WELL worthy to be magnified are they
Who, with sad hearts, of friends and country took
A last farewell, their loved abodes forsook,
And hallowed ground in which their fathers lay;
Then to the new-found World explored their way,
That so a Church, unforced, uncalled to brook
Ritual restraints, within some sheltering nook
Her Lord might worship and his word obey
In freedom.
William Wordsworth, Ecclesiastical Sonnets
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
I just found out from Mr. Grant that today is St. Clement’s Day. Read more about it today at Grantian Florilegium.
Good old Southern Baptist that I am, I’m not much up on the ins and outs of the church year or saints’ days or stuff like that. But if I get what I want for Christmas you may be hearing a lot more about such celebrations on this blog.
Thanks to World Magazine’s blog for the link to this Wall Street Journal article on the history of the Thanksgiving hymn.
We’ve been singing this hymn all month and plan to present it to Engineer Husband and to the Lord as a family choir on Thanksgiving Day.
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a round-up of everyone else’s book lists made mostly in response to TIME Magazine’s publication in October of its 100 Best English-language novels from 1923 to the present. I’ve been working on my list for quite some time, but TIME scooped me. Only their list wasn’t as good as mine, partly because they limited themselves to the twentieth century and this century. Also I have better taste. So to kick off the holidays (Yes, the holiday season begins this week; the Christmas holidays are not allowed to start until after Thanksgiving day), here’s Semicolon’s Unfinished List of the 100 Best Fiction Books of All Time.
I have a few rules for this list. No author may be represented more than once, even though he or she may have written more than one very good book. I list only the books and authors that I like, not those I’m supposed to like but don’t. Children’s books that make the list must appeal to me as an adult, too. (I actually like lots of children’s books.) No short stories or short story collections are on the list because I mostly don’t care for short stories. They’re too short. I only list books I’ve actually read; there are certainly others out there that I haven’t yet managed to read that will be added to the list eventually. That’s why there aren’t 100 books on the list–only 68 so far. The definitive list will have to be made upon my deathbed –or beyond.
1. Alcott, Louisa May. Eight Cousins. This one is better than Little Women, and it has a sequel, Rose in Bloom.
2. Alexander, Lloyd. Taran Wanderer. Good quest fantasy. The first book in the series of five is The Book of Three.
3. Austen, Jane. (b. 1775, d. 1817) Pride and Prejudice is the best of her six novels, but the rest are all worth reading, too. Try them in this order: Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey. Then watch some of the movies and miniseries based on Austen’s novels. Think A&E.
4. Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Talk about strong female protagonists. Jane is the champion. She holds onto her moral standards and her sense of self in the face of all the storms that life can throw her way.
5. Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Darker and more romantic in a way than Charlotte’s books, Emily’s classic novel of two wild lovers who are meant for one another appeals to the wildness in me.
6. Bunyan, John. Pilgrim’s Progress. It’s not exactly a novel; it’s an allegory of the Christian life. A good introduction to this story with great illustrations is a book called Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress.
7. Burns, Olive Ann. Cold Sassy Tree. Wonderful story, a Southern novel, funny and thoughtful at the same time.
8. Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice may seem like a children’s book, but its humor is for adults, too.
9. Cervantes, Miguel. Don Quixote. Engineer Husband and I just went to see a local production of Man of La Mancha a few nights ago. The play was really my first introduction to Don Quixote when I saw it long ago in college–and loved it. The book is just as good, better, but much longer.
10. Christie, Agatha. The Murder of Roger Akroyd. I like almost all of Dame Agatha’s mysteies, but this one has one of the most satisfying plot twists of all.
11. Dickens, Charles (b. 1812, d. 1870) David Copperfield. Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities are close contenders. But there are too many memorable characters in DC: Mr. Micawber, Uriah Heep, Little Em’ly, Mr. Peggotty, Betsy Trotter, and David himself.
12. Doestoyevsky, Feodor. The Brothers Karamazov. Profound, and both my eldest urchins think it’s hilariously funny.
13. Douglas, Lloyd. The Robe. The sequel is The Big Fisherman.
14. Dreiser, Theodore. An American Tragedy.
15. Dumas, Alexandre. The Three Musketeers. The musketeers are just fun. D’Artagnan schemes and works to become a musketeers as the original three, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, engage in swashbuckling adventures and espionage, and generally get themselves into trouble –all in the service of the king.
16. Du Maurier, Daphne. Rebecca. Better than the movie–although the movie was great.
17. Elliot, Elizabeth. No Graven Image. This story of a missionary in South America might disturb your evangelical preconceptions–if you have evangelical preconceptions. I know it made me think about what constitutes “success” on the mission field or in life in general.
