They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky

They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky

by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, and Benjamin Ajak

I came across this book after I attended a presentation at my school about the Lost Boys of Sudan, where Alephonsion Deng spoke to us personally about his experience as a refugee. His story interested a great many of me and my friends, and we decided to buy the books that they were selling at ten dollars each. I'm very glad I got a chance to read it; there is a story here, a TRUE story, that speaks out to Americans with a very relevant, very present message.

This book is not a moral call to action, nor is it a heart-rendering tale that sends its readers on a guilt trip. The point of this book isn't to blame anyone for what happened to them; it is to let people know it is happening. It is simply a testimony of 3 boys who survived the Sudanese civil war, and witnessed things that no boy should ever have to witness.

Their descriptions of the fire bombs, the wild animals, the starvation, the despair, the callousness of the people around them, the utter loss of hope, are all told frankly and without any sentimental adjectives to try to appeal it to the readers. The narrating voice is simple, spoken in ways that even little children can understand, and talks about things that even adults may find a hard time comprehending. It is ironic, but also a very effective narration.

What I admired most about this book, though, was the fact that these boys were able to still talk, laugh, play, and have fun as boys even in the midst of all this chaos. Yes, these moments were few and far in between, but they were there, portraying their humanity in ways that bellied any sort of tragic and epic adventurous tone they could have adopted.

This is a book whose voice needs to be heard by the world.

Seabiscuit: an American Legend



Seabiscuit: An American Legend

by Laura Hillenbrand

A well-crafted narration, with a lot of hard facts mixed in well with a fast-paced, heart-warming storytelling voice to let the world of America's famed racehorse come alive back from the Great Depression.

Hillenbrand's focus on the three primary men surrounding Seabiscuit's life was a very smart idea; it allowed her to explore the horse from multiple angles--that of Seabiscuit's owner, Seabiscuit's trainer, and Seabiscuit's rider--and better describe the backdrop of the horse races through the biographies of the three. Through the owner, Charles Howard, she describes the upper class society and the dazzling community of America's best men during the 1920s; through the trainer, Tom Smith, Hillenbrand explores the spirit of the old West; and with the horse's rider, Red Pollard, she reveals the behind-the-scenes of the world of jockeys and their desperate competition for the chance to ride the best horse around. Each man's story is explored and commoderated, converging together into Seabiscuit's life as one storyline.

There is never a doubt that Seabiscuit himself is the center of the story. I never got the sense that Pollard, or Smith, or Howard was the main character of the story. It was always Seabiscuit. The facts and figures, the dates and times, the records and competitions, the trainers and riders, all of them revolve around Seabiscuit. I have come to love the horse for his dogged tenacity and lovable personality, as well as his fierce sense of competition, all of which Hillenbrand highlights through an enthusiastic, yet strictly factual tone.

I admit, she lost me a couple of times when all the explanations in the jargon of horseracing came up. It would be hard for anyone who isn't particularly into horseracing to fully understand the astounding amount of detail she puts into this book to make it real. The general storyline can be followed without any problems, but I often got stuck in the nitty-gritty details of her paragraphs. What's a handicap? How long is a length? Questions like these often popped up, halting the flow of an otherwise very good narration. Never have I lamented my lack of knowledge in this area so much. For horseracing junkies, however, this book is it.

The way Hillenbrand brings the readers right into the middle of the racing field made me feel like I was riding right next to Pollard on Seabiscuit, facing the wide-open rail and hearing the thunderous roar of the crowd behind me. These were the parts in the book that departed from the facts and figures, relying purely on the author's imagination to draw out the feeling of being in the midst of a breathtaking horserace. These scenes were executed marvelously; she peppers her paragraphs with short and sweet sentences to blow big impact on her readers.

Her organization of the storyline is well-though out as well. It must not have been easy to bring out so much in this horse's 3 or 4 years of public life, but Hillenbrand does it, even writing it out so as to have a hook in the beginning, a sequence of events leading up to a big climax (the Santa Anita Handicap of 1940), and the anticlimax when she wraps it all up. Also, the theme of the American Dream is impossible to miss in this book--it is so blatantly obvious in all three of the men's lives, as well as in Seabiscuit himself, as well as all the reporters and horse owners and millions of fans that take part in her narration: they are all living out the American Dream of going from underdog to fame and fortune.

She really proves that this horse is worthy of her book's subtitle: an American Legend.





Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair

by William Makepeace Thackeray

A very long, long, loooong, but fascinating book. I was bored to tears sometimes, but I couldn't stop reading because I just had to know what else the author had to say.

....Which might not make much sense; how is a book boring if it is keeping the reader engaged?

