Spring Book Reviews
Br. Joseph Van House, O. Cist
Issue date: 4/12/06 Section: Feature
The springtime combination of work-fatigue and beautiful weather can be a very strong reminder that a diet composed exclusively of required readings, even readings as rich as the classics, has its downside. People who no longer read for simple pleasure can forget what it means to enjoy learning; their favorite texts become uphill battles, and their conversational topics keep running laps around the same cramped and stale bubble. Seeking a bit of fresh fruit to offer for scurvying mariners, then, we solicited some members of the broader UD community to recommend some worthwhile alternatives for your nightstand, dinner table, or (eventual) beach bag. They came up with quite a variety:
Better than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream, by Carl Elliott. (W. W. Norton & Co, 2003. 320pp) $14.95
Review by Brandon Brown, Constantin alum ('03) and student of medicine and bioethics at Indiana University.
Medicine and human biology have entered the era of "enhancement." Mere restoration of health is no longer sufficient, with new technologies, especially at the molecular level, opening up horizons beyond our natural function. Carl Elliot's Better than Well charts this recent biological pursuit of happiness in a probing and provocative way. In it, Elliot investigates a number of stimulating questions, including the concept of the "real self" and medicine's ability to alter it, the possibility of manipulating human nature by neuropharmacology, and the increasing fixation in medicine and human biology on "mood." Throughout this focus on possible human enhancements, Elliott discusses the relationship between the perennial quest for self-fulfillment and its contemporary expression in the desire to alter our own biology - mental, physical, and otherwise. The book resonates with themes from Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology," from the novels of Walker Percy, and even from Oliver Sacks' case studies. It offers both description and critique of American social life at a time when emerging technologies allow evolution of an entirely unique kind. A great choice for anyone interested in medicine, biology, anthropology, or ethics.
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. (Harvest Books, 2005. 880 pp) $16.00
Review by Dr. David Oliver Davies, Assistant Professor of English
For a writer of craft as Mark Helprin assuredly is, a title will tell all. In A Soldier of the Great War an elderly yet vigorous veteran of the Italian campaigns during the First World War revisits his treasured though excruciating memories of those times. On a late August afternoon in 1960 Alessandro Giuliani has set out from Rome to visit his grandchildren in a distant hill-town in the Appenines. On his way he befriends a young workman who is as ignorant of this veteran's past as he is of his own present. Thus does a conversation that sets out to bridge the chasm between youth and experience draw Alessandro to remember one more time the indefatigable warfare of his loves, hopes and losses against an ignorant despair of life. His adversaries in this war are many--despair, fear, recklessness, revenge, and a seeming malevolence of fate, to name only a few. Against this onslaught the allied resources he summons from within himself and from those he loved and lost in this Great War is lyrically set forth in a soldier's experience of that other war. A Soldier of the Great War is both an absorbing work of fiction that is hard to put down and a magnificent epic one will return to again and again.
Preparing Yourself for Mass by Romano Guardini. (Sophia Institute Press, 1997. 216 pp) $15.95
Review by Br. Joseph Van House, Constantin alum ('03) and master's student of theology at Braniff Graduate School
Though little known in the U.S., Msgr. Guardini was an outstanding 20th century thinker, his devotees ranging from Flannery O'Connor to Joseph Ratzinger. He composed Meditations before Mass (the book's previous English title) for his students and parishioners in Berlin during that city's dark days, publishing the book in 1939, the same year the Nazis expelled him from his professorship. That crucible made the thin volume a precious example of smart and clear-eyed devotional literature. Offering thoughtful expositions on topics like the power of silence, the gathered community, and the danger of sentimentality, the book aims to prepare the reader to enter into the liturgy of the mass in a way that draws fuller attention to its sacredness, fecundity, and uniqueness as the living worship of God. While there are some dated allusions, Guardini's book retains great depth and a fresh readability. Most of the 32 chapters can be read and pondered profitably in under a half an hour, making these meditations especially fine for those wishing for help deepening their spiritual lives during the Easter season, or on Sundays throughout the year.
