people I'd never heard of. The two biggest issues I had with this book were that there were only four women in it (I counted) and it butchered some of the longer poems, notably Paradise Lost and The Ballad of Reading Gaol. I can understand the Milton, but Reading Gaol is not as long as The Rape of the Lock which was printed in its entirety. People: if it's too long for you to print the whole thing, then don't do it. Find something shorter to replace it. (That's just my personal belief. I've never made an anthology so take my opinion for what it's worth.)
The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien
5 stars
First Sentence: Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf's cloak.
Thoughts: While Frodo and Sam carry the Ring through Mordor, the war that's been threatening since FotR fianally begins. Merry and Pippin join the armies of Gondor and Rohan while Legolas and Gimly help Aragorn fulfill his destiny.* Eowyn fulfills an ancient prophecy while Arwen sews a banner. The Sackville-Bagginses finally give Bag End back to Frodo without an argument. Truly it is a time when legends are made.
*The movie did this part so much better than the book. In the book Gimli recounts the journey through the Paths of the Dead over a pipe in the ruins of Isengard months later while you actually get to see it in the film. Show, don't tell.
One Writer's Beginnings, Eudora Welty
3 stars
First Sentence: When I was young enough to still spend a long time buttoning my shoes in the morning, I'd listen toward the hall: Daddy upstairs was shaving in the bathroom and Mother downstairs was frying the bacon.
Thoughts: I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked this up, but it wasn't what I found. Part memoir, part lecture, it just wanders around in nostalgia for a hundred pages before finally petering out. Yet another entry in the Big List o' Not Living Up to the Hype.
Matigari, Ngugi wa Thiong'o
5 stars
First Sentence: This story is imaginary.
Thoughts: A patriot kills his enemy after a long battle and puts on the belt of peace. He returns to the city to find his wife and children, but instead discovers that his enemies' children are still enslaving his people. Matigari searches for a way to free them as his legend spreads and grows across the land. It's an allegorical tale about the lingering remnants of colonialism in Africa.
The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus, Dalai Lama XIV
5 stars
First Sentence: This book explores the Gospels with the Dalai Lama and the participants of the 1994 John Main Seminar.
Thoughts: I have a hard time gathering my myriad thoughts about this book, so I'll just link to someone else's review. This comes close to what I want to say.
5 stars
First Sentence: Twice in this book Thich Nhat Hanh puts before us a pwerful image of Christian legend: In midwinter St. Francis is calling out to an almond tree, "Speak to me of God!" and the almond tree breaks into bloom.
Thoughts: Hanh doesn't so much compare Buddhism and Christianity as much as he finds the common ground between the two religions. He's not trying to combine the two, just to show their similarities and differences and in the end create a new understanding between both faiths. I like it because Hanh's the only religious writer I've ever read (not that I've read much in that field) who suggest coming to the Christian God through the Holy Spirit rather than through Christ. The Holy Spirit tends to get ignored in Christian circles. It's just kind of there to round out the Trinity.
Mike Nelson's Death Rat!, Michael J. Nelson
4 stars
First Sentence: Given his advancing age and his current stature in the business community, Pontius Feeb knew that it was unseely for him to be driving giddily through town at midday, whistling and thinking fondly of spit-roasted chicken and buttered fingerling potatoes.
Thoughts: Pontius Feeb, a history writer, former journalist, and employee of a medieval-themed fast food chain, takes a trip to the bookstore where he sees that the most popular books are survival tales. On a whim he decides to write his own (fictional) story set during the short-lived Minnesota gold rush in which a prospector fights a six-foot-long rat in a mine shaft. No one wants to buy the story, though, since Ponty doesn't look like the kind of person who would write thrilling action tales. Enter Jack Ryback, Ponty's co-worker and aspiring actor who does look the part. Jack sells the book...as nonfiction. Now Ponty and Jack have to convince the residents of Holey, MN to go along with the story for a cut of the profits. Unfortunately, King Leo, a completely insane funk superstar, reads the book and decides to hold a revival to summon the Holey Rat. Then it gets a little weird.
The Scions of Shannara, Terry Brooks
5 stars
First Sentence: The old man sat alone in the shadow of the Dragon's Teeth and watched the coming darkness chase the daylight west.
