NSA Freshman Book Reports
Jerusalem Term
Rhetoric with Nate Wilson
NSA Freshman Book Reports
Jerusalem Term
Rhetoric with Nate Wilson
It is a sad thing for us as Christians to grow slack in our aesthetic appreciation, but we often do. I believe that Suzanne Clark’s book, Sketches of Home, offers valuable instruction for recapturing this art form, simply by its example. These sketches are short essays on family life, a collection of personal snippets from a twenty year span in the author’s life. Her prose mingles life’s sweetness with its grief, achieving an aesthetic masterpiece and an unforgettable read. This book is a demonstration of the search for purpose, the investigation, and the digging we need to do as we write, to continually refresh our awareness of creation and our Creator.
To begin with, Sketches of Home demonstrates our search and longing to find a purpose for everything. When Clark looks into “randomness” as we call it, she finds the enjoyment of God’s humor and artistry and wonders at His puzzling, mysterious ways. What makes baby cheeks as soft as dumplings, and why should a ten year-old girl ever have to watch a man drown? Searching is what draws us to our Lord, the standard.
Secondly, this book demonstrates the investigation we go through to find meaning in God’s works. The author uses parallels, metaphors, and an artistic translation of her experiences to make sense of them and transform them into memories and lessons. Watching a sister die of cancer and seeing her son grow into a man are each are a part of history, His story, that have been given to her as her own story. Investigating is how we gain perspective.
Thirdly, in her book, Clark demonstrates the digging we must do, in order to find fit descriptions for these works of God. Her prose is totally unsentimental; it is enjoyable, true, and striking. Her vivid sketches can slap the reader’s face, put a juicy flavor in his mouth, or tug on his heart at will. Digging is our mode of exploration.
s The search for purpose, the investigation, and the deep digging that Suzanne Clark went through in her Sketches of Home exemplify a Christian aesthetic process that is worthy of imitation. God is glorified when we reach out and try to grasp his majesty, and He surely smiles upon our meager efforts. As His students, let us pick up this book and apply our minds and pens as we seek to grasp more of His glory and grow in sanctification.
The book, Le Vin Pour Les Nuls, or Wine for Dummies, by McCarthy, Ewing-Mulligan, and Cassetari, is, of course, a book about wine. Without becoming a five pound dictionary, this book brings together just about everything you need to know about wine—from how to start your own cave to what wine to choose in a nice restaurant.
Who needs a book about wine? Let’s look at some of the values of wine. First of all, wine is art. This can be seen by simply watching an œnologue (professional wine taster) at work. He can taste a wine—without seeing the label—and tell you what region the wine is from, the year of harvest, whether there was much rain or much sun, and he may even be able to tell you the name of the Chateau from whence it came. Then he would go on to tell you the different qualities of the wine: its tannins and bouquet; whether it tears properly; the aftertaste that it has; its colour, shape, form, and aroma. Secondly, we see that wine has an important place in the Bible. The first thing Noah did when he came out of the ark was to plant a vineyard. Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine. Psalm 104 says that wine “gladdens the heart of man”. Paul advices Timothy, “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” And thirdly, wine is part of being cultured. Colette once said, “Beware of young women who love neither wine nor truffles nor cheese nor music.”
So now we see why Le Vin Pour Les Nuls is such an important book. It gives the opportunity for the common “dummy” to learn about wines and to make the right choices concerning them. But it is also an excellent resource for the professional wine enthusiast. It is a book for all levels. It explains where wine came from; the difference between white wine, red wine, and rosé; and the mysterious techniques for the tasting of wine; it talks about price differences and how to get the best wine for your budget. It gives a “must taste” list of all the great wines; and it lists all the important wines by country. This book, as its front cover says, is a “grand cru” of wine guides, and is to be consumed without moderation.
