Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

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Category: Girl meets vampire. Acquired: Snohomish County Library. Read: November, 2008 Briefly: Sometimes you just gotta read a book to see what all the buzz is about. This was one of those times.

Prologue: While I was waiting for this book to arrive at our local library branch, I saw a couple episodes of an HBO series based on a similar premise - vampires living among humans, with romantic attachments. The show was nasty and violent, and ultimately pretty frightening - not in an Alfred Hitchcock sense, but more in a Sodom and Gomorrah sense, illustrating just how far the desensitization of Western culture has progressed. All that was in the back of my mind as I approached this book. Was it going to be depressing to think about 20 million teenagers reading this? Was it going to be the final proof that we've totally lost our minds?

Summary: Lo and behold, I found the exact opposite. Not only would I not mind my teenagers reading it, I found reasons why I might even encourage them to do so. Here's a couple:

• First of all, the characters are actually virtuous. Bella (love that name) works hard at school, cares about other people, respects her parents and tends to think before she acts. This was all portrayed matter-of-factly, as if it's just how normal kids act. No preaching, just good examples. Even vampire-guy Edward has his head screwed on reasonably right - he understands that evil lives within him, and is decidedly not OK with it. He resists it constantly. He wrestles with his temptations, and celebrates when he's able to conquer them. He grieves over his failures. Why would you not want your kids exposed to that?

• Secondly, the boundary between good and evil is crisp and unambiguous. There's plenty of evil around (just as in real life), but the author doesn't candy-coat it. There's no moral relativism - no attempt to excuse the larger vampire community for 'just being themselves'. They eventually earn some praise in the story, but it's by overcoming their natural tendencies and conforming to a higher moral standard. Just like you and I try to do.
  

I was also half-expecting the story to be, at some level, a sermon about tolerance. You know, about how we just need to look beyond our prejudices and accept that we're all the same (happy sigh). Again I was pleasantly surprised at the author's unwillingness to go there. Yes, Bella exercises some laudable open-mindedness - hormone-assisted, to be sure - in getting to know Edward. But there's never any side-stepping of the fact that he comes with baggage, some of which is personal, some cultural and some, uhh... genetic. Confronting and dealing with that baggage is a big part of their story. Confronting and dealing with baggage ought to be a big part of our own stories as well.

Yeah, I haven't said much about actual plots and themes here, and I don't really plan to. Ask any female over the age of 6. Nor am I planning to see the movie, or read the rest of the trilogy, or buy the T-shirt. It was a fun diversion while it lasted, but now I could really use a dose of Tom Clancy.

My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell

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Category: Biographical Acquired: Borrowed from T&B Library Read: October, 2008 Briefly: Precocious youngster narrates his family's four-year stay amidst the flora and fauna of the Greek Island of Corfu in the mid-1930's.

Summary: This book covers a snippet of the author's early adolescence, at a time when his family simply decided to move to a villa in Greece for a few years. How nice. Not only was it a good adventure for Gerald and his quirky brothers and sisters (and long-suffering mom), it was also the time when his lifelong interest in animals first began to take root. While others were swimming, shopping, boating or following other pursuits, he was climbing trees to find nests, or looking under rocks for spiders and scorpions. A good many of these creatures found their way back to the villa, which enlivens the story from time to time.

Here's what I didn't know. While googling the author's name to find a photo of the book cover, I discovered that the story is substantially true, and that he grew up to become a renowned naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist and TV presenter. Sort of a British Marlin Perkins, for those of you old enough to remember. He even received the Order of the British Empire. For more info on this interesting guy, take a look at his article in Wikipedia.

The Verificationist - David Antrim

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Category: Strange Fiction Acquired: Borrowed from T&B Library Read: November 10, 2008 Alaska Flight #910, SEA->SNA Briefly: Just your typical story of a psychologist who has an out-of-body experience at a pancake restaurant.

Summary: Seriously, that's the plot line. OK, there's more, but what makes this story fun is that it's written from the point of view of a psychologist who's in the process of cracking up. He clearly has no clue what's going on, even as the truth gradually unfolds for the reader. Despite his downward spiral, his narrative remains dispassionate and professional - full of the kinds of vocabulary and clinical observations you'd expect from a psychologist (at least, a rather pompous and self-absorbed one). His journey into fantasyland is a bit over-the-top, but hey, what's normal anyway?

The Tummy Men - Virginia Voelker

Category: Fiction. Or is it? Acquired: Christmas, many years ago. Read: October 2008, with grandson Saben. Briefly: how the digestive system really works.

Summary: how many kids get to read a bedtime story that was written, illustrated and published by their great-grandmother? This book is the printed version of the story that my siblings and I grew up with, gradually developing and embellishing it as we dawdled over our dinners.

