Ron’s #36: Confess, Fletch by Gregory Mcdonald

Yes, that Fletch, the same character from the 1985 movie with Chevy Chase. After I saw that movie in high school, I read a few of the books on which it was based. Gregory Mcdonald has nine books with Irwin Maurice Fletcher as an investigative reporter sleuthing, disguising, and lying his way through the mystery. The two Fletch movies portray him as more goofy than he is in the novels, but the books are good reads before bedtime.

Confess, Fletch is the second in the series, and has Fletch fly in to Boston to find a murdered woman in his rented house. While trying to solve that murder, he is also trying to track down stolen paintings from a family heirloom from a possibly crooked art dealer.

Mcdonald’s writing style is breezy and quick, with lots of dialogue to move the story along. If you are interested in mystery novels, this could be for you. I’m not a mystery reader usually. I just like spending time with arrogant smart-alecks.

Ally's #49: "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum

Since I live a stone's throw from the Wizard of Oz museum, I thought I'd give the original book a read. As much as I love the movie, I prefer the book for a few reasons.

First of all, I think the book is much more kid friendly, since you don't have the potentially frightening visuals of the wicked witch and the flying monkeys. Secondly, the book is less exaggerated. The antagonists (the Wicked Witch of the West, the Wizard of Oz) are more easily defeated and Dorothy's companions (Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion) are not as hopelessly fragile as they are portrayed in the movie. Thirdly, you are able to follow Dorothy and her entourage on more adventures as they journey to the Emerald City. For example, the Wicked Witch of the West does not call upon her troupe of flying monkeys to attack until she first sends a pack of 40 wolves to rip them to pieces, 40 crows to peck their eyes out, a swarm of black bees to sting them to death, and a dozen of her slaves armed with spears to destroy them (all efforts are unsuccessful).

I enjoyed seeing Dorothy and her friends bond and protect one another. It was also fun picking up on the author's hints that the brains, heart, and courage that were supposedly lacking were,in fact, there all along. It was evident in the Scarecrow's clever suggestions in the midst of challenging predicaments, the Tin Man's tenderness towards any living creature that was not attempting to harm them, and the Lion's willingness to repeatedly put himself in harms way.

After journeying to every corner of the Land of Oz seeking a way home, Dorothy finally learns that her silver shoes (not ruby slippers, like the film) could have taken her back to Kansas the moment she arrived in Oz. As desperate as she was to get back to her family, it was cool to see Dorothy grateful for her experience, as it was very profitable for her friends and for all the inhabitants of Oz. Dorothy disrupted that land in the best ways possible.

Ron’s #35: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

As a fan of The Lord of the Rings books (liked them) and the movies (loved them), I finally wanted to read The Hobbit before seeing the movie. Most people seem to read The Hobbit before The Lord of the Rings, but I got it backwards.

I enjoyed the novel well enough, I guess, maybe, but I found it lacking the weight that The Lord of the Rings has. It is a simple story about a simple quest to get treasure back from Smaug the dragon. The episodic nature of the novel added to its simplicity: the band go here, fight something, win, move on.

One of the best scenes is with Bilbo Baggins and Gollum asking riddles to each other. The dialogue is fun, and it helps see the origins of Gollum and the hobbits to be explored later. Just precious.

Ron’s #34: Candide by Voltaire

I reread this novel before teaching it again in my 10^th grade class. I love this unit, as it allows for discussions on the problem of evil and the nature of God. Here’s my past review.

In a satire against the optimism of Leibniz, Candide has its young philosopher traveling the world searching for his love and attempting to see if his tutor Pangloss is correct in that this world is the best of all possible worlds that God could have created.