Ever felt like kids have a more accurate perception of how life really works than most adults? Then you’ll want to read Bud not Buddy. If you think that kids are generally a few toys short of a happy meal, then you need to read Bud Not Buddy. Both the child skeptic and the child optimist will enjoy experiencing life through an almost 11 year old who insists he is pretty grown up. In Bud’s story there’s a whole slew of comic and endearing characters: friends, strangers, relatives and a mean “mama’s boy” foster child who routinely sticks a pencil up the new kids’ nose to see how far up on Ticonderoga he can get. Set during the Great Depression, Bud embarks on a trip through Michigan to find his father using sketchy clues he’s sure his mama left him. Along the way, Bud shares his insightful assortment of Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself. For instance:
Rules and Things Number 16: If a grown-up ever starts a sentence by saying “Haven’t you heard?” get ready, ‘cause what’s about to come out of their mouth is gonna drop you headfirst into a boiling tragedy. It seems like the answer to “Haven’t you Heard?” always has something to do with someone kicking the bucket. And not kicking the bucket in a calm, peaceful way like a heart attack at home in bed either, it usually is some kind of dying that will make your eyes buck out of your head when you hear about it, its usually the kind of thing that will run you out of a room with your hands over your ears and your mouth wide open. Something like hearing that your grandmother got her whole body pulled through the wringer on a washing machine, or something like hearing about a horse slipping on the ice and landing on some kid you went to school with.
Christopher Paul Curtis’ Bud Not Buddy is a well written and skillful rendering of life as seen through the eyes of a child. Adults and children alike cannot help laughing and at times sniffling with Bud as he tells you a story in a way that only a child can. You can’t afford to live without Bud’s insights into a world we all share but seldom look at the same.
I recently read a book called The Sugar Blues. William Dufty wrote this book in order to condemn white sugar. Without a doubt, this book broadened me. Never before was I aware that mediocrity could attain such incredible heights. Taxing the powers of his paranoid imagination, Mr. Dufty invents many reasons why we should make “sugar” a synonym for “evil.” Apparently sugar is the cause of most suffering in the world.
The book begins with a whirlwind of revisionist history. Back in the good old days before sugar, people were so healthy that they never got sick. But when they did get sick, they went to their local sorcerer for an herbal remedy that always cured them. It was positively utopian. But then sugar arrived, quickly destroyed the fabric of society, and became associated with evils like slavery, murder, empire, and the Catholic Church. Needless to say, Mr. Dufty’s extensive knowledge of history amazes me. His education is so great that he can write about historical events that nobody else knows about and that nobody can verify.
We all know that sugar is unhealthy, but in The Sugar Blues we learn that it's worse than any rational person had supposed. Sugar is responsible for government corruption, drug addictions, car accidents, sexual immorality, and international oppression. Modern cigarettes are unhealthy solely because they contain sugar. Oh, and of course, there is a conspiracy to make you eat sugar. Practically everything contains sugar (even table salt). Mr. Dufty has perfected the art of a new type of argument: the kind with no proof at all.
Overall, I believe the author is a rabid moth. He's very angry, but his attacks are ineffective. It is obvious that Mr. Dufty possesses a vast sea of knowledge, far surpassing that of most 4th graders.
This book challenged me. I was challenged to find new and original ways to disrespect the author. Eventually I decided to eat sugar by the spoonful while reading the book. Occasionally I would spit sugar on the pages, just for good measure.
Not only is this book profound, it also has alternate uses. From personal experience, I highly recommend this book as kindling for a fire. In fact, this attribute is the redeeming quality of the book. I recommend that you buy The Sugar Blues, and partake in the joy of burning it.
A book that will make a long lonely evening shorter. A book that the well meaning lady at your Granny’s prayer group recommends. “When calls the Heart“ by Jeanette Oake is a book that is guaranteed to keep any girl with romantic fantasies in her seat.
In this book, “Elizabeth” leaves her family in Eastern Canada and travels to Alberta. After a series of cliched events she is sent to a backwoods school and falls in love with the strong handsome mountie, Wynn Delaney. After the typical misunderstandings such as she thinks he is married, she realizes that she is in love with him. At the end of the book we are left with a wedding in the air and a promise of a sequel this time next year.