18. Eliot, George. Adam Bede. I’ve read others of her books, but this one is my favorite, probably because of the themes. This book is another one about sin and forgiveness. It reminds me a little bit of The Scarlet Letter, but much more hopeful.
19. Enger, Leif. Peace Like a River. I just read this one this year and really liked it. Go here for a review.
20. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. I wrote here about carelessness and The Great Gatsby.
21. Gaskell, Elizabeth. Cranford. Such a simple little story, Cranford is for all the lovers of decent, well-written Victorian fiction.
22. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Golding’s novel of English schoolboys gone to the dark side is, on the other hand, postively indecent, but true.
23. Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. Once more, A.A. Milne says, “One does not argue about The Wind in the Willows . . . The book is a test of character.”
24. Hardy, Thomas. Far From the Madding Crowd. It’s hard to choose one of Hardy’s novels above all the others, but Far From the Madding Crowd has such good character names: Bathsheba, Gabriel Oak, Mr. Boldwood.
25. Hawthorne, Nathaniel.The Scarlet Letter. I just re-read this one last year. Did you know that Hawthorne gives advice on blogging?
26. Herriot, James. All Creatures Great and Small. I don’t even like animals very much, but these books aren’t just about animals. They are about a Yorkshire veterinarian, and his eccentric co-workers, and his even more eccentric clientele. These stories are funny, touching, and memorable, and I guess I’m cheating since these are kind of short stories. But they’re all connected by the same characters.
27. Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. I stayed up reading this book all night once upon a time when I was in college because I couldn’t wait to see what happened to Jean Valjean and Cosette and Marius and the rest. What a wonderful story! Favorite quotations from Les Miserables.
28. Hurnard, Hannah. Hind’s Feet on High Places. If you liked Pilgrim’s Progress, you might enjoy this similar allegory of the Christian life.
29. James, P.D. Cover Her Face. Again, it’s hard to choose one, so I chose the first Adam Dalgliesh novel. If you read it, you’ll probably be hooked and go on to read the other thirteen. Children of Men, reviewed here, is not a mystery, but rather an excellent dystopian novel set in the future.
30. Karon, Jan. At Home in Mitford. Who wouldn’t enjoy a leisurely visit to Mitford? Father Tim is the most likeable Episcobaptist I’ve ever met.
31. Lawhead, Stephen. Byzantium. His fantasy series are good, too, but this historical novel about the Eastern Roman Empiire is rich with historical detail and interesting characters.
32. Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Great book.. Great movie, but even better book. Lots of nuances and subplots are in the book, but couldn’t be included in the movie. And you can imagine Gregory Peck while you read about Atticus Finch.
33. L’Engle, Madeleine. A Ring of Endless Light. This one is my favorite of L’Engle’s books about the Austin family. A Severed Wasp is also enjoyable and thought-provoking with engaging characters.
34. Lewis, C.S. Till We Have Faces is a profound retelling of the myth of Cupic and Psyche. Lewis is an accessible genius. His children’s books are great, and his adult books are even better. His science fiction trilogy, starting with Out of the Silent Planet, is full of rich analogy and modern day application.
35. Macdonald, George. The Princess and the Goblin. George Macdonald was C.S. Lewis’s literary mentor, andboth of them were excellent writers of fantasy literature.
36. Malory, Sir Thomas. L’Morte d’Arthur. Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin, Lancelot, and the other knights and ladies of the Table Round are a part of our mythology. Wonderful characters and themes.
37. Michener, James. Hawaii. I like Michener. His later novels became boring and predictable, but Hawaii was a great read.
38. Miller, Calvin. The Singer Trilogy. Great fantasy, allegory, Christian inspiration. Mr. Miller is a Baptist pastor, but his writing is nevertheless rather poetic.
39. Mitchell, Margaret. Gone with the Wind. Once again, the book is better and richer than the movie.
40. Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Green Gables. Anne Shirley is the best young adult heroine in literature–smart, funny, dreamy, and freckled.
41. Nordhoff, Charles and James Norman Hall. Mutiny on the Bounty. Whether they got the story right or not, the authors tell a good version of the most famous of mutinies.
42. Orwell, George. 1984. Scary, really scary.
43. Paton, Alan. Cry, the Beloved Country. C.S. Lewis talks about ‘joy’ as an elusive longing for Something that is just out of reach. Tragedy is also an elusive feeling that depends on just the right combination of circumstances. Paton’s book about South Africa under the apartheid system and about the power of forgiveness to redeem, sometimes, is truly tragic. Some of what I like about Cry, the Beloved Country.
