Results tagged “Book Review”

A review of Christopher Hitchens' memoir 'Hitch-22', reviewed by Kara Martin

Christopher Hitchens joins Phillip Pullman and Richard Dawkins at the forefront of the New Atheism. Which presents me a problem in reviewing this book...

There will be many Christian sites that will talk about Hitchens' description of behaviour the Bible would see as immoral, including sexual promiscuity with men as well as women, his lack of attention to family, his excesses with alcohol and his rampant blasphemy.
However, why do we expect biblical standards from someone who is not defined as a Christian nor has the resources of the Holy Spirit?

So, I can judge this book from its literary standards, and it measures up quite well. He is knowledgeable and witty, and has been to many of the world's hotspots, with a wealth of interesting insights. There is a little too much name-dropping about people I do not know, and a little too over-valuing of his own importance, with this book perhaps aimed at the English intelligentsia.

Secondly, I feel comfortable judging Hitchens by his own standards. For example when challenged by Christians to define a moral code he says "self-respect and the desire for the respect of others" (p.331). Obviously that code does not include respect for others, because he verges on defamation of almost every well-known Christian he can possibly insult. John Wesley is an "admitted maniac and demagogue" (p.64), Martin Buber is a "pious old hypocrite" (p.70), CS Lewis' Narnia series is "puerile yet toilsome" (p.78). Perhaps most shockingly he refers to the "frightful faults and crimes of the departed fanatic", in reference to Mother Teresa (p.337).

Christianity as a faith cops the biggest bashing among the religions. On p.10 he comments that "Everything about Christianity is contained in the pathetic image of the flock". At school he is "compelled to sit through lessons in the sinister fairy tales of Christianity" (p.52). He sees all religions as "man-made phenomenon", used to control people (p.269).

However, Hitchens is inconsistent. He can't pretend that he didn't enjoy singing hymns and reading from the lectern while at school (p.52). He quotes from Christian Danish philosopher Kierkegaard, admires Solzhenitsyn, loves Dostoyevsky, is influenced by Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress.

Thank goodness he is able to employ humour and irony, even quoting his friend Salman Rushdie's comment that the problem with the title of his book god is Not Great was that "it lacked economy: that it was in other words exactly one word too long" (p.9).

One wonders how different his life and philosophy might have been if most of his encounters with Christianity during his formative years had not been so negative. The Christian school he was sent to was very strict and include copious amounts of corporal punishment; his grandfather was a "mirthless Calvinist patriarch with a dim view of everything from music to television" (p.33). His Mother ran off with an ex-Church of England Minister and then tragically committed suicide with him in a secret pact. When Hitchens went to Athens to identify her body and arrange her burial in an Anglican cemetery he had to bribe the priest because the latter refused to bury one who had taken their own life.

In the end Hitchens admits to many periods on his life when he emulates Bunyan's "Mr Facing-Both-Ways" (p.148), and this is the recurrent theme of the book. Hitchens is two-faced: he will dine in splendour as "Christopher" with the genteel set at Oxford then rush off as "Chris" to join a demo against oppression of the workers (p.102), he will obtain a scholarship under false pretences to travel to Cuba to investigate its form of socialism (p.111), he will woo a Nazi-sympathiser for a TV interview yet speak out for anti-fascism (p.142), he would write for mainstream papers and TV stations churning out what was required and then "sneak down to the East End" and edit the Socialist Worker.

In a sarcastic review in the Brisbane Times, author Peter Temple points out that all Hitchens' heroes eventually disappoint him; in the end, even friends become enemies. So, Hitchens has turned his sights on God: The supreme being is, of course, Hitchens' ultimate assassination target. He appears to see him as a sort of cosmic public-school headmaster, the shadowy figure glimpsed at his study window who capriciously summons victims for canings, issues irrational commandments and promises the gullible boys a better life after school.    

Like Hitchens' beloved Salman Rushdie, God will probably survive this fatwa. But he will know he has been in a fight.

In one of those moments which proves God has a sense of humour, the renowned atheist Hitchens discovers as an adult that he is a Jew. Even more ironic is the fact that his younger brother Peter is a right-wing Christian, who has written a book: The Moral Compass which made Christopher feel he should be wearing a necklace of garlic (p.405)!
I am not sure whether to recommend reading this book, except to understand how others evolve in their thinking.

KARA MARTIN is a lecturer with School of Christian Studies (www.socs.org.au), and is an avid reader and book group attendee.

A review of Mary Ann Shaffer's book,"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society".

