Review: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury

I like scary stories, but most things marketed as horror are just violent and gory. The older I get, the more I realize that a truly terrifying atmosphere depends more upon what you don't show than what you you do. No matter how terrible the image a person may create, it's not as bad as what the audience will create in their imaginations. 

In this book Ray Bradbury takes his own childhood and creates a dark fantasy. He's considered one of the greatest authors in American history, and one of the reasons his books seem so real is that they are real in a sense; all of them draw from his deep, deep store of memories. The world he describes here doesn't exist anymore, and when it's threatened it doesn't feel like a battle between two boys and a sinister carnival. It feels like a showdown between love and nihilism. 

Maybe that's why I like this book so much. While the characters are very good, the story seems much bigger than characters. I recommend it. 

Review: LUNCH WITH A SOCIOPATH by Lucie Lilly Pawlak

This was a hard book to read, not because the font was too small or the words too long, but because of its depiction of both the depth and the utter banality of evil, and of how some people are drawn in against their wills. 

I was expecting this to be a novel and fairly light read, but instead I found it to be the apparently true story of a Texas woman's victimization, mostly by an Episcopalian priest. The only part that doesn't seem to fit is the late revelation of a counselor's own predatory nature. It doesn't seem false, but it does draw attention from the main storyline. 

Though it's mainly about a woman's descent, it's also about her redemption, particularly through her husband's unconditional love. Though he's hardly ever the focus of the book, he provides a solid foundation for her and embodies the love of God better than anyone else in this book. It's not an easy book, but there's abundant forgiveness on display, and I recommend it. 

Review: THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM by Donald G Kraybill

You can say the right thing but say it at the wrong time and not be heard. That seems to be what happened to this book.

When this book was first published in 1979, Jerry Falwell was building up the Moral Majority, turning evangelical Christianity into a political movement. Though Kraybill makes a strong case for political noninvolvement from Scriptrure, it's not hard to tell which position has been more popular.

I agree with Kraybill, so I recommend this book 

Review: BONHOEFFER by Eric Metaxas

This is a very thick black, because it's an exhaustive account of Diettrich Bonhoeffer's life. Though I had heard of Bonhoeffer, I didn't know a lot beyond the facts that he had been German, had written The Cost of Discipleship, and that had been involved in a plot to kill Hitler.

Now I feel like I do, and I wonder if any of the American evangelicals who claim him have ever read or understood his books. For learning about the man's life, I recommend it.

Review: THE GEORGE VERWER COLLECTION by George Verwer

This consists of three books by Verwer. I had never heard of him, but apparently he was a big deal among English evangelicals.

The books are very well-written and easy to read, but one thing really stood out and has stuck with me. Verwer said that if you don't understand love, you don't understand anything in the Bible, because the Bible is all about love.

That's always struck me as incredibly wise, and this would be worth reading just for that. The whole thing's good, though, and I recommend it.

Review: PRINCE VALIANT FREE COMIC BOOK by Hal Foster

