The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan (Part II)

I put a "part I" on the last Wheel of Time post because I anticipated having to write this one. I'm currently in the middle of the twelfth book in the series, which just came out in October. Over the past couple of months, I finished books six through eleven. Regarding books six through ten, though, they got slower, more stagnant, and worse overall as the series progressed (just as I remembered from having read the series through the tenth in high school).

Before I make it sound like I don't recommend this series to any fan of fantasy/adventure (or anyone with a general appreciation of the Hero's Journey), I want to clarify that none of these books were "bad" in comparison to most contemporary fantasy, and most were still quite good--just not as good as the first five. In fact, book six is one of my favorite in the series, and book nine is also quite good. On the other hand, books seven and eight felt like they should have been condensed into one book, and book ten was so stagnant that it could have been an incredibly long epilogue to book nine. Fortunately, by the time you have read the first five or six books in the series, you generally become so interested in the characters' lives that even the slowest parts aren't too painful.

Book eleven, Knife of Dreams, was the last book Robert Jordan wrote of the series before he died (it's now being finished by Brandon Sanderson), and little of what I said of books six through ten applies to it. In my opinion, it is the single best book in the series so far. Jordan made up quickly for most of the stagnant plot lines that filled the preceding books, leaving book eleven with enough plot progression for two good books.

I look forward to finishing book twelve, and--finally--to the real end of the series when Sanderson finishes the last two books in the next couple of years.

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis

I wanted to mention this book in passing. This was actually the first time I have read the book, which is not odd in itself except that I've read almost all of Lewis' other books including the more obscure ones. I tried to read Mere Christianity several years ago, but only made it about 50 pages in. I still find the book a bit on the dry side, but I suppose my tolerance for dry books has gone up, or on the other hand, I suppose my appreciation of solid rationale and powerful rhetoric has also increased.

Even as I express my admiration for Lewis' thoughts, opinions, and arguments, I do want to note one interesting habit that is especially prevalent in this book. Lewis tends to spend about 80% of his time in Mere Christianity describing allegories to explain his argument. This normally wouldn't be a problem--most great teachers use allegories--but about halfway through the book I have to admit I got a little tired of them. Overall, however, it was a great read and full of powerful and thought-provoking explanations of Christianity.

The Big Rock Candy Mountain - Wallace Stegner

Once again, Stegner does not disappoint. I was skeptical about how much I would like this book at first. Following popularity and general acclaim as a measure, I had already read Stegner's best two books, Angle of Repose and Crossing to Safety, both of which I highly recommend to anyone. After those two books, I read The Spectator Bird, which was very good, but not as good--in my opinion--as the first two. So, when I picked up The Big Rock Candy Mountain, I wondered where I would place it among Stegner's works.

Usually, when I pick up a Stegner novel, it takes a good hundred pages or so of reading before I really get "into" the book--with, perhaps, the exception of Crossing to Safety. I think the reason for this in my case is that Stegner's novels rarely rely on a "page-turner plot" to pull us in and drive the story and meaning of the book. Rather, Stegner's characters become real so that every time I open the book, I feel like I'm coming back to old friends who I care about and want to experience life with.

In the end, that's exactly what Stegner writes--experiences into other people's lives.

He writes people who live ordinary lives that somehow become extraordinary and profound as we reflect on them. I found this novel to be comparable to Angle of Repose in a lot of ways. It focuses on a small family being swept around the American west by the changing fortunes and endeavors of the husband--though admittedly, the husbands are very different in the two books. The focus of the novel seemed different to me, however, and Angle of Repose seems like an evolution from The Big Rock Candy Mountain. This novel focuses on the marriage of Bo and Elsa Mason, but more than that it focuses on parenthood, as the perspectives shift to the children as they grow and understand their parents. In Angle of Repose, Stegner focused more on the marriage in the story, but he also went to another level of depth, writing the story from the perspective of the modern historian, Lyman Ward, whose wife had left him. In that book, Stegner added an extra level of depth that didn't exist in its predecessor. Lyman Ward gives us a catalyst of application and relatability as we see the lives of his grandparents through his eyes.

Despite my rambling about Angle of Repose, I heartily recommend The Big Rock Candy Mountain. I believe much understanding and applicability to our lives can be gleaned from its pages.

