Nuke's Blog
Periodic ramblings by an old geek…

It’s time to move this stack of books I finished reading over the past couple months off my desk.

 

Fablehaven Book 2: Rise of the Evening Star (Brandon Mull)

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Here we have Kendra and Seth back at Fablehaven again, enjoying more adventures in a pretty cool fantasy world where you get to see even more creatures you may remember from lore.  I found Seth to be far less annoying than the first book, which is a nice change of pace, though he certainly still gets himself in plenty of trouble.  What evil plans started showing up in the first book are definitely starting to show themselves to be much stronger than previously imagined.  It’s a very quick read and I look forward to catching the next book.

 

A Concise History of the Catholic Church (Thomas Bokenkotter)

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This is probably going to come off as a review with no real position, and I suppose that’s really what I think about this book.  There are spots that seem fairly well put together, and there are spots where the author completely glosses over seemingly important times in the history of the church.  For example, Part One covering A.D. 30-600 is explained over roughly 90 pages.  Part Five covering A.D. 1891-present requires roughly 200 pages.  What does this mean, you might ask?  It seems to me that focusing on the most recent reforms of the Catholic church are more important to the author to point out than describing the Catholic claim of apostolic succession.  Papal infallibility is described only in the context of a couple arguments over it between different groups in the church.  Description of any development of Marian doctrines are virtually missing from the book.  If I had any take away from the message of the book, it’s this: “Catholicism is still in flux, more reform needs to take place, and let’s see what this pope does.”  While certainly biased from a Catholic perspective, I find it interesting that should be the takeaway.

 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 1: The Lightning Thief (Rick Riordan)

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For someone who grew up reading far more books on Greek and Roman mythology than he should have, this was excellent stuff.  For the most part, it feels like Harry Potter meets Clash of the Titans.  Here we have a much younger Perseus running around battling those crazy mythological creatures while attempting to figure out who he even is.  I loved every time a new person or creature showed up and I knew what it was just from a brief initial description.  I’m excited to see the movie and even more so to read the next several books in the series.

 

Arguing with Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government (Glenn Beck)

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Now, I would classify myself as fairly staunch conservative, and anyone who knows Mr. Beck would realize we pretty much fall along the same political lines.  That means I agree with most everything he states in the book, and the style of the book itself is highly entertaining.  However, the major problem with it is that he uses the “Straw Man” method of argument, if you will.  Basically every couple paragraphs, there is a pretend quote from a crazy liberal saying “ok, I’ll concede your previous point, Glenn, but what about this… you’d HAVE to agree with this, right?”  And then Glenn smashes that one down over two more paragraphs… and rinse and repeat for the rest of the book.  Of course, with continuous use of the straw man method, you quickly realize arguments with real people wouldn’t work out so well for you.  My favorite part of the book was all the constant “A.D.D. Moments” showing up in sidebars.  They were usually quite funny.  (And that was sort of an A.D.D. Moment itself.)  Probably a fun book for any conservative you know.  I simply didn’t love his methods of argument.

 

The Confessions of St. Augustine (Augustine of Hippo, translation by John K. Ryan)

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The picture and link to Goodreads is not the exact version I read… here’s a link to it on Amazon.com.  I found the translation to be very well described, and fairly easy to follow.  That Augustine had a brilliant way with words seemed quite evident, and I imagine understanding the original language would make it even more clear.  To see inside the mind of someone from the A.D. 300s and easily see yourself having similar, and at times the exact same, internal and external struggles to deal with centuries later was simply amazing. 

 

I hope you’ll read through a couple of my favorite gems from the book here, especially if you never plan to check it out for yourself (though, I highly encourage it).  Here’s an excerpt from a passage I found to be so much like life around today, in Book 1, Chapter 10: “The Attraction of Shows”.

I was disobedient, not out of a desire for better things, but out of love for play.  I loved to win proud victories in our contests, and to have my ears tickled by false stories, so that they would itch all the more intensely for them, with the same kind of curiosity glittering more and more in my eyes for shows, the games of grown-up men.  For their producers are invested with such honor that almost all parents desire it for their children.

I read that and wonder how much our society reflects a similar nature.  How often are those in “shows” regarded with higher esteem than everyone else today?  Actors and actresses in the movie industry?  What about sports stars and how much parents focus on their kids playing sports, rather than on their academic careers?  Here are a couple interesting bits from Book 3, Chapter 10: “The Superstition of the Manichees”.

For slowly, little by little, I was led on to such follies as to believe that a fig weeps when it is plucked and that the mother tree sheds milky tears.  And if some “saint” ate this fig … then he would digest it in his stomach, and from it he would breathe forth angels! … In my wretched state I believed that more mercy should be shown to the fruits of the earth than to men, for whose sake they were brought forth.

Were the Manichees some of the first “green” members of society back then?  Seems we still have many folks fitting that last sentence around today.  Here was a really fun one from Book 6, Chapter 14: “Proposals for Community Life”.

Many of us who were friends together discussed among ourselves the turmoils and troubles of man’s life and had a common disgust for them.  We deliberated about a life of quiet apart from the crowd, and had almost decided upon it.  This life of retreat we would arrange for was thus: whatever we possessed we would put into a common fund, and out of all these goods, we would establish a single household.  Hence, through a sincere friendship, one thing would not belong to this man and another to that, but a single fund would be formed out of all the items.  (… and on and on …)  Afterwards the question began to be raised whether the wives, whom some of us already had and we wished to have, would permit this.  As a result, the whole project, which we had worked out so well, collapsed in our hands; it was completely broken up and thrown aside.  Thereupon we returned to sighs and groans and turned our steps to following the broad and beaten ways of the world.

I almost fell out of my chair after reading that. :)  Apparently husbands centuries ago knew they couldn’t override their wives with their hair brained ideas either!  And finally, Augustine summarizes the takeaway of his confessions in Book 2, Chapter 3.

To whom do I tell these things?  Not to you, my God, but before you I tell them to my own kind, to mankind, or to whatever small part of it may come upon these books of mine.  Why do I tell these things?  It is that I myself and whoever else reads them may realize from what great depths we must cry unto you.

And we would all do well to remember to cry out “Abba, Father”, asking our “daddy” and “father” for continual guidance.  Even Augustine understood it so many centuries ago, as it says in Galatians 4:6.

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (ESV)

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