Saturday, May 27, 2006
"The Da Vinci Mole" by "Dr. Ian Browne" (BenBella Books, 127 pages, $10) In the giggle-inducing tradition of Harvard Lampoon's "Bored of the Rings," this is a parody, down to the name of the author. It nails the factors that make the original so annoying and yet so successful: lots of meaningless physical details, ancient conspirators (including a few that even Dan Brown missed), leaden dialogue, improbable plot twists and a couple of puzzles that are pretty clever. There's no actual "spoiling" of this plot, so you won't mind knowing that "The Da Vinci Mole" includes Karl Rove, aliens, Scientology, codes found in Jackson Pollock paintings and a bit of gratuitous sex. The book also pulls off a brilliant emperor-has-no-clothes dismissal of the original: "But what if we spend many days and risk countless dangers tracking down this secret, only to have it turn out to be a secret that your grandfather never wants revealed anyway and so our efforts would be pointless?" "That would be absurd, Hank," Saphie replied. "That would make no sense at all." Perfect.
"C.S. Lewis in a Time of War" by Justin Phillips (HarperSanFrancisco, 336 pages, $21.95) Before World War II, C.S. Lewis was an Oxford scholar of modest renown. By its end, he was a popular broadcaster, a trusted voice who comforted Londoners through Hitler's bombings, and a leading champion of Christian ethics. What transformed his stature was a series of wartime radio addresses on the role of faith in modern life, later republished as his theological classic, "Mere Christianty." Lewis sought to make Christian sense of the madness that threatened to engulf Europe. Listeners were moved by his faith, especially at a time when evil seemed to hold the upper hand. Author Justin Phillips, a longtime British radio journalist, provides a fascinating history of BBC Radio.
"I Saw the Lord" by Anne Graham Lotz (Zondervan, 230 pages, $18.99) Vague fears about job loss, terrorism and a breakdown in civility and morality can leave us overwhelmed, feeling we can't do anything to stem the pain. Through Bible reading and prayer, Anne Graham Lotz believes, readers can get close enough to God to hear his voice and follow his will. Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham, makes her point through the story of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who lived in a society reeling from many of the same ills besieging the modern world. Like Judah, she says, our society has become sin-filled, arrogant and dismissive of God. What we need, Lotz says, is to become an Isaiah who has a personal encounter with God and then uses it to change things for the better. The book would be an easy read for those who take the Bible literally. For those who don't see things in such black-and-white terms, her comments on gay marriage, abortion and other social issues might seem intolerant.
"God Talk," Ruth A. Tucker (InterVarsity, 192 pages, $15) "Who speaks for God?" Ruth Tucker asks in this interesting and well-written book; and her answer is this, and I paraphrase: "God doesn't speak as often as we think!" As you might imagine, this "controversial" book "celebrating the silence of God" is swimming against the evangelical stream in which Tucker has spent most of her illustrious career. She teaches missiology at Calvin College in Michigan and has written 15 books. This book, in particular, is worthy of a wider audience. She has certainly drawn from the wider spectrum of Christian tradition in making her case for the silence of God: Augustine and Bonhoeffer, Bunyon and Buechner, Edwards and Graham, Kierkegaard and Kung, Merton and Yancey, and of course, that trio of modern saints: Teresa, King and Lewis. "Don't be too sure about hearing the voice of God," she writes early as a summary of the whole: "God often resides and responds in silence." The voice is a human quality, she contends, and as eager as we are to "hear" God, "we do the deity no favor in making unwarranted claims for the voice of God. ... And all the books and articles and tapes and seminars in the world on listening to the voice of God will not make it so."
"Spring," edited by Gary Schmidt and Susan M. Felch (Skylight Paths; 326 pages; $21.99) The final volume in a set of four spiritual biographies of the seasons, "Spring" spans centuries and continents in a thoughtful anthology of human reactions to the miraculous coming of spring. Combining prose, poetry, hymns and spirituals, this handsome, carefully crafted book is graced by woodcuts by Mary Azarian. Edited by literature professors at Calvin College in Michigan, "Spring" is divided into five sections: Stirrings, Awakenings, Growth, Pilgrimage and Dance. The grim New England winter is very much a presence here, the coming of spring in that northern latitude a true resurrection and emergence into light from the darkness. The selections in each section represent the spiritual rewards of attention to the natural world, in the garden or the wild. "Spring" contains Shaker hymns, poetry by Robert Burns and William Blake, and prose pieces by Thoreau, Donald Hall and others. The familiar blends with little-known works by Puritan housewives and ancient Chinese philosophers. This is a book to treasure, both for its content and the elegance of its design and binding.
"Confessions from an Honest Wife," Sarah Zacharias Davis (Revell, 176 pages, paper, $12.99) Sarah Zacharias Davis, daughter of best-selling author Ravi Zacharias, interviewed 21 wives of varying age and stage of marriage. Davis explores how matrimony does, and does not, live up to women's expectations. Davis offers a rare look into women's intimate thoughts on subjects such as sex, submission, boundaries, roles, and even betrayal. She doesn't get into "men-bashing," nor does she offer a formula for bliss; instead she shows that the rewards and spiritual lessons of marriage can be found in its messiness. Davis recognizes that women can and should offer one another support through the camaraderie of honest -- gut level -- sharing. It's a refreshing respite from the superficiality in much of today's Christian self-help genre.Knight Ridder Newspapers