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

If popularity is a good measure of a book's siginificance--and according to Edgar Allen Poe it is--I won't make a lot of people happy by saying I was not impressed by this book. In fact, I felt like a kid in a high-chair watching the literary spoon of wisdom airplaning towards my mouth-- unavoidable and guided by the hand of Paulo Coelho. I don't generally have anything against didactic literature; I thoroughly enjoy C.S. Lewis' more didactic narratives, such as "The Pilgrim's Regress" or "The Great Divorce." Yet in this book, I felt like the didacticism had dropped a level or two in both complexity and defensibility.

My first issue with Coelho's drops of wisdom may be my own fault. Perhaps since I had never read any other book by this author, I had a difficult time seeing him as figure from whom I wanted to drink up treasures of wisdom. Yet I think this issue has its root in my second issue: that Coelho presents his wisdom as a mystical appeal to emotion, apparently without feeling a need to present it with a defence or rationalized argument. Again, this may reveal more about my personal preferences for didactic literature, but as I read this book, I quickly tired of shallow narrative relying on repeated phrases and situations to convey wisdom.

I won't try to present C.S. Lewis as a master of didactic narratives, but one prominent aspect of Lewis' narratives that sets him above Coelho--in my mind at least--is that Lewis often presents didactic allegories as apologies of his point of view (to clarify, I'm using the word apology in the sense of a rational defense). "The Pilgrim's Regress," for example (written as a parody of "The Pilgrim's Progress"), follows a similar storyline and protagonist goal as "The Alchemist," but the reader does not need to rely on the authority of Lewis as a teacher of wisdom, as I feel the reader must do--to an extent--in "The Alchemist." Rather, Lewis is careful to lay out arguments for each way of life, and subsequently, the reason why the pilgrim continues to search. The reason to continue is never simply the result of an omen or the advice of a sage.


Perhaps, when it comes down to it, I'm skeptical of an "inspirational" novel that fails to explain or qualify as it inspires. It may be too easy to take the extreme or incautious view of the search for your Personal Legend from this book.

My wife mentioned that this story reminds her of the happy, optimistic version of "Candide" (which ironically is also called "Optimism"), and I agree. This comparison raises a question of why such similar and still completely opposite stories have been so popular at different times? Where this book praises the search for the Personal Legend and the rewards of seeking more in life, Candide almost mocks the idea of the Personal Legend. What is it about human nature that we are still reading "Candide" after 250 years, even while a book like "The Alchemist" also gains wide popularity?

Genre: Inspirational

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (Part II)

As it turns out, I have a little more to say about this book. I recently became aware of Wilde's admiration of Edgar Allen Poe, and the influences of Poe's writing are clear in "The Picture of Dorian Gray." First of all, both authors seem to have favored Poe's "unity of effect" theory, which promotes shorter pieces that focus on one main effect for the reader to experience. I mentioned in my first post that Wilde's novel is short compared to most popular novels of the late 1800's. Poe said that most writings should be able to be read in one sitting, so as not to disrupt the effect. Following this, both writers only wrote one novel and favored instead short stories, collections, and essays.

After reading a good amount of Poe's stories lately, I see "The Picture of Dorian Gray" as melting pot of Poe's short fiction, with added themes to tie the narrative together. The book starts out with the painting of Dorian's Portrait, which is so perfect as to be nearly lifelike, and indeed it becomes a representation of Dorian's own soul. It seems that Wilde was intrigued by Poe's "The Oval Portrait," in which the painter is so enamoured in the beauty of his wife, that attempts to paint the most perfect, lifelike portrait of her. As he succeeds, she dies, and the picture remains as an uncannily perfect and lifelike representation.

The chief difference between the two stories is the fact that Dorian Gray continues to live, and only his soul is trapped. As Wilde's narrative progresses, this difference is reconciled by strong elements of another of Poe's stories: "William Wilson." In this story, the narrator confronts his double--a refelction of his virtuous side--in college and comes to hate him. Thereafter, most every time the narrator turns to immoral acts, his double shows up. This, in turn, drives the narrator into a perverse sort of self-torture as he resorts to more and more terrible acts in order to get his hated double to appear. Finally the story ends with a confrontation in which the narrator kills his double only to realize that he has figurativley murdered himself.

Essentially, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" seems to fit almost entirely between a couple of Poe's short works.

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

This was a quick read, so I'll make it a quick post too. Mostly, though, that's because the book is a good piece of literature by most standards (including wide popularity), but I don't much enjoy reading Oscar Wilde, so perhaps it's better that I don't say too much anyway. Wilde somehow bypassed the long-winded style of his time (often evident in the serial novels of Dickens), and wrote a fairly short and interesting novel. But he somehow still manages to fill the pages with long monologues on the aesthetic virtues of art for art's sake. The book presents, as its moral fulcrum, an important discussion of morality and the effects of moral corruption. I will say it's one of those books that you ought to get around to reading someday, and in comparison to some of the more stuffy classics, it is quite interesting or at the least, relatively painless. I do recommend it, just not as enthusiastically as some...