Reviewed by Kara Martin

There have not been many books this year which have made me laugh out loud. The curiously named The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is written as a series of letters to and from the feisty Juliet Ashton, a writer who has gained fame with her satirical column in a London newspaper during the Second World War.
Juliet is successful and single, and one of the sub-plots is the efforts of many to help Juliet find her match. However the book also has a serious side, chronicling the invasion of Guernsey Island by the German army during WW2. I never realised that part of England was occupied during the war, and the reminiscing of the characters (based on research by the author) made for some sobering reading.
Very cleverly, the core of the book is actually another character, Elizabeth McKenna: a wonderful, intelligent, compassionate resident of Guernsey, who touches the lives of everyone she meets. Elizabeth holds the correspondence together by her presence, and her absence.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was formed as an excuse to save the lives of several friends on the island who had gathered after curfew for a sumptuous meal, roasted illegal pork! The Germans had taken possession of all the pigs, but the islanders ingeniously managed to raise a pig, and the generous Amelia Maugery invited some friends around to enjoy the roast dinner, a truly significant event at a time of severe deprivation.
However, the dinner guests were caught on the way home. It was the quick-thinking and courageous Elizabeth who thought up a reading group as an excuse for the gathering. To keep up the pretence, Amelia arranged the collection of books, and many of the society were forced to take up reading "proper books" for the first time. The results were life-enhancing, as well as amusing and heart-touching.
The potato peel pie link, you will have to discover for yourself, but it is an indication of the gentle comedy vein that runs rich through the novel.
The author, Mary Ann Shaffer, was a former librarian and bookseller, and a love of reading, as well as the transformational nature of the written word, are prevalent themes. This is exemplified in the following quote:
"I like stories of passionate encounters. I myself have never had one, but now I can picture one. I didn't like Wuthering Heights at first, but the minute that spectre Cathy scratched her bony fingers on the windowpane - I was grasped by the throat and not let go... I don't believe that after reading such a fine writer as Emily Brontë, I will be happy to read again Miss Amanda Gillyflower's Ill-Used by Candlelight. Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books."
This novel is full of quirky characters with their wise observations of life, and is artfully arranged.
My only disappointment is that the one character identified as a Christian is a wowser and joy killer. It is a pity such a stereotype dominates literature when Jesus is a compassionate, gracious, life-abundant force. Elizabeth McKenna is much closer to a Jesus figure.
That aside, as a first novel it is a triumph. What a pity therefore that it is also Shaffer's last. She passed away in the final stages of editing, and the book was completed by her niece Annie Barrows.

I echo the many reviewers who have written: "This is a novel I want everyone to read."

KARA MARTIN is a lecturer with School of Christian Studies (www.socs.org.au), and is an avid reader and book group attendee. Kara does book reviews for Hope 1032's Open House (www.theopenhouse.net.au).

A Review of John Freeman's book "Shrinking the World", reviewed by Kara Martin

The average office worker receives 200 emails a day and spends 40% of their working day reading or responding to emails. Within 14 months there will be 3.2 billion email users on the planet. In 1929 there were 20 million telegrams send; the equivalent today would be 80 million telegrams a year; by contrast we send 600 million emails every 10 minutes!
What are the consequences of this exponential increase in communications? John Freeman has considered this question, and come to the conclusion that there are dire consequences for the way we are speeding up the receiving and sending of messages.

He begins his book with the first example we have of written communication. It is a clay tablet on which was written a love poem. Freeman points out that the lover would have collected the clay, moulded the tablet, composed and written the words, then baked it, and delivered it. It is a process that would have taken days, perhaps weeks depending where the recipient lived.
By contrast, we can send a love message in seconds anywhere in the world. Freeman warns however, that some matters, such as love, require deliberation.

Email has irrevocably changed our world.  Firstly, it is all about speed, and this is at the loss of comprehension. We tend to transmit rather than create, we scan and skim rather than understanding deeply. Studies show that most people now tend to skip large blocks of text. We prefer bullet points and visual clues, such as bold, CAPITALS, or italics.

Secondly, it is all about a virtual world, whereas we need the physical world. Freeman points to studies that show that 50% of emails are misunderstood because there are not the verbal or visual cues that give meaning. It is too easy to email, when face-to-face usually takes more courage, especially when meeting new people, or delivering uncomfortable messages.

Thirdly, we have become used to getting chunks, rather than reading in context. In doing this we can make mistakes, since context is vital for understanding. We also miss the interconnectedness of ideas.

While Freeman's book is mostly about email, this is already passé for those under 40, who are far more into social networking. Freeman also touches on this area with his comment that the technology allows us to create our own identity. While we are communicating more about ourselves, we are actually revealing less. In the virtual world we can mould an image which is unsustainable face-to-face. In fact, social networking promotes even more shallow communication and is even more time consuming.