The story begins as Candide is expelled from the Edenic castle in Westphalia for his scandalous kiss to the baroness, the fair Cunegonde. He travels across continents meeting a variety of common people and royalty; priests and sinners; wealthy and poor. Candide continues to struggle with the question of whether Pangloss (and ultimately Leibniz) is correct that this world, the one filled with greed and murder and hypocrisy and cruelty, is the best possible one out of the mind of God. He fights with what he believes and what he sees, and cannot justify the two. Candide is left to “cultivate his garden” rather than waste any more time thinking through these issues.

For the Christian, this book explores one of the key objections to a theistic faith: how can a good God allow suffering in this world? While that question is not specifically addressed, is it at the heart of Candide’s uneasiness. What happens when our world is filled with pain, disappointment, and horror? Can we reconcile a God with our life experience? This is a topic that Christians must not only address to those around who question the claims of Christianity, but we must also have an answer for ourselves when the horrors come.

It would be the height of hubris to state a simple answer to this issue, but we must begin our search for one in the gospel itself. We must remember that God the Father knows suffering and murder, as his Son hung on the cross to die for the sins of the world. He watched as Jesus was tortured and killed to become the payment for sins that we not his own. When we are trying to justify a good God with suffering, our question must begin with God himself. Candide met a cast of characters spewed from the bowels of humanity, but never discussed sin.

Christian doctrine teaches that Adam’s sin brought this world from perfection to the wastelands with people corrupted in the downward spiral. Leibniz’s optimism is wrong: this world is depraved and men have the capability to act like animals to one another. Candide’s observations should bring us back to the God who has provided his Son as a sacrifice to restore humanity to our true image-bearer state. The murderers, the rapists, the thieves in Candide’s journey point us back to a God, one who is perfect because we see that man is not. Corrupt men in the world show a moral structure beyond us that defines what corrupt men act like.

Candide’s decision to focus only on his own garden shows a hopelessness that Christians ought not have. Even in the light of pain and difficulty, we should see our “gardens” in light of the larger garden, the only that has the Tree of Life swaying. Because of this, we can have hope in that other world that is the best of all possible worlds.

JRF's #40 - The Truth of the Cross by R.C. Sproul

 

This short but potent book is an explanation and apologetic of the doctrine of the substituionary atonement of Jesus Christ.  It does a good job of being accessible and simultaneously profound.

As Sproul points out, "the words crucial and crux both have their root in the Latin word for 'cross,' crux, and they have come into the English language with their current meanings because the concept of the cross is at the very center and core of Biblical Christianity."

There's a lot packed into this little book.  I recommend it to anyone interested in deepening their understanding of the necessity, meaning, and implications of the cross of Christ, from the new believer to the seminary student.

JRF's #39 - Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney

This book was recommended to me by a dear friend and student of the author years ago.  I am just now finishing it.  The length of time that it took me to read it does not reflect an inaccessible writing style, insurmountable length, or any fault of the author.  It took me this long to finish because of the level of conviction the book brought about in my life.  Often I felt so convicted either at my need for growth or at my lack of desire to grow in the spheres of spiritual discipline that Whitney lays out that I let the book lie on my desk unopened for weeks and sometimes months at a time.  Yet there it would lie, a silent reminder to me that godliness isn't the natural direction towards which my heart and life freely drift.

And so little by little, word by word, I have plodded through this significant and profitable book.

Using I Timothy 4:7 "Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness" as the jumping off point for the book, Donald Whitney, explores 11 areas of Gospel-centered spiritual discipline that the follower of Christ should be seeking to intentionally grow in:

- Bible Intake

- Prayer

- Worship

- Evangelism

- Serving

- Stewardship

- Fasting

- Silence and Solitude

- Journaling

- Learning

- Perserverance

Whitney does a great job of maintaining a balance between emphasizing the work that the Lord does in the believer with the work that the believer does in light of what the Lord has and is working in them.  He grounds his writing in the Word and offers many practical helps to spur on faithfulness.  Nowhere does it feel like Whitney is endorsing a law or works.

Even though I have finally finished reading this, I think it will probably remain on my desk as a resource and reminder to remain diligent in the pursuit of Christlikeness.