The Picture of Dorian Gray

After reading almost exclusively non fiction this year I decided it was time to start reading some fiction. I had recently read about Oscar Wilde's the Picture of Dorian Gray in several places so thought this may be a good place to start.

The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the story of an extremely good looking young man who make a pact that enables him to keep his youthful looks throughout his life. Instead of him growing older the effects of his life and the effects of his sin are not seen in his body but in a portrait of himself.

Dorian under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton enters into a double life. While maintaining a respectable reputation within society he secretly begins a lifestyle in search of endless pleasures regardless of the cost. With each step further into a depraved life the only outward sign is the painting (that is carefully hidden in his house)becomes more and more aged and marred.

Wilde does have a way with words and their is some very clever and witty writing. At times I feel he gets a bit carried away with philosophical discussion between Lord Henry and Dorian. While some of these are quite amusing as Henry explains his hedonistic view on life, at times they are rather drawn out.

Overall this is a fascinating tale that looks at human nature, sin and the cost of living simply to pleasure oneself.

If anyone is looking to read this I highly recommend getting the Penguin Classic edition as it also includes some interesting articles written about how the book was received when it was released in the late 1800's

the crime of olga arbyelina

the crime of olga arbyelina, by andrei makine

the local library has a few andrei makine books. it was 'the earth and sky of jacques dorme' that first introduced me to makine and i fell in love with his writing style. 'the crime of olga arbyelina' was my second outing with his work.

it all starts off with a fascinating scene that unfolds in a russian cemetery in paris. an old man tends the graves and tells stories of the people who inhabit them. visitors come to the cemetery to hear these stories, furtively listening to the old man's words and fleeing when he notices them listening. and so, he tells the story of olga arbyelina.

the first scene is of olga sitting on a riverbank in a small town near paris next to the corpse of a middle-aged man. the suspicion of course falls on olga as the murderer - evidently this is the 'crime' that the title talks about. however, the narrative then flicks back about two years, and through suggestions and finally out and out revelation, we find out what olga's hidden crime really is. incest. (yikes!) sorry if i've ruined the story for you, but that all but ruined the story for me.

makine once again shows his genius for poetic writing, but at the point of the revelation, the story becomes a dark irredeemable tragedy that ends in olga's madness and leaves the reader feeling somehow sullied by the reading experience. olga's haemophiliac adolescent son (the other party in the said 'crime') is an unlikeable ghost-like figure who drugs his mother. so it becomes pretty hard going, although makine never writes about his subject in stark and brutal terms, no matter what his characters' crimes may be. perhaps this makes it more disturbing in a way. by being captured by his gentle poetry you feel somehow implicated in the story. you keep reading, hoping for that chink of light that might reveal some hope. none comes.

even though i love makine's poetic language, in this book it sometimes feels like this language is just filling space. a couple of times, i found myself thinking that the whole novel could have been quite an effective short story.

all up, do i regret reading this book? probably. 'the earth and sky' was so much more skillfully done in terms of narrative, structure and language. and because of that i haven't given up on makine.

warandpeace-o-meter: 876/981 (volIII, bookXV, chapVII)

Giuliani Leadership - First things first

I first read Rudolph Giuliani's book on leadership a few years ago and since then it has been a book that I never tire of. Giuliani was a two time mayor of New York and was mayor during the September 11 terror attacks. The book will not be everyone’s cup of tea but if you have an interest in politics (and leadership) then I am sure you will find the book very interesting. While I do not agree with Giuliani on some political and moral issues, I have come to admire him tremendously as a leader. The book is jam packed with fantastic leadership principles and examples of how these principles worked in changing New York City. So for the next few days I will discuss a different chapter of the book.


#1 First things first

"Every morning at exactly eight o'clock, I make my mother very happy. Throughout my childhood, she would lecture me on the virtues of finishing my schoolwork before I went outside to play ... That's why I've begun every single morning since 1981 with a meeting of my top staff"


Giuliani goes on to explain throughout the chapter that as mayor of New York City the task could be completely overwhelming. So to ensure he dealt with the vital things first he met with his key leaders first thing every morning. This would give the opportunity for key issues to be dealt with in a timely manner. He credits this meeting as one of the keys to his success as mayor.

