The Book Thief Book Review

I recently finished a novel by the name of The Book Thief.
The Book Thief  is a narrative that follows the life of a young Jewish girl in Nazi Germany.
As I read, I couldn't help but think the genre has been worn out.
Another book about the Holocaust.  It will be sad.  It will be long.  Blah, Blah, Blah.
And I couldn't shake the fact that it was written by an Australian.
I kept waiting for the book to "steal" me away.  
But as I read, it became apparent the book wasn't about Nazi Germany.  Or even Liesel.
And it wasn't going to be a "I can't stop reading" kind of book.
However, the book did shed some light on some interesting concepts.

It was written from the point of view of Death.
I haven't thought much about what Death thinks of the living.
I don't think many have.
We are too afraid of Death to spend that much time with it.

There is a point in the novel where Death speaks these words:

"I am haunted by humans."

The irony is apparent.
We, as humans, are terrified.
Death ranks among snakes, spiders, and darkness.
We cannot solve, avoid, conquer, or kill it.
Death reigns over the earth.
Yet, it is haunted by humanity.

Which got me thinking:

No ruler has been so enslaved by it's people.
After all, Death is created through life.
We employ death from birth.
Events, people, and the like culminating to one point of fear.
But why would death be haunted by humanity?

Maybe it has to do with what Death sees:
The wake of Humanity.
War.  Tragedy.  Disease.
Lives wasted.

Really, there is a certain beauty in death.
The timely ending to a good story.
The merciful release from a world of suffering.
Evil being removed from the world.
We often times look at death as the ending.
But sometimes, there is much, much more to it.

This is what The Book Thief leaves us with.
It does not solve our curiosity or anxiety about the end.
But It does raise important questions about life through Death.
And challenges how the reader views their own ending and their now.

The Naked Lunch Book Review

I've slowly been reading a book.
Slowly, because that's as fast as I can get through it.
Not because I'm overly busy.
Not because I lack opportunity.
But because that is the pace of the book.

The Naked Lunch is a satirical nightmare.
Its coarseness, content, and continuity
Create a mess of absurd meaning beyond words.
Difficult to read and digest,
The Naked Lunch boldly speaks to humanity without candor.
Bursting through the filter of editing, William S. Burroughs
Reveals humanity at its core through drug induced hallucinations,
Repulsing diction, and even more absurd "plot."
The Naked Lunch is disturbing, disgusting, and difficult.
In short, it is humanity.
Messy, uncertain, unexpected.
The book expounds on the enduring primal nature.
Whether in the jungle of Mexico, or InterZone
Man is reduced to the likes of baboons getting their fix.

The Naked Lunch is uncomfortable.
But so is life.
And that's where the reader connects.
Although considered one of the most important novels of the 20th century,
You don't need to read The Naked Lunch to understand it.
You simply need to listen to someone be transparent.
They will let you in on the messiness, the grotesque reality, the depressing truth
That lies underneath everyone's skin.
Life unclothed in expectation, impression, or assumption
Rid of emotion, connection, and action.
Life as it is.
Naked.
-Real and clear.
Then you will not read The Naked Lunch, but experience it.

"Blink" Book Review

I just finished Malcolm Gladwell's book, "Blink,"
Tag-lined "Learning to think without thinking."
I have to say, this was a necessary read.
Often i can get bogged down with the details.
With every aspect of analysis.
Tirelessly debating the pros and cons.

Example:
A few weeks back, I went to Target with the intentions
And the cash to buy a TV.
With Sonja by my side,
And a movie picked out for the new screen,
I managed to talk myself out of buying the TV
And into buying a pizza.

Gladwell's book is not so much about not thinking.
But more or less about training your gut instinct.
He provides an example in the first pages of the book:

A museum was presented with a rare statue.
Pre-Roman Empire, unknown artist, beautifully made type of rock.
The museum was skeptical.
There were less than 20 of these statues remaining.
And none in this condition.
But the museum was curious. And they needed a show-piece.
So, because of the rarity of the statue, the museum had every aspect inspected,
Every dimension analyzed,
Every detail looked over.
It was compared to other works.
Its history was learned
Its insides were tested.
The geologists, historians, and scientists agreed.
Everything checked out.
The museum bought the piece.

They then took the piece to the art experts to show off their purchase.
All the experts hated it.
They said, "Something is not right."
"I hope you didn't buy it."
Turns out, the statue was a replica.