While Freeman does not touch on the spiritual, there are clear lessons from his message. As the speed of information transfer has sped up, so has the pace of life. Our expectation is to receive things fast, in juicy chunks, and the focus is on me. Spiritually, this can lead to a shallow relationship with God, focused on my experience of God.

The challenge from Freeman is to SLOW DOWN, and in the spiritual sphere this means taking the time to explore relationship with God, and to focus on our spiritual community.

So, how do we control the email menace? Freeman has 10 quick tips:
1. Don't send = unless you really need to!
2. Don't check email first thing in the morning or last thing at night, because it has an impact on your brain and affects your ability to focus, or sleep.
3. Check it just twice a day, which means turning off the "you got mail" beep.
4. Keep a written "to do" list, with email included on it; so you keep a focus on all your work and don't get diverted by email.
5. Give good email = which means short messages, and indicate when no response is required.
6. Read the entire incoming email, before replying = a simple rule, but most of us fail to do this and it really affects comprehension.
7. Do not debate complex or sensitive matters by email = it is too easy to misunderstand or offend.
8. If you work as a group, meet face-to-face = studies show this more effective than via email.
9. Set up your desk to do something other than email = don't let the machine dominate/control your life.
10. Schedule screen-free time every day = you will sleep better, communicate more with those you live with, and have more time to learn something new or read a book  We need to relearn how to exercise control rather than reacting.

This is a really well-written book and a timely warning. The irony is that email was meant to make life more efficient so we could spend more time with family and friends; instead it has allowed work and the virtual world to intrude into our homes, and steal time away from friendships. We need to be more intentional about our communicating.

KARA MARTIN is a lecturer with School of Christian Studies (www.socs.org.au), and is an avid reader and book group attendee. Kara does book reviews for Hope 1032's Open House (www.theopenhouse.net.au).

A review of Thomas Keneally's book "Australians, Origins to Eureka".

Reviewed by Kara Martin

My Year 6 son has a science teacher who loves art. My daughter loved this teacher's classes, but my son feels very ripped off. He loves science, has a fascination with the way things work, is very hands-on... and to learn about science by making posters or drawing pictures is something that makes him feel incompetent. One night at the dinner table he cried out in frustration: "I mean, is it science or is it art?"

People may have the same response to this massive effort by Thomas Keneally: Australians, Origins to Eureka is part 1 of a three-part history of Australia. It is told through the eyes of individuals alive at the time. It begs the question: Is it history or is it story? In some ways it is both. It is carefully researched history communicated through the means of story.
Keneally has established a narrative history, building substantially on two earlier nor fiction books, largely about the Irish Catholic influence on early Australia. His work is somewhat biased toward Irish Catholicism, which is natural because of his background. It is true also that Irish Catholics, including many priests, were transported to Australia because of their rebellious views and actions. They found in Australia the opportunity to establish some of the ideals that had failed at home and pushed for recognition of convict rights', emancipation or freedom, universal voting rights and the right to collective representation, or trade unionism.
Keneally is fascinated that the sometimes brutal, immoral beginnings of Australia transformed to a mostly peaceful, strongly democratic society.

He explores these ideas through telling stories, and has deliberately chosen stories of everyday people, like convict Sarah Devonport whose son was killed accidentally when hot gruel was poured on him on the ship coming over. She had a miscarriage, probably brought on by her grief, but rallied and went on to serve the women around her, often as a midwife. He does include significant people, like the governors, but he likes to tell stories not often reported elsewhere.

He particularly brings to light the sexually liberal practices in the early years of Australian society. It appears that most of the leading figures had convict housekeeper/lovers.
What is lacking is an emphasis on the evangelical history of Australia. The significant prayers of those in England for the great mission work in Australia. The activities of William Wilberforce in helping to fund evangelical missionaries to Australia, including the first chaplain Richard Johnson and the infamous Samuel Marsden. Keneally mentions the Johnson's pet kittens, but fails to describe his great concern for the convicts, his one-to-one visits, care for the sicks, and advocacy. He repeats the well-known description of Marsden as the flogging parson, while neglecting to mention his particular concern to provide for the needs of women in the colony, who often resorted to prostitution to survive. Marsden also established several successful missionary journeys to New Zealand. This sometimes hidden history of Australia can be found in Stuart Piggin's book Spirit of a Nation.