44. Peters, Ellis. A Morbid Taste for Bones This one is the first of the Brother Cadfael mysteries; go here for a list of all the Cadfael books in order.
45. Renault, Mary. The King Must Die. This book and its sequel, The Bull from the Sea, tell the story of the Greek hero Theseus. The story is Greek mythology, but the symbolism is richly Christian.
46. Robinson, Marilynne. Gilead.. I read this book this year, too,. Here are some quotations and a bit of a summary/review.
47. Saint Exupery, Antoine de. The Little Prince. To read Le petit prince, one must become a child for a little while. It’s an enjoyable transformation.
48. Sayers, Dorothy. Clouds of Witness. Actually, the next to the last book in the Lord Peter series, Gaudy Night, is the best one in my opinion. However, if you’re going to read these mystery/romances, you should really start at the beginning with Clouds of Witness.
49. Scott, Sir Walter. Ivanhoe. Rowena and Rebecca, Ivanhoe, Richard the Lion-hearted, Prince John, chivalry,romance and adventure.
50. Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty. Again, I’m not even an animal lover, but Black Beauty is a great horse story.
51. Shaara, Michael. The Killer Angels The Battle of Gettysburg as a novel makes for high tragedy.
52. Shellabarger, Samuel. Prince of Foxes. Set in renaissance Italy, this historical fiction novel is filled with intrigue, suspense, and truth.
53. Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
54. Stout, Rex. If Death Ever Slept. I don’t know if this murder mystery is the best of Nero wolfe’s and Archie Goodwin’s adventures, but it’s one of my favorites.
55. Swift, Jonathon. Gulliver’s Travels. I re-read this one for a British literature class I was teaching, and it was even more thought-provoking than I remembered. Gulliver certainly points out many of the weaknesses in British society and even in our own.
56. Thackeray, William Makepeace. Vanity Fair. I also knew and loved this book before there was a movie. Thackeray is more ascerbic than Dickens, and that fits with my sometimes more ascerbic and biting personality. Becky Sharp is one of the most memorable female characters in all of literature.
57. Tey, Josephine. Daughter of Time. Tey proves once and for all that Richard III did NOT murder the princes in the tower, and she does it by telling a suspenseful mystery story.
58. Tolkien, JRR. The Lord of the Rings. The best fantasy novel ever written, better than The Odyssey, better than anything. I knew Tolkien before Tolkien was cool.
59. Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. Better than Anna Karenina, this book is about families and about romantic love that fails and romantic love that succeds in spite of the imperfections of the lovers. (Anna Karenina is good, too.)
60. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I just re-read this one for an American Literature discussion group that I was leading, and it was just as good as I remembered. Huck is a a good kid—in spite of himself and everyone else around him.
61. Uris, Leon. Exodus. An epic novel of the founding of the modern state of Israel. If you like this book, his other novels about the Jewish experience during WW II are good, too: Mila 18 and QB VII, especially. About Leon Uris on his birthday.
62. Voigt, Cynthia. Homecoming. Sequels are Dicey’s Song, Seventeen Against the Dealer, Sons From Afar, The Runner, and Come a Stranger.
63. Wallace, Lew. Ben-Hur. Subtitled “a tale of the Christ,” it really is about how Christ works in the life of an unlikely follower.
64. Wharton,, Edith. The Age of Innocence. Or maybe The House of Mirth. I liked them both. Thoughts on House of Mirth.
65. White, E. B. Charlotte’s Web. The best story about friendship ever. Here’s a birthday post about E.B.White and Charlotte’s Web.
66. Wilcock, Penelope. The Hawk and the Dove. These are stories that a mother tells her daughters about a monastery and the monks who live there.
67. Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. I haven’t read this one in ages, but I still remember the basic premise: a researcher tries to find out whether and why God intended for some to die and others to survive in a disastrous bridge collapse.
68. Wodehouse, P.G. Right Ho, Jeeves. Bertie Wooster and his manservant, Jeeves, live a life of hilarious adventure and romance in aristocratic British society. Some quotations from Right Ho, Jeeves. Another blog post about P.G. Wodehouse.
I would like to undertake a project to read all the Newbery Award and Honor books dating back to 1923. Since one fiction book for children is chosen each year to win the Newbery Medal, and the committee also chooses anywhere from zero to six Honor books, I’m estimating that there are about 83 x 4 books on the list–or a total of 332 books. I’ve already read about fifty to a hundred of them, but I’ll have to re-read them for this project because I’d like to review the books here.