It is commonly said that Janette Oake provides good clean books with truly christian woman as the main characters. Girls tend to be romanticist without the help of a one hundred and fifty page “ How to be a Hopeless Romantic” manuel. This book does not help girls learn how to go about having a truly Christian love life. In fact it presents the idea that pretending to sprain your ankle, is a fine way to get a man to carry you down the mountain. It gives girls who are already falling into the ditch of endless daydreaming of getting rescued, even more fuel. Even if you are the sort of girl , or think you are, who is not the least bit affected by romance novels don’t bother to read them. It is a waste of time to spend a half an hour reading the story of how a girl who wasn’t the least bit interested in marriage falls in love and makes a man who swore he would never marry, not just fall in love with her, but propose as well. The last and most important reason for keeping this book on a shelf is this: No where in this book is this girl’s father mentioned other than to say that her father and mother live back east. At the end of the book it is questionable as to whether or not her father even knows of Wynn's existence. We as Christians should know the importance of a father’s role in his daughter’s life. By reading Janette Oake’s “When calls the Heart” we are filling our minds with, foolish, empty-headed, mindlessness.
In a Christian society that often falls off the road into a Thomas Kinkade ditch – where the world is all puffy white clouds, and shining sunbeams, and little cottages with perfect thatched roofs – Flannery O’Connor’s short story collection ought to be taken like an antibiotic. Her book, with stories like “Everything that Rises Must Converge,” “The Lame Shall Enter First,” and the “Enduring Chill,” serves as a potent reminder that we do not serve a tame, unitarian God.
Our God is not a God with whom everything goes, who allows everyone to make their own path to heaven. Instead, our God is the God of floods, swarms of locusts, and rivers of blood, who redeemed mankind through a crucifixion and calls his people to die that they might live. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob continually shows grace to his people; however, when we think of grace today, we probably come up with a picture in our minds similar to the Kinkade paintings: golden, happy, tranquil. We need to be reminded of the dark grace that drowned Pharoah’s army in the Red Sea, that condemned Ananias and Sapphira to death, that strengthened Ehud to drive a sword deep into King Eglon’s belly. From our modern perspective, these things don’t look like love, mercy, or grace, but somehow, these are the very ways that God provides for, and teaches, his people.
This dark grace fills Flannery O’Connor’s short stories. The cranky, hypocritical individuals about which she writes don’t necessarily become good in the end; she kills off main characters with impunity; and when repentance comes, it doesn’t immediately pierce through the clouds like a sunbeam. But repentance does come, though the way may not be strewn with flower petals, and Flannery catches just the right hints of repentance in her stories. Some may complain that she leaves her readers with a skewed perspective of life, with all the focus on darkness; but that focus is just the tonic that portions of the Christian community need today, because Christianity is often simply presented as a health-and-wealth plan for a happy life. But when Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me,” he was hardly talking about health and wealth or sunbeams. We need to remember who the God of the Bible really is. O’Connor’s short stories are just the sort of jarring literature that can bring us to our senses.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”
And so begins one of the great British classics—a story of love and happiness, arrogance and ignorance… pride and prejudice. This tale of two young ladies in search of the perfect “Mr. Right” contains themes and lessons which hardly merit ignoring. In Pride and Prejudice we find a picture—a window through which we can look upon early 19th Century England, and get a feel for the society of England during the 1800s. In Pride and Prejudice we find more than just a love story. In a day in which the value of books is highly underrated by the majority of young people, it is important that we look past the storylines and search out the different lessons of life which can be learned.
Throughout Pride and Prejudice we come into contact with people of greatly different backgrounds, we encounter gentlemen, and we encounter ruthless jerks, for lack of a better term. We discover that we tend to like certain characters in Austen’s “love story” and abhor others, such as the infamous Mr. Collins. We discover, with a careful eye, more than just a love story. We find morals—lessons to be learned—in Jane and Elizabeth’s search for companionship.