More Catholic than the Pope: An Inside Look at Extreme Traditionalism, by Patrick Madrid & Pete Vere. (Our Sunday Visitor Press, 2004. 186 pp) $12.95
Review by Fr. Peter Stravinskas, Catholic author and friend of UD. A version of this review appeared in the July/ August 2005 issue of his magazine, The Catholic Response
A fine attempt to address a troubling Church-division that has occurred in reaction to Vatican II and subsequent popes. Mr. Madrid is a well-known apologist, while Mr. Vere is both a budding canonist and a busy-bee of a writer. The latter has direct experience of "extreme Traditionalism," having been part of it for a number of years. Their book has two chief merits: first, in a debate that is often characterized by hearsay and general confusion, the fuller history of the Society of St. Pius X and good documentation and exposition of the Holy See's response is most useful. Second, the authors apply clear historical, theological, and canonical analysis to various extreme claims, offering considerable illumination. The overall treatment is judicious, and the authors recognize legitimate concerns where they find them and offer sound guidance about faithfully expressing them; at all points, the tone is honest and non-polemical. Anyone seeking a better understanding of this sad, unfortunate and unnecessary schism would do well to read this book.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. (Vintage, 2001. 496 pp) $14.95
Review by Janet Hendrickson, Constantin alum ('03) and previous editor of The University News.
This book does not need a review. Because it is death-defying, genre-breaking, generation-defining and, furthermore, famous, this is rather a request: read this book.
Dave Eggers' memoir, first published in 1999, quickly turns family tragedy into childhood dream. Both parents die before he finishes college; his older sister goes to school, his older brother goes to New York, and this leaves him, 21, to raise their youngest brother, age eight.
The result? A drive to California, drives through California, a plot that takes on Frisbees, paranoia, fear of AIDS, fear of babysitters, a struggle to ironize and imitate the world outside their "interesting" house and the founding of a satirical magazine, supplemented with a Real World audition and a drawing of a stapler.
If you were born post-1976, Eggers talks in your voice: in your irony, in your desperation, in your consciousness of being self-conscious. He is you in postmodern isolation from family, from morality, from community as the world knew it. Whether you speak with or against him, you generationally engage him.
Critics doubt the sincerity of Eggers' unsentimental heartbreak and question the narcissism born of his genius. The editor of McSweeney's indeed has an ego, but his lack of false tears and his careening new diction grab you by the collar and won't put you down unshaken. His tone takes on Whitman's expansion; his journey takes on Huck Finn's depth; he may take a place in the canon; but for now, he's riotously compelling, and the request bears repeating: read this book.
She: Understanding Feminine Psychology by Robert A. Johnson. (Harper Paperbacks, 1989 (revised edition). 81 pp) $10.00
Review by Kate Wolfe, Senior English major
At UD, we believe in a curriculum based in texts that are enduring and good; not merely old, not merely fashionable, but books that in some sense transcend their time. Robert Johnson's short study She: Understanding Feminine Psychology, engages in our favorite temporal acrobatics while treating a topic UD students often eschew as the very trendiest: gender studies.
I'd like to claim that when it isn't being misused as a replacement for other studies, an examination of the differences between masculine and feminine psychology can be useful. Johnson writes of a woman's experience in light of the ancient, time-honored myth of Eros and Psyche. As a student of Jung, Johnson looks to primal archetypes and gleans understanding of the present. I recommend She to women who want to understand themselves, men who want to understand their women, and men who want to understand their inner woman or anima.
Reading this book assumes another tenet of the UD education: ideas can and do translate into actions. The hope is that, having re-read the account of the Psyche's search for love, we, too overcome our fear of dragons; we, too can learn to sort seeds properly; we, too can learn to act with the grace and charity of a beautiful woman.
She can be found in the Blakely library, along with Johnson's also excellent He and We.
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter. (Basic Books, 1999 (20th anniversary edition). 777 pp) $22.00
Review by Dr. Paul Phillips, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Achilles walks in to find Tortoise reading a book by Douglas R. Hofstadter.
"What are you reading?"
"A very interesting book relating the works of a mathematician, an artist, and a composer," replies the Tortoise.
"What can they possibly have in common?" asks the fleet-footed Greek.
"Well, for starters, each of them used self-referential statements in their work."
This stimulating read is filled with interesting observations, light-hearted presentations, tricky puzzles, and solid exposition, all interwoven splendidly.
Most chapters are written in two parts, the first a humorous interaction between characters, usually Achilles, Tortoise and friends, the second an engaging exposition of the new idea just exemplified. Don't let the amusing stories fool you: they have many layers to them, some of which only jump out after subsequent revelations.
