Reviews, short and sweet

I am a bit sad to be back from vacation.  Luckily, Christmas is only a few weeks away.  Besides still being tired from traveling, I’m moving next week, so every free minute needs to be spent on packing! So, today’s reviews are short and sweet.   I read three books on my trip:

Crossing the Threshold of Hope, by Pope John Paul II

In this book, a journalist/author asks the Pope some questions, and the book is set up so that typically, each chapter is the Pope’s answer to one of the questions.  I enjoyed this book very much, and I definitely learned a lot.  There were several quotes I liked, but will only include two in this post:

“It is also necessary that the young know the Church, that they perceive Christ in the Church, Christ who walks through the centuries alongside each generation, alongside every person.  He walks alongside each person as a friend.  An important day in a young person’s life is the day on which he becomes convinced that this is the only Friend who will not disappoint him, on whom he can always count.” (p.126)

“In the very search for faith an implicit faith is already present, and therefore the necessary condition for salvation is already satisfied.” (p.193)

Every Living Thing, by James Herriot

The last of the Herriot books!  Great, as always.  The stories are always either funny or heartwarming, always enjoyable.  The animals and people we read about are such that I wish I could actually meet them! 

A Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This is the first Sherlock Holmes I have read, and I liked it.  The first and third portions of the book are narrated by Dr. Watson, and the middle portion is an omniscient narrator.  I found the mystery to be entertaining, and I was definitely curious to find out both who the murderer was and how Sherlock Holmes solved the mystery.  Overall, I thought it was a nice read.  It’s also a very quick read, it didn’t take me long to finish it.  I think I will definitely try some other Sherlock Holmes novels.

Surprised by Joy - by C.S. Lewis

A quick summary:  C.S. Lewis talks about his life (in a memoir-ish type of way), and how he eventually converted to Christianity.

This is the second time I read this book.  The first time I read it was several years ago, before I had read any of his nonfiction.  I didn’t enjoy it much back then.  This time, I enjoyed it a lot more, and I think it is because I’ve already read and enjoyed many of his nonfiction books.  This time, reading about his life has helped me better understand him as a person and as a Christian author, and has made me better understand his books and his approach to writing about Christianity.  His books are always so rational – he seems to always try to prove every point he makes, approaching Christianity and faith from a very logical (for lack of a better word) standpoint.  I think this is great, as sometimes we want (and need) to learn about faith from this perspective.

Some quotes I liked:

“Hence while friendship has been by far the chief source of my happiness, acquaintance or general society has always meant little to me, and I cannot quite understand why a man should wish to know more people than he can make real friends of.”  (p.32-33) – I totally agree.  For me, friends and acquaintances are very different things, and while there may be many acquaintances, there are only a few friends.

“What I like about experience is that it is such an honest thing.  You may take any number of wrong turnings; but keep your eyes open and you will not be allowed to go very far before the warning signs appear.  You may have deceived yourself, but experience is not trying to deceive you.  The universe rings true wherever you fairly test it.” (p.177)

“For the first time I examined myself with a seriously practical purpose.  And there I found what appalled me; a zoo of lusts, a bedlam of ambitions, a nursery of fears, a harem of fondled hatreds.  My name was legion.” (p.226)

“Doubtless, by definition, God was Reason itself.  But would He also be ‘reasonable’ in that other, more comfortable, sense?  Not the slightest assurance on that score was offered me.  Total surrender, the absolute leap in the dark, were demanded.  The reality with which no treaty can be made was upon me.  The demand was not even ‘All or nothing.’  …Now, the demand was simply ‘All.’” (p.228)

“I did not see then what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms.  The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet.  But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape?...The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.” (p.229)  Awesome!!

What I’m reading next: I haven’t decided yet…I’m actually leaving for a two-week vacation this week (yeah!), which means I will either read a lot, or not read much at all.  But I will bring some books in case it turns out to be the former.