Category: Book Review

As Christians, we have to be aware to not fall into the trap of finding ourselves reading more books about the Bible than we find ourselves actually reading the Bible itself. Don’t misunderstand me, there are many enlightening books that give us great insight to the understanding of the Bible. But, for true transformation and for real insight into what God wants for us and expects for us, we must be sure to spend time in the Holy Word.

With that said, this is one of the books about the Bible that is truly worth spending the time with. It gives such great insight into how to approach the Bible that it will definitely enhance anyone’s understanding of how to apply what we read to our daily lives.

The over-arching theme that Enns tries to get across is that the Bible is not a rule book that we can turn to page so-and-so when we need an answer to a particular problem. That idea may be disconcerting to some Christians, but hopefully you’ll come to understand that it is actually a good thing. If you have spent any significant time reading the Bible, you have come to realize that there are passages that seem to contradict each other. Advice or instruction given in one section can be found to to be the total opposite of advice or instruction given in another section. Enns goes on to say that this is not a flaw of the Scripture – it is instead designed that way. It is intended to guide us to a life of wisdom, not to just give out easy answers to our problems.

Enns goes on to posit that “reimagining God for one’s here and now is what Christians and Jews have been doing ever since there have been Christians and Jews” (Page 125.) There again, the idea of reimagining God may be a difficult concept for many. Many will say God is who God is. The idea of reimagining God seems to veer into the dangerous situation of saying man has created the image of God rather than God creating man in the image of God. That is far from what this biblical scholar is suggesting. In fact, as we read the Bible we see God referred to as a King, Shepherd, Fortress, etc. Those were images that were readily understood and accessible to the people of that time. Today, we just as easily refer to God as our co-pilot, or even better as our pilot. If we traveled back in time and tried to use that reference, the people would not understand the reference at all. God can remain holy and remain exactly who He is within the ever-changing ways we as people within our own cultures try to relate to Him.

Enns reminds us that “we are as distant from the time of King David (three thousand years ago, about 1000 BCE) as we are from the far distant future time of 5000 CE”. (Page 7). It is imperative that we approach the Bible trying to understand the context of when a particular book was written and to whom and what culture it was written to and for. In no way does this detract from the power of the Holy Scripture to speak to us today in our here and now. In fact, it is a testament to its power and wisdom that it is able to transcend time and place and still have relevance in our lives and the ability to connect us to God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.

I highly encourage you to add this book to your reading list to discover how this ancient, ambiguous, and diverse book can lead you to Wisdom.

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So, this is definitely not the Land of Oz of my childhood. Well, it is, but from a markedly adult perspective. I have yet to see the musical that this book was based upon. Perhaps, that is why I have a little more positive reaction to the book than some of the reviews I read about it on the LibraryThing website. Seems like for the majority of people who encountered the musical first, they found the book to be a little too dark and little too twisted. Not sure what it says about me, but I liked the dark and twisted aspect of the novel.

In short, this novel gives us the back story of the life of the Wicked Witch of the West and attempts to explain why she is wicked. And, raises the question if she truly is wicked or just mis-understood.

The first section of the book, Munchkinlanders, centers largely around Elphaba’s parents, and their relationship to each other and their actions following the birth of their, not just unique, but absolutely freakish child. Born with green skin and sharp teeth she’s not afraid to use, Elphaba is not like anything they’ve seen before. Her father, Frexspar, is a minister and her mother, Melena, is the granddaughter of the Eminent Thropp, which is the highest ranking family in Munchkinland. Added to the mix is a Quadling named Turtle Heart who carries on an affair with Melena while Frexspar is off on his missionary journeys.

In the second section, titled Gillikin, we meet the future Glinda, initially named Galinda. She is on her way to begin her studies at Shiz University. This young Galinda is not the same sweet, lovable Glinda from my childhood books and memory either. We instead are introduced to a vain, self-centered, and slightly stuck-up individual. By the end of the book we do see a more mature, thoughtful, yet still not perfect personality emerge. The complicated friendship that develops between these two at university work to shape and mold each other into the later adults they both become. Though they don’t maintain constant close contact with each other, there is a bond between them that remains to the end.

There are three more sections titled City of Emeralds, In the Vinkus, and The Murder and Its Afterlife. This is where we meet and follow the exploits of an adult Elphaba. Her early life is consumed by an affair with a married man and former schoolmate, as well as her secretive involvement with others who want to bring about political and social change. The intersection of those two passions end with tragic results which upends her life and ultimately sends her on a quest to redeem and reckon with what she feels she has caused to happen. One would call this time a period of soul-searching, except she does not believe in the existence of a soul. It is also during this time that she reluctantly reconnects with her father and sister, both of whom she is at odds with on religious and social matters.

