“I believe the novel is a moral form. We turn to novels in pursuit of virtue. Through the tales fashioned by thoughtful writers we discover or reaffirm what we believe to be right and good. Our eternal subject is the nature of the well-lived life. So here’s a theory of what has happened to the middle classes and the novel. A hundred years or so ago the language of idealism changed. As Christianity fractured, the imagination of those who wanted to make a better world was seized by a new idealism: socialism. In this new understanding of society the working class had virtue and was the future; the middle class had power and was the past. Bourgeois values came to be seen as vices. The middle-class consumers of art and literature gradually found themselves cast in negative terms, as exploitative, parasitic and reactionary.
By the last decades of the 20th century, as these perceptions became the orthodoxy of the educated elite, writers and artists found they faced a fork in the road.” Read the rest
All posts by Phil
Edwards Giveaway
I wish I’d seen this sooner today. Aaron Armstrong is giving away a set of Jonathan Edwards books. Read the description, follow the entry steps, and do it all before midnight today to enter.
Sunrise
Though our readers in Hawaii may have seen a gorgeous sunrise a little earlier this morning, I offer a bit of calm in the form of several beautiful photos.
But What Is a Press Release?
Joel Pollak points out the differences between Random House’s initial press release for The Rogue and the one this week. Back then, the author “will be highly respectful of his subject’s privacy as he investigates her public activities,” like years-old family affairs. This week, “The Rogue delves deeply into Alaska’s political and business affairs and Palin’s political, personal, and family life..” I’m glad Random House isn’t publishing exposés about people who are actually in or running for office, because that would be so dull. As for McGuinniss, he should probably get a real job and read Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University
Two National Book Awards
The National Book Awards will be announced November 14, and John Ashbery and Mitchell Kaplan will receive lifetime achievement awards. Poet John Ashbery
“You meant more than life to me. I lived through
you not knowing, not knowing I was living.
I learned that you called for me. I came to where
you were living, up a stair. There was no one there.”
Mitchell Kaplan is the creator of the Miami International Book Fair, “the largest community book festival in the United States and a model for book fairs across the country,” notes the National Book Foundation.
Rot-Gut Rumor Posing as Exposé
Books like this make me worry that it isn’t what you write but who you know that gets your material published. Joe McGinniss’ book, which he hoped would be “the last best chance to put the truth about Sarah [Palin] in front of the American people in a documented, verifiable way” is full of lies, rumors, and ill-wishes. For an overview of the book, read this.
Is the Intellectual Life Worth Anything?
“Sometimes we hear it said that ten minutes on your knees will give you a truer, deeper, more operative knowledge of God than ten hours over your books. ‘What!’ is the appropriate response, ‘than ten hours over your books, on your knees?’ Why should you turn from God when you turn to your books, or feel that you must turn from your books in order to turn to God? If learning and devotion are as antagonistic as that, then the intellectual life is in itself accursed.” – B.B. Warfield (The Spiritual Life of Theological Students). (via Tabletalk Magazine)
Americans
What are some essential American novels?
Book Reviews from The Christian Manifesto
We got a bit of praise on Twitter today when The Christian Manifesto (tagline “Jesus. Culture. Sarcasm.”) asked its over 1,400 followers where they would go to read honest reviews of Christian materials, if they didn’t have The Christian Manifesto to read? Thank you very much, Tim Motte and Dr. Hunter Baker, for recommending us.
I hadn’t heard of The Christian Manifesto before, and they appear to have a number of music, film, and book reviews. Take for example this negative double-take on Dekker and Lee’s joint novel, Forbidden. “For those of you who thought that Ted Dekker could do no wrong, I urge you to stay away from this book. Live in your land of bliss and read the other countless books he’s put out. If you are a fan of fantasy fiction, this message goes double for you,” one reviewer writes. The second reviewer observes, “Telling but not showing was a problem throughout this novel. I was told Saric was evil, but I didn’t feel his evil. The people lived in fear, but they didn’t seem to be motivated by that fear.”
Here’s another double-take on Robert Whitlow’s Water’s Edge. Sara says, “I have mixed feelings about this book. For the most part, it was very well written. The characters developed at a good pace, with only one major exception.” Fernando notes, “It’s a fairly solid mystery premise, hindered some by having too many uninteresting characters and embracing melodrama too often. It doesn’t help that it chooses the wrong things to be melodramatic about.”
This site appears to be another good reading resource. I should add it to our sidebar.
Ripping Yarns in Highgate
Here’s a nice review with photos of Ripping Yarns, a bookshop of the type every city should have. Jen Campbell, the shop manager, is the one with that book, you know, that book about things folks say in shops like her’s. It’s not yet available in the States, but I’m sure President Obama will work out that diplomatic offense.