One favorite part of the book occurs in the first chapter: the MU puzzle. Give this puzzle some serious attention before reading the solution. Such effort will pay dividends, as the MU puzzle and its relatives are revisited several times throughout the book. This is a modern classic, and the many layers of self-referential material remain an intriguing package to unwrap: a mental workout that will challenge new and old readers for decades to come.
Asks Achilles, "Self-referential statements? For instance, the way we are talking about a book in which we are characters?"
Responds Tortoise, "Perhaps you should read it and see."
Better than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream, by Carl Elliott. (W. W. Norton & Co, 2003. 320pp) $14.95
Review by Brandon Brown, Constantin alum ('03) and student of medicine and bioethics at Indiana University.
Medicine and human biology have entered the era of "enhancement." Mere restoration of health is no longer sufficient, with new technologies, especially at the molecular level, opening up horizons beyond our natural function. Carl Elliot's Better than Well charts this recent biological pursuit of happiness in a probing and provocative way. In it, Elliot investigates a number of stimulating questions, including the concept of the "real self" and medicine's ability to alter it, the possibility of manipulating human nature by neuropharmacology, and the increasing fixation in medicine and human biology on "mood." Throughout this focus on possible human enhancements, Elliott discusses the relationship between the perennial quest for self-fulfillment and its contemporary expression in the desire to alter our own biology - mental, physical, and otherwise. The book resonates with themes from Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology," from the novels of Walker Percy, and even from Oliver Sacks' case studies. It offers both description and critique of American social life at a time when emerging technologies allow evolution of an entirely unique kind. A great choice for anyone interested in medicine, biology, anthropology, or ethics.
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. (Harvest Books, 2005. 880 pp) $16.00
Review by Dr. David Oliver Davies, Assistant Professor of English
For a writer of craft as Mark Helprin assuredly is, a title will tell all. In A Soldier of the Great War an elderly yet vigorous veteran of the Italian campaigns during the First World War revisits his treasured though excruciating memories of those times. On a late August afternoon in 1960 Alessandro Giuliani has set out from Rome to visit his grandchildren in a distant hill-town in the Appenines. On his way he befriends a young workman who is as ignorant of this veteran's past as he is of his own present. Thus does a conversation that sets out to bridge the chasm between youth and experience draw Alessandro to remember one more time the indefatigable warfare of his loves, hopes and losses against an ignorant despair of life. His adversaries in this war are many--despair, fear, recklessness, revenge, and a seeming malevolence of fate, to name only a few. Against this onslaught the allied resources he summons from within himself and from those he loved and lost in this Great War is lyrically set forth in a soldier's experience of that other war. A Soldier of the Great War is both an absorbing work of fiction that is hard to put down and a magnificent epic one will return to again and again.
Preparing Yourself for Mass by Romano Guardini. (Sophia Institute Press, 1997. 216 pp) $15.95
Review by Br. Joseph Van House, Constantin alum ('03) and master's student of theology at Braniff Graduate School
Though little known in the U.S., Msgr. Guardini was an outstanding 20th century thinker, his devotees ranging from Flannery O'Connor to Joseph Ratzinger. He composed Meditations before Mass (the book's previous English title) for his students and parishioners in Berlin during that city's dark days, publishing the book in 1939, the same year the Nazis expelled him from his professorship. That crucible made the thin volume a precious example of smart and clear-eyed devotional literature. Offering thoughtful expositions on topics like the power of silence, the gathered community, and the danger of sentimentality, the book aims to prepare the reader to enter into the liturgy of the mass in a way that draws fuller attention to its sacredness, fecundity, and uniqueness as the living worship of God. While there are some dated allusions, Guardini's book retains great depth and a fresh readability. Most of the 32 chapters can be read and pondered profitably in under a half an hour, making these meditations especially fine for those wishing for help deepening their spiritual lives during the Easter season, or on Sundays throughout the year.
More Catholic than the Pope: An Inside Look at Extreme Traditionalism, by Patrick Madrid & Pete Vere. (Our Sunday Visitor Press, 2004. 186 pp) $12.95
Review by Fr. Peter Stravinskas, Catholic author and friend of UD. A version of this review appeared in the July/ August 2005 issue of his magazine, The Catholic Response
A fine attempt to address a troubling Church-division that has occurred in reaction to Vatican II and subsequent popes. Mr. Madrid is a well-known apologist, while Mr. Vere is both a budding canonist and a busy-bee of a writer. The latter has direct experience of "extreme Traditionalism," having been part of it for a number of years. Their book has two chief merits: first, in a debate that is often characterized by hearsay and general confusion, the fuller history of the Society of St. Pius X and good documentation and exposition of the Holy See's response is most useful. Second, the authors apply clear historical, theological, and canonical analysis to various extreme claims, offering considerable illumination. The overall treatment is judicious, and the authors recognize legitimate concerns where they find them and offer sound guidance about faithfully expressing them; at all points, the tone is honest and non-polemical. Anyone seeking a better understanding of this sad, unfortunate and unnecessary schism would do well to read this book.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. (Vintage, 2001. 496 pp) $14.95
Review by Janet Hendrickson, Constantin alum ('03) and previous editor of The University News.
