February Book Bracket
I read almost as many books this month as last month, with the help of some snow days and a few shorter works.
The Ordinary Princess, by M. M. Kaye
Princess Amy is gifted with ordinariness by a fairy at her christening, which eventually leads to her abandoning a sumptuous castle life and making her way as a kitchen maid in a neighboring kingdom.
Why I picked it up: I was in the mood for something light and quick in the midst of more serious reads for classes. My second time reading this book, I worked through almost the entire thing one evening after a tough work day.
My impressions: This is a fantastic book and it was just what I needed at the time when I picked it up. Scarcely more than a hundred pages, the book follows a straightforward plot and concludes in a most happy and appropriate manner. The lack of a major problem bigger than her needing to make money to buy a new dress means this book could never become a major musical or motion picture without some serious plot changes (not that I was thinking of that...), but the work flips fairy tale tropes delightfully on their heads without mean-spiritedness. The book includes delightful illustrations by the author and a subtle and scrumptious sense of humor. I could go on naming the merits of this book, but I'll finish by saying I think lots and lots of people, young and old, would love this book. Maybe not so much boys or men, but definitely anyone who loves a good fairy tale about princesses should try this book at least once.
Father Elijah, by Michael D. O'Brien*
A monk is called summoned to Rome during what is suspected to be the end times to combat the evil powers at work through a powerful, charismatic politician who is suspected to be the Antichrist.
Why I picked it up: One of my friends had a delightful idea. Her brother has a friend and they choose a book to read and discuss each month. When she approached me to see if I was interested in the idea, I gave a resounding "Yes!" and then proceeded to hamper the decision as to which book to read because of my waffling between lots of different titles. She ultimately decided on this one. A completely different friend had mentioned that they liked this book a few years ago as well.
My impressions: "Intense" is a term I overuse, but it does honestly apply to this story. I was into the book from chapter one and at times felt like I should probably step away from it for a little bit (which I failed to do well). I occasionally felt that this was basically a spy story, but with holy Catholics as the secret agents; the stakes couldn't possibly be higher, with the eternal salvation of billions of souls hanging in the balance. There were definitely some creepy moments in the book - but that's not unexpected, considering the book is inundated with references to the biblical Book of Revelation and the crux of the problem involves the devil's forces at work in the world. Some of the creepiness arose from the fact that the world we live in seems to hold some similarities to the apocalyptic world O'Brien has created. Some parts edged towards what I would call "gory", so beware of that if you are sensitive to blood, etc. Most violence happened "off-stage", as it were. I thought the author handled some troublesome scenes rather well - one being a bedroom scenario, and the other a revealing of a character's past sinful actions. These were described, but definitely not in graphic detail. Rather, it was just enough to get the author's ideas across, I think. There was one part - an attempt to convert a soul - that felt robotic to me at the parts where Father Elijah tried to reason with arguments for faith - but other parts of the same interaction were compelling. This is so very clearly a Catholic work of fiction, but minus the one slightly preachy scene, I felt this was just a good story. This is a book that makes one think. I wouldn't recommend it to people who are very sensitive to what they read (I thought about putting it away for a while at one point because it what messing with my thoughts a little bit) or might become anxious over fictional end-of-the-world scenarios, but otherwise, I think college-age Catholic readers and older could handle this book. I'm really not sure what a non-Catholic would think of the work.
Not God's Type: An Atheist Academic Lays Down Her Arms, by Holly Ordway*
An anti-Christian professor of literature opens up to considering the existence of God when challenged by an excellent Christian, her fencing coach, and eventually professes faith in Christianity and Catholicism.
Why I picked it up: I was procrastinating and trying to avoid reading the next chapter of a philosophy book for a class, and I'd recently ordered her newest book as a gift for a friend, so checking out her ebook sounded good to me.
My impressions: Ordway was up front about the fact that what she had written was not the word-for-word retelling of exactly how everything in her journey to faith had happened, and I appreciated that. I found the structure was not straightforward chronologically, and while that was not off-putting to me, it didn't appear necessary, either. Ordway's conversion experience seems to me to have been a natural progression from one point to the next (e.g., from considering the existence of God at all to other tenets of faith, including the Resurrection of Jesus). Her story shows how God can find his way into cracks in the human heart through Beauty (poetry) as well as Truth (reasoned arguments). I love the fact that Ordway is a big literature nut and loves many of the same authors I do, including Lewis and Tolkien. I think this is a nice, but not particularly impressive account of conversion. I can't help but mentally compare it to Jennifer Fulwiler's "Something Other Than God." Though this work was definitely a faster read, I would say that Fulwiler's account is more engaging as a story. This book would be fine for anyone high school-age and older to read, Catholic and non-Catholic alike.
The Way of Trust and Love: A Retreat Guided by St. Therese of Lisieux, by Fr. Jacques Philippe
Fr. Philippe explains the central messages of Little T's life, which is primarily trusting in and loving God, and loving others.
Why I picked it up: This book was recommended spiritual reading and a natural next pick after I finished Fr. Philippe's "Searching For and Maintaining Peace". I finished rereading Little T's "Story of a Soul" within the last few months.