While this may be leadership 101, in rereading the book it has challenged me afresh. Often I find myself getting drawn to what appears to be urgent rather then what is truly important. The other challenge is to avoid tasks that while important are not exciting and instead rush to tasks that are exciting regardless of importance.


As a Christian leader (or even just as a follower of Christ) the first things first principle means that time with God needs to be the first part of your day. One of the things I have discovered is that you never know who you are going to encounter on any particular day. As a Pastor, people will ask you for advice and they are hoping for more then just your opinion – they are looking for Godly wisdom. If I am regularly connecting with God and putting him first, there is a much greater chance that I will be able to have an informed perspective on a situation rather then just regurgitating cliché answers.

The first things first principle is all about living life according to priorities and doing the right thing at the right time. Jesus constantly lived by this principle – His life was driven by his mission, not the agendas of other people. In Luke chapter 2, Jesus as a 12-year-old boy goes missing and when his parents eventually find him he is in the temple. When they question him about where he has been he replies, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"

Later in John Chapter 4, prior to Jesus meeting the woman at the well, the Bible says that "Jesus had to go to Samaria". The interesting thing is that he was taking a journey to Galilee, which would not usually necessitate going through Samaria. The reason he had to go to Samaria was that he had to visit the woman at the well. His life was ordered by his mission not convenience, and he knew the principle of completing everything at its appointed time.

In John Chapter 11 Jesus finds out his friend Lazarus is sick, this seemed to be an urgent situation. It would appear that the first things first principle would dictate that you would go and visit your friend. However as Jesus knew what he was going to do, he knew that this was not the time to visit Lazarus. Instead he waited until Lazarus died and then visited. When Jesus arrives, Lazarus’s sisters say, "Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died". In other words, “If you had just put first things first then we would not be in this situation”. But Jesus was looking at a bigger picture than their agenda. Jesus wanted to raise Lazarus from the dead but to perform this great miracle he had to delay what other people deemed to be urgent. I am not suggesting we leave our friends to die! But the first things first principles does mean not being ruled by others’ opinions and agendas but always acting out of true priorities

velvet elvis

velvet elvis, by rob bell

i got this book along with 'blue like jazz' from mal and hazel for my birthday. i liked both books, but in a battle between 'blue like jazz' and 'velvet elvis', i appoint 'velvet elvis' the victor.

both books have a similar aim: the subtitle of 'blue like jazz' is "nonreligious thoughts on christian spirituality", 'velvet elvis' is subtitled "repainting the christian faith". in a world where 'christianity' seems to be becoming less popular as it is besmirched by parting ways with the culture of the day and the actions and words of unwise spokespeople, along with a healthy smattering of prejudice and media spin, books like these that try to get back to the essential core of christianity become increasingly important.

rob bell does an excellent, if not slightly controversial, job of refiguring christianity. he expects, and invites, controversy as a way of engaging with the big issues. i found that i warmed to his book more as it went along.

the man has a gift for communicating his ideas and it is easy to see why his 'mars hill' church has grown so quickly. he says things which at first seem controversial, but underneath this surface there emerges a brand of christianity that is actually quite orthodox. i guess i am going to cop out a little and not discuss any of his ideas in detail - it would be difficult to pinpoint one example in particular because the book is so wide ranging.

'velvet elvis' is nicely presented - interesting design, with ideas delivered in short paragraphs and one-liners.

so i recommend it as a way of looking at christianity that avoids a lot of negative baggage. by the end, i found 'velvet elvis' to be one of those books that you feel disappointed about finishing.

highly recommended.

warandpeace-o-meter: 785/981 (volIII, bookXII, chapXIV)

the book thief

the book thief, by markus zusak

i can't remember when or where this book first caught my eye, but i always thought i would like it. it is the story of a german girl living near munich during WW2. as the title suggests, she has a knack for stealing books.

finally i got hold of a copy when anna found it in the library at the school where she teaches. when i got it in my hands, it immediately disrupted my reading schedule and pushed other books that were more established in my reading queue further down the line.

i don't know why i thought i would like it, but i was right. i compare it to the book by andrei makine that i read earlier this year ('the earth and sky of jacques dorme'). both books have an alternative view of WW2 and are told in beautifully poetic ways with children in the foreground.