Elantris - Brandon Sanderson

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything; school pretty well kicked me in the butt. I keep reading good books and not saying anything about them. I started this entry a while back and figured I'd better at least finish it:

This was my first Brandon Sanderson book, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I'm generally wary of the fantasy genre, as it seems to contain a vast overabundance of worthless junk--only to be rivaled by the modern romance genre. My pleasant surprise upon finishing this book was due to the fact that it actually addressed relevant themes, instead of just swords, sorcery, and the drunken hero in the tavern pinching the serving maid's bottom...

Sanderson easily avoids the common (and genuinely disgraceful) poor mimic of Tolkien fantasy. He pushes towards the need to create a fictional world in order to tell a compelling story, rather than creating a poor story in order to explain an unoriginal fictional world. At the center of the Sanderson's story, as I see it, is an exploration of the basic needs of mankind, and perhaps I could compare it to Maslow's hierarchy. Yet it bypasses the foundation need of physical nourishment in a creative way, and in doing this emphasizes the importance of the higher four needs. It's thought provoking at the very least.

Capitalism is also a theme I noticed, as the fictional society is built upon a merchant ruling class. On one side of the coin, the book explores the benefits of and the human right--or need--for the personal ownership inherent in capitalism. On the other side, it discusses the problems of a society that too easily allows the right to rule to be based upon wealth.

Finally, Sanderson pushes--I believe intentionally--the theme of fall and atonement. The book's namesake, the city of Elantris, is introduced in the story in a disturbingly fallen state, and the entire plot drives towards the resolution of atonement and restoration.

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

Winners Never Cheat - Jon Huntsman

I usually find myself disenchanted with what generally falls in the inspirational or "self-help" genre. You can easily spend your life reading inspirational books and never do anything inspiring, and self help books rarely actually tell you anything you don't already know. Surprisingly, though, all this book talks about is what we already know (or should know), and it does so in a quite refreshing way. Huntsman reminds us of the basic values we learned growing up and takes us back to square one with our consciences. Moreover, the books is fewer than 200 very short pages, and that's always nice...

Genre: Inspirational/Self-Help

The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan (Part I)

I read this series (or what then constituted it) several years ago, and I must say, the first five books were much better than the second five. Somehow, I doubt that has magically changed since the late 90's, yet I haven't read the 11th or 12th (I guess I have to wait till that one comes out) and I have high hopes for the last few books. Something has to happen in those ones or the series won't really be over by number 14. I just finished the first five again, which are, in my opinion, some of the best in their genre. If the last four are as good, they might even make up for having to read the middle five.

Yikes...

Well, despite the length and thus the ridiculous waste of time (as it may be argued and I half way agree), I still heartily recommend the series as a delicious--if large and unhealthy--literary dessert. It is, after all, one of the best selling series ever of any genre.

Genre: Fiction/Epic Fantasy

A Tour on the Prairies - Washington Irving

If Washington Irving had been with Lewis and Clark on their transcontinental journey, we would know it as a much more exciting and in-depth narrative. After recently reading a couple of different accounts of the explorers' journey, I will admit they saw and experienced fantastic things, which we can only partly experience by following their path today; but Irving makes a simple tag-along trip with another group more engaging than Lewis' or Clark's journals.

Genre: History/Autobiography

Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell

I have to admit, this book is even more depressing the second time around. If you are frequently plagued by thoughts about the futility of human endeavors, well, this book won't help. Despite making you feel disturbed and occasionally grossed-out, it also makes you feel grateful that the book is (for the most part) fiction. And perhaps one of the powerful messages of the novel is to make sure it continues to be more fiction than reality.


As I see it, Orwell isn't dealing with any "out-of-this-world" ideas. Rather, he's taking the ideas that are commonly tossed around in politics and progressive thought and pushing them just a few steps further or corrupting them just a bit. In this way, his novel acts less as interesting speculations than as a warning of what is politically and culturally only a few steps away. What are those steps? Perhaps the further dehumanizing of the human, or perhaps the continuance of a trend of the working class being less politically active. And combined with these a slack in the freedom of speech and a rise in propaganda. Yet as I look at this novel as a warning to the free world, the most disturbing part about it is that the use of the words "free world" already implies that there is a "not free world," which often resembles Orwell's vision more than we would like to imagine.





