Things I've Read and One Thing I'm Writing - August 2014
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Things I've Read and One Thing I'm Writing (thanks to Tess for the name). You should keep this email in mint condition - it could be worth something someday.
Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome
One of my goals for this year was to read older. As C.S. Lewis said, "It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between." Well, here's a gem from England, circa 1889. By the remarkably named Jerome K. Jerome, it's ostensibly a travel book but really it's a book of surprisingly modern humour interspersed with beautiful observations. It's quite the equal to any Bill Bryson book I've read.
For example:
"And I am careful of my work, too. Why, some of my work that I have by me now has been in my possession for years and years, and there isn't a finger-mark on it. I take a great pride in my work; I take it down now and then and dust it. No man keeps his work in a better state of preservation than I do."
(Thanks to the wonderful Kathleen for the recommendation.)
The Martian by Andy Weir
This is one of those success stories that make you believe it's still possible (or more possible) for a good story to be successful, outside of marketing and major label juggernauts. The Martian is a fiction book that takes place in the near future. During a manned mission to Mars, one of the astronauts gets left behind.
What follows is a mix of Robinson Crusoe ingenuity, plausible science-y stuff, and a lifting of the emotional stakes at the perfect times. Super-fun holiday read. Also file under one of the most instantly likeable narrators in recent memory.
It also brought me to the useful conclusion that if I was an astronaut left on Mars, I would, very promptly, die.
The Now Habit by Neil A. Fiore
One of the semi-recurrent themes of this newsletter will be that I really like productivity books. (Cue joke about productivity books getting in the way of actual productivity.) I think I get it from my dad - chasing an ideal about how much I can work, and how I can work better, and use time more wisely. Now, there's philosophical and moral problems with that ideal, I think, but there's also general wisdom to be gleaned.
This is a book that I've read quite a bit because it doesn't just lump productivity into the "work harder" category. Instead, it suggests some of the core beliefs and fears that lurk behind procrastination habits, as well as some tools to get those beliefs into the open and circumvent them.
And as to why I need to keep learning these things, well, I'm just a slow learner I guess.
One Thing I'm Writing
Just wanted to clarify that the One Thing I'm Writing won't always be a Christian thing ... but this time it is (bear with me non-Christian friends!). It's from one of the discussion papers that I'm writing for Vinegrowers, who employ me as a writer for three and a half days a week.
For a moment, imagine that a popular politician in your country is holding a press conference to launch their election campaign. Everybody’s watching, the press is in their seats, ready to capture the moment on audio and video and digital camera. It’s being streamed live to audiences across the country. You watch with thousands of others, as the politician arrives in their suit, makes their way up to the podium. He or she looks down at their notes, looks up to the camera, and begins their historic campaign with these words: “It’s going to be extremely difficult for you to vote for me.”
You don’t need to know one thing about politics to know this is not how it’s done. The art of political campaigns is essentially a popularity campaign—to turn every negative into being a positive so people will vote for you. And this is not a modern invention of politics: as is evident when you read the infighting and politics that runs as background to the gospel, you can see that popularity with the people was something that was very much desired in that day too.
And so, what Jesus says is the very opposite of the wisdom of the day, and the wisdom of our time. He does what our theoretical politician did: "Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.'" (Luke 14:25-27).
Hopefully by the end of the year, this will be published in one form or another. Stay tuned.
In addition, two of my book reviews for Eternity were published last month: the odd yet thought-provoking Little Manual for Knowing, and the carefully big-hearted A Loving Life.
If you read any of these things, or want to recommend something to me, I would love to hear from you.
Please feel free to forward this to others. And, if you're from the future and this has been forwarded to you, welcome time traveler: you can go here to subscribe.
Thanks for reading,
Guan