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This is a Newbery book, so obviously some people thought it worth reading. I'd agree with them. Historical fiction is not my favorite category, but this one snuck it's way in. Daniel is a boy who is successfully running away from his painful past, until two old characters turn up in one of his favorite places and he can't help but speak with them. This conversation leads his life in a whole new direction. These two are Joel and Malthace, brother and sister, who look alike and still have very unique personalities. They all go on this journey of life together, growing up and beginning to face life and death issues. Choosing who is worth following. Discovering what it means to lead well. Struggling with calling and passion and revenge.

All three (and many others) are strongly affected by Jesus. The story is placed during the time He was preaching and living in Capernaum. They have many opportunities to listen to Him speak, to see Him affect all those around Him, to see him heal. To listen to his words and see that they match his actions. Daniel's father was cruelly killed by the Romans, so at the age of eight he began to hate them. And this hate has only grown stronger with time. Daniel longs to follow this Jesus -- but Jesus is not calling anyone to fight and kill the Romans. They is a defining conversation where a weary Jesus takes time to listen to Daniel's story, and Jesus tells him the only thing stronger than hate is love. Daniel does not want to accept this but must struggle mightily to come to a final decision.

Samson is an amazing character. He speaks no words at all. He is taken from a slave trader, by the band Daniel is part of, at the beginning of the story. Samson is taken because he is huge and strong. He does things easily that four or five men would struggle to do, so his strength is unmatched. Daniel ends up taking him up to their hideout and freeing him from his chains (because he's the blacksmith), and earns Samson's devotion and love. They develop a sort of relationship. Whenever Daniel is gone from camp, Samson watches for him and misses him. Samson doesn't obey the leader of the band, but he's so strong that the leader can't do much about it. This human who is silent, doesn't show signs of understanding things, and often will not act of his own accord, saves Daniel and others from certain death. He chooses to give up his life willingly that they might live. (Reminds one of Jesus, eh?). When Daniel talks with Jesus and says he wants to revenge Samson's death, Jesus tells him that Samson did not give him revenge -- but love. That stops Daniel in his tracks. Everything which was so simple becomes much harder. When boundaries we've put in place are taken away from us, life gets much more complicated. But usually in a really good, growing, healthy way.

Title:	The Bronze Bow
Author:	Elizabeth George Speare
Date published:	1961
Genre:	young adult, historical fiction
Number of pages:	254
Notes:	repeat reading

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A collection of thoughtful essays-- sometimes humorous, frequently insightful. Some essays are inspired by particular books and others by personal experience (such as a young son eating paper torn from a Bible), but Jacobs always moves from these starting points towards deeper and more significant issues so that a review of a historical study of children's Bibles addresses our modern perceptions of children's spirituality, and whether editors of children's Bibles are justified in editing out violent and racy stories (other than the violence of the cross, of course, which is generally portrayed in some fashion). The essays range from personal experiences of fear and death to musings on such personages as C. S. Lewis, Bob Dylan, and Harry Potter, among other topics. Throughout, the essays are entertaining, readable, and thought-provoking.

A few favorites that particularly stood out, for some reason or another:

In "Dowsing in Scripture," when his two-year-old son eats paper from the Bible, Jacobs muses on the common, deprecated habit of opening the Bible at random as a kind of prophecy-- and finds himself unable to resist attempting to interpret his own son's act of eating scripture, with resonances of the prophets who were fed scrolls.

"In on the Kill" addresses the preponderance of violence in animal and nature shows and points out our society's preoccupation with, and entertainment by, death-- and even suggests that by watching we participate in this. In "Friendship and its Discontents," a review of an anthology of writing about friendship becomes an occasion to delve into what does and does not constitute true friendship, along with the question of whether friends must share spiritual beliefs.