Maguire explores many spiritual issues throughout the narrative. What is the nature of Evil? What is the soul? Is there an afterlife beyond the physical realm? How best to ask for and bestow forgiveness? Additionally, he touches upon political and social commentary as well. What qualities make for a good ruler? Should various social classes have equal say and rights within larger society? I think it’s fair to say that more questions are posited than are actually answered and solved. Yet, the journey along the way is definitely worth taking. It is not a happy, shiny, rose-colored trek within these pages. Real life happens here. Dark and gruesome deaths take place. Maguire has done a wonderful job of building his own narrative onto an already established fantasy world first created by another. He certainly puts his own stamp and personality onto it, but does so with many nods to the original work, which I believe shows his respect and admiration for that which came before.

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This is a complicated book review to write, but it seems fitting, I guess, for it is a complicated book to read. I nearly gave up on it halfway through, but decided to ride it out. Though to be fair, I did not read the book under the best of circumstances. The first mistake I made was to read it as an e-book as opposed to a physical book. I am of the camp, that we encounter and digest books different depending on the form in which we consume them. There are certain books that work fine to be read in digital form. For me, this is not one of them. It would have been beneficial for me to actually have been able to riffle through pages at times to return to certain passages for a refresher of characters and what had happened to them previously. My second mistake was to read it in short bits here and there with pronounced lapses in between reading times. This added to the sense of confusion and lack of cohesion I struggled to overcome in holding the wandering narrative together.

The driving force that gave me the impetus to fight through to the end was the fact that I really cared about the main character, Shadow, and wanted to see the completion of his journey. We meet Shadow in prison and find out he is close to being released and able to return to his wife. Tragically, his wife is killed in an automobile accident, which results in his being released several days early, though now with little hope or passion for his future. On the plane ride to attend her funeral, he encounters and is hired as a bodyguard by a mysterious man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday, which sends Shadow on a path that will change how he sees the world and his place in it.

The underlying narrative of the book is an upcoming battle between the old gods brought to America by those who immigrated to its shores and the new gods of media, culture, television, etc. The old gods claim their power is waning because the people are forgetting them and turning to the newer ones. Mr. Wednesday is traversing the country trying to recruit the old gods to join the cause. Shadow is not fully aware of who he is working for and what they are really doing when he first signs on to work with him. He is introduced to this new reality slowly and gradually along the way.

Shadow, at his core, seems to be a decent person intent on trying to do the right thing. It his grief and, yes, the appearances in physical form of his deceased wife that keeps him from asking questions about what exactly he has been drawn into much earlier than he does. Though, as we find out by the end of the book, not all of his choices have been his own and he had lost his agency and control of his life’s heading way before we as the reader have been introduced to him.

It was a little disconcerting as a Christian to see Jesus portrayed, albeit in a brief passing reference, as sad and powerless and placed in the same category as the other old gods. Yet, I read this book as a piece of literature (which it is) and not as a spiritual guidebook (which it is not). So, I was able to not let that bother me. Mostly. I guess the fact I felt I had to mention it means it lingered with me to a degree.

The bottom line is this; though, this will probably never be one of those top of my head recommendations to someone who asks what they should read, I would not actively dissuade someone from approaching it. There were some well-written passages and some very thought-provoking themes throughout. There a quite a few sections that I would be excited to do some close reading of and discuss in setting such as some of my college literature classes. And I could see this book resonating with me at some other time in my reading journey. I feel that it was probably not the right book at the right time in my life.

If you have waded through many of my book reviews, you may have seen before and may see it in this one that perhaps I come off as a little wishy-washy and not truly committed to one side or the other in my opinion on a book. There are few books, especially if I have stuck with them to the end, that I will just outright call a bad book. I have too much of a love of books, respect for those who write them, and awareness that each reader is different and as stated above, the knowledge that certain books resonate with people at different times in their lives. The best I can offer in any of my reviews is to share what my experience within the pages was like.

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One thing I do vividly recall about this book is staying in a state of semi-confusion for at least half, and perhaps up to three quarters of the book. Having said that, it would be easy to conclude that I would not recommend this book to anyone else. That would be a wrong conclusion to make. Confusing? Yes. Meandering? Yes. Yet, in a strange compelling way that state of confusion is what drove me to hang in there and follow the story through to the end. It was not as though it was hard to follow. It was more about trying to discern the reliability of the narrator. There is a sense that you aren’t suppose to believe all the events that are presented.

The setting for the story is North Korea. The book is actually divided into two parts. In Part One we are introduced to Pak Jun Do, who is the Orphan Master’s son. We follow along his journey through various dangerous assigned work positions. Though much of the work he has to do pains his conscience, he always follows through with the orders he is given. Because of this loyalty to the job at hand he is eventually sent to language school to learn English. It is his assignment to a fishing vessel working to intercept and translate radio communications that sets him on a path for a major transformation in his life further on.

In Part Two of the book we encounter an un-named interrogator and his involvement with interrogating a man named Commander Ga who is under suspicion of murdering his wife and children. As this section moves between two separate timelines of the past and present, secrets are revealed and a strange and complex love story unfolds. Here, too, in this section we are bombarded, as are the citizens, with a fictionalized hyped-up version of propaganda telling a different story than the one otherwise being shared.