In the end, we find that not only is Elizabeth prideful and prejudiced in her own way, but that we also have been prejudiced and misjudged people, not to mention our initial impression of Mr. Darcy. We discover that some people are not always what they appear, and that judgments should be made carefully regarding others’ character, and that we cannot always go by what we hear. We find that we really cannot tolerate arrogance and longwinded speeches of gobbledygook and that we really have no need to listen to incessant praises or apologies. We find that deceit and foolishness truly is revolting, and that young ladies who are uncontrolled and “loose” will often end in situations which should always be expected of such lifestyles. We discover that pride does go before a fall, and so it was with Elizabeth. But we also find that there is such a thing as grace and mercy, which is so readily shown by Mr. Darcy, who looks past Elizabeth’s mistakes and foolish relations, and still welcomes her to his home.
Pride and Prejudice is indeed more than just a “girl’s book.” It’s a book about people, about character, and yes, about “true love.” So love it, appreciate it, and engross yourself in this beautiful novel by Jane Austen.
We’re all familiar with this book. We spend hours upon hours reading it. We return to it daily, never satisfied that we have gained all its wisdom. We even memorize parts of it. This wonderful book is called Wheelock’s Latin.
The stated goal of Wheelock’s Latin is to teach Latin (duh). Frederick Wheelock teaches with logic and clarity. For generations, countless students have benefited from this textbook. In short, it is a classic.
However, some have disdained the book’s boring sentences. They appear to be random, without any plot or storyline. “The girl of virtue warns the state.” “The foolish man writes letters to that wife.” People accuse the book of having teleological funk. It’s an endless, meaningless cycle, like a 2 year old washing his hands.
But these critics are wrong. My friends, for too long we have unaware of the Wheelock Code.
The Wheelock Code is the guiding force of the book. Using complex numerology, astrology, and ancient occultic symbols, we can understand the book as it was meant to be understood. Frederick Wheelock wrote the book to reveal his dark, mystical wisdom.
If we compare sentences on pages 88 and 66, we read, “Voca magno illi, et tu me non cicerone soleque capies.” Clearly, this means that if we call upon the “magno illi” (Satan), during the Spring Equinox, while eating Garbonzo beans, then we will become immortal. Looking at pages 1, 101, and 111, we see that, “the dancing barbers cut up the beautiful, young head.” The meaning is obvious. And yes, yes it’s true: the Bolsheviks assassinated JFK.
For proof of the book’s enchantment, consider this: if you open the book and set it down, it will mysteriously close itself. It’s almost as if the book had a will of its own. Wheelock’s Latin does not offer its secrets willingly.
And so, this familiar book turns out to be much more than we thought. Only with years of study will we uncover all the secrets of the Wheelock Code. And that, my friends, is what classical education is all about.
Stupid movies make up the life of Americans, including myself. But instead of yelling and screaming about stupidity, I think it would be more profitable to sit back and enjoy some dumb things once in a while.
Now some movies are so stupid they really should not be mentioned. However, there is occasionally that movie which has the enjoyable-stupid, the interesting-stupid, the mind-engaging-stupid. So I bring to your attention one such as this: The Matrix, and of course, all it’s revolutions and reloads.
The Matrix has a little something for everyone. Deep philosophically shallow concepts. Massively huge explosions. Cool karate sequences. Breathtaking and ridiculous looking graphics. A complicated and impossibly comprehensible story line. And even a bit of love. It’s all here, in some way or another. The philosophical junk is the best part. Whenever the Wachoski Brothers give us a break from their CG saturated action scenes, we know it is going to be good. The melodramatic tone in these scenes has rarely been matched and is simply hilarious.
The cool karate sequences are neat too. The Matrix: Reloaded has a particularly good scene where Neo fights hundreds of his nemesis Agent Smith, turning into a huge battle between the one and the many. This is really one of the best parts of the trilogy.
The massively huge explosions are also good. Again, The Matrix: Reloaded gets first place in this category. The two semi trucks crashing into each other as Morpheus and the Key-maker jump into the air and Neo flies up and grabs them out of the sky is great.
Do take warning that you will need to skip the indecent scenes. Or order your copy from CleanFilms.com, as we did, and watch it without interruption. So go see the Matrix and enjoy it. I did. Just skip the indescent scenes and you will be watching a movie that is so over-stuffed you will be bursting at the seams from laughter.
Numquam bella piis, numquam certamina desunt - For the faithful, wars shall never cease.
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