i find it hard to review fiction, because you always seem to have to give away part of the plot in the process. i don't want to do that, because it would be much better to let other people discover it for themselves.

the story unfolds in a wonderful way, making use of asides, definitions, and even some cartoons (you have to see it to really understand what i'm talking about). it's tragic, with moments of humour - the tragedy never overpowers the book or the reader but it never loses its significance either. surprisingly, markus zusak is an australian - so i guess that makes this book australian fiction but it is very european. the copy i read is beautifully designed inside and out - i think this is the australian and new zealand edition. it has been released with a different cover now (see below) which is nowhere near as good - i wonder if they have changed the inside as well. it would be a shame if they have.

i recommend this book very highly and wish everyone would read it. and i will return this copy to the library, but i really want to keep it.

warandpeace-o-meter: 669/981 (volIII, bookXI, chapI)

God is here

God is here, by steve case

i've been a fan of 'the practice of the presence of God' by brother lawrence for about 7 years or so since i read it. it was, without doubt, a book that changed my life. the main idea i got from it (and the one that stays with me) is the concept that God is there continuously - it's just a matter of recognising that fact. we tend to see moments of our heightened awareness of his presence as being the only moments when he is there. in actual fact these moments are simply instances when our senses were turned on to his proximity. he is there all the time.

steve case's 'God is here' is a book that attempts to apply and explain brother lawrence's ideas for a contemporary audience. brother lawrence lived in the 1600s, so you can see why someone might think that his writing needs some interpretation in the 2000s.

anyway, because of my feelings about 'the practice of the presence of God' i approached this book with a couple of thoughts - 1. "this should be good, because it is about such a great book" and 2. "this better be good - the author better not get this wrong."

case does a reasonable job. as usual with american published books, i found myself frustrated with the american context - these books are written with the assumption that all the readers will be american - so we get endless references to 'krispy kream' donuts and such. let's talk about what i'd like to call the 'krispy kream factor'. this is about more than just an american cultural framework. i've noticed recently that christian authors in their anxiety to make their material culturally relevant, lessen the impact of their writing by constantly referring to banal illustrations. you end up with a kind of kitsch image of something profound - like comparing the kind of divine encounters recounted by brother lawrence to sitting on the backporch with a grande starbucks espresso and a box of krispy kreams on a sunday morning. american christian authors seem obsessed with coffee and donuts.

case is trying to apply the ideas in brother lawrence's book to my everyday life. but it doesn't always work because i was first impacted by the unmediated reading of the original (i didn't need anyone to explain it) and also because i don't really identify with the krispy kream factor.

that's my rave finished. all that being said, the book reminded me about brother lawrence and got me thinking about his stuff again. and some of the things that case pointed out were helpful to me.

and, i finished reading this book on the deck yesterday, in the sunshine - which was a blissful experience that proved a lot of what case was saying... enjoy the moments, know that God is there. and i did (without donuts and coffee).

warandpeace-o-meter: 669/981 (volIII, bookXI, chapI)

on the stereo 'to build a home' by the cinematic orchestra, from the album 'ma fleur'.

Leadership Excellence

Leadership Excellence by Phil Pringle

Having heard Phil Pringle preach and teach on numerous occasions I decided it was time to read one of his books. As I am currently trying to develop my leadership skills this seemed like the right title to start on.

I was really captivated by the first two chapters of this book, rather then giving me laws and principles of leadership it was hammering home the heart and character of the leader. This really challenged me on a personal level and led to some healthy self examination.

The rest of the book was very helpful, mixing leadership principles and character development. Overall it provided some good tips, pitfalls to avoid and some very sound biblical teaching on leadership.

One criticism is that the book is a little bit too long(276 pages). At times he repeated himself and also used too many motivational stories. It could have easily been condensed without losing its effectiveness.