"Lewis at 100" addresses the evangelical appropriation of C. S. Lewis as almost a saint, and the oddities that this has brought with it (such as a refusal by some to believe that Lewis consummated his marriage with Joy Gresham, as if Lewis must be 'pure' according to evangelical standards-- even though he was also known as a drinker and smoker, which such people happily ignore). One interesting point: Lewis did not think he was, or intend to be, original. He merely tried to articulate Christian views in a way that people of his time period could understand, and he did not expect his work to last. Jacob raises the question, why have there not been other writers and thinkers who might supersede Lewis by articulating these same points in a new way, for a new age?

"Harry Potter's Magic" is an insightful response to the mixed reception of the popular books in evangelical circles. Jacobs describes Rowling as a "world-maker" akin to Tolkien, and goes on to address ideas of magic in comparison to technology and science. He also makes a point that I have often thought myself-- many evangelicals condemn as "dangerous" the magical elements in books such as this, all the while holding the contradictory belief that magic isn't real. Jacobs also clearly points out the powerful moral dimension to the Harry Potter books-- the dangers of dark magic, the consequences for actions, and the power of the choices we make (such as Harry's desire not to be put in Slytherin's house) forming we who become.

The last section, "Lives of the Essayists," is a humorous look at a book Jacob's says will never be written, because it is more along the lines of "Lives of the Dentists" than the more dramatic-sounding "Lives of the Poets," or novelists, or painters. This gives him an opportunity to touch on some of the more interesting and famous essayists (some of whom did have very strange and dramatic life experiences), and even on the place of the essay itself as a genre, however poorly respected in some circles.

Title:	A Visit to Vanity Fair: Moral Essays on the Present Age
Author:	Alan Jacobs
Date published:	2001
Genre:	Essays
Number of pages:	173
Notes:	Christmas gift from Mom

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As conveyed by the subtitle, this book is an autobiography of sorts related by Jayber Crow, a long-time barber (and gravedigger and church janitor) of a fictional town in Kentucky called Port William. Until I stumbled upon this novel, I thought of Wendell Berry as a farmer, poet, and essayist: I didn’t know that he also wrote fiction. I am glad that he wrote Jayber Crow. It is one of the most warm-hearted, generous, and moving stories I have read, yet the tone throughout remains humble and unpretentious.

Given that Jayber feels himself to be intimately connected to Port William, to suffer its fate whether good or bad, it makes sense that the novel is as much about the land as Jayber’s own affairs. It is clear that Jayber cherishes an innate love for the created world and all of its inhabitants. This awe, at once visceral and spiritual, gives him great joy in his wanderings and observations in the natural world, but also causes him frequent grief as “progress” pushes nature to the margins of people’s experience and consideration. He is very skeptical that any of man’s inventions can compare with the beauty, economy, and rightness of nature’s processes. I instinctively connected with Jayber’s observations in this, though I know that many readers won’t.

Jayber’s lifelong goal to love others is compelling and encouraging. He takes seriously Jesus’ admonition to “love your enemies and do good to them that hate you;” he is able to step back to see the sympathetic side of unlovable people and accept them for who they are. Jayber’s simple belief that each person is a dignified soul frees him to treat his neighbors with kindness and understanding, an attitude that rubbed off on me (at least while reading the book!).

Wendell Berry’s prose is strikingly apt. He is able to render human fallacies and failures in such a way as to cause profound sorrow, yet he doesn’t neglect the laughter and irony inspired by friendship and love.

Title:	Jayber Crow : the life story of Jayber Crow, barber, of the Port William membership, as written by himself
Author:	Wendell Berry
Date published:	2000
Genre:	Fiction
Number of pages:	363

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Two children are with their father and stepmother running from the Nazis. They figure the best hope is to leave the children to hide and maybe find a villager to take them, while the parents keep going. When the parents drop off the children, the stepmother yells that they must never say their names, and tells them their names are Hansel and Gretel. They all do get away from the Nazis, and then the reader follows both stories. The children find their way to a woman who lives outside the village, whose grandmother was a gypsy, and who decides to do what is right and what her grandmother would have done instead of living in fear. Largely a story of children who are children and yet are not children. Of what hope looks like in darkness. What one can withstand when one has others to stand with. What is worth fighting for.