The gist of the story is that our stomachs are inhabited by Tummy Men, who use the food we send them in various logical and reasonable ways. French fries are skis, peas are baseballs, etc.

After preserving the oral tradition for several decades, Mom put the story into verse in the 1980's. She added hand-drawn illustrations, had it copied and bound, and gave it to us in time to share with our own families.

And now, it becomes part of yet another generation. This blog entry commemorates my first reading of it to Saben who, at the age of 3 1/2 years, laughed all the way through. Annika and Seth, you'll get your turns soon enough.

For those unfamiliar with the story, here's a couple of excerpts:

Now stop and think -- do you suppose it really could be true
That there's a special place down deep inside of you
Where little people live and do their work and play
And wait for us to send them food about three times a day?

They use the food you send them to keep your body strong
And when that job is finished they play the whole night long.
The little girls just love to run and jump spaghetti rope
While boys build sleds of celery for going down the slope.

You won't find it at Amazon, but I might let you see my copy when you come to visit. Unless it's bedtime, when it'll probably be in use.

Thanks, Mom.

In Search of God Knows What - Donald Miller

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Category: Non-fiction. Acquired: Not sure Read: October 2008 Briefly: Christianity is entirely about a relationship. It's not a formula, not a process, and not a series of rules.

Summary: Confession - I haven't updated my blog for two months now. It isn't because I haven't been reading - in fact, I'm currently three books behind. Rather, it's because I'm stuck on how to do justice to this book, one of the best I've read in recent years. At this point, I guess i just need to take my best shot.

Miller starts the journey by describing his visit to a Christian writer's convention, during which he is taught 'the formula' for successful Christian non-fiction. First you identify a need, then convince the reader that it's a vitally important need, and finally present 3-5 steps for solving it (sound familiar?). If that's the case, he reasons, he should be able to find those kinds of formulas in the Bible. So he looks thru the New Testament, and discovers...

"...there was a guy named Stephen who was miserable, and then became a Christian, and then was stoned to death. That formula wasn't good enough. Neither was the one about Paul, who was a murderer and then was blinded while traveling, met Jesus in a burst of light, and then spent various painful years moving from city to city, prison to prison, routinely being beaten and bitten by snakes. No formula there. I moved on to Peter, who was rescued from a successful fishing business only to be crucified, some historical accounts claim, along with his wife. And of course that wouldn't work. So, I decided to ignore the actual characters of scripture and just go with the teachings of Jesus. And that is when things became really difficult. Apparently Jesus had not heard of the wonderful tool of acronym. He mostly told stories, some of which were outlandish. Step one: eat My flesh. Step two: drink My blood. Do you know what having to read that would do to a guy trying to digest dairy products?"

OK, now you know why I like his style. But even more compelling was the point that he was making, which is that Christianity can't be boiled down to a formula, or series of steps. Not salvation, not the Christian lifestyle. Rather, it's all about our relationship with God. (This isn't to say that there are no absolutes, or that salvation isn't a yes/no proposition. It's more about keeping our emphasis and focus on the main goal).

As always, Miller is quick to illustrate his points with anecdotes. He describes being in a classroom at a Christian university, and asking the students to explain the process of falling in love. After allowing them to wrestle unsuccessfully with the question for a few minutes, he asks why, then, do we let ourselves think about our God relationship in those terms? Why do we suggest to ourselves and others that our spiritual health is a function of following steps A, B and C?

As he digs into this concept, Miller draws frequent parallels with human love relationships. Issues of communication, trust, commitment and fidelity are all explored. I really enjoyed the final chapter, where he takes the story of Romeo and Juliette and draws some amazing parallels between one of humankind's most familiar and enduring love stories and the greatest love story of all time.

Anyway, I've barely scratched the surface of this must-read book. It's a surprisingly easy read, and Miller's offbeat sense of humor makes the going fun. But you won't want to read it quickly, and you can't have my copy - because you'll find that it demands some pretty serious underlining along the way.

The World is Flat - Thomas L. Friedman

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Category: Non-fiction. Acquired: from Seattle Pacific University (see below) Read: July - September 2008 Briefly: Subtitled "A Brief History of the 21st Century", discusses the forces that have been flattening our world (i.e. removing political, economic and social barriers) for the past few decades. Explains the dramatic changes that this is bringing about to "life as usual", along with the new skills that will be required for the next generation to thrive, and the challenges they'll have to overcome.

Summary: Each year, Seattle Pacific University selects an influential book and invites the entire college to read it together. Copies are given to all students, and book discussions are added to curricula - not just in literature classes, but in virtually all disciplines. Alumni (and alumni parents) are also offered copies. I've always thought this was a neat program, and have enjoyed the books I've read. And the price is right.

