Summer Reading

 

Each of these books could easily warrant their own entire post where I could gush about them in an abundance of words. Instead, you might want to read each of them yourself. In fact, I encourage that. Interestingly, 3 out of 4 here are re-reads for me. I believe the best books are worth reading multiple times.

1. Phantastes by George MacDonald
I have been re-reading this book (for the ?th time?) along with the Rabbit Room, as they post questions and discussion video each week. It does not take much for me to pick up MacDonald - someone just has to mention it and I will go grab it to read again. Especially this book, which baptized the imagination of C.S. Lewis whilst he was still a young atheist. This fantasy book cause him to see beyond the film of the familiar, entering fairyland by way of Anodos (the hero), who is a young man who is lost not only in fairyland but also in himself. We learn with Anodos that in order to grow we have to go through the darkness and make mistakes as we go. He carries an innocence with him, which sometimes falls into the youthful pride of thinking he knows it all. That carries him into trouble, but when he finally gets it, he has grown into the man he was made to be, which is the beauty of the story.

This book has so much depth that I had missed in my previous readings that is coming out more now, and aided by the discussion videos at the Rabbit Room. My appreciation for MacDonald has hit an even deeper level.

2. Dune by Frank Herbert
I don't know if you are excited for the movie coming out, but it is one I am excited to see, and that is a rare thing for me to say about movies. I am the advocate who says the book is always better, and I stand by that notion. The movie does look amazing from what I have seen in the trailer and some interviews. I just had to re-read this one as we get closer to the movie release. 

Dune is a fantasy sci-fi novel published in 1965. It follows the house of Atreides and their move to the planet Arrakis, or Dune. Politically, there is a lot of  turmoil and scheming (mostly revolving around the spice, only harvested on Dune). Paul, the young hero, must learn how to be a leader and recognize he has faults as a human. Environmentally, Dune is a planet of total desert where water is a precious resource - not one drop is wasted. Tears are seen as gifts because tears are precious water. Mystically, a complex created set of beliefs and mysticism span different religions, which parallels a theme of the use and misuse of power. Much of this follows an ancient belief system, contrasting the very futuristic time in which Dune takes place.
"I must not fear - fear is the mind killer" runs the course of the book. It is a perfect epic story for summer. 

3. Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers
Classic whodunit mystery of who killed the painter and how was the murder done? Sure, there are many books with this kind of premise, but in the hands of Dorothy, it is always one step above all others, intellectually and complexity. Lord Peter is so fun to follow around and his manservant, Bunter, is an absolute delight to read. I often forget I am reading about a murder, their banter is so good. 

I sometimes get lost in the details being thrown at me in these mysteries. Lord Peter interviews this suspect, then that one, and another one. Soon, you wonder how he can keep track of all the people involved, the timetables of the trains they took, where the bikes were left, what time that suspect drove around that curve in the road. I just hang on and let the mystery take me, and it always takes me into wonder and enjoyment as I try to solve the case. I catch glimpses of details that show up later, and congratulate myself that I was detecting correctly. Then, I am taken for a loop as my weak theory is wrong, until Lord Peter clears it up in the end with a really fun re-play of the entire murder sequence.

4. Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle
I read this book so many years ago, it was time for a re-read, and thanks to my friend Emily for gifting me the book a little while ago, as it caused me to pick it up again. This book is the musings of L'Engle on being creative and a Christian. She often would get asked about how to be a Christian artist. This is her answer to that question - a whole book. It pulls on much of the threads that C.S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers wrote about regarding good work, good writing. There is so much bad art out there labelled as "Christian". It is better to do really excellent work, which does not have to say Jesus in every paragraph. A good writer can say deeply Christian things in a story without mentioning God at all.  Her words have always encouraged me to create with the imaginative tug into the deeper, even if critiqued that it is not what will "sell" in the market.