Enjoy retelling of fairy tales -- but it's so easy to forget that the original fairy tales were not light stories, but had lots of darkness in them. Murphy probably falls into a similar category as Flannery O'Connor -- believing that to show hope and light, you must also show darkness and evil. And so many of the things that happened in world war two were evil, so when writing a book .. it must include evil too. Which is true of life. Without darkness and evil making themselves known, it is easy to miss God, good, beauty, light, truth. And murphy has the privilege of reckoning with God in the midst of such evil. Many characters comment on this, often about God packing up and leaving Poland when the war came. Or there being no God because of things they had seen. One comment which is still echoing around in my head comes from an old man who replies the following to such a comment. "God didn't come down and kill us. I don't see god shooting children and priests. None of us met God beating up Jews and shoving them into railroad cars. This is men doing the murdering. Talk to men about their evil, kill the evil men, but pray to God. You can't expect God to come down and do our living for us. We have to do that ourselves." (p207)

The sister is older and takes care of her brother. She worries about him and helps him to understand the important things he can do, should do, shouldn't do -- what it will take for the two of them to survive. Due to trauma, he must assume this role of caretaker for his older sister. Everything they know crumbles when the war ends, and he has to decide what to do and where to go. So he does, but it is wearing to have so little to hope for and also to be the leader. Another traumatic event brings her back into reality (not sure if this is really possible or how often it happens?) -- and she becomes the big sister again. Which gives her little brother rest. For the first time in weeks he actually sleeps soundly. We all have tasks and roles that we are given. Some of which are easy and familiar and fit our talents and personality -- but sometimes we are expected to things which we cannot do. Which, in our own strength, are truly impossible. But it's reassuring to know that God has more strength than we do. That in Him our inability and weakness become something worthwhile. Hard to accept and harder to live -- but there is hope to sleep soundly at night, because I am not in control and don't need to be.

Title:	The True Story of Hansel and Gretel: a novel of war and survival
Author:	Louise Murphy
Date published:	2003
Genre:	Historical Fiction
Number of pages:	297
Notes:	borrowed from amy

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Another Lewis classic. The story of a dream. A man who finds himself in a grey dreary town (between the sunset and full night), waiting for a bus. This bus will take them to the other place (heaven) for a visit. And if they'd like, they can stay. Our narrator interacts with many characters and also observes other interactions which give insight into this place and the people who exist there. Lewis makes it very clear this is not what heaven is really like, but simply some ideas to affect the way we live now.

One phrase which rings throughout the book is that hell and those who live there are 'so nearly nothing.' The people have become the worst parts of themselves and lost all good (or almost all in some cases). The narrator has a hard time understanding this, so his Teacher, or companion, in heaven tries to show that good must in the end overcome evil. That evil cannot be larger than good. That good is much better at being fully good than evil -- so heaven must be incomparably bigger. Nobody from heaven could go into hell even if they wanted to because it is too small. A tiny crack in the ground.

One idea that keeps returning to the forefront of my understanding of what it means to be a Christ-follower is that of naming. God names us -- He calls out the true person. By choosing to follow Him and be obedient to Him, I do not become less myself -- but somehow more myself. I become more solid, more real, deeper. Not because of anything that I am doing, but because God is all the time changing me to be more like Himself -- and more like the person He created me to be. For instance, one woman our narrator observes finds all her value in 'caring for' (aka controlling) someone else. She cannot believe that she or this person she wants to 'care for' have any value simply because of who they are or who they were made to be. she wants to earn her worth. It's not possible. One heaven dweller says 'everything is here for the asking and nothing can be bought.' (p28)

Lewis has such a way of putting large ideas into comprehensible ideas, that his works are entertaining to read but also dredge up questions long forgotten or never asked. It's easy to get caught up in the daily tasks of life and enjoying the present moment (or surviving it, perhaps). But life can be so much more than that - living today in light of what has happened and what is to come. Not just events of yesterday, but the Event -- God coming in the form of a man to save humanity and bring us back into right relationship with Him. When the fact of God's love is allowed to affect each day (and parts of each day, as it becomes more natural), the simple tasks of today are seen to have eternal affect. Which is intimidating and frustrating and exciting.