However often the key with books like this is not trying to process the whole book but to pick up one or two key ideas that fit into where you are at and work on implementing them. So on that front it certainly succeeded in giving me the next step in leadership development

In closing here are a few quotes I enjoyed from the book

"When people join our church, we tell them they are now members of a house, not a hotel"

"The scripture tells us that 'Lot.... chose for himself. This will always be a poor decision"

"Sometime we want some thing more than the will of God. We are clever at cloaking this desire with the line 'God told me'

the complete stories

the complete stories, by truman capote

you may not know this - i hadn't clicked - but truman capote wrote 'breakfast at tiffany's', which was turned into a classic film starring audrey hepburn. a classic film which, while i'm mentioning it, you should watch. all this, by the way, really doesn't have anything to do with this review, except as a piece of trivia about truman capote.

reading short stories is probably a good way of getting a taste of an author. from a literary study point of view they also often reveal the development of an author, because short stories are sometimes written as a kind of primer for novels.

out of this book i discovered for myself that capote had an extraordinary gift for description, and wrote prose that flows beautifully. unsurprisingly, when you know that he wrote the book 'in cold blood' (which the film 'capote' is all about), many of his stories have a dark edge - something which is known as 'southern gothic' in american literary studies.

the stories date from 1943 to 1982 and find a series of characters in odd situations of 'everyday' life. the characters themselves are usually unsettled to some degree. towards the end of the book capote writes about three autobiographical stories which are quite touching - especially the last one - a perfect ending to the book i thought - all about a visit he made as a child to his birth-father's house in new orleans. this carries added poignancy when you consider that the story was the second-to-last thing of capote's that was published during his lifetime.

i think i'll be reading more by capote in the future. highly recommended.

warandpeace-o-meter: 600/981 (volII, bookX, chapXVI)

wimbledon green

wimbledon green, by seth (gregory gallant)

this is the second graphic novel i've read in the last couple of weeks. this one wasn't overly brilliant - but it was reasonably interesting.

it is all about a mysterious comic collector named wimbledon green. it is kind of a character sketch of green and is told mainly through the recollections of other collectors who have had dealings with him. we find out that he's been involved in a number of scandals, no-one knows his true identity and he is a man of strange habits. the comic collecting world is divided between those who loath him and those who think he is a genius. the recollections of the collectors are presented in kind of an interview format - so panel after panel just feature the head and shoulders of the character telling the story. this gets a bit monotonous. occasionally there are narrative sequences and it's really a shame that the whole book isn't like this, or mainly like this.

it is nicely presented - i love it when graphic novels are enhanced by nice book design. this one has a green hard cloth cover with rounded corners and gold embossing - making it look vintage in style - i suppose to match the era of the comics that wimbledon green collects. seth, the author, is friends with chris ware - whose book design is always brilliant. the 'about the author' blurb cites seth as a book designer in his own right.

maybe this book would be more interesting if you were more familiar with the collector world. but somewhat enjoyable nonetheless. doing some reading on seth on the internet, i discover that he nearly always has characters who are collectors - "Collectors are interesting because they seek out things that no one cares about and find out the vital information regarding those items. They catalogue and interview related creators, manufacturers etc. They preserve important cultural items." Actually this is a pretty interesting article (interview).

on the stereo: 'all that can be' by fly my pretties, from the album 'the return of fly my pretties'.

insights

insights: new zealand artists talk about creativity, by gareth shute

blimin' gareth shute! first of all he keeps on writing books that i'm interested in. then when you read them, they engage their subject on a reasonably simple level, but you end up engrossed and not only that but inspired to go out and try what ever his subject was.

he did this to me with 'hiphop music in aotearoa' (which won a montana book award). i read that and, although i'm not a hiphop fanatic, i found myself wanting to go out and create hiphop, or at least some kind of music.

with his latest book, he hit me a lot closer to home. 'insights' features 52 new zealand artists from across all disciplines - including writing, painting, photography, music, dance (hey, i just realised, no architects or fashion designers). each artist talks about their process of creativity. when you are interested in creativity, all this reading about different people's creative processes drives you wild with passion! i felt like an alcoholic outside a pub (except i'm sure being addicted to creativity isn't so much of a vice).

what makes the book even more interesting is the fact that it is based in new zealand - another thing that i'm pretty keen on.

so, i'd have to say highly recommended. the book reveals the depth and breadth of new zealand art, and describes a scene where artists are creating innovative and interesting work despite limited resources. another thing that comes out is the variation in creative processes - each process is unique to the individual - no patterns or formulas are obvious.

well worth owning and reading.