Because the museum ignored their suspicion,
Because the museum wanted this statue to be true.
Because the museum needed a show-piece so badly,
It wasted millions of dollars on a fake.

Blink is that moment in time where subconsciously we make up our mind.
That instant where snap judgments are made, where emotions exist, where thinking is natural.
The moment when we know that "something is not right."
Or the moment when we know "That something is special."

That moment is quick.
It happens in a "Blink."
And all our past experiences,
All our current conditions,
All our knowledge and emotion go into that moment.
And it all combines to create a notion of instinct.

But we can choose to ignore our instincts.
We can want something so badly
That our feeling for the situation,
Our ethos about the experience,
Fades into the night like lightning in a distant storm.

We can train our instincts.
We can study art endlessly.
We can know history.
We can even know the rock.
But when our instinct screams, "no"
And our heart screams louder, "yes,"
Can our instinct persevere?

Gladwell hints at this throughout the book,
But stays focused on the idea of the snap decision,
Blink of an eye moment.
However, I'm much more curious as to how
And when we decide to relax in that moment.
To trust our gut. To follow our suspicion. To go with instinct.
Because wisdom not only lies in instinct, but also in timing.

"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" Review

My break from Time Magazine has lead me to not only read 1 book, but 2 books.
The second book i picked up was:
"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller.
I have to confess, I'm a Donald Miller fan.
I read three other books by the author.
And i enjoyed each of them, none more than "Through Painted Deserts."

Anyway, I enjoy Donald Miller because his diction is very verbal.
It sounds like a conversation.
It doesn't sound like a book,
It sounds like a recorded discussion.
And so I was excited for this read.
And it did not disappoint.

"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" is a book,
About story and a movie.
But mainly story.
It's about how we are all living a story.
And our stories have meaning.
And how those stories also give meaning.
With a hint of post-modern thinking,
Miller describes life as a series of stories that make up something bigger.
A corporate story. A Story if you will. The Human Story
And these smaller experiences give meaning to the larger Story.
The trick is to live a life with stories worth telling.
Experiences that deserve to become memories.
Not just to stockpile memories like water in anticipation of Y2K,
But to prove at the end that you lived.
To show that you managed your life as well as your money.
To provide value to your breaths.
But Miller takes it farther than an encouragement to do something.
He reminds us that we need to do something that is something bigger.
Life isn't about our story. It is about our Story.
And how your experience fits into it.
Because life is not lived independently, but intertwined.
So live your life with people.
Make memories with others.
Incorporate in the something bigger, corporate, Human Story.
And in the End, that Story will surely be memorable.

"The Tipping Point" Review

I am a subscriber to Time Magazine.
I like reading Time because I feel connected to the world.
But I have found that after reading the weekly edition,
I have no time to read anything else.
So, I decided to take a break from it.

But I didn't want to take a break from reading.
So, I picked up a book my sister got me for Christmas:
"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell.

Explaining how small things make big differences,
Gladwell defines the point in which trends become more,
Epidemics that seem to immerse culture.
These epidemics are supported by three types of people,
Along with other variables: Salesmen, Mavens, and Connectors.
Mavens know everything,
Salesmen convince everyone,
And Connectors tell everyone.
This book simply sheds light on important truths,
Truths that are rarely discussed outside of marketing meetings.
It explains that the news station you watch may affect how you vote,
That the neighborhood you live in affects what you wear,
That the smallest details in life actually have large affects in behavior.
And so I wonder: What small thing has shaped my behavior?
Or even what small thing has not shaped my behavior?

The most memorable proof presented in the book
Deals with New York's 90's Subway Culture.
Crime was rampant, graffiti covered cars, and people rarely paid.
If you haven't noticed, those conditions have significantly improved.
But it wasn't an increased presence in Law Enforcement.
It wasn't that all of New York decided at once to clean up the underground.
Instead, the New York Transit Authority made it a priority to clean graffiti.
Graffiti was the key to lowering crime rate, increasing subway revenue, and a cleaner underground.
Cleanly painted cars signaled that New York cared about public transportation.
Small things make a significant difference.

New York still has graffiti.
We all do.
But before each train leaves,
It is inspected, cleaned, and painted as necessary.
New York identified the "Tipping Point" that changed New York Transit for the foreseeable future.
I can only hope I can identify that point in my life.