Title:	The Great Divorce
Author:	C.S. Lewis
Date published:	1946
Genre:	Fiction
Number of pages:	146
Notes:	repeat reading

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Another enchanting story about a young girl discovering herself-- it actually surprised me how like Howl's Moving Castle this book was (something I might not have noticed if I hadn't read them in sequence). Periwinkle (Peri, for short) is young girl who lives in an island village, and she hates the sea because it has taken both her parents from her-- her father was a fisherman who died at sea, and ever since then her mother has been absent and untalkative, a stranger. In her anger, Peri decides to hex the sea-- and strange & amazing things begin to happen in her small village. Like Sophie in Howl's Moving Castle, as Peri grows up and learns more about the world, she also discovers the magic that is within her.

As she lingers by the sea, Peri meets the King's son Kir, who comes with his father to the seaside for the summer-- but Kir longs for the land under the ocean. Peri's hexes, all unknown to her, loosen some of the underwater magic. A huge, friendly sea dragon with a gold chain appears in the waters near the village, and a magician named Lyo comes (ostensibly to get the gold chain for the villagers). Lyo and Peri discover together that the king had two sons, one on land and another on water-- and the one he knows is the "changeling" longing for the underwater world he belongs to.

A sweet, delightful book. The magician Lyo in particularly seems an amusing and whimsical character, but he also has surprising depths. As always, McKillip's prose is magical-- gorgeous without being too much. Here's Lyo's description of learning magic:

Slowly you learn to turn the dark into shapes, colors.... It's like a second dawn breaking over the world. You see something most people can't see and yet it seems clear as the nose on your face. That there's nothing in the world that doesn't possess its share of magic. Even an empty shell, a lump of lead, an old dead leaf-- you look at them and learn to see, and then to use, and after a while youc an't remember ever seeing the world any other way. Everything connects to something else.

Later on, Lyo explains how he intuited the true story of the King's two sons.

Odd things draw my attention. Happiness, sorrow, they weave through the world like strangely colored threads that can be found in unexpected places. Even when they are hidden away, most secret, they leave signs, messages, because if something is not said in words, it will be said in another way.

Title:	The Changeling Sea
Author:	Patricia McKillip
Date published:	1988
Genre:	Young Adult Fantasy
Number of pages:	137
Notes:	Second reading

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Read in less than a week. Lord Peter is quite an enjoyable character. Certainly a lord with noble bearing -- but also a man who can be down to earth and enjoys using his logic, which is better than that of most men. He and his butler, Bunter, make quite the pair. One who can figure out any mystery that is set before him, and one that can do almost any practical (or impractical) task that is set before him. The butler reminds me of Jeeves, as they have many of the same qualities, as presumably did most spectacular butlers during this time period. Sayers does not make every mystery end in finding and condemning the criminal, which is quite nice -- sometimes difficult decisions must be made that will affect many. And sometimes the truth is quite unbelievable.

A couple different places in the stories, Wimsey is asked how he does it. His answer is that he observes and his brain goes on making connections and asking questions of what he saw. That things are slightly out of place - something is not right. He doesn't worry about it, but simply goes on observing and comes back to it when his brain has already figured out the answers. For instance, a pearl necklace is stolen and it must be in one of two rooms. Everyone does a thorough search and it cannot be found anywhere. Wimsey does his own search with the master of the house and finds a pin. He doesn't actually see the pearls but he sees a reflection in the floor of things that look remarkably like pearls -- and that's enough to go on. He knows where they are and how to reveal who stole them in the first place. I like the idea that our brains work overtime. It's true!! But -- perhaps mine works on different things or notices different details. And I'm very glad that some people have brains that actually work rather like Wimsey's and put them to good use to find criminals, discover cures, seek possibilities.

