by Harriet Beecher Stowe

c. before 1850

This is the classic work that everyone has heard about and thinks of when slavery is mentioned. But, as Christopher Paul Curtis says in the forward, it is not what most of us think unless we have read it recently.

Uncle Tom is a slave living on the Shelby farm in Kentucky. He has a wife, Aunt Chloe, and three children. Every night the Master’s son George goes to the cabin and reads the Bible to the slaves who assemble there. It’s not that Uncle Tom can’t read because he can–he just doesn’t do it as well as George.

Unfortunately, George’s father has met with some financial disasters and must sell something or risk losing everything. Thus Tom is sold because he will bring the most money. Along with Tom, the slave trader demands the sale of young Harry, a four-year-old boy. Tom goes quietly with the slave trader but Harry’s mother has buried two babies and her husband is escaping his oppressive master and making a run for Canada. She cannot bear to part with Harry and so, despite her good life at the Shelby place, she takes young Harry and makes a run for Canada herself. She is pursued by the slave trader who is hampered by her fellow slaves. She is then helped along by a legislator who just voted for a law to return escaped slaves found in his state, a group of Quakers, and others. She is reunited with her husband who is traveling along the same route.

Meanwhile, Tom is sold to an indulgent New Orleans master whose young daughter wants to rescue him. He is immediately put in charge of the horses and finds himself in a life of leisure. He has a good life and perhaps a better life here but he misses his family. Here is where most of the story takes place. Here is where we meet Old Prue who is depressed and distressed and has become an alcoholic. Here we meet Topsy who has no parents and no birthdate and no known age. No one has ever loved her or wanted her. We also meet the white slave owners who are good to their slaves and others who are not. We are introduced to the idea of a professional flogging where slave owners can have their slaves flogged for disobedience.

Through all of this, Tom keeps his faith in God’s protection over him. He delights in sharing his faith and God’s love with his Master and with his fellow slaves.

By and by, Tom’s master’s daughter dies and then, shortly thereafter, the master who has started proceedings to give Tom his freedom is killed defending another. The master’s wife is not inclined to give anyone freedom and sells Tom. Here is where Tom is bought by a hateful master–Legree. Legree is an atheist and proud of it. He intendes Tom to be an overseer but first, he must break Tom of his faith. Here, Tom is beaten but here Tom finds his faith strengthened by the beating of Christ before He went to the cross.

Tom remains true to his faith till death comes for him just as young George Shelby finds him with the intention of buying him back. It is a sad day for George and those back in Kentucky but Tom insists that he is Home Bound for Glory.

All-in-all, this is a very Christian book. The story is just as relevant today as it was when it was written. True there are words in the book that will be offensive to many. And, unless you were raised with the Southern vernacular, there are many passages of conversation that will be hard to impossible to read. With that in mind, I would have to say that it is not for everyone but it is for most of us.

The saddest part of the book, for me, was not that Uncle Tom died at the end but that so much of what was believed about the African slaves in the 1800′s has now become true for too many of all colors. Too many people today are not concerned with getting their children back when they are taken by social services. Too many men and women are perfectly content with finding another mate when the one they had is even temporarily unavailable. Society has created over time the loss of its own morality and this work helps us see just how far we have fallen.

Good reading.

by John Hagee

c. 2006

I found this book at the used bookstore in town and bought it simply because it was referenced in a book I previously reviewed–Racing Toward Armageddon.

This is an interesting, Biblical look at how the fight over Jerusalem is moving the world toward the final battle which is, indeed, Armageddon. It is not, however, a pushing force in moving the world in that direction. In fact, it would be a voice attempting to slow the progression in that direction.

Hagee insists that the Muslims and Jews are fighting over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in a dangerous game. Both want all of Jerusalem and are playing their advantages in that most of the world either agrees with them or doesn’t understand what the problem is. The problem is, in a nutshell, there will be no peace in the world until Christ comes again but neither side will acknowledge that. Both the Muslims and the Jews are looking for a Messiah but neither of them believe Jesus Christ to be either the Son of God or the Messiah they are looking for.

Meanwhile, much of the rest of the world believes that peace is achieveable if both sides will just compromise a bit more. It won’t happen because neither side is willing or able to give up. The Muslims won’t give up until Israel is GONE and the Jews can’t give up because if they do, the world will end. It is, therefore, up to the Christians to make sure that the right thing is done.

There are a few problems with the book, however. One of them is in Hagee’s reciting of a conversation with a “source.” Not identifying a source may be a safeguard but, honestly, the conversation recited is just too strange to be believable without a name attached to it. It sounds contrived and “canned.” It would have been better to have left the whole thing out, in my opinon.

It is a good book and well worth reading. My copy is used and had been marked by the previous owner which made certain things stand out that maybe shouldn’t have to me. But that may just have been me. Easy to read and understand. Scriptures are printed in the text so there is no need to carry a Bible along with you while you read.

by Stanley J. Grenz

c. 1998

A book about Biblical homosexuality. What does the Bible actually have to say on the matter and how does it reflect the social mores of the time in which the writers (Moses and Paul, primarily) lived.