Here lies a piece of literature that truly relies on skill and wit to keep it afloat. The author's voice interested me far more than the actual storyline. The plot itself was simple: following the lives of two radically different women, Amelia Sedley and Rebecca Sharp, the novel is set within the noble life of Europe as the French Revolution draws to a close, zooming in on the everyday happenings of the two heroines and offering paragraph after paragraph of sharp social criticism and satire, enough to satisfy even the most critical soul.

Yes, it was the Thakeray's cynical wit and humorously sharp tongue, sharper than the tongue of Miss Becky Sharp herself, that encouraged me to reach the last page of this book. Thakeray jumps in and out his own novel, oftentimes being an observing bystander akin to a witty journalist that is uncovering all the nitty gritty secrets of high English society, while at other times he is the master of the play that is being acted out, offering apologies to the audience for the often immoral behaviors of the characters being portrayed in his work. His pen travels the continent of Europe, delving into British nobilities and royalties with a graceful flourish, sinking down into the depths of the gypsy nomads of Italy, and never hesitating to explore the middle class citizens of London and Paris who constantly point fingers to both sides of the spectrum of social hierarchy. He follows the gossiping women of the slums, the malicious whispers permeating the upper-class parties, and of course, the bitter yet brilliant commentaries made by Becky Sharp at pointed, opportune times. The author's thoughts stick out from every line.

He also manages to add a bit of a moral ending to the story, despite the overly realistic opinion he seems to hold throughout the events. Amelia, who is the kind-hearted soul never tainted by the unexpected tragedies that befall her, is eventually rewarded for her patience and endurance by being given back everything she lost, and a whole lot more. Becky, on the other hand, who exhibits the ambition of a human being and the cunning of a feline fox in a chicken pen, scrapes together wealth and status but is eventually abandoned by everyone and left with nothing.  Thakeray is clearly saying, "they each got what they deserved, though the world treated them unfairly." The residual feelings I had after the end, in which I felt pretty much no sympathy for poor Becky Sharp, convince me that the cynical Thakeray has a ethical agenda in mind.

Overall, the work was worth a study. There were a wealth of social terms that only a Thakeray's contemporaries could begin to interpret, and which made the reading more tedious than necessary at times, but the thought process of the author was easy to follow and offered many foods for thought: do people really look at wealth and social status when they are searching for friends to make? For potential spouses? If so, do the personal qualities of a person not matter in the face of these materialistic values? How much obligation should be placed on family members who find their relatives have been deprived of their money and their reputation? What is true love, a diligent sacrifice or a useless devotion?

Such questions, and a whole lot more, can be found among the stalls of the vanity fair.

Wrong Worship lyrics

I was watching this video about ways NOT to worship the Lord...http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=KKWK67NX

It was not only really funny, but it rang true with a lot of things that happen during worship time both with me and the people around me. When we sing praises to God, there is one question these singers are asking us:

Do we mean what we sing?

Do we really exalt God above all else?

Do we really know how much we need a savior?

Are we truly singing with all our hearts, minds, souls, and bodily strengths when we worship? Are we giving it our all?

The answer, tragically, is often 'no.' It is so very easy to slip into a mode of worship where you're singing the song but the words aren't entering your head. You find yourself thinking about the Sunday baseball game, or about that project that's due the next day at school. There are chores to finish, people to see, and before you know it, your Sunday service's 20 minutes of worship are up. Now all you need to do is daydream while sitting through a sermon.

With this kind of attitude, it is no wonder that our generation is in great need of revival. We must be reminded of what worship is. Why we do it. How we should do it, as Jesus Himself instructs us:

"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24, NASB)

As I read these lyrics (and perhaps look up the real lyrics to those songs), I got a clear picture of what I should NOT be doing during worship. Such distracted, self-centered, uncaring hearts will never please the Lord.

I couldn't really find complete lyrics for this song (maybe I just didn't look hard enough) so I compiled this together based on what I heard on the video. I know this post doesn't fit the overall theme of my blog, but I still wanted to share it with everyone. Hopefully, a quick look at these words might inspire everyone to contemplate what it means to worship "in spirit and in truth."

Lyrics to Wrong Worship

I will sing of your love on Sundays

Only sing of your love on Sundays

I will sing of your love on Sundays

Then this feeling is gone by Monday

I surrender some

I surrender some

Jesus I will give you little

I surrender

I stand amazed at my hairdo

My stylist outdid herself

I lift my hands and see my nails

They match my eyes oh so well

How great is this song

Sing with me

How great is this song

Man I love to sing

To sing this song

Savior I don’t need a savior

I’m busy living my life

Busy living my life

Christmas go to church on Christmas

And maybe Easter too

So my faith is renewed

I’ve sung this song for years

It’s now a standard here

But I still sing it

Though I don’t mean it

And I just go

Go through the motions

(hallelujah)

(lift up your hands)

And I fake the emotions

I exalt me

I exalt me

I exalt me

Only me

(praise me)

(yeah)

(hallelujah)

(someone stop that baby from crying right now)

(I’m all ready for lunch)

(some dated preaching)

(when will he stop preaching)

(let’s go to lunch)

(oh I love this brand new dress)

(go ahead, give them applause, they’ll shut up all right)

The Screwtape Letters

The Screwtape Letters

by C.S. Lewis

CREEPY.