Title:	The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories
Author:	Dorothy L. Sayers
Date published:	1972
Genre:	Mystery Short Stories
Series:	Lord Peter
Number of pages:	481
Notes:	Borrowed from mom

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I've been wanting to read this book for a while now-- ever since I heard that the brilliant Hayao Miyazaki had made a film based (loosely) on this book by Diana Wynne Jones, an author whose work I have enjoyed before (Deep Secret is fun; the Chronicles of Chrestomanci & Dogsbody are even better). It's a delightful, entertaining book that is well-worth reading.

The story centers on Sophie, a young girl who happens to be the oldest of three in the kind of fairy-tale kingdom where the youngest is the one who always has the adventures (remember all those fairy tales where the older siblings do terrible things and the youngest always wins the day?). Because she is the oldest, Sophie knows she shouldn't even bother to seek out her fortune, so she spends her time working in her mother's hat shop and talking to the hats she makes because she is so lonely. Soon the dreaded Witch of the Waste comes to Sophie's shop and curses her to be an old woman, because the Witch didn't want any competition. Sophie had unknowingly been working her magic on the hats she made, just by talking to them.

It's interesting how being turned into an old woman sets Sophie free in many ways. She finally ventures away from home-- not really intending to seek her fortune, but that's how it turns out. She is more able to speak her mind and do what she pleases, as an old crone, and seems to worry less about what people think of her.

Old Sophie quickly falls in with the young wizard Howl-- rumored to be very wicked and dangerous-- and assumes the position of housekeeper in his crazy moving castle (which is ensorceled to move around for his protection, since Howl has also been cursed by the Witch of the Waste). She befriends Howl's apprentice Michael and his fire demon Calcifer, and still manages to look out for her two younger sisters. She has quite a few adventures and sort of grows up in the process, discovering her own powers and eventually becoming young again at the end.

A delightful story filled with wonderful, memorable characters. So engaging & fun that I read it in a single weekend.

Title:	Howl's Moving Castle
Author:	Diana Wynne Jones
Date published:	1986
Genre:	Young Adult Fantasy
Number of pages:	212

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The only book I have ever read by Louis L'Amour, and it's not a western. In the height of the cold war, an Air Force test pilot is captured by the Russians; their intent is to question him about the latest American technologies he has tested. What they don't know is that Major Joe Makatozi (aka "Joe Mack") is not only a resourceful officer and a decathlete, but also part Sioux Indian; he was raised learning how to hunt and live off the land, like his people used to do. Joe quickly escapes the isolated Siberian prison and makes his way across Siberia, surviving the winter and the harsh conditions, following the ancient path his ancestors took over the Bering Strait to the Americas.

This book isn't technically a Western-- it's a fairly contemporary, Cold War-era novel that is quite a fun adventure. But in some ways, it feels like my impression of Westerns (not a genre I'm so familiar with). For instance, the good guys and bad guys are very clear cut (although there are plenty of good Russian and Lithuanian characters); Joe's one main concern is the tracker Alekhin, a Yakhut (native Siberian, similar to our American Indians) who is famous for his skill, but also for his cruelty. At one point during the winter, Joe Mack finds a group of dissidents who scrape out an rough existence, trapping for furs to make some money and bribe officials to leave them alone. Joe lives near them for a while, and even connects with a beautiful woman.

Joe Mack is a larger-than-life character: an officer in the Air Force and a nearly olympic-class decathlete, but also an Indian who knows how to make his own bow and arrows, how to trap and hunt animals, treat the furs and leather, and even make his own moccasins. He knows how to travel quickly, leaving very few signs for trackers, and is even clever enough to leave traps behind him for the unwary men following him. At various points in the book, he takes down a bear and even three men in a helicopter with just his bow & arrows. The story seems a little far-fetched, but I also know that there are extraordinary men who can do amazing things (reading the one-page author bio was a reminder that there are men who seem able to do almost anything well).

The title rings true with Joe's sense that his education and civilized demeanor is really just a veneer, and that at heart he is a true "savage" like his ancestors-- in his ability to survive extreme conditions, but also in his identity as a warrior who takes a personal affront to being captured by the Russians. Joe Mack's capability to be savage is brought home in the masterful way the book ends-- L'Amour tells us just enough so that we know how the story ends and gives us some idea of what Joe Mack might do later on.