So Book 1 of this project is one I reviewed earlier this week:
Swift Rivers by Cornelia Meigs Newbery Honor 1933
I also wrote about the Newbery Award here and highlighted the Newbery Medal books that I have read. I just counted, and I’ve read fifty-eight of the Medal books. It looks as if I’ve another book list to prevent me from becoming bored with life–as if eight children couldn’t handle that little task.
I wonder: Are any of the Newbery books also Christmas stories? If so, I should probably start with a Christmas book. If anyone knows, please leave a comment. Otherwise, I’ll just look through the titles and see what I can figure out.
Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference nowhere. Blaise Pascal
Amanda at Witingshire has a cool post about Aragorn and about Tolkien’s prophecy poem about him that begins, “All that is gold does not glitter/Not all those who wander are lost.”
Michelle Malkin tells us about the “African American” youths whose deaths started the riots in France. This linguistic poverty would be funny, if it weren’t somewhat sad. Shall we call them “African French” or “French Africans”?
JavaMom really liked the new Pride and Prejudice movie with Keira Knightley. Really. The blogger at A Circle of Quiet has also seen and enjoyed it. My turn soon, I hope.
Patry Francis at The Marvelous Garden, formerly a waitress by day and a writer by night, is now just a writer. She has a book deal. Congratulations!
Joseph Bottum at First Things wonderS why there aren’t more pro-life songs and tries his hand at writing lyrics for an anti-abortion ballad. Maybe he’ll get a deal, too.
Karen Kovaka at Rhetorical Response writes about some ideas from Dr. Francis Schaeffer on evangelizing the non-intellectual. “Though an intellectual defense of Christianity is of incredible importance, people will not become Christians unless we can demonstrate love, humanity, and integrity in our lives.”
I got the link to this article about Advanced Placement (AP) testing from Joanne Jacobs. I’m interested in the AP world because of an AP American History class that I taught at our homeschool coop last year and because I may teach another AP class in the future. Passing the AP exam seems as if it is a good way for motivated students to get credit for doing college level work, however, as the article’s author indicates, there are some issues.
From Betsy Newmark, guestblogging at Michelle Malkin’s site: Matt, a soldier serving in Iraq, asks bloggers to help get a wheelchair for an Iraqi translator who was injured in a terrorist attack.
I heard Hugh Hewitt going on (and on) about this yesterday, but I really didn’t believe it. With all the issues facing our country and the world, Senate Majority Leader Frist says that the Senate’s first priority when they return in January is . . . asbestos legislation, establishing a fund to compensate victims of asbestos exposure.
“Asbestos reform will be the first major piece of legislation that we consider in late January when we return,” Frist announced as the Senate began winding down its 2005 legislative session.
Specter, in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said more than 80 companies have declared bankruptcy because of asbestos-related lawsuits. “Of all of the items which could provide an economic stimulus to the U.S. economy, I think asbestos reform would be the most important,” he said. USA Today
What?? I’m sure that those who were exposed to asbestos about half a hundred years ago when it was still used commonly in buildings are very concerned about this bill. I’m sure the manufacturers and builders who would be protected from lawsuits by this bill are concerned. But The Most Important Economic Stimulus to the US Economy? The First Priority in January? What happened to Social Security reform? Or will an asbestos fund take all those baby boomer retirees off the Social Security rolls and make the system solvent again? Is the war in Iraq over, and is Iraq now a stable ally and a democracy? Is the US budget balanced–with a little left over to compensate asbestos victims? Did I fail to notice that Judge Alito has been confirmed to the Supreme Court? Are the borders secure? Are all the terrorists dead or captured? Are the economic effects of three hurricanes and several tornadoes all somehow tied to asbestos? Has some generous soul donated a few million (or is it billion) to the US government for the purpose of caring for those who are sick as a result of asbestos exposure?
In that case, sure, asbestos is definitely the top thing on my agenda, too.
Yesterday I finished reading this book aloud to Karate Kid and Brown Bear Daughter. We always have a history-related read aloud book going, and this one occupied most of the past three weeks.
Swift Rivers was published in 1932, and it made the Newbery Honor roll in 1933, the same year that Elizabeth Lewis won the Newbery Medal for Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. The very next year in 1934 Ms. Meigs won the Newbery Medal herself for her biography of Louisa May Alcott called Invincible Louisa. The year of publication is important because children, and adults, who are used to reading more recently published children’s literature will be challenged by the language and somewhat complicated plot line of Cornelia Meigs’s novel about the journey to manhood of a young man who brings a job to completion in spite of many obstacles.