And deliciously heinous.

Personally, I liked C.S. Lewis' use of voice and rhetoric in this little book than I did in all seven of the Chronicles of Narnia; at least in my mind, this work is a much greater triumph for Lewis as both a writer and a Christian. Not only does he capture the very core of the struggles of Christians everywhere, he does so in a way that the reader can understand and instantly empathize with.

The entire book is a series of letters written by a certain Screwtape, who is, so to speak, a senior demon instructing his nephew Wormwood on how best to capture a human soul and drag it down to hell. The imagery in this simpl summary might sound a bit graphic, and perhaps even blasphemous, but C.S. Lewis reveals the ultimate art of overcoming Satan--by knowing exactly what to expect of those little red-horned critters.

The human being tempted by Wormwood is an ordinary man, whose weak faith and fragile relationship with his mother provide a delicious amount of morsels for the two devils to devour. But of course, we also see that throughout the story God is there (dubbed "the Enemy" in Screwtape's language), constantly fending off the devil's temptations and calling the human's soul back to the light. As the story progresses, Screwtape begins to feel more and more frustrated with the repeated failures of this incompetent Wormwood, and finally consumes the junior devil in the last chapter as punishment for letting the human soul enter into eternal life in heaven.

C.S. Lewis captures the viewpoint of the devil beautifully, so much so that many times as I read this book I had to remind myself that this was not actually the devil himself writing it, but merely a man's imagination. And there are a wealth of lessons to be learned in the letters of Screwtape, about anything from silly temptations to boredom and apathy in life, all the way to love relationships and church membership. The author starts off each letter by describing how the devil would go about making the man go astray, and then he offers a simply way to avoid it or thwart such efforts: "The humans will not be able to see that to avoid doing such and such they only need to do this" or "You may wonder how the humans may fail to realize to simply a solution to their problems. Trust me, my dear Wormwood, they will never find it."

Something along those lines.

In every paragraph, the hatred and contempt the devil holds for humans is made obvious, almost as much as his hatred and fear of the Lord Almighty. We can see the powerlessness of the devil in the face of God's light, and that, more than anything, is the thing about this book that makes it so edifying and encouraging to struggling Christians.

Even if you're not a Christian, this book is worth a read; one of my favorite parts was when Screwtape discussed some devils who were even more powerful than himself: he described them as beings "much lower down in the Lowerarchy."

Isn't that so creative? Doesn't that just capture the spiritual world and lay it down before the reader's eyes?

An absolutely delightful and unforgettable book.

The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling

The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling

by Henry Fielding

This remains forevermore one of the books that took me the longest time to read. 

On and off, on and off, I probably picked this book up more times than I actually opened it to read the words inside.

I'm still not sure why I stalled so much in getting to the final chapter; all I can say is that I started this book nearly 2 years ago, let it down for a year or so, then picked it up again from the beginning all over and finally finished it last week.

It wasn't that the book wasn't good; on the contrary, the book had everything that a novel needs to fit the equation of a well-written work: solid narration, a diversity of characters, a simple story that speaks to mankind, drama, love, and a satisfying amount of humor from the author himself. But I didn't get into it. Not at all, at least until the plot really started unwinding down the road (past the first half of the book). 

Maybe it was the unapproachable thickness of the book that made me afraid to pick it back up once I put it down...I am still an early high schooler after all. With my attention span being wittled away by 30-second TV commercials and online Facebook posts, small wonder I can't hold on to a book for more than a few hours at the most.

Anyway, the author tells the story of the life of a certain Tom Jones, who was found as a baby in the room of an esteemed esquire called Allsworthy. Although the origins of the baby remains a mystery, the good man decides to take in Tom Jones as his own son, and the boy lives a happy life until he reaches adulthood. Then comes the trouble--He falls in love with a girl named Sophia Western who lives next door.  But of course, like all dramatic novels, both families don't approve of the marriage on the grounds of his unclear history (basically, the argument stands that the circumstances of his birth leave a bit to be desired). This, coupled with some clever accusations from Allsworthy's nephew, Tom Jones is kicked out of the house. Most of the book consists of his adventures on his way to, and at, London, his various heroisms and misdeeds (for indeed, Tom Jones is far from perfect), and ends with a surprising twist and a happily ever after.

