Bookish, Tranquil, and Wise

An Exercise in Hope Remembered and Remembering

Bookish, Tranquil, and Wise

Interrogate the writings of the wise.. asking them to tell you how you can get through your life in a peaceable, tranquil way.

— Horace, Epistles

It is not often that you get to discuss books you love with an author you admire.

But that is precisely what I got to do in this episode. Dr. Alan Jacobs is what I want to be when I grow up: a distinguished professor of Humanities who pens insightful books with delicious prose in his spare time. Contributing regularly to places like The Atlantic and First Things, Dr Jacobs has revived the tradition of the Christian intellectual, helping people draw the lines between theology, philosophy, and literature, with what’s happening in the world today.

A few weeks ago, I poured a cup of tea and Skyped Dr Jacobs to talk about his new book Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a More Tranquil Mind. He jokingly refers to it as a “self-help book”, which gives readers one tool for navigating the tumultuous and shallow waves of public discourse: reading old books. Dr Jacobs is concerned about the way that social media steals our tranquility and robs us of the ability to grasp the complexity of issues which purport to be solved in the swift and retributive justice of trending hashtags. He compares the exhaustion generated by this mode of living to Paul’s admonition that Christians not be “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). Allowing ourselves to be counselled by old books helps us develop a complex view of the world and gives us peace as we gain a historic perspective on the long struggle to act justly and live well.

Talking with Dr Jacobs was an edifying delight. My favourite part? Near the end, I got to ask his thoughts about my most recent literary obsession: Susanna Clarke’s new novel Piranesi (which I seem incapable of pronouncing correctly!). This conversation was as cozy and intellectually stimulating as a strong cup of Yorkshire gold. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Today’s Conversation Partner…Alan Jacobs

Dr. Alan Jacobs is Distinguished Professor of the Humanities in the Honors Program at Baylor University. He began teaching at Baylor in 2013 and is a Resident Fellow of Baylor’s Institute for the Studies of Religion. Prior to his time at Baylor, Dr. Jacobs taught at Wheaton College in Illinois for twenty-nine years. He earned a B.A. from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. Dr. Jacobs is the author of many books including, most recently, How To Think and The Year of Our Lord 1943. His next book is called Breaking Bread with the Dead: The Case for Temporal Bandwidth (Penguin Press). More information about his research interests and his (Joy inserts: delightful and edifying!) writing may be found at his website.