This evening on our way home we finished The Last Battle. All of us enjoyed the story. There was plenty to talk about and enjoy, par...moreOwn.
This evening on our way home we finished The Last Battle. All of us enjoyed the story. There was plenty to talk about and enjoy, particularly the ways people try to make God into "Tashlan." It was pleasant to meet old friends here, too.
Unfortunately, we didn't love Patrick Stewart as the reader. His voices were more grating than one would expect. I'd never read any of Narnia except for The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. In some ways, I'm glad of that because I really enjoyed the stories. In other ways, I'm glad my children are hearing them with us.
Overall, this boxed set was well done and we enjoyed all but one of the readers (the one we would expect most to enjoy, Patrick Stewart). The quality and completeness of Lewis' vision of Narnia was a joy to behold.(less)
Gaines has written a beautiful book exploring the transition of generations during the Enlightenment. The writing itself draws the read...moreOwn.
Gaines has written a beautiful book exploring the transition of generations during the Enlightenment. The writing itself draws the reader in, is lucid, and develops its structure beautifully. The story is that of a clash of titans who's thinking is at polar extremes. The thinking has been bred through the generational and personal history of each man.
Frederick the Great is shown in his complexities; his duality is explored in depth. His love and his hatred of his father. His complete focus on music, poetry, philosophy, and all things French. Or his complete focus on war and militarism. These lives stand in stark contrast.
Gaines shows that sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same. Frederick the Great and CPE Bach eventually come to be like the parent they had such mixed emotions about. A cautionary tale for parents and children.
But the real beauty here is Gaines' love for Bach: for his music and his respect, at least, for his faith. Bach is the sympathetic character of the piece, and although Gaines shows him in his imperfections at times, his strength of character and genius are thoroughly reveled in. Bach's love, character, and genius are all directly related (at least by Bach himself) to his love of God and His glory.
As a non-reader of music and one not as conversant as I'd like to be in musical language, there were places where Gaines was explaining music and what was going on that were just difficult to read. But the sense of what he explained came through nicely. I did not stop to listen (I had to keep reading despite the entreaties to stop!) but I plan on going back and listening to as much as I can using this book as a guide.
Gaines tells us a glossy overview of that night in Frederick's palace, then delves into the history of the two men, beginning with their ancestry. He shows how Prussia was brought together, how it became a "Kingdom," how authority was held by Frederick's line. He shows how Bach's family had, for generations, been musicians and writers of music.
He leads us through Frederick's and Bach's biographies. The device he uses is alternating chapters, and I don't see how he could have done otherwise. He was able to keep the reader in both story lines simultaneously so that the conclusion where he goes more in-depth into that Evening in the Palace of Reason is explored and can be both felt and understood (sensus and ratio?) by the reader.
The final chapter helps the reader see what happens in the world since the time of Bach and Frederick the Great ... and their influence (or supposed influence) upon it.
I can't recommend this book enough. I received it on Sunday and read ravenously to finish it (at 2 a.m. this morning!) The period, the thinking, the influences on today all resonate. The idea of clash between generations is as pronounced today as then, and we can use it as an instructive on education, parenting, discourse, and, for the Christian, encouragement in the faith.
A couple of negatives (if you've gotten this far), I wish the layout had included a timeline and family trees for the main characters. A glossary of minor players would have been helpful as well. The map in the front is so strange. Everything to the south and the east is approximately useless information, and Prussia and Poland (which would have been helpful) are barely included.
I plan on adding quotes from on my blog which I'll link here.(less)
This was surprisingly helpful. I was thinking it might have a few ideas worth skimming through, but really I found a lot of good id...moreLibrary.
This was surprisingly helpful. I was thinking it might have a few ideas worth skimming through, but really I found a lot of good ideas and reminders.
It doesn't hurt that she is supportive of, and willing to learn from homeschoolers. Ruben regularly recommends homeschooling resources from the Well Trained Mind to their forums. She has good reminders and suggestions on how to use technology, how to engage your student, ways to encourage, and engage your children.
The book might be worth reading for her checklists to read through for essays and math homework.
It isn't one I'd own, but I appreciated what she had to say, as tutoring being truly parenting, not just the responsibility of someone else. Good for re-energizing during the February slump.(less)
This was one of those books that was on the 14 day shelf and looked pretty interesting from the title and cover. It was OK.
I enjoyed the ideas presented. The tracing of words. The connection of food words to two separate linguistic pasts: Germanic and Latin. The comparison between our "public" foods to our "private" foods, what we eat when out and what we eat when home, what is "special" and what is "comfort." The dichotomy in the fledgling Christian religion between the Mediterranean, Greek/Latin words and foods and the Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Celtic people of England. It was most interesting when she tied these ideas to the Reformation and how even food and home culture split from Rome (milk drinking countries, mostly versus the wine drinking south). Sometimes her connections seem a stretch ("Milk" is seen as something for babies by Mediterranean countries and Paul talks about going from milk to meat, yet in the north, milk was consumed by all. Yet she talks about milk as a good thing in the Jewish culture, and Paul was certainly a Jew ... ).
