by William M. Thackeray Written 1847-1848 This novel, set in part around the famed Battle of Waterloo in which Napoleon gets his ultimate defeat at the hands of the British, goes through 66 chapters of set up for a tumultuous (and brilliant) final chapter in which every supposition in the prior chapters is set on its head. As a whole, this book is witty, wonderful, and enchanting. It is fit to be a classic –…
by J.R.R. TolkienBBC Audiobook This book brings about the trilogy’s climax – when the ring leaves Frodo’s hand into the fire of Mordor with a special literary twist. However, this climax occurs relatively early in the third book. Like most wars (or football games), the victory is apparent much earlier than the end. The tale must continue as all of the intricate details must be tied up. Such is the case with The Lord of…
by Edith WhartonWritten in 1920. This tale spans 20-30 years, two continents, and the hearts of two women and one man. Newland Archer is engaged in pre-World-War-One New York City to May Welland. However, he falls for May’s cousin Ellen who is fresh off a separation from her marriage in Europe. Ellen seems to respond (however subtly) to Newland’s flirtations and overtures. Newland seems torn between his two lovers and seems to prefer Ellen over…
by J.R.R. TolkienBBC Audiobook This second retelling of Tolkien’s masterpiece trilogy of The Lord of the Rings contains more of the same. Like all middle-pieces of trilogies, tensions are unresolved and themes are explored more deeply. Middle-pieces of trilogies are never completely satisfying. The reader does not discover something new (that is left for the first book), and the reader does not come to an end (that is left for the third book). Instead, there is…
by Gore VidalCopyright (c) 1984 Lincoln is our nation’s savior and helped free an entire race of people from slavery. As such, he has risen to near-saint status. Most books by American historians – and even those takes like that in the British HG Well’s A Short History of the World – essentially form a hagiography. Fortunately, our age has Gore Vidal’s work of historical fiction, which places Lincoln as a politician and lawyer first. Lincoln,…
by J.R.R. TolkienBBC Audiobook How to review a narrative that has been a turned into classic tetralogy and a well-funded multimillion-dollar movie trilogy? I’ve chosen to do so via a trilogy dramatized and produced for radio by the BBC. In a few hours’ time, I let my mind recess into listening to words of fantasy. British accents and the deep tradition of the English language adorned my rides home. An escape was the result –…
by Madeleine L’EngleCopyright (c) 1962 I have been hearing of this book for a long time. I did not read it as a child nor as a youth. Nonetheless, L’Engle’s name circulates in some of the literary circles in which I read (e.g., fans of C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkein). L’Engle’s work portrays a broadly Christian worldview with a tale of the triumph of love. In so doing, she spins Einstein’s description of the universe…
by Colson WhiteheadCopyright (c) 2016 I picked up this book because it won a Pulitzer for Whitehead and because it had the recommendation of Barack Obama, who reads widely. I was not let down. Its picturesque depiction of slavery and of slavery’s effects brought this historical event to life to me. Further, Whitehead vividly shows how the human heart – even those from “uncivilized” Africa – longs universally for freedom. I read it cover-to-cover in…
by Nathaniel HawthorneWritten 1851 Hawthorne wrote this book in the warm aura of his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter. This book dwells on the theme of whether a Puritan history – replete with its sad stories like the Salem Witch Trials – will haunt the New England culture forever or whether New England can overcome such sad austerity. The hope for the future lies in the characters of Phoebe and Hargrove, who end up getting married…
by Nathaniel HawthorneWritten 1850. I originally read this book in high school. I reread it now, with two more decades of life experience. I’ve lived among Christians who revere the Puritan era. I’ve experienced social shunning. I’m a male living in the #MeToo era where one sin of sexual harassment can lead to career demise. In all of these situations, however, I side with Hawthorne’s sympathies towards those who bear the brunt of social shunning.…