Admittedly, I am not an expert on North Korea. However, the horrific images of violence, subjugation, and coercion forced upon some of the characters does seem to be to an extent a plausible scenario of life in that country. This is most definitely not a book that is a pleasure to read in that there are few, if any, feel-good moments depicted. But, it does serve as a catalyst to stir quite a few questions. Such as, what is reality vs. fiction? How far would one go for their own personal survival? How far would one go for the survival of those they love?

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Niffenegger has the ability to make the un-common common and the impossible possible. Her poetic prose, depth of characters, and attention to detail in describing a setting envelop the reader in that they forget they are being asked to suspend reality. In her first novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife, the reader journeys along with a man who woos, marries, and sustains a relationship in a very non-linear manner. Here, in Her Fearful Symmetry, we effortlessly accept a ghost as a living entity and full character in her own right. This alternate understanding of reality becomes so enveloping that even when it screams out to be read as a horror story, I found myself unable to do so. It is a rare talent that can make the horrific beautiful and mesmerizing.

The story begins when Elspeth Noblin passes away and leaves her London apartment to the twin daughters of her own estranged twin sister. Shortly after moving in, they discover that their aunt is still an occupant as well. Long-held secrets are revealed to some while still with-held from others. The twins must navigate their own relationship as well as friendships and more with Elspeth’s neighbors, of which one was Elspeth’s lover. Each character in their own way must grapple with how to separate their own self-identity from others with whom they are inextricably linked.

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Set in England during the Dark Ages and spanning a decade of time from 997-1007 CE, this is a prequel to the Kingsbridge Trilogy which consists of the following titles:

• The Pillars of the Earth (1989)
  • World Without End (2007)
  • A Column of Fire (2017)

I first encountered this series when I read The Pillars of the Earth in 2008. I immediately fell in love with it and it catapulted up to one of my all time favorites, which it still remains. Unfortunately, I did not write a review of it at the time, so I may have to “force” myself to re-read it so I can opine on it with due diligence. However, I have enough recollection of it to remember it as a wonderful historical of epic proportions with a narrative to get lost in and characters to both love and hate. World Without End, which I encountered in 2010 lived up to its promise and expectation as a long-awaited sequel. Sadly, I was disappointed in A Column of Fire which I read last year. I would not say it was a horrible read, and I would not totally discourage it from being added to one’s reading list. I just didn’t find it as gripping and engrossing as the other two books.

Now, on to the true subject of this review. Like the others, this story follows the lives of a diverse set of characters from varying stations of life.

First, there is Edgar, a young boatbuilder from a poor, hard-working family. His life as he knows it, and his dreams are shattered when his town, his father, and his lover are destroyed in a Viking raid. Edgar, his mother, and his two brothers must relocate and start over amidst an existence that is even more difficult than it was before. Though poor and containing only the knowledge and training instilled by his father, Edgar possesses an innate intelligence for building and craftwork that goes beyond just boats. Likewise, he has a moral compass that keeps his sight on what is true and just beyond what even the laws of the land at the time may dictate. Yet, his station in life hinders him at times to make a difference in the ways he would like.

Second, we have Ragna, a noblewoman from Normandy who travels to England to marry the man she believes to be her true love and soulmate. She, too, is a compassionate person who strives to render justice to those under her rule with fairness and a tender heart. This requires a delicate balancing act on her part so as to not appear weak and lose the people’s respect for her. This is compounded by her struggles to not be undermined by her husband’s family and the power they fight to maintain for their own selfish wants rather than the benefit of those under their domain.

Third, we encounter a monk named Aldred. Though a member of a small abbey, he harbors hopes to one day to see it evolve into a place of great religious learning. Pious and dedicated to the copying and illustrating of sacred texts, his battles take place against Bishops and other religious leaders who are religious in name and title only, not in their beliefs or interests in what is holy. Power and what having power gives them is the only thing their sight is centered upon.

It is the lives, dreams, and intertwining paths of these three individuals that provide the framework for this book. Like the first book of this series, here too is a grand historical adventure of near epic proportions. I say near epic, because it does draw much closer in scale and quality than did the third book. It definitely sits in the category of those books that I would choose to read again in the future. It’s one flaw, though some may see this as an asset, is that it does follow so closely in format to the other books. In that, the plot lines and story arcs are quite predictable for those who have consumed all of the prior ones. This in no way ruined the reading journey for me. I just found myself able to see where the character’s stories were taking them, so there was some lack of suspense and worry as to how their stories would wrap up. I suppose this is an inevitable outcome of reading a prequel. Yet, I still thoroughly enjoyed the journey because though I knew how their stories would end, there was still the unknowing part of how they would get there. That did make it all worthwhile. Follett lives up to the expectation of this reader, at least, and gives us a very satisfying beginning to a beloved series.

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