In the end, I prefer "Fahrenheit 451" (which is similar in many ways) over this book, if only because it's a bit more uplifting.

Genre: Fiction/Modernist Lit

The Essential Lewis and Clark - Landon Jones (Ed.)

This was a quick, interesting read, especially if you're into history. If you're looking for a good, fairly comprehensive book on Lewis and Clark, I'd recommend Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" over this, though.

This book had the advantage of being on the short side, but that is because it consists entirely of selected quotes from Lewis and Clark's journals. Unfortunately, this leaves a lot to asked for at times and makes the book nothing especially unique. Ambrose, on the other hand, does a good job at reconstructing the entire story, adding descriptions of areas they went, other historical accounts, and making the story into a stronger narrative.

Genre: History/Biography

The Damnation of Theron Ware - Harold Frederic

Last night I finished "The Damnation of Theron Ware," which had been sitting on our bookshelf for quite some time from one of Katie's classes. While it's not one of my favorite books I've jumped into recently, I was impressed and somewhat surprised by how much I enjoyed the book. This surprise was amplified because for the first 150 pages or so I thought I was reading "The Chronicles of a Very Naive and Boring Methodist Minister Who Doesn't Do Anything Exciting, Interesting, or Significant." I still feel like the first half of the book was about 5 times as long as it needed to be.

Yet the "Damnation" part, which consisted of the second half of the book (though the slippery slope starts in the first half), is what caught my attention. Frederic seems to make a point of showing both the good and the bad in the path that Theron Ware begins to follow, and this is indeed the reason the original name of the book was "Illumination." To Theron, of course, he is following a path of enlightenment, moving away from his narrow-minded orthodoxy to a much broader world of science, acceptance of other religions, and freedom of thought. Yet instead of taking enlightenment in moderation with his former religious conviction and family life, he can't help but let himself be swallowed up in his new fascination...but wait, I can't go spoiling a good story.

Overall, though it wasn't a very exciting book (especially the first half), it was worth the read. Theron was a character I think we all can relate to in many ways, or at least we learn from his experience. I think the book has special significance to Mormon culture (as well as other religions). Many people, raised in straight-forward orthodoxy, never come to terms with the fact that there is a larger world, and not everything secular is evil. On the other end of the spectrum, many of the same type of people go to far and completely abandon what they've always known for "enlightenment." The great applicability in this novel is in the two opposing titles. Surely "Damnation" fits at times, but at other times "Illumination" cannot be disregarded.

Genre: Fiction/19th Century American Lit

Angle of Repose - Wallace Stegner

I read this book earlier this year, but since it's at the top of my favorites list, and will likely stay there for some time, it deserves some explanation.

Winner of the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and Stegner's best known work, Angle of Repose is a masterpiece of contemporary American literature. The story is built around a crippled historian telling the sub-story (which actually takes most of the book) of his grandparents in the western U.S of the late 1800's. Admittedly, the novel is long and occasionally even slow, but well worth the effort. At first the story of a couple making a life in the rugged west captured me more than I thought possible. I felt like I was reading about people I knew, and indeed, the power of the book is not in plot twists or action, but in the power of the characters and how much you begin to care about their life together and more especially their relationship. By the end of the book (and don't worry, this isn't a spoiler), the life of the historian narrator becomes the more pressing an relevant of the story lines as the two stories come together with one of the most powerful and profound endings I have ever read.

Even if you're not too keen on "high literature," don't disregard this one. It's more readily applicable to everyday life than your average high school English required reading. "Angle of Repose" explores themes of survival, ambition, love, forgiveness, and perhaps more than anything, marriage. And on that note, readers who are or have been married will generally find deeper insights and meaning in this novel.

Genre: Fiction/Post-modern Lit

David Copperfield - Dickens

Here's one of Katie's recent finishes:

"I finally finished something. I read all 830 pages of David Copperfield. The first 200 were tough, the second 400 were painful, and the final 230 made everything worth it. I especially appreciated the themes on marriage and relationships. Reading David Copperfield was uplifting. I want to be a better wife, a more focused worker, a gentler judge of others who may seem below me in any way, and less hypocritical, self righteous, and vindictive. Even though I complained my way through the first two thirds, David Copperfield is one of the most worthwhile books I have ever read. I will be haunted by David, Traddles, Mr. Peggoty, Uriah Heep, Mr. Dick, Dora, and Agnes for the rest of my life. I will certainly be reading this book again. Here's hoping I turn out to be like Agnes someday."

Genre: Fiction/Victorian Lit