Some of the most interesting discussions in the book were related to food in a "natural" state or process vs. a "nurtured" state. Apples or fruit that was wild vs. grafted and "improved", leeks that were as much a weed as anything vs. leeks and onions the Romans cultivated, milk vs. yogurt or cheeses, meat vs. flesh, and bread vs. loaf vs. panification (which is almost an opposite example, but not.) These discussions of the complete cultural differences between the Roman/Norman cultures and the Anglo-Saxon/Celtic cultures, climate, and attitudes toward food based on them and religion was by far the best part of the book.
The ideas were all pretty good, the writing was where I had problems. Sometimes the author's ideas were redundant and didn't add upon themselves; there were whole paragraphs I'm sure I read more than once on different pages. Sometimes the writing was just a slog to push through. On occasion interesting tangents were begun, then the reader was just sort of left there with no resolution. I could've done with more dates throughout the text (although a timeline was included in the back of the book).
I'm not sorry to have read it, but I can't say I would recommend it except to someone willing to fight through for the ideas.(less)
This book came highly recommended from all sorts of places (Challies, World Mag, and the referrals on the book itself: Ryken, Alcorn, Pa...moreOwn.
This book came highly recommended from all sorts of places (Challies, World Mag, and the referrals on the book itself: Ryken, Alcorn, Packer) and I really wanted to love it. I at least wanted to like it, not feel merely [eh] about it. Who am I to disagree with all those professional writers?
Last year I loved Alan Jacobs' The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction and Marilyn Chandler McEntyre's Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies and I hoped that this would be a nice continuation in that theme.
I was disappointed.
Oh, the book is fine, if a bit technical and dull. In places, I wish he had left out whole chapters because other books do a much better job discussing them. I love the gospel, don't get me wrong, but I get weary with Christian Living books that are written to and for Christians feeling the need to explicate the gospel, and sometimes make it dry and uninteresting. I felt like I trudged through is section on Christian Worldview, which I could see the necessity of, but seemed a bit ponderous.
The chapters following these introductory ideas were at least new material, and often helpful. Unfortunately, they also seemed a bit like extended blog posts. A lot of short points (without bullets) with bolded thesis statements; self-referencing earlier chapters; extended quotes from other authors; and references to a lot of modern books. To be fair, he did have some sections recommending older books.
All this to say, this book did not energize me to read more books. Maybe it helped me to think more Christianly about the books that I read, but I found it to be generally over-hyped and not as good as hoped for. Would I discourage others from reading it? No, but I'd recommend Jacobs or McEntyre much more readily.(less)
Borrowed book from sister. Free download on Kindle.
For the first half of this book I dreaded the picking up. It was so dark and heavy and ...moreBorrowed book from sister. Free download on Kindle.
For the first half of this book I dreaded the picking up. It was so dark and heavy and dreary. I completed the book on Kindle and ended up enjoying it tremendously.
A study in contrasts ... North and South, Man and Gentleman, Man and Woman, masters and "hands", past and present. Margaret Hale's world is turned upside down and inside out, death and difficulties surround her, trouble and conscience confound her, and she learns to be self-possessed and self-controlled. She sins and repents and is forgiven. She learns to live with a world that ever changes even as she seeks that One who is constant.
There are several plot similarities and parallels to Pride and Prejudice, but this book is very different in tone and theme.
I'm glad I have more Gaskell works to explore.(less)
I picked this up at the library book sale and it was just the thing to read after the heavy-reading Lord of the Rings books. A light,...moreOwn.
I picked this up at the library book sale and it was just the thing to read after the heavy-reading Lord of the Rings books. A light, witty, quick read with a happy ending for all involved and not a lot of effort on the reader's part.
I do appreciate Heyer's examination of the theme of independence, Annis is "independent" in many ways, Lucilla and Ninian are under a forced "dependence," Miss Farlow is dependent because of a lack of means, etc. Heyer does a good job of showing how inter-dependent we are despite our circumstances, yet she doesn't hit us over the head with the idea.
Look, I'm not trying to say that Heyer's writing is great literature by any means. As light romances, I appreciate what other reviewers on GoodReads find a negative: the older mores. I enjoy Heyer's writing, though; she often introduces themes to consider in interesting ways, and I find the Regency Period fascinating. However, I've found that one at a time seems the best policy, and will read something else next.(less)
An epic struggle between good and evil; dark and light.
I was interested to compare the books with the movies, and as good as ...moreOwn.
An epic struggle between good and evil; dark and light.
I was interested to compare the books with the movies, and as good as the movies were Tolkien's plot and execution are better.
The Christian themes, actions, thought processes of the characters were on the surface and an encouragement.
Buried low was discussion and example of teaching and mentoring that encouraged my thoughts in several places (noting them would have been smart, but I just wanted to *read*)
I'm glad I didn't really read this seriously until now. (I've read the series before, but don't remember really anything from previous reading). (less)
We read this book aloud and while the children liked it, the parents didn't. Mary Poppins comes and takes control of the Banks family n...moreOwn.
We read this book aloud and while the children liked it, the parents didn't. Mary Poppins comes and takes control of the Banks family nursery and the story follows their adventures.
We'll try to borrow the movie from the library some time. It's good to be finished before the start of a new year.(less)
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