on the stereo: 'live with me (alternate version)' by massive attack, from the live with me single.

warandpeace-o-meter: 553/981 (volII, bookX, chapI)

get a life

get a life, by dupuy and berberian

with a hour to kill while i waited for my tyre to be replaced and wheels aligned, i wandered into town to visit the library. they're renovating the library at the moment and that day the entire non-fiction floor was closed. this meant i had to browse the fiction section instead of the usual art and design sections. fortunately, the fiction section contains a small but rather well-maintained graphic novel shelf. so i ended up leaving the library with two new graphic novels and a book of truman capote's short stories (reviews to come...)

the next day, having decided to take a morning off church, i got some extra sleep and launched into one of the two graphic novels - 'get a life' by french illustrator/authors dupuy and berberian.

i have two basic criteria for selecting graphic novels: 1. drawing style and 2. not too much moral debauchery. this one seemed to fit the bill - especially on the drawing style criteria. dupuy and berberian use a classic french style that reminds me of certain books i read as a kid - one was called 'dustman dan' or 'dan the dustman' or something.

anyway, this is the first time i have come across the work of dupuy and berberian, but apparently they are quite well known. 'get a life' is a compilation of shorter stories about their character monsieur jean - a moderately successful author who is on the cusp of turning 30. according to the introduction, monsieur jean is how dupuy and berberian work out their own angst at having to grow up and take responsibility.

jean's existence is seinfeld-like, but the stories are told with french je ne sais crois. despite the trials of everyday life (insomnia, a dragon landlandy or rather concierge, past girlfriends, current girlfriends, annoying old friends and book signings), jean manages to stumble through life in quite a charming way that stops him from looking pathetic and ends in a nice little happy ending.

recommended.

warandpeace-o-meter: 553/981 (volII, bookX, chapI)

modern art and the death of a culture

modern art and the death of a culture, by h.r. rookmaaker

looking on the title page of my copy of this book, i see i have dated it 1998 - which means that it's taken me almost 10 years to get around to reading it. the daunting and critical-sounding title made me wonder if i wanted to. i'm glad i did.

the field of christianity and the arts is beginning to grow these days (both academically and in practice), but 30 years ago most christians didn't want to touch modern art with a ten-foot barge pole. into that gap stepped francis schaeffer and his friend hans rookmaaker (a jazz critic and art historian). 'modern art and the death of a culture' was rookmaaker's major work in this area, and the lack of other writing by christians on this subject at the time makes his book a seminal masterpiece.

the book was published in 1970, just as modern art was climaxing - by that year, virtually everything that you could do in art (barring technilogical developments) had been done. this of course included some extreme and freaky work, but even at the less extreme end, people (especially the majority of christians) found contemporary art to be distasteful and abhorrent - many of them were still 'coming to terms' with modern art that had come out in 1910 (some of them still are).

rookmaaker's masterstroke was engaging with the art world rather than condemning it. in this book he heavily critiques modern art, but he mines out what he believes is essentially at the heart of the apparent destructiveness of it - a sense of loss and despair. and again, rather than condemning this fact, rookmaaker examines that this is the natural result of the process of humanism and the enlightenment. and so, he says, modern art accurately represents where western society has come to as a result of the enlightenment framework. he doesn't dislike modern art at all - he simply wants it to have more hope and beauty.

he argues that bourgeois niceness is not the answer - it is equally as bad, if not worse, than the negative elements of modern art. instead he challenges christians to meet the modern world where it is, and offer alternatives.

there is so much in this book, that i couldn't possibly summarise it all here - in fact what i have just written is really only my take on what rookmaaker is saying.

for me, what i found interesting was examining rookmaaker's predictions about the future as he saw it in 1970. i'm not an expert in this, but i think some of rookmaaker's predictions have come true, and on the other hand, i feel that the art world has stepped back from the precipice it was on the edge of in 1970. the main reason is that there is nothingness over the edge. and so the art world has struck camp 100 metres or so from the edge, and stretches back from there. if this is true, then we can see what modern art accomplished as being a true revolution, complete with violence and harm but in the end creating significant freedom.

