Patricia Anders
JackBy Marilynne RobinsonFarrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020309 pages (hardcover), $27.00 “Ah, look at all the lonely people.” These opening lyrics to the Beatles’ 1966 song “Eleanor Rigby” came to me while reading Jack, the latest book in Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead series. This is probably because the title character is so lonely. In fact, all the […]
The OverstoryBy Richard PowersW. W. Norton, 2018502 pages (paperback), $18.99 It has long been known that powerful storytelling helps us become more sympathetic toward others. Thousands of years ago, Aristotle demonstrated the importance of using drama to create compassion in us toward the plight of others through what he called “catharsis”—a purification of our emotions. […]
Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. [1] April is the cruellest month, breedingLilacs out of the dead land, mixingMemory and desire, stirringDull roots with spring rain.Winter kept us warm, coveringEarth in forgetful snow, feedingA little life with dried tubers. [2] Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in […]
The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King Harry N. Abrams, 2018 320 pages (hardback), $30.00 There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind. —Fred Rogers Earlier this year, PBS […]
There’s an older gentleman I see every summer at the beach. With his striking white hair and serious tan, clad only in swim shorts, he walks up and down our local six-mile beach, reading. Every time I see him, he’s reading—reading and walking, walking and reading. One day, I saw him reading the New York […]
“The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World” by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu
“Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” (Matt. 18:21–22) “Pray then like this . . . ‘Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.’” (Matt. 6:9, 12) “If one has a complaint against another, [forgive] each other; as the Lord […]
Tom Perrotta's novel is about the crisis that arises from a lack of faith or understanding. What happens if the "Rapture" occurs and there are actually some Christians left behind? What if, like last night's spaghetti dinner, you're a "leftover"? What if people are "taken" who weren't even officially believers in Jesus Christ? Hindus and […]
"Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand
Not usually one for reading nonfiction books, especially in the genre of war- time literature, I was glad I took the plunge with Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (author of the popular book Seabiscuit, which has been made into a film). And this is probably the first time I've written this column about a book that […]
Once again I find myself writing the “Point of Contact” book review column, which we subtitle “Books Your Neighbors Are Reading.” The last time I wrote this column (Olive Kitteridge, January/February 2010), I lamented how too few people rush out to purchase and read the latest Pulitzer Prize literature winner. I find myself in a […]
Once upon a time, but not so long ago, people had to smuggle Bibles and Christian literature into Eastern Europe and what was then the Soviet Union; border guards would ask travelers if they possessed any “guns, drugs, pornography, or Bibles”; and entire villages shared one copy of Holy Scripture, carefully tearing out pages and […]
This review column is subtitled, "Books Your Neighbors Are Reading," but I'm thinking it might need to be called–at least in this case–"Books Your Neighbors Should Be Reading." I doubt most people race to their newspaper on the day the Pulitzer Prizes are announced (and that goes for the Nobel Prizes as well–who do you […]
"Mercy and truth, my friends, have met together," said the General. "Righteousness and bliss shall kiss one another." This is a tale of grace-a breaking in of the not-yet into the here and now, a taste of glories to come and a sampling of forgiveness and love. It is a turning of the literal table […]
"Monk Habits for Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants" By Dennis Okholm
Of making many books on living the "spiritual life" there is no end (to paraphrase Ecclesiastes 12:12), and so one more is not surprising. The twist, however, is that this is a book on Benedictine spirituality written by a Presbyterian pastor and professor of theology. What is also surprising is that this book sold out […]
The bright young student in the first row looked up at me with surprise: "C. S. Lewis was an atheist?" Several undergraduates in the class nodded and audibly confirmed my statement. "I had no idea," he muttered wide-eyed as he jotted down some notes. Indeed, C. S. Lewis ("Jack" to his friends) considered himself an […]
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”…. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be […]
