Worthwhile Books
Books have to be heavy because the world's inside them. - Cornelia Funke
Friday, December 20, 2024
When Morning Gilds the Skies by Dr. John Oswalt
Friday, December 6, 2024
To Be Where You Are by Jan Karon
Although Karon originally planned to end the Mitford books with book 9, Light from Heaven, she kindly graced us with several follow-up novels. Books 10 and 11 focused on Father Tim (travelling to Mississippi and to Ireland, respectively). Book 12, Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good, took us back to Mitford and re-introduced all her beloved characters. Books 13 and 14 focus on Father Tim’s adopted son’s marriage and career. But most of the Mitford crowd shows up in all their glory and humanity. To Be Where You Are (#14) is the last and longest in the series (450 pages), and does its best to tie up loose ends.
The writing is always good. It is amazing how Karon gives each character his or her own way of speaking – not just their accent, but also their vocabulary. Then there are the literary nuggets “hidden” throughout the novel that make lit lovers’ hearts sing. I chortled on page 44 when Father Tim ruminated on a past experience: “He had been there, done that, and upon arriving home, caked with mud, half-starved and exhausted, he had agreed with his wife in what the raven had so judiciously quoted.” (a sly reference to Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem). Later as the police chief instructs Coot Hendricks on how to act like Santa for the Christmas parade, he tells him to touch the side of his nose, which fans of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” will understand perfectly. Finally, she definitely had my number when she mentions the drool-worthy Library of America editions of favorite authors on page 343. (Have you ever seen those????? They are gorgeous hard covers with ribbon markers that fit perfectly in the palm of your hand. A book lover's dream.)
I know I
say this in every review, but Jan Karon is one of the few authors of light
fiction who capably adds heft to her work by showing both the joy and suffering
of human existence. She also succeeds in weaving faith into her stories without
giving easy, pat answers. The fact that the story ends at Christmas makes it
especially poignant, and it also brings wonderful closure. As Father Tim and
Cynthia read their Christmas cards to each other, we hear bits and pieces about
the friends we met in the novels that took place outside of Mitford (Whitecap Island, Holly Springs, The Blue Ridge Mountains, and Ireland).
This was the perfect ending to the Mitford series.
Friday, November 22, 2024
In the Company of Others by Jan Karon
I was forewarned that these latter books were not as cozy as the original Mitford books so I was not shocked when some dark family secrets were revealed in Home to Holly Springs, a book with tells the backstory of Father Tim’s childhood. In the Company of Others was not nearly as somber. Yes, there is plenty of heartache, but, as always, Karon skillfully interweaves hope throughout the narrative. In this second Father Tim novel, he and Cynthia finally go on a long-awaited trip to Ireland. Because Cynthia injures her ankle, they cannot do all the touring they had planned and, hence, the story takes place almost completely in the inn where they are staying.
The writing is excellent as usual. Cynthia sat reading amid a wave of books washed onto the shore of the duvet. He was stashed in the wing chair, imbibing his own pleasures. And there are nods to many favorite authors. At one point, Father Tim remembers that Dorothy Sayers said, Where Christ is, cheerfulness will keep breaking in. [This was] a description, in toto, of the woman who shared his bed.
More than
any other book this one is a tribute to Cynthia: her tender heart toward those
who are suffering, her upbeat look at life’s challenges, and her giftedness as
an artist.
The following paragraph shows a glimpse of their delightful banter.
“You love me,” she said, amazed and certain. It was like her to say such things, completely out of the blue.
“I’ve always loved you,” he said, “From the time I was born.”
“How did you manage that?”
“I think I came into the world seeking something not absolutely tied to
this earthly realm. Your open mind, your curiosity, your reverence promised
that and drew me in.” He put is arm around her, felt the cool of her flesh
against his.
“My mother had it, you have it,” he said. “She took the red dirt and made
gardens that people came from miles around to see. No earthmoving equipment,
just a wheelbarrow and shovel. No money, just hard work, ingenuity, and
passion. All the time, everywhere you go, you know how to make something out of
what most people see as nothing. You’ve made something out of me.”
“No, sweetheart, you were quite the finished product.”