the other great thing about the book is the challenge it lays down for christians - the challenge, as i have said, not to retreat into bourgeois niceness but to get out there and engage. i believe there is now a definite christian arts movement under way - i can see it gathering momentum even since the late 90s when i was at university - and i think rookmaaker would have approved. but his challenge still rings true and relevant.

for it's on-going relevancy and its historical importance, i think 'modern art and the death of a culture' should forever remain a crucial text in the tradition of christian cultural study and practice.

highly recommended.

on the headphones: 'attack el robot! attack!' by calexico, from the album 'feast of wire'.

warandpeace-o-meter: 553/981 (volII, bookX, chapI)

our sunshine

our sunshine, by robert drewe

this, apparently, is the book that the film 'ned kelly' was based on. as is often the case though, i didn't notice too many similarities other than the fact that both were about ned kelly.

i picked this up as a quick read - a book that anna got at an op shop i think. it turned out to be quite good. the narrative style is almost a stream-of-consciousness approach - it has a poetic quality to it.

i think there is a connection here between the bush balladry of the likes of banjo patterson ('the man from snowy river' etc) - not that it reads like a ballad, but there is a connection in the atmosphere and feeling. perhaps this connection is merely a result of the australian setting, but either way, i think this is a very australian book.

the book presents the thoughts of ned kelly himself in a way that is almost dream-like and the narrative unfolds through recollections. despite the methodology, the narrative becomes coherent, and i think that this is the true skill of robert drewe in writing this book.

the main setting and climax of the book is the final showdown between the kelly gang and the police, and this climax is where the dream-like quality of the book comes to the fore.

drewe has used a lot of imaginative license with the story, but notes at the end of the book that this is fitting for a main character who is mostly known through legend.

good book, worth reading.

warandpeace-o-meter: 437/981 (volII, bookVIII, chapI)

the importance of being foolish

the importance of being foolish, by brennan manning

this is a book i found sitting on a table at my mum's house and decided to take with me.

brennan manning is a franciscan priest best known for his book 'the ragamuffin gospel' (which i also have in my possession - review sometime in the future). faced with the choice of reading this book and 'the ragamuffin gospel', i decided to read this one because i like the cover design...

in the event, it turned out to be one of the most impacting christian books i've ever read.

manning begins by emphasising the toughness of the christian calling - as found principally in jesus' sermon on the mount. he notes that christianity has watered down the magnitude of what jesus has called his followers to. his point is that although jesus' teaching is a hard teaching, we should nevertheless still aim to fulfill what jesus has called us to, rather than making excuses for it.

manning goes on to describe the way in which western society is addicted to security, pleasure and power. he describes western christians as 'schizophrenic', and says that we have become expert at sharing ourselves between material concerns and our spiritual calling, rather than letting our spiritual calling consume every area of our lives. serving two masters, he says, leads to anxiety and stress as we are pulled in two directions, constantly trying to cater for both masters.

the antidote for all this, says manning, is an awareness of God's love and an understanding of the cross and resurrection.

when you condense manning's message down like i have here, it sounds a bit confrontational and judgmental, but he has a peculiar knack for being able to deliver straight truths compassionately (a character trait that he has no doubt learned from jesus).

the title - 'the importance of being foolish' - is a little misleading at first. this book is a rewrite of an earlier volume called 'gentle revolutionaries' - which, i think, is probably a more accurate title. there are a lot of verses in the bible that make it clear that foolishness is not really the way to go. but the 'foolishness' that manning refers to is the variety found in 1 Corinthians 1:22-24: "Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God." it is what manning calls "resurrection wisdom" - an inverted kind of wisdom that doesn't make sense unless there has been an experience of God's love and sacrifice.

protestants and pentecostals shouldn't be put off by the fact that this is a catholic author - manning is first and foremost a follower of jesus, and so his message is entirely biblical.

so all in all, an excellent and impacting book. for more info on brennan manning, go to www.brennanmanning.com. highly recommended.

warandpeace-o-meter: 391/981 (volII, bookVI, chapXXIV)

on the stereo: 'green grass of tunnel' by múm, from the album 'finally we are no one'. www.randomsummer.com

blue like jazz

blue like jazz, by donald miller

over the last few years, this book has become a bit of a 'classic' among 20-something christians (especially in the states). i got my copy from mal and hazel.

don miller is dedicated to cutting through the religious and cultural aspects of american christianity to find the heart of believing in jesus.

i have the feeling that in the american context this book would be hugely impacting and maybe controversial, and i would say that this is part of the reason it has sold so many copies. in new zealand it doesn't explode christian culture quite so much (because christian culture is different here), but it is full of great insights and thoughts.

don miller is very good at writing honestly - apparently saying exactly what he thinks. it is largely autobiographical (a kind of spiritual autobiography), but in it he manages to cover some of the main aspects of christianity and get the reader thinking. it appears that his original aim was to write something for non-christians so that he could offer christian spirituality without the unnecessary trappings of religion. but i found that it also stimulated me to think from different perspectives - not just accept the status quo.

definitely recommended.

no god but God

no god but God: the origins, evolution and future of islam, by reza aslan

this was a book that mike recommended to me, and it just so happened that our local library had a copy.

i think most of us in the 'west', and certainly a good number of us christians, like to think we know a bit about islam. we hear about it in the news almost everyday, and we hear the rhetoric that comes from all sides. unfortunately, it is usually only sensationalist material that makes it to the news, and i have to admit that the same is probably true as far as what we hear in christian circles too.

'no god but God' is written by a muslim (albeit a reasonably 'liberal' one) of iranian descent. reza aslan is young academic living and researching in the usa.

he has set out to write a book that explains islam, from his perspective, to the western world. and i think he has been very successful. the book is very well written and accessible, and aslan manages to look at the issues fairly, without surrendering his own personal beliefs - although some of his comments about christianity, i felt, were a little ill-informed. all up, i found myself wishing that there were more books like this written by christians.

aslan relates the history of islam from the days just before mohammad, through the life of the prophet, and then into the subsequent development of the religion, with it's three main branches: sunni, shi'ite and sufi. he didn't mention much about the crusades, which i found a bit strange, but he picks the story up again strongly around the colonial area and in the modern age.

the overall premise of aslan's argument, is that islamic beliefs (as practiced by mohammad) were tolerant and inclusive. he says that, for example, mohammad welcomed christians and jews and was content for them to retain their own faiths. mohammad had a collective term "ahl al-Kitab", meaning "people of the book", to describe muslims, christians and jews. and under mohammad's regime, these people were considered "dhimmi", that is, protected by islamic law. mohammad considered the torah, the christian scriptures and his own revelations to be one complete work. aslan also argues that in mohammad's society, women were esteemed and protected - not subjugated as they are in a number of muslim cultures today.

aslan says that islam is currently in the throes of a reformation, much like the one that christianity went through a few hundred years ago. his point, if i understand correctly, is "if you think there's strife between western ideals and islam, you should see the strife going on inside islam". he believes that out of this strife (between the branches of islam, and more generally, between fundamentalist and moderate ideologies) will come a reformed islam. he says that if this reformed islam truly returns to its tolerant and inclusive roots, then such a thing as islamic democracy (a political and legal system democratically based on islamic morals) can exist and islamic people can be liberated from violence and tyranny. interestingly he sees islamic violence against the west as being an overflow of the internal violence. he does not see that the future of islam, and an islamic political system, lies in the hands of extremist groups such as the taliban, but in the hands of a moderate (and more genuine) brand of islam.

"...the image of the Afghan woman enveloped in the burqah and subjugated to the whims of an ignorant band of misogynists has become the symbol of everything that is wicked about the concept of Islamic governance, and such images are not easily supplanted by political philosophies." (p 259)

but

" When fifteen centuries ago Muhammad launched a revolution in Mecca to replace the archaic, rigid, and inequitable strictures of tribal society with a radically new vision of divine morality and social egalitarianism, he tore apart the fabric of traditional Arab society. It took many years of violence and devastation to cleanse the Hijaz of its 'false idols'. It will take many more to cleanse Islam of its new false idols - bigotry and fanaticism - worshiped by those who have replaced Muhammad's original vision of tolerance and unity with their own ideals of hatred and discord. But the cleansing is inevitable, and the tide of reform cannot be stopped. The Islamic Reformation is already here. We are all living in it." (p 266)

highly recommended.

your road map for success

your road map for success, by john c maxwell

this isn't usually the sort of book i select for myself, but i got given this copy by my pastor at christmas time, so i thought i'd give it a shot.