Title:	Last of the Breed
Author:	Louis L'Amour
Date published:	1986
Genre:	Adventure
Number of pages:	368
Notes:	Second reading

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Savored every word. Will read this book again, without a doubt. So much truth hidden in its pages and spoken clearly. McKillip almost makes this implausible place seem possible, in such a way that one almost wishes to make a visit -- and then one stops reading and sadly remembers it is not a place one can visit. But one can continue reading about Morgan of Hed, who has more than one true name. And the woman he loves, Raederle of An, the second most beautiful woman in the world. And Deth the High One's Harpist -- who also has more than one true name. And their struggle to solve riddle upon riddle and fight for the people and places and things they love.

Land-rule is how the Kings and Queens have power. It is given to them, and each has one land-heir who will inherit their power and ties to the land once they die. The rulers are Danan of Isig, who can become a tree and see in the darkness; Har of Osterland, who can become almost any animal and sees the truth easily; the Morgul of Herun, who can see through almost anything; Heureu of Ymris, who was married to a shape-changer and whose one-eyed brother and land-heir, Astrin, sees more clearly than most two-eyed men; Mathom, King of the Three Portions (An, Aum, and Hel), who can become a crow and who has visions about the troubling future; and Morgan of Hed, who simply wants to live at peace on his small island, but is taken from it to answer too many riddles and become something he hardly recognizes. So -- the idea of land-rule is intriguing. Each ruler is part of their land -- knowing each rock, tree, animal, human, and being bound to them. When something steps onto their land which is not their own, they know instinctively. These rulers did not ask for power, but it was given to them and they have opportunities to use it well or poorly. Along with this comes an instinctive trust of the High One, whom none of them has seen or heard from (except through His Harpist), for too long to remember. But they trust Him even though they cannot see Him, and will obey His will without question when it is shared with Him. (Like Christians are called to instinctively trust our High One and believe Him whenever we hear from Him, His Word, or His people. And it is written on our hearts!)

(Careful -- contains spoilers!!) Names are often important in fantasy books, and this one is not unusual in that. But -- there are a number of people who have three names (Morgan, Deth, and Master Ohm). And three is always significant to a Christian -- especially because these three men could be compared to Jesus, God the Father, and the AntiChrist. They all have great power, and Morgan (the Christ-like figure) goes from simply knowing the land-rule of Hed and loving riddles, to being the most powerful person in the land. Everyone is drawn to Morgan and Deth, without reason - but simply because that trust is born in them. And it has been earned as well, which gives the land-rulers reason to obey this blind trust they have. As one would expect in a riddle-book, names are important, and some people must discover over and over again what their own name is -- and what the names of others are.

Title:	Riddle-Master collects The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976), Heir of Sea and Fire (1977) and Harpist in the Wind (1979)
Author:	Patricia McKillip
Date published:	1999
Genre:	Fantasy
Series:	Riddle Master Trilogy
Number of pages:	571
Notes:	repeat reading -- in about 4 days

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When Magneto reappears and the U.S. Government finds out that Charles Xavier had faked Magneto's death, they decide that the X-Men must be in collusion with Magneto's mutant Brotherhood-- and they go to war with both, using their own super-elite army, the Ultimates-- which includes folks like Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. The X-Men must go into hiding, and even that eventually doesn't work.

Xavier eventually decides to meet with Magneto-- pretending to make him an offer "he can't refuse," but really to smoke out his hiding place. Of course, Magneto is plenty devious himself and does the same thing, tipping off the Ultimates to the X-Men's safehouse location. This culminates in a huge battle, and the Ultimates almost succeed in capturing several of the X-Men, but Iceman sails in and enables everyone but Xavier to get away-- which is exactly what Magneto was hoping for, since he wants Charles' powerful & well-trained X-Men on his side.

