As One Devil to Another Review
[image error]AS ONE DEVIL TO ANOTHER
Giveaway Rules: For a free copy of this book please see the end of the review
About the Book: Did you ever read a book before going to bed, it gets a bit dull, and just about the time you set it down you get a quote so good you have to keep reading? And then you are about to put it down, and then comes another quote… Those are lousy bed-time books. This is one of those books. Some of my favorite quotes I put in a bit later.
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite books, and is written as if one demon is writing letters to another. As One Devil to Another takes off on that idea, and Richard Platt does a terrific job following in the large footsteps of Lewis. Where others have tried to follow Lewis and failed, Platt succeeds.
Do I still like Screwtape Letters better? Sure, it was demonically refreshing. But this is still fiendishly good.
One Devil tells the story of two demons through a series of letters from Scardagger to Slashreap. Scardagger is the mentor and uncle of Stardagger who is struggling to corrupt his first human.
MY REVIEW: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
The Good
I read a lot of books, but this is my favorite so far in 2012. Here is a taste of the style as Slashreap the demon writes his nephew Scardagger about…
· Giving: “The more we can encourage them to consume, the fewer resources they will have to help their neighbors. Excess… lends itself to the Hellward Spiral, as greater consumption fosters the illusion of scarcity, and thus competition.” P. 11
· Discipleship: “As that bothersome servant of His, G.K. Chesterton, observed, the Adversary’s instructions have not been tried and found wanting; they have been found difficult and not tried.” (Darn, lost the page number. But it’s in there, trust me.)
· God and Humans: “… in their current state of existence they could no more endure His presence that we can. They could no more face Him in His true form and withhold their adoration than they could face a hurricane and choose not to be swept away. Their will only has value to Him—and to them—if they let go to Him freely.” P.132
· Fun quote: “Unfortunately, the scientist is also a man who can think, and who uses his brain rather than his glands for this purpose. This is never a good thing.” P.151
· Arrogance: “Arrogance gladdens His Majesty’s dark heart most of all, as it is the Virtue most closely associated with Himself. It is the habit of mind which causes a client to set himself up as a judge. It causes the wealthy man to pronounce the poor ‘lazy,’ the scholar to pronounce those less gifted ‘stupid,’ and every client to pronounce those with different weaknesses and greater crosses to bear than his own as ‘weak’ or ‘inferior.’ It is the complete demonic state of mind.” P. 13
The Bad
Someone else wrote, “The overall tone of the book was formal and somewhat pretentious.” That’s true. It’s my assumption it’s written in the same style as classical literature, more C.S. Lewis style, which does make it slightly harder to read.
For me, it made it hard to get into the book at the beginning. I kept wondering, “What is Platt trying to prove? You have a large vocabulary, I get it. Now get on with it!” But then, it changed.
Or I changed, I don’t know which. Somehow either he started writing where it was easier to read, or I acclimated, or a mix of both. Whatever happened I’ve one bit of advice.
DON’T GIVE UP! Keep reading and you will love it. And for Platt this advice: Write normal from the beginning next time. Thanks.
The Ugly
The guys in the demonical illustrations were wonderfully ugly. I noticed that although there are uncles and nephew demons, there were no female demons. Drawing them might have been a challenge. Just sayin…
Other than the content matter, the drawings, and seeing myself drawn into the demons traps, there was nothing ugly about the book. The book is terrific. The content was brutally ugly in order to be accurate.
I recommend this book, and may even give you a copy! However you should know…
I received a free copy of this book (value $15.00) from Tyndale publishers in exchange for my honest review (invaluable).
GIVEAWAY RULES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There will be 1 winner
This Giveaway is Open to the US ONLY (sorry Canadian friends!)
Winner will be selected by DanielCooley.com
A Tyndale House Publishers Free Product Award Certificate will be given to the winner to exchange for a copy of this book (you can bring it to your local bookstore).
Giveaway Ends May 5th.
Mandatory: Leave a comment about the review on DanielCooley.com – click on blog. Leaving a helpful comment relating to this book would be appreciated and valid to the giveaway.