I simply loved the author's personal voice in this story; although Fielding keeps a strictly 3rd-person position, he doesn't hesitate to address 'the reader' directly. He gives voice to his own opinions about the situation, often insisting that his job as a 'historian' compels him to write only the truth of what really happened. It seems a good way to avoid criticism, as well as a nice narrative tool to throw sarcastic comments without discrediting the events in themselves.

"Yo, reader! I know you're thinking this is a really touching scene between Boy A and Girl B, but let me interrupt that for a second to remind you that romance is overrated." 

Moments like these bring me great joy as the reader. Cheesy scenes become interesting, and classic moments become hilarious.

I might have a bit of a complaint about the characters. Tom Jones seems way too loose with the women he meets along the way for me to be convinced that his heart is fully set on Sophia. Yes, I can deal with a main character's imperfections, but perhaps the author took them a tad bit too far? Or maybe it's the times in which this book was written? Perhaps it was considered OK, even proper, for a man to have experience with more than a few women. 

I don't know, maybe it's supposed to show character or some crap.

But that blatant about-face from undying love for Sophia to any other beauty that crosses his path...it doesn't sit well with a female reader like me. Plus, he's a bit generic for the most part. Not very memorable at all. The circumstances surrounding him intrigue me, not the man himself. What do I think of him as a whole? A paper-cut male figure who has made the cover of a pretty good plot. It feels like I'm watching a bad actor act out himself.

 Also, I would like to question the perfection of Sophia herself, who despite knowing of Tom's unfaithfulness, still chooses to forgive and love him without that much of a fight. Sure, she avoids him and pretends to be mad at him, but it feels pretty obvious to the reader that her love for him hasn't cooled down one bit. She's pretty much a sure-fire win, and it almost feels like she's being made into some sort of prize. A not very hard-to-get Princess Peach, of sorts. And I never did appreciate that pink Nintendo princess' characterization very much.

But putting those little details aside, a fine piece of work overall. It might seem a bit hard to get into in the beginning, but once you get used to the author's use of extended metaphors and narrative fun, there really is no novel quite like this one. I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking for an old-fashioned style that doesn't put you to sleep. 

Well, scratch that. I think I did fall asleep reading this once. 

But the plot is pretty good, and the narrative voice receives all my love! Take a look before dismissing it as a classic Romeo and Juliet rip-off.

Captain Blood

Captain Blood

by Rafael Sabatini

A stereotypically romantic adventure plot with a dashing main character and a fast-paced action sequence, as all pirate-themed books tend to be. Although it was, as I said, stereotypical, I found a heavy satisfaction from reading it precisely because it was such a classic book. These days many author like to differ from the ordinary, exploring controversial and never-before-seen kinds of ideas in an effort to escape the 'norm.' I feel that this kind of defiance against 'ordinary' novels has actually made ordinary novels obscure, making it quite an arduous task to find a book that is composed of all the elements that define a classic novel.

I myself am not objected to such books as Ayn Rynd and Dostoevsky that try to explore society and the inner mind and all that...but really, what have people got against good adventure books such as Captain Blood? I found it refreshing to watch as Peter Blood outwitted and defeated his enemies, both by strength and by wit, without one of those strange plot twists that almost certainly spell an end for all main characters under the pen of some cynical author. Here in this short novel, I found an author willling to let his character win everything: the girl of his dreams, the life that he wanted, and the humiliation and defeat of his enemies as an added bonus.

Hooray for successful heroes!

They are in short supply these days.

The only thing that dampened my pleasure was the incredulity of Peter Blood's character. I mean, he's too perfect! Not only is he a gentleman and a confident leader, he also sports an excellent command of French, English, Spanish, the practice of medicine, and an unmatched prowess in naval battles out at sea. On top of that, he's also a formidable fighter with the rapier and displays an excellent sense of fashion.

Really, this guy is just asking to be made the pirate captain of the Caribbean seas. He probably outshines even Jack Sparrow in terms of ability alone (except for the fact that nobody can own Jack Sparrow. Jack Sparrow caps his own piratical talents with an awesome personality). That's how suited Peter Blood is for his role in the book. I felt that Sabatini strained his authority a bit here as the supreme maker --no man can be that amazingly gifted at a job they are simply thrust into by a course of uncontrollable events. Sabatini defined Blood to be so, but it has a touch of unreality to it that made me unable to completely fall into the world of Captain Blood.

But while that factor persists throughout the book, I still can't deny that I enjoyed reading it. A short, sweet read that leaves the reader confident in a happy ending and Blood's own capabilities to produce that end, Captain Blood provides an adventurous tale fit to describe a pirate's stormy life.