“Never. I was an overworked, underfeeling man growing old alone. I thank
you for teaching me not to fear intimacy; for making me do this thing we call
marriage.”
“I made you do it?”
“I quit, but you didn’t. Of course I was praying you wouldn’t, but I
fully expected you to.” He put his hand under her chin and lifted her face to
his and kissed her. "Happy birthday, glimmering girl. Sorry it’s been such a
hassle.”
“It isn’t such a hassle, really. It’s just life – quirky and scary and
lovely and immense.”
I’ve been re-reading all the Mitford novels this year, but this was one I’d missed before. So glad to have found it.
Friday, November 8, 2024
Best-read vs. Well-Read - Quote from Dennis Kinlaw
Thursday, October 24, 2024
The Four Loves by C.S Lewis
The four
loves are 1) Storgé/familial love, 2) Friendship, 3) Eros/romantic
love, and 4) Agape/Charity. His description of storgé was so endearing that I
had to stop listening and write it down. It comes from Greek and refers to
affection, especially of parents to children.
It’s
usually the humblest of the loves. It gives itself no airs. Storge is modest,
even furtive and shame-faced. Storge has a very homely face. So have many of
those for whom we feel it. It’s no proof of your cleverness or perceptiveness
or refinement that you love them nor that they love you. To have to produce
storge in public is like getting your household furniture out for a move. It
was all right in its native place, but it looks tawdry out of doors. And the
feeling of storge is so nearly organic, so gradual, so unemphatic, that you can
no more pride yourself on it than on getting sleepy towards bedtime. It lives
with humble, unpraised private things: the thump of a drowsy dog’s tail on the
kitchen floor, the sound of a sewing machine, easy laughter and easy tears on
some shrewd and wrinkled old face, a toy left on the lawn. It’s the most
comfortable and least ecstatic of loves. It is to our emotions what soft
slippers and an easy, almost worn-out chair, and old clothes are to our bodies.
It wraps you round like a blanket almost like sleep. At its best, it gives you
the pleasure, ease, and relaxation of solitude without solitude itself.
Beautiful,
right? But just when I was completely enamored, he delineates all the ways this
kind of love can be distorted. That is
how the book goes. He explains each type of love at its glorious best and then
shows how easily it can turn into something manipulative and selfish. His conclusion
comes in the final chapter where he emphasizes the importance of self-giving love as
the only solution for keeping the other loves from becoming corrupted. In this chapter he
writes his famous lines:
To love at
all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung
and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must
give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with
hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the
casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark,
motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable,
impenetrable, irredeemable…. The only place outside Heaven where you can be
perfectly safe from the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. (p. 121)
Note: The
book gets a bad rap for some comments he makes about the differences between
men and women, but, honestly, don’t let that keep you from reading it. Anything
written by Lewis is worth tackling for his wonderful clarity and depth.
Thursday, October 10, 2024
How I Read Ten Books at Once
pages in my hymnal. (and the Bible!)
Friday, September 27, 2024
Set in Silver by C.N. Williamson
Set in Silver is a far-fetched comedy of errors that was perfectly delightful. It’s a
love story in two senses. First, it’s the tale of a man who comes back to
England after many years and rediscovers his passion for the country of his birth.
Second, it is the traditional yarn of boy-meets-girl.
I’m
prejudiced toward British writers and the Williamsons did not disappoint. The
novel was loaded with literary references to Greek mythology, literary classics
and the Bible. It was not Christian by any stretch of the imagination (Lionel’s
sister is annoyingly religious), but if you know the Bible, the off-hand allusions
to scriptural passages were often laugh-out-loud-funny. The frequent references
to Arthurian legends were also a big plus for me. (It’s amazing to think that
this “light” novel was written with the expectation that people would catch all
these references, which they still did in 1909.)
Even though
I could hardly put this book down, it took almost a week to read. It was 400
pages on my Kindle and I refused to skim over the descriptive passages (except
for the last 40 pages when I just couldn’t wait a second longer to see how it
was all going to turn out).
If you like
a good vintage novel that is more lighthearted than sappy, this should do the trick. It
had me smiling from start to finish. And it’s free for Kindle.