For a book with the X-Men in the title, we don't actually see all that much of them-- particularly in the beginning. It seemed like kind of a slower start to me. I enjoyed the artwork quite a bit in this one-- there is a spectacular image of Wolverine leaping from a building to take on a helicopter (and he takes out four helicopters single-handedly, of course).

Title:	Ultimate X-Men: Ultimate War (Vol. 5)
Author:	Mark Millar
Date published:	2003
Genre:	Graphic Novel
Series:	Ultimate X-Men
Number of pages:	112

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Finally read this book. It's been on my list for a while and I got the chance to read it this summer. Read the last twenty pages the night before I left on a long trip. Dillard's writing is a gift -- something to savor. Her childhood ideas are not the same ones I had, but she shares them in a way that gave me a chance to understand and imagine with her. To see through her eyes in very practical ways. Each chapter is centered around a certain idea that connects the vignettes together. Dillard paints beautiful images with her words -- one woman who was created to write.

In a couple chapters, she writes about going to church. About communion and how she wished she'd missed it (at an older age than most of the book) -- but then she looks around at all her classmates and they are actually serious about their praying once they have received the bread and wine (grape juice?). Which she would not have expected. Wondering if she missed out on something. In another, she talks about some of the verses and phrases and ideas which stuck with her. She places them together to form a sort of liturgy which is all scriptural, and sweet to read. And sometimes I think we need to do that -- compare pieces of scripture and answer questions from one place with verses from another. So often people ask questions that have little do with the actual text -- but more truth is to be found in God's Word than we often realize. It's worth it to search it out and memorize pieces and take it into our being in such a way that it somehow affects our thoughts and actions and words. That's part of what it means to be a Christ-follower.

Title:	An American Childhood
Author:	Annie Dillard
Date published:	1987
Genre:	Biography
Number of pages:	255

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A book which is both narrative and explanation. I usually don't enjoy history all that much -- but I do like biographies and personal histories. And this book is mostly personal history, with lots of extra stuff thrown in. The main character is Ramanujan, a man born in southern India who grew up in the early twentieth century. He didn't have much training, but liked to please people so did well in school until he finished high school. From then on, he wanted to do little but work with mathematical formulas and possibilities. It wasn't the application of math that he enjoyed - but simply the abstract formulas and ideas. (Very different from your typical student.) By a series of events, he ended up in England working with and studying under a Cambridge fellow named Hardy. Together they created an incredible number of papers and had an impact on the mathematical world. In a speech Hardy gave after Ramanjuan died, he said that the most important thing he had done in his life was discover Ramanujan.

Now, Ramanujan was not just any southern Indian -- but a Brahman, meaning he was part of the highest class simply because of the family he was born into. His mother in particular taught him to follow all regulations in terms of what he would and would not eat, how things were to be prepared, and worshiping their goddess. Throughout his life, he gave credit to this goddess for intuitive jumps, for visions, for his genius. Many colleagues (especially those from England) had a hard time believing he was serious -- for them, science and logic excluded any religion. But for Ramanujan they were closely linked and one did not make sense without the other. In fact, he drew connections between certain mathematical series and facets of the gods of Hinduism. Seems so true that neither logic and reason, nor spirituality and emotion, can be the sole answer to life's questions. Both must be involved!

Enjoyed getting pieces of India's history, especially during the beginning of the book. Ramanujan was around while the British occupied, so all those ties and differences and beliefs color the personalities on both sides and what sort of connections were possible. Many Indian mathematicians didn't know if Ramanujan was a genius or a fool -- because his math notebooks were full of ideas they had never heard of and couldn't prove or understand themselves. Once this book got into Ramanujan's (and Hardy's) story, I was frustrated at the end. The last thirty or forty pages were mostly about repercusions, debates, ideas of his effect on India and the world. Took me probably an extra two weeks for those last thirty pages -- and ended up skimming them. Guess I got attached to Ramanujan and when he died, my interest in the story lagged quite a bit. But -- overall, a book that shares complicated math in understandable terms while sharing the mathematician's life (beyond math) in comprehensible ways as well.