"The Art of War" Review

I recently finished the Barnes and Noble edition of

"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu.
The classic composed by a Chinese war legend
Helped continue feudal conflicts throughout Chinese history.
Containing a blue print to successful army management,
It presents principles to follow for both leading an army
And leading anything else.
Although some points are irrelevant outside of the context of war,
Many ideas and rules translate to managing a team.
It was thought provoking, interesting, and a quick read.
It didn't really meet my expectations,
but I would like to share a story from an introduction:

(paraphrased)
Sun Tzu was born into a family that owned knowledge about war.
Much like an apprenticeship,
Sun Tzu grew under the guidance of war strategists.
Unlike his priors, he took the time to record his nontraditional principles for generations to come.
A king heard about his nontraditional management style and asked to test his principles.
Sun Tzu agreed.
But, the King wanted to test the principles with women rather than a proper army.
Thus, Sun Tzu was given an army of women,
Composed of the kings concubines and servants to teach how to march.
He assigned each company of women a leader from among the ranks.
He explained to the leaders and the army of women
The commands of facing straight, turning right and left, and turning around.
He then gave the women an order to "about face."
The women simply giggled.
So, Sun Tzu wrote the King addressing the issue:
"When an army fails to follow the commands,
It is a result of poor leadership.
Therefore, the leadership must be executed and new officers established."
The King tried to protest such an action
Because his favorite women were in the leadership.
However, Sun Tzu wrote that favoritism must not be shown to an army.
So, Sun Tzu, in plain sight of the entire army,
Beheaded each woman in leadership.
He then assigned a new leader to each company of women.
After reviewing the marching orders, he gave his first command.
The women marched perfectly.
He then wrote to the King:
"Your army is ready, sir."

"Justification" Review

N.T. Wright and the "New Perspectives"
Frankly, I am less interested in age
and more inclined toward accuracy.
A thousand years of Church tradition says one thing,
Modern theologians say another.
Let's find out who's right.
There's comedy in the fact that this debate rages
From the interpretation of a single Greek word.
Pistis Iesou Christou.
The faithfulness of Christ.
Or
The faithfulness in Christ.
Two very distinct understandings of Pauline theology.
Therefore, NT Wright pens "Justification"
to defend his stance (the faithfulness of Christ)
against the aggressive works of John Piper.
Wright does well to acknowledge both Piper's shortcomings
as well as his own potential blunders.
He recognizes that 20% of what he writes could potentially be wrong
(although he knows not what 20% that is).
Wright establishes his understanding of justification in terms of the Abrahamic covenant.
He argues that through God's promise (covenant) with Abraham,
The same promise that eventually establishes Israel as God's people,
The same promise that eventually delivers rebellious Israel into the promised land,
(There may be some allegory in there)
The same promise that produced the lineage of Jesus,
Through that promise, God did not plan to save "humanity from the world,
but to save the entire world."
Or as he simply puts it:
God's-plan-through-Israel-for-the-world
Covenant Theology.
I like that through this interpretation God isn't baffled
by Israel's sin causing him to move to plan B.
Instead, he establishes one plan for humanity.
Wright also describes being "justified" as a status rather than a conditional characteristic
through the imagery of a law court.
Being morally pure or ethically evil has little bearing on our status of justification.
God's declaration transcends morality.
We do not earn justification through morality.
We are simply justified by the Judge.
(Yeah this touches on the faith vs. works debate as well).
All in all, N.T. Wright communicates well his (post-modernism)
understanding of justification. Did he persuade me?
At least, he made me an admirer.
At most, he made me include parts of the "New Perspectives" (gasp)
into my understanding of Pauline Theology.
It was a good read. I recommend it if you want something scholastic.

"Crazy Love" Review

So, i have been reading "War and Peace" all summer.
But i had to take a break from it.
Because it is long.
And
Because it is difficult.
But i did not want to take a break from reading.
So, i picked up Francis Chan's "Crazy Love."

Here are my thoughts on the book:

It was fine.
Let me qualify that by saying this:
Love is an old topic written about by everyone.
And so, Francis Chan had nothing new to say:
Love must be experiential, not educational.
This is not a new revelation.
Culture has picked up on that truth.
So that qualifies me to say this.
The read was fine.

After reading the book, these were my thoughts:

Love is not Crazy, it is simply Love.
You cannot take a break from experiencing it.
Even if it is difficult
And
Even if is long
But you have to let it break you.
So, "Crazy Love" might take me all summer.