While The World is Flat covers some pretty heavy topics, it's not really that hard to read. Friedman begins by reviewing the key events and developments that have shaped our current world. If you're twenty or older, you'll recognize every one of them, from the fall of the Iron Curtain to the rise of computers, the internet, e-commerce, etc. While 9/11 is mentioned as a pivotal moment, he points out that it is no less pivotal than 11/9 (referring to the falling of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989).

The net result of all these forces is that, with few exceptions, the business world no longer consists of companies in one country competing with companies in another country. Today's playing field is completely international. Instantaneous worldwide communications means that, for a great many jobs, the actual location of the worker no longer matters. Perhaps more importantly, it also means that the foreign worker may be just as well-educated and competent as his or her American counterpart, yet willing to work for an order of magnitude less money. Friedman illustrates his points with a gazillion quotes, anecdotes and examples from businesses large and small.

A quote that really struck me came from Bill Gates. He said (my paraphrase) that when he was growing up, a mediocre student in Poughkeepsie had a better chance of success than an intelligent student in Beijing. But in the 21st century, the intelligent person now has the better chance of succeeding, regardless of where he/she happened to be born. In short, the walls and barriers are gone, deal with it.

Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger. Denying reality isn't going to help, and thinking that your Senator or your favorite presidential can hold back the changing tide is just a dream.

After this brilliant telling of technological history, Friedman then sets about to explaining what to do next. He covers everything from new approaches to education and career-building, to the different kinds of business opportunities becoming available in a globalized world. I can't do justice to this section, you'll have to read it yourself.

Overall, give it a 9 on a scale of 10. The only disappointment was the occasional pot shot at the Republicans or President Bush, blaming one or both for some situation, problem or missed opportunity. Never the Democrats, of course, even though they controlled Congress during much of that time period. I suppose that, with Friedman being a writer for the once-great New York Times, the habit was just too deeply ingrained.

If You Lived Here I'd Know Your Name - Heather Lende

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Category: News From Small-Town Alaska Acquired: borrowed from the Todd & Betsy library Read: September 2008 Briefly: a newspaper columnist's observations and personal musings about life in a Southeast Alaska town of about 2500 people, not including dogs, moose and bears. Not quite Cicely, Alaska, but you can see it from there.

Summary: two things I always look forward to when visiting Todd & Betsy: a) whatever new recipe they're showing off, and b) standing in front of their massive bookshelf and asking "what should I borrow next?". This book came with the comment that it was sort of like Garrison Keillor, which I took to mean the original Keillor, i.e. the funny, thoughtful storyteller from back in the 90's, not the tedious demagogue he's turned into. Based on that assumption, I was looking forward to reading it.

I wasn't disappointed. Lende has a keen eye and a great ability to create word pictures. You can almost see the Alaskan mountains rising out of the water, and feel the snow biting into your face as it blows sideways across the yard. The life she describes is isolated, yet full of intimacy for the local residents - a rare and vanishing commodity in the 21st century. I think I could live there (although I'd be pretty lonely without Brenda).

On the other hand, this is no Prairie Home Companion of Alaska. It doesn't need to be, of course, but it was hard not to compare the styles. Keillor was first and foremost a storyteller. His narratives had detail and continuity, and invited the reader to fill in the blanks from their own imaginations. How did this character feel about that? What made him/her react that way? How did Keillor know that I went through that same experience when I was growing up?

In contrast, Lende doesn't tell stories per se, but rather fills her chapters with anecdotes, loosely tied to a common theme. While the local residents of Haines, Alaska are the backdrop, the book is ultimately about Lende herself, and her transformation from a city-bred easterner to a woman of the wilderness. Being from Venus, she writes about feelings, and relationships, and emotions. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just be prepared to know this woman's mind pretty deeply by the time you've finished this book.

Be prepared for some political correctness as well - you know, the local Native Americans are all noble, and the white folks are all plunderers. There are no conservatives, only "arch-conservatives", and all forms of spiritual enlightenment are fine, except for those wacky evangelicals.

Lende actually writes quite a bit about her own spiritual journey. Being the obituary writer for the local paper, perhaps she has more opportunity than most folks to ponder such topics. She describes herself as a practicing Catholic, and there are many sections that portray her as a genuine seeker, looking for truths that bring meaning and relevance. (I told you that you'd get to know her mind pretty closely). But sadly, she approaches it like looking for a new pair of shoes - it's all about finding something that fits me, and looks good on me, and doesn't cause me too much chafing or binding. It just never seems to dawn on her that spirituality isn't about accessorizing your life, but rather about discovering something that is far bigger than you, and losing yourself totally in it. Tragic.

So, getting to the bottom line: Did I enjoy the book? Definitely. Did I learn anything? Absolutely. My recommendation? Read it instead of Keillor's execrable Homegrown Democrat.