Perhaps it is unfair to look for what is missing, when there is much that is rich and interesting in this book. Keneally has started from pre-Aboriginal times, and has captured the often cruel history of Aboriginal-settler relations, while retaining a context of the scientific and philosophical views of the times. His book is incredibly readable, and vivid. He has received virtually universal endorsement, including the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, who launched the book in Parliament House with an excellent speech.

It is a remarkable thing that by the 1850s, the period when this book ends, Australia's penal beginning had been as Keneally says, "transmuted into a diverse future, in which Australians would bravely attempt to live down the origins of their society."

In the end in these stories we see the best and worst of the human story. Great acts of courage and imagination, and much sexual abuse and physical brutality; but we also see strains of what we like to celebrate in Australians: a sense of the larrikin, seeing all as equal, celebrating success, persevering through difficulties, welcoming new ideas. While Piggin contrasts the beginning of Australia with the beginning of America where the latter was seen as the promised land, while the convicts saw Australia as God-forsaken; Keneally celebrates the spirit of social justice that ran strong through this land; acknowledging that often it had Gospel roots.

This book is a welcome addition to a crowded shelf of histories. While obviously well-researched, it does not pretend to be scholarly, does not present a range of views, but is also eminently more readable than many of the other history books!

KARA MARTIN is a lecturer with School of Christian Studies (www.socs.org.au), and is an avid reader and book group attendee. Kara does book reviews for Hope 1032's Open House (www.theopenhouse.net.au).

Modern Science Befuddled by Mystery....

Kara Martin reviews two books : "Genesis Enigma" by Andrew Parker and "Why us?" by James Le Fanu.

I was not thrilled to be handed two huge tomes of scientific material to plough through and review. However the writing in both these books is surprisingly clear and interesting; and the conclusions of both writers are astonishing. Rather than modern science delivering the death blow to religion, both authors contend that from an evolutionary science and a medical science background, there is evidence for the existence of God, and a need to embrace mystery and faith.

Andrew Parker discovered the Genesis Enigma while on a tour of the Vatican in Rome. He saw Michelangelo's painting in the Sistine Chapel, with its depiction of the steps of creation from Genesis, and he suddenly realised that the most modern discoveries of science actually back up the order of creation described in the first chapter of Genesis:

Let there be light - Formation of the sun (5,000M yrs ago)
Waters separated from the land - Formation of seas and land separated (4,200M)
Vegetation, seed-bearing plants and trees  - Beginnings of life including plants (3,900M)
Lights dividing day and night - Beginning of vision (521M)
Fish and birds - Marine life dominated, then birds.
Living creatures - More complex animals developed

The fourth step is the one he has been most criticised for, since a normal reading of those verses would seem to indicate the creation of the sun and moon. However, Parker points out that the creation of the sun has been referred to on the first day, why repeat? Whereas a more logical conclusion would be referral to the first moment that vision was detected, with the ability to discern between light and day.

Parker himself discovered the beginning of vision, and its place as the "big bang" moment of evolution, the point at which predators were more able to identify prey, causing prey to evolve more quickly.

His conclusion is that the author must either have had divine inspiration or made an extremely lucky (and rather unlikely) guess. His own opinion is that Genesis is evidence of God's hand in the Bible.

James le Fanu comes from a background as a medical doctor and writer for quality journals such as The Lancet, New Statesman and New Scientist. He examined the thirty major scientific discoveries in the last 60 years which include such marvels as the atom bomb, walking on the moon, test tube babies and the Human Genome project.

His conclusion is that rather than delivering certainty, all these scientific discoveries have opened up the mystery of life. We know so much, but there is so much more to be known. He also raises the possibility that science will never deliver the certainty that was promised by Darwin and Freud.

The specific mysteries he points to include: altruism = something that means that we put others before ourselves, possibly lessening our own chances of survival; the existence of free will, the ability to choose and not just respond to automatic instincts; and the fact that both of us might be here at the same time with the same inputs but have completely individual experiences, resulting from our own history and our different perceptions and emotional interpretations.

Other mysteries which may never be explained by a materialist scientific approach: the richness and accessibility of memory = our brain can sort through experiences and remember not just the visuals but the feelings associated with that event; human reason and imagination = higher functions that eclipse our ability to understand, reproduce or even predict; the self = the non-material being that is distinctive, and unique.

Le Fanu contradicts Richard Dawkins and the New Atheism. He asserts it is rational to have faith because science reveals the mystery of life. Rather than faith being an excuse to avoid thinking and evaluating evidence, it can be seen as the art of holding onto things your reason has accepted.

He ends with a call for a renewed sympathy with religion, and an embracing of our Christian heritage; as well as a deepened respect for the unexplained and unfathomable beauty and diversity of the planet around us.