A deep book on a subject that causes more than a little unrest in this country and has been the cause for an entire region of the American Baptist Churches/USA to remove itself from ABC/USA. It’s a political issue and a moral issue that has plagued mankind for centuries but has come to the forefront in the last decade in our churches, courtrooms and election booths.

Grenz looks deeply into the historical and Biblical ideas on this matter and comes up with the only solution he can (in spite of what many on both sides will tell you). He welcomes all people as sinners but sinners who are continuing in their sin need repentance–not position in the church.

This is a great place for discussion and learning BUT this work contains material that is NOT suitable for young or immature readers. Which is not to say that it is vulgar but there are things which must be discussed in a complete work on the subject which may present more information than can be understood by some readers.

Grenz presents all sides of the arguments in an easy to read manner. He uses scripture only to dispute and back up his case. If you need material for the argument, this is a good place to find it.

by Edith Wharton

c. 1920

Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. My high school reads her Ethan Frome in Junior English but somehow this one seems more appropriate. It is longer, however but it is set in a more modern America–the 1870′s–and considers conformity to society’s norms.

Newland Archer is blissfully in love with his soon-to-be fiancee May Welland until her cousin Ellen comes to town. Ellen is estranged from her husband, a French count, and has come home to New York to be part of her family again. But she’s been in Europe too long or she was always too much of a free-spirit (her coming out dress was black) or something. She spends time with “those people” and entertains “people who write.”

Archer finds himself drawn somehow to Ellen. Oh, he is still blissfully happy when he is with May but there is just something about Ellen that he cannot resist and he finds himself making excuses to be where she is….

A book about Society. A book about conforming to norms. A book about commitments and what they used to mean. Well worth reading and re-reading.

No language or situations that would be embarrassing but there are thoughts that all of us should think and ponder. Unfortunately, church is simply superficial and there are few references to God and none to salvation but that very well may have been the true nature of the time.

Definitely worth being a Classic Work.

by Michael Baigent

c. 2009

Possibly more of a well-researched opinion than actual fact though there are a lot of facts backing up much of what he has written.

This is actually an indictment of fundamentalists world-wide from Ultra Orthodox Jews to Fundamentalist Christians to radical Muslims. Along the way, Baigent indicts homeschooling and extremes. He bashes all three religions but not necessarily equally. He spends considerably more time trying to poke holes in the faith of Christians than he does Jews and Muslims though he obviously has little or no use for their faith either.

All-in-all, however, this is a revealing book. Baigent does understand and present that radicalism leads to destruction. He starts with the Jews burning desire to destroy the Mosque of Oman in Jerusalem. He points out certain Christians who are trying to help them by breeding the needed red heifer for the purification of the Temple site. On the other hand, Muslims want to wipe out all the Jews and believe that Jesus (yes, the Christian Messiah, Jesus) will help.

I don’t agree with everything in the book but I do find it frightening that there are Christians who want to hasten the day by condemning the world just so they can make it to heaven. As I read the Bible, Jesus died for everyone. He never intended the Crusades to occur. He never intended for Christians to “write off” Muslims or any other group. He never intended that we “convert at the point of the sword” or that we cheer the wiping out of non-believers. According to Baigent, there are those Christians who believe exactly that. Also Muslims and Jews.

Baigent doesn’t believe in Revelation. He believes it was a story John wrote and was never intended to be a reality. He believes it was a wish and a prayer but not reality. However, he does bring out some interesting and frightening points. Well worth reading but not necessarily by everyone.

by Christian G. Appy

c. 2003

If you only read one book on the Vietnam War in your entire life, this should be the one you read.

Christian Appy literally interviewed people from every side of the war in the writing of this book and then printed many of those interviews exactly as the interviewed told him their story. He interviewed soldiers from the U.S. and from Vietnam. He interviewed protesters, generals, recruits, villagers, children, and draftees. He interviewed those held in prison camps and parents who have never recovered their sons.

This work is powerful and gives a new light to a bad time in two countries. It’s extremely hard to read–especially for someone who was raised that the U.S. cause was just. The problem is, in reality, it wasn’t the U.S. that had a cause. The cause was for France, a country that was primarily non-existent on the ground. The cause was for the people of Vietnam but very few of them, on either side, had any say at all.

This starts before the war and continues after the war ended. It’s long and can be very disturbing. Language and violence of all kids abounds–after all, this is about a war. It will challenge everything you ever heard about the Vietnam War–unless, of course, you were there.

Starring Margret

c. 2010

This is a movie about autism. It’s a movie about communication. It’s a movie about communication in autism.