Thoughts: Three hundred years have passed since Allanon's death and magic has faded from the Four Lands, save for the Shadowen, a group of mysterious creatures who feed off the leftover magic. Cogline, a failed Druid, brings the remaining Shannara children to the Hadeshorn to speak to Allanon's shade. Allanon tells them that they have to recover the lost magical talismans to restore magic to the lands before the Shadowen destroy everything. Par and Coll Ohmsford go in search of the lost Sword of Shannara, Wren Ohmsford has to find the missing Elves, and Walker Boh has to restore Paranor, the ancient Druid stronghold. Par and Coll, along with the requisite Prince of Leah, find the sword easily only to be thwarted by the Federation Searchers who, thanks to a spy in the ranks, have been following them the whole time.
The Pillow Book, Sei Shonagon
4 stars
First Sentence: In spring it is the dawn that is most beautiful.
Thoughts: This is essentially Shonagon's diary. Along with recording the events at court, she also wrote brief vignettes, poems, lists of things she liked and disliked, and various rules for how to treat a lover. I know very little about Japanese culture, so I found this fascinating. If you're like me make sure to get the Penguin edition because the endnotes add a lot of background information about the culture.
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeannette Winterson
1 stars
First Sentence: Like most people I lived for a long time with my mother and father.
Thoughts:Three months into the year and we already have a top contender for the Unbearably Pretentious Award. The book starts off well enough, recounting what it was like to grow up in a fundamentalist household where life revolved around the church and missionary programs on the radio. But once Winterson starts school it devolves into pointless allegorical fairy tales and meandering reminiscing that threatens to go somewhere but never really does. The story picks up when Winterson and her girlfriend are drummed out of church but quickly falls to pieces again. Winterson leaves town, returns, and with no explanation is suddenly reconciled enough with her mother to visit at Christmas.
This book won the Whitbread (now Costa) Prize in 1985. According to Wikipedia "The awards are given both for high literary merit but also for works that are enjoyable reading and whose aim is to convey the enjoyment of reading to the widest possible audience." They must be using some new definition of "enjoyable reading" that I am unfamiliar with because for such a short book this was a slog to get through.
A Treasury of English Poetry, Mark Caldwell (ed.)
3 stars
First Sentence: English possesses the richest poetic tradition of any Western language.
Thoughts: This is a little bit better than the American version. Of course, a lot of the big names in English poetry are British anyway, as opposed to the American volume which had a lot of people I'd never heard of. The two biggest issues I had with this book were that there were only four women in it (I counted) and it butchered some of the longer poems, notably Paradise Lost and The Ballad of Reading Gaol. I can understand the Milton, but Reading Gaol is not as long as The Rape of the Lock which was printed in its entirety. People: if it's too long for you to print the whole thing, then don't do it. Find something shorter to replace it. (That's just my personal belief. I've never made an anthology so take my opinion for what it's worth.)
The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien
5 stars
First Sentence: Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf's cloak.
Thoughts: While Frodo and Sam carry the Ring through Mordor, the war that's been threatening since FotR fianally begins. Merry and Pippin join the armies of Gondor and Rohan while Legolas and Gimly help Aragorn fulfill his destiny.* Eowyn fulfills an ancient prophecy while Arwen sews a banner. The Sackville-Bagginses finally give Bag End back to Frodo without an argument. Truly it is a time when legends are made.
*The movie did this part so much better than the book. In the book Gimli recounts the journey through the Paths of the Dead over a pipe in the ruins of Isengard months later while you actually get to see it in the film. Show, don't tell.
One Writer's Beginnings, Eudora Welty
3 stars
First Sentence: When I was young enough to still spend a long time buttoning my shoes in the morning, I'd listen toward the hall: Daddy upstairs was shaving in the bathroom and Mother downstairs was frying the bacon.
Thoughts: I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked this up, but it wasn't what I found. Part memoir, part lecture, it just wanders around in nostalgia for a hundred pages before finally petering out. Yet another entry in the Big List o' Not Living Up to the Hype.
Matigari, Ngugi wa Thiong'o
5 stars
First Sentence: This story is imaginary.
Thoughts: A patriot kills his enemy after a long battle and puts on the belt of peace. He returns to the city to find his wife and children, but instead discovers that his enemies' children are still enslaving his people. Matigari searches for a way to free them as his legend spreads and grows across the land. It's an allegorical tale about the lingering remnants of colonialism in Africa.
The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus, Dalai Lama XIV
5 stars
First Sentence: This book explores the Gospels with the Dalai Lama and the participants of the 1994 John Main Seminar.
Thoughts: I have a hard time gathering my myriad thoughts about this book, so I'll just link to someone else's review. This comes close to what I want to say.