This book does not need a review. Because it is death-defying, genre-breaking, generation-defining and, furthermore, famous, this is rather a request: read this book.
Dave Eggers' memoir, first published in 1999, quickly turns family tragedy into childhood dream. Both parents die before he finishes college; his older sister goes to school, his older brother goes to New York, and this leaves him, 21, to raise their youngest brother, age eight.
The result? A drive to California, drives through California, a plot that takes on Frisbees, paranoia, fear of AIDS, fear of babysitters, a struggle to ironize and imitate the world outside their "interesting" house and the founding of a satirical magazine, supplemented with a Real World audition and a drawing of a stapler.
If you were born post-1976, Eggers talks in your voice: in your irony, in your desperation, in your consciousness of being self-conscious. He is you in postmodern isolation from family, from morality, from community as the world knew it. Whether you speak with or against him, you generationally engage him.
Critics doubt the sincerity of Eggers' unsentimental heartbreak and question the narcissism born of his genius. The editor of McSweeney's indeed has an ego, but his lack of false tears and his careening new diction grab you by the collar and won't put you down unshaken. His tone takes on Whitman's expansion; his journey takes on Huck Finn's depth; he may take a place in the canon; but for now, he's riotously compelling, and the request bears repeating: read this book.
She: Understanding Feminine Psychology by Robert A. Johnson. (Harper Paperbacks, 1989 (revised edition). 81 pp) $10.00
Review by Kate Wolfe, Senior English major
At UD, we believe in a curriculum based in texts that are enduring and good; not merely old, not merely fashionable, but books that in some sense transcend their time. Robert Johnson's short study She: Understanding Feminine Psychology, engages in our favorite temporal acrobatics while treating a topic UD students often eschew as the very trendiest: gender studies.
I'd like to claim that when it isn't being misused as a replacement for other studies, an examination of the differences between masculine and feminine psychology can be useful. Johnson writes of a woman's experience in light of the ancient, time-honored myth of Eros and Psyche. As a student of Jung, Johnson looks to primal archetypes and gleans understanding of the present. I recommend She to women who want to understand themselves, men who want to understand their women, and men who want to understand their inner woman or anima.
Reading this book assumes another tenet of the UD education: ideas can and do translate into actions. The hope is that, having re-read the account of the Psyche's search for love, we, too overcome our fear of dragons; we, too can learn to sort seeds properly; we, too can learn to act with the grace and charity of a beautiful woman.
She can be found in the Blakely library, along with Johnson's also excellent He and We.
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter. (Basic Books, 1999 (20th anniversary edition). 777 pp) $22.00
Review by Dr. Paul Phillips, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Achilles walks in to find Tortoise reading a book by Douglas R. Hofstadter.
"What are you reading?"
"A very interesting book relating the works of a mathematician, an artist, and a composer," replies the Tortoise.
"What can they possibly have in common?" asks the fleet-footed Greek.
"Well, for starters, each of them used self-referential statements in their work."
This stimulating read is filled with interesting observations, light-hearted presentations, tricky puzzles, and solid exposition, all interwoven splendidly.
Most chapters are written in two parts, the first a humorous interaction between characters, usually Achilles, Tortoise and friends, the second an engaging exposition of the new idea just exemplified. Don't let the amusing stories fool you: they have many layers to them, some of which only jump out after subsequent revelations.
One favorite part of the book occurs in the first chapter: the MU puzzle. Give this puzzle some serious attention before reading the solution. Such effort will pay dividends, as the MU puzzle and its relatives are revisited several times throughout the book. This is a modern classic, and the many layers of self-referential material remain an intriguing package to unwrap: a mental workout that will challenge new and old readers for decades to come.
Asks Achilles, "Self-referential statements? For instance, the way we are talking about a book in which we are characters?"
Responds Tortoise, "Perhaps you should read it and see."