Margret is a mother with a non-verbal autistic son in Iceland. She goes on a journey to find out all she can about autism. She meets Temple Grandin, an autistic person with a Ph.D., a mother with 3 autistic sons of varying degree, and Soma Mukhopadhyay who developed the rapid prompting method of written communication. And in the end, Margret not only helped her son, she also helps others.

This movie is well worth watching. I shared it with a Speech and Drama teacher as well as a psychology/sociology teacher and both were impressed by it. It has a message for all people but it’s not what autism is–it’s how to communicate with autistic persons and that each is different.

Thin

Starring Shelly Guillory, Alisa Williams and Polly Williams

c. 2006

Thin is a story as it happens. Thin takes place in a women’s eating disorder center in Florida and follows four young women with anorexia for the duration of Shelly’s stay. It begins with Shelly’s admission and we soon meet Polly and a young teen. Shortly after Shelly’s admission, Alisa is admitted as well.

Thin shows the process of trying to convince women with anorexia that it’s not only okay to eat but vital to eat. It shows us the obsession that these women have with food and being thin. It shows how they are convinced that they are fat even when they are literally skin and bones. Thin gets into their heads and shows us what actually want and how desperate they are to get there. As my 18-year-old son said after watching it–”you can hear about it and read about it all you want, but once you see it, that’s something else.” This film lets you see what it’s like to want to starve yourself to thin “even if it means dying to get there.”

A few warnings: There is foul language in this film. These women are literally at their wits ends more days than not. It is not a sanitized film. There is a surgery scene in the movie when Shelly has her stomach tube removed. It is graphic as we actually go inside Shelly’s stomach during the proceedure. There is smoking in the film. Since there are early morning weigh-ins and a tattoo scene that may offend some viewers. They are necessary to the storyline.

Even with the warnings–this movie is worth watching.

by Michael P. Spradlin

c. 2010

Once again Tristan wakes up in an unknown place without his friends. And once again he finds them again. This third book is the most heartbreaking as Tristan travels through England to St Alban’s where he discovers that Sir Hugh has burned the sweet monestary to the ground and murdered the gentle monks. Only because of the company of his friends Robard, the king’s archer of Sherwood Forest and Maryam, an Arab assassin, is he able to cope with his growing task. And the finding of his deaf/mute “parent” monk, Brother Tuck.

The four decide to move on to Sherwood Forest along with the former Dover blacksmith, John Little who prefers to go by the moniker Little John. They fight their way out of Dover, skirt the towns till they get to Sherwood where Tristan discovers Robard was not as poor as he pretended. Robard’s father has been killed by the Shire Reeve of Nottingham in Robard’s absence and Will Scarlett and his Merry Men have started robbing the various travelers to pay the taxes. Robard ends up in jail from which Tristan and Maryam have to rescue him then they take up the final leg of the journey to Scotland.

Yes, there are definite references to Robin Hood in this trilogy. After all, Robard’s full name is Robard Hode of Sherwood Forest. And, yes, he is that good with a bow and arrows. And, yes, Maryam likes him. All the Merry Men are there and much of the excitement while the trio are in Sherwood Forest.

They do have a final task, however, which is to deliver the Grail to Scotland. And, yes, they do. And, yes, Sir Hugh is back. And, yes, Tristan finds out who he really is. But if you want to know how, you’ll have to read the work(s) yourself. I’m not spilling the beans.

Wonderfully written with very few Robin Hood groans, actually. Worth spending the time to read all three.

by Michael P. Spradlin

c. 2009

The second book in the trilogy of Tristan of St Alban’s and the Holy Grail.

In this book, Tristan awakes washed up on shore after his questionable boat is shipwrecked in a storm. With no sign of his friends, he is found by Celia and her band returning from a meeting with a bishop. Over time, Tristan comes to find out that she is a Cathar, once a princess but now an enemy of the pope and stripped of her lands. She and her people hide as well as possible and have a fortress at Monseigur where she is headed. Not knowing where his traveling companions are, Tristan tags along.

It’s not long before he is found by Robard, a king’s archer of Sherwood Forest and Maryam, an Arab assassin along with their dog whom they finally name Angel. They start out together, then Robard decides to go home to England while Maryam and Tristan aid Celia. Then they all split up to go their seperate ways only to find that Sir Hugh who is after Tristan and the Grail has murdered some of Celia’s company. They then re-unite and travel to Montseigur to aid the Cathars in their fight for freedom and freedom of religion.

In the end, Tristan feels he has to move on to Scotland with the Grail both for his safety, the Grail’s safety and the safety of the Cathar people. He slips away by night only to encounter Eleanor of Aquataine and learn that she, too, knows his true identity though he does not. It’s a race for the Grail and to find out who this mysterious orphan really is. Also a cliffhanger of an ending.

Well written. I had to have the last book so I ordered it on inter-library loan. Not much language though there are situations of a violent nature but such was the time in which the Crusades took place. A wonderful book but the reader will need the last one nearby to finish the story.