Here’s an example of the language, chosen at random:
“Mr. Howland knew how to put shrewd provocative questions. In half a day’s acquaintance he seemed to have come to understand completely that restless Stuart Hale and his wish to ‘find things, or build something nobody ever thought of building before,’ and that impatience of his, not of study, but of authority over their students of professors whom he deemed no wiser than himself.”
The entire book reads much this same way. The language is somewhat stilted by today’s standards, rich in vocabulary, and very descriptive. Once while I was reading the book aloud, the author used the word “exceedingly.” Karate Kid interrupted, not rudely but just wanting to share with us, and said, “I really like that word ‘exceedingly.’ It sounds good.” I say any author who can make an All-Boy Eight Year Old Karate Kid listen and notice words–and follow the story at the same time, by the way–is a talented writer.
Swift Rivers is the story of eighteen year old Chris Dahlberg, a farm boy in northern Minnesota in the early 1800’s, who decides to make his fortune and take care of his elderly grandfather by running logs down the Mississippi River. Chris and his friend Stuart take the logs all the way to St. Louis and along the way they learn lessons in both forgiveness and persistence. Subplots reinforce the themes: the significance of good character, the necessity for hard work and determination, and the importance of forgiveness and friendship. All these qualities are show to be vital to true manhood and to survival in frontier America.
Karate Kid says he liked the part of the book where they were fighting over the fool’s gold and the part where Chris Dahlberg fought with the Indian. (Can you tell where Karate Kid got his nickname?) And Brown Bear daughter liked the part about the thieves because it was “kind of spooky” and the ending because everything turned out OK. Swift Rivers is a good read aloud book; I wouldn’t send most elementary age children off to read it by themselves. Middle schoolers who love history ought to be able to handle it, and high schoolers could learn a few things from this book about character as well as history.
Eric of Evangelical Underground is taking nominations beginning today through January 1 for the 2006 Evangelical Blog Awards. Go here to see the categories and last year’s winners.
Title note:
The earliest recorded use of this phrase appears to be by Sir John Fortescue, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, in his 15th century work, De laudibus legum Angliæ. It was used by several authors later, notably Cervantes, Christopher Marlowe and John Donne.
In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare gives Dogberry the line ‘comparisons as odorous’. It seems he was using this ironically, knowing it to be a misuse of what would have been a well known phrase by 1598/99 when the play was written.
From The Phrase Finder
So now Ariel at Bittersweet Life is asking, “What Makes a Great Reader?” He cites the example of students who complain to him that they’re being forced to waste their valuable time on To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby. The question becomes how can we teach these students, or how can we teach ourselves, to come away from worthwhile texts having learned or grown or thought deeply? How do we make ourselves or others into “great readers”?
Well, first of all, we keep assigning great books: old books, books that are esteemed, even new books, books that are, shudder, popular, books that someone else appreciates and tells us about. We assign ourselves to read whatever is pure and lovely and virtuous and praiseworthy and of good report. We make ourselves read the best literature we can find.
Then, we think–humbly. I posted this quote from A.A. Milne a long time ago, but it’s worth posting again in this context.
“One does not argue about The Wind in the Willows. The young man gives it to the girl with whom he is in love, and, if she does not like it, asks her to return his letters. The older man tries it on his nephew, and alters his will accordingly. The book is a test of character. We can’t criticize it, because it is criticizing us. But I must give you one word of warning. When you sit down to it, don’t be so ridiculous as to suppose that you are sitting in judgment on my taste, or on the art of Kenneth Grahame. You are merely sitting in judgment on yourself. You may be worthy: I don’t know, But it is you who are on trial.”
Isn’t this true of any great book? One way to become a great reader is to remember who you are. You are the most recent in a long line of readers to come to Dickens or Tolstoy or Homer or even Harper Lee and sit at their feet and be judged worthy of learning what they have to teach–or unworthy. There are many classic authors that I am not yet a good enough reader to appreciate, but humility tells me that the flaw is in my understanding, not in the author’s work. Not that any author’s work achieves god-like perfection, but if millions have learned something from a given piece of literature and I receive nothing, perhaps I need to work a little harder. Yes, in some few cases, especially in the case of more modern literature that has not yet been judged by many generations of great readers, the emperor may have no clothes, but generally if lots of discerning readers over a long period of time say that Author X has something to give, he probably does. And I become a great reader by applying my brain to the problem of finding that something, maybe even writing about it, asking questions, thinking.
It all comes back to humility. Wasn’t that what Mr. Vanderhorst’s last question was about?