My impressions: This is a very excellent read and a good follow-up to "Story of a Soul." It was a little less impressive than Philippe's "Searching for and Maintaining Peace," but still a very good read. Fr. Philippe drew from Therese's letters as well as her autobiography, so I liked the feeling that I was getting a full picture of her message. It was clear from the beginning that this is a saint whose life Fr. Philippe has spent a lot of time thinking about. I recommend this book to anyone who has read "The Story of a Soul". This review is much shorter than it ought to be because there was a multi-week delay between me finishing the book and me writing my thoughts on it. Let this be a lesson to me for the future.
Eight Cousins, by Louisa May Alcott
Orphaned Rose is adopted by her uncle and raised in the vicinity of seven boy cousins. resulting in many life lessons learned and delightful adventures enjoyed.
Why I picked it up: I had some extra time from snow days, but if I'm honest, I'll admit that I was procrastinating on reading a book for class. The same book has been jilted all month long.
My impressions: As a person with many, many cousins, I found the premise of this story delightful. It is a sweet story about a very gloomy, sad girl finding vivacity as she encounters her cousins and undergoes her uncle's "experiments," which are merely his methods for raising her into a virtuous human being. There were some concerning racist stereotypes that make me think this work is definitely a product of its time. There were a few eyebrow-raises regarding a prank using a skeleton and perhaps some religious items or idols brought back from travels to decorate the house, but these latter grievances were pretty minor - most of the book is safe. I was a little disappointed that so much of the focus was on Rose because it makes me conclude this book probably wouldn't be as much enjoyed by boys, but I think there's enough of the fun boy cousins to make it endurable for some lads. I honestly wish the boys had had more "screen time" in the story because they were so entertaining. Alcott certainly can create delightful characters! I felt some loose strings were left untied at the end, but not to worry - the threads were picked up again in the sequel. I think this book would be a pretty safe read for upper elementary kids, but it's not a wholesale endorsement. This book makes me want to try to think up a storyline that could better employ a situation in which multiple very close first cousins find themselves in interesting scenarios.
Rose in Bloom, by Louis May Alcott
Rose returns from two years abroad to settle to philanthropic work at home and finds she has to navigate social temptations and romantic interest from multiple quarters - including several cousins.
Why I picked it up: Same story as the previous Alcott book: snow days and procrastination.
My impressions: This is a sweet little romance if you can get past the first-cousin business (eww). I actually ended up skipping some of the more romantic parts since my brain couldn't handle it at this time, but I think it's a pretty "safe" book as far as that goes, objectively speaking. Just beware if, subjectively, you get emotionally caught up in that sort of thing; not necessarily safe in that case. Once again, it was a delight to see these characters, how they changed, and how they had stayed the same. I did cry pretty hard over an unexpected tragedy in the book, but I recovered from it okay. Some parts, especially at the beginning, did feel kind of "preachy" since the characters spent so much time talking about what makes for good raising of children, making good decisions, etc. Actually, that goes for "Eight Cousins", too, but it seemed more blatant in this book; maybe I'd just been reading Alcott long enough to really notice it. Who knows. It was a bit of a bummer to see the focus shift so much to relationships after the good camaraderie of the prequel, but the change is understandable. I don't really know what age I'd recommend for this book; just know yourself if romantic stories can be a trouble area. Maybe it wouldn't matter much to a younger reader; I anticipate girls would probably like this book more than boys. It's not as good as Alcott's "Old-Fashioned Girl."
The Unity of Philosophical Experience, by Etienne Gilson
French philosopher considers Western philosophical errors, namely, trying to answer philosophical questions with other fields, including theology, math, science, and psychology.
Why I picked it up: This was required reading for my audited philosophy course.
My impressions: This is the oft-jilted book that has been mentioned in most of the previous descriptions as the book I was procrastinating on by reading other books. Philosophy is not my favorite. It was very helpful to know Gilson's structure heading into the book (i.e., only philosophy should be used to solve philosophical problems; otherwise, it leads to moralism and skepticism). It was still not an easily-readable work, but I pushed through, if only to add this book to the list of completed books for this month. One of the main things I liked about this book was that Gilson explained what these different philosophers thought, how their thinking progressed from idea to idea, and changed over time, and what their followers developed from their original ideas. It was a good overview of lots of different philosophers without having to sit down and struggle through their original tracts. Granted, that requires trusting the author to interpret and analyze all those various philosophies correctly, but it was a good way to introduce me to philosophers more modern than the ancient Greeks. I would not recommend this book to anyone unless they love philosophy and read it for fun.
Bracket Play
Round Two was also fairly easy to decide, with M. M. Kaye's book coming in fresh and sweeping up the fun, but run-of-the-mill "Eight Cousins." The spiritual work beat the spiritually-involved fiction work.
However, Round Three was a hard-fought battle. I told myself I wasn't going to have a tie, but here we are. I gave "The Ordinary Princess" a double asterisk in an attempt to remind myself that, when it comes down to it, I enjoyed and remembered this one more. Philippe's book did result in some positive change in my life - I'm reading the Bible more than I did before - whereas Kaye's book was invigorating for only a short while, soon to be left behind, with no lasting impact on my life. However, reading Kaye's book was an electric experience, and just what I needed, that I couldn't relinquish the victory to Philippe's book. Perhaps I'll be able to look back on this with more detachment in December when I run stats on my books.