What are we to make of these new books? Their similarities are striking:

• Both mention Alister McGrath in their acknowledgements as helping to challenge and shape their thinking
• Both quote Christian theologian and writer CS Lewis
• Both mention the mind and spirit-expanding influence of the paintings of Michelangelo
• Both commenced from a point of religious scepticism but end up willing to embrace notions of faith and the existence of God.
While we cannot wheel out these books as arguments for the truth of the Gospel message... We can point to the death of materialist certainty as a philosophy; the willingness of new science to embrace mystery and the possibility of God; and the reliability of the biblical record. It is also important to note how great Christian thinkers and artists can have a pervasive influence through their work and their conversations. It is an encouragement for us to try and influence those around us.

KARA MARTIN is a lecturer with School of Christian Studies (www.socs.org.au), and is an avid reader and book group attendee. Kara does book reviews for Hope 1032's Open House (www.theopenhouse.net.au).

What is the What by David Eggers, reviewed by Kara Martin

This is a postmodern book in a really interesting sense. It takes the true story of one of the "Lost Boys" of the Sudan, Valentino Achak Deng, and novelises it. The lost boys were thousands of orphans who fled the civil war and ended up in Ethiopia. Some of them were conscripted into the rebel army.

Perhaps because we modern readers are becoming desensitised to such stories of the horrors of Africa, Eggers chooses this fictional mode, which in some ways makes it easier to read about the raping and pillaging and torture and murder... In the end, it is impossible to tell which is biography, and which is made up, although in the foreword Valentino says it is substantially his story.

Valentino is "rescued" and taken to America, but when he arrives he is stunned by the culture shock. Many of the conflicts in his home country are translated to the new context. He would still rather be home, but it is impossible to go back.

It made me think of the Somalis recently arrested for planning terrorist attacks in Australia. While there is no way such violence could be condoned, this book helped me to understand the issues of a displaced person. The reality is that many of the conflicts in Africa have been fuelled by western imperialism, greed for oil, and military aid aimed at protecting western political or business interests.

Valentino is poorly treated in his adopted country, and many do not ask and could not comprehend all that he has seen and lived through.

This book helped me realise we have such a simplistic view of refugees... we assume they would be grateful for having a safe place to live; which is right on one level. However, refugees do not arrive at their adopted country by choice. It is more about leaving suffering than choosing the new place. Mostly they would like to be with family and friends. Any country would seem alien after their experiences.

Another really interesting idea is that of the 'What', from the title. The origin is a Sudanese creation story.

After God created men and women, according to the legend, he gave them cattle, the source of "milk and meat and prosperity of every kind". But God offered humankind a choice: "You can either have these cattle, as my gift to you, or you can have the What." The Dinka (Valentino's tribe) wisely chose the cow. But others picked, and continue to seek, the mysterious, unnamable, destructive and possibly unattainable 'What'.

As Valentino goes on his journey he sees people choosing power, land, oil, wealth, violence...
That story has relevance for us, and the choices we make. Do we receive the gifts God intends for us of relationship and community, as well as all we need to worship and serve him and others; or do we keep wanting other things... coveting... demanding...

In the end this is an engrossing story of survival, akin to the stories of the polar explorers ; and journey through adolescence, an African version of Huckleberry Finn. Valentino survives attacks by killers on horseback, attacks by helicopters and tanks, slave traders, lion kills, a desert crossing, a swim across a crocodile-infested river, months of walking, the threat of dysentery and malaria... He sees family members brutalised and buries his childhood friend. We read this catalogue of horror through the eyes of young boy, and it horrifies but is not sensationalised or glorified.

It is also a great insight into the world of refugee camps. Valentino spent a total of almost 14 years in refugee camps - an astonishing thing to comprehend, since we tend to think of such camps as temporary places.

This book is cause for reflection on the sin in the world, the desire to survive, the complexity of the mess we humans make.

Valentino identifies as a Christian, and prays to God, but on my reading he does not have a personal awareness of Jesus, nor a deep knowledge of the Bible. However, it is Christians that assist him in the US, that provide for him and sponsor him, and help him to receive some of the medical treatment he needs. Their example of love and care is distinctive for him.
The author Eggers met Valentino at a charity event, and they became friends. Eggers travelled to the Sudan with Valentino to retrace his steps. Proceeds from the book will go to paying for Valentino's university education, and also to rebuild his village in the Sudan.
Reviewers from The Observer and the New York Times have described the book as transformative, and I would hope that we would still be affected by such stories, and want to respond.

KARA MARTIN is a lecturer with School of Christian Studies (www.socs.org.au), an avid reader and book group attendee, and Open House's resident book critic.