Title:	The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan
Author:	Robert Kanigel
Date published:	1991
Genre:	Biography, Math
Number of pages:	373
Notes:	Recommended by JAW

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This is the final book in the Kristin Lavransdatter triology, a chance to reflect on characters' lives. Kristin herself, while a sympathetic character, is not very likeable. Her actions are often inscrutable. During her girlhood all her family and neighbors admire her for her beauty and seeming goodness, yet again and again she fails to do what she ought and instead follows paths leading to sin and deception. It is as if she cannot resist her own desires; she must carry them out at all costs. Yet once obtained, they do not make her happy. She receives one disappointment after another from Erlend, her sons, and her family life. Filled with bitterness, she turns to God for healing, though she expresses anger with Him for allowing her to follow her own will into unhappiness and painful consequences.

Undset does not describe much about Erlend's thoughts or motives. Over several decades, he doesn't seem to mature at all, but remains as childish as ever. His basic childishness causes him to act in a very headstrong, imprudent way at crucial times, yet his love for Kristin is as pliable and forgiving as a child's, and he doesn't nurse grudges or hold on to bitterness. I found the struggle occurring in Simon Andresson to be the most intriguing part of the book. He was the intended husband of Kristin of Lavrans' choice. When he knew the Kristin loved Erlend, he released her from her betrothal but continues to love her. He tries to live a faithful and good life with his wife, but unhappily wishes that his marriage to Kristin could have taken place. He does not trouble Kristin with these longings, though he constantly dreams of telling her. Simon's honorable struggle demonstrates a self-discipline and courage that I admire.

Title:	Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross
Author:	Sigrid Undset
Date published:	1922
Genre:	Historical Fiction
Series:	Kristin Lavransdatter
Number of pages:	464

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Kristin Lavransdatter is a young girl in 14th century Catholic Norway, the daughter of a well-to-do landholders. The trilogy offers a compelling and interesting, but not pleasurable, read. Kristin and her parents, her former betrothed, her sisters, and finally her husband and children suffer continual disappointments, usually caused by the fallen nature of the people they love most. Lavrans, Kristin's father, is upright and honorable, devoted to God and indulgent toward his eldest daughter. His love for Kristin then becomes a source of pain when he sees that she has willfully thrown away honor and prudence, and knowingly deceived him in her relentless pursuit of what she wants: marriage to Erlend Nikulausson. Kristin's story is continued in the The Mistress of Husaby and The Cross.

Title:	The Bridal Wreath: Kristin Lavransdatter I
Author:	Sigrid Undset
Date published:	1920
Genre:	Historical Fiction
Series:	Kristin Lavransdatter
Number of pages:	288

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The translation of Kristin Lavransdatter makes a difference. I read the first two volumes published by Vintage, which translates the Norwegian using archaic Medieval English. As a result, the story reads much like a legend or an epic; however, nuances, realism, and comprehensability suffer. My library only had the Penguin-published third volume, which is translated by Tiina Nunnally using modern English. At first the language seemed rather flat, but I ended by liking it more, mostly because I didn't have to dig through obscure wording in order understand the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Undset often relies on implications to convey the importance of various speeches or actions, and even reading the modern translation, the reader can still miss out on momentous occasions: “What just happened?”

One thing that never fails to annoy me is a double standard applied to men and women regarding sexual purity. This is the case in the Kristin trilogy. In The Bridal Wreath, much fuss is made over a Kristin's maidenhood, and apparently it is fair game for general community discussion and conjecture. If it had been generally known at the time of her wedding that she had not remained chaste, she would have been universally condemned and her parents seen as dishonored fools. However, several men in the book, including Erlend and her former betrothed Simon, engage in multiple extramarital affairs and father illegitimate children, yet do not suffer any ill social consequences nor are even regarded as particularly unusual. If sexual purity is important (and I agree with Sigrid Undset that it is) then it is equally so for men and women.

Title:	The Mistress of Husaby: Kristin Lavransdatter II
Author:	Sigrid Undset
Date published:	1921
Genre:	Historical Fiction
Series:	Kristin Lavransdatter
Number of pages:	384

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