john maxwell is a fairly well-known christian author, but this book is mainstream in its approach. it has lots of sensible advice on how to set and pursue your goals etc. i think books like this are written for a particular personality type, and i think that sometimes authors of books like this don't fully acknowledge the fact that everyone in the world isn't like them. the solutions offered by maxwell didn't really capture my imagination - i'd rather read something by john eldridge.

the up-shot of reading it is that i don't think i took anything in particular from the book, but i was left with a sense of wanting to break out of the mold a little bit more and see where it leads - so from that perspective it was worth reading.

i think this is probably a pretty good book in its genre.

silence

silence, by shusaku endo

this was a novel i was inspired to read by reading about it in philip yancey's book 'soul survivor'. i got this copy from mum for christmas.

endo has been called 'japan's foremost novelist' and 'silence' (first published in 1969) has been called 'one of the finest novels of our time' by graham greene. endo is a catholic christian, and much of his work deals with the tension between his catholicism/christianity and his japanese culture. in japan, christianity is viewed as a foreigner's religion, but when endo went abroad, he found that he didn't fit into the western world either. so that's a bit of back story on endo.

this is a historical novel set in the time of the missionary endeavours that were undertaken by europe into japan in the 1600s. the samurai class became increasingly alarmed with the effect that christianity was having on traditional japanese society, and outlawed all western mission work. widespread persecution broke out against japanese christians who were tortured for their faith and forced to renounce or be killed.

the main character of this book, rodrigues - a portuguese missionary brother - is sent to japan to carry out christian work despite the new persecution and the fact that others who have gone before him have disappeared and are rumoured to have apostatised...

the samurai force christians to renounce their faith by placing their foot on a picture of christ. this is the position that rodrigues is put in when he is captured. the novel hinges on the ethical dilemma and crisis of faith that he faces about whether to recant, and thereby save the japanese peasants that are being tortured for his sake, or to hold fast to his faith and die a martyr's death.

an excellent and heart-wrenching book.

the assault on jerusalem

the assault on jerusalem, by steven runciman

i'm still trying to catch up on a backlog of reviews that i haven't posted since my christmas reading frenzy. and now christmas has slipped a quarter of a year into history - but, soon i will be up to date.

this is a book that anna gave me for christmas. it is actually one of these brilliant condensed penguin volumes that were released to celebrate penguin's 70th anniversary. this book comes from a larger work called 'a history of the crusades' (published in 1965), and tells the story of the first crusade.

at 56 pages it is an easily manageable dose of history written in an easy-to-read style that is quite unbiased. maybe i'll even read the entire work one day. but i am definitely keen on these little penguin editions.

on the stereo: 'photograph' by air, from the album 'pocket symphony'. www.pocket-symphony.com

contemporary new zealand photographers

contemporary new zealand photographers, by hannah holm and lara strongman (eds)

this is the book that won the illustrative section of last year's montana new zealand book awards - and that prize was richly deserved.

obviously the selection of photographers here is limited by the editors' choice, but the selection seems to be excellent. it is not just a treasury of photography but also writing on photography - the work of each artist is accompanied by an essay or interview.

it is a while now since i had the book out of the library - so my comments here are based on lasting impressions - fairly subjective. there are two things that remain with me about this book. first, the essay by gregory o'brien which i talked about on my other blog. as usual o'brien's essay was enlightening but also interestingly presented (complete with poetry in the body text). second, that image on the front cover - i can't remember which of the photographers took it - and i can't find out quickly. but that image has really stuck in my mind. the other day when i was on a farm, i couldn't stop looking at the poplar trees without thinking of that photo.

list of photographers in the book: Laurence Aberhart, Mark Adams, Fiona Amundsen, Wayne Barrar, Peter Black, Ben Cauchi, Marti Friedlander, Darren Glass, Gavin Hipkins, Anne Noble, Fiona Pardington, Neil Pardington, Peter Peryer, Edith Sagupolu, Ava Seymour, Marie Shannon, Ann Shelton, Deb Smith, Yvonne Todd, Boyd Webb.



on the headphones: 'walk in the sky' by bonobo, from the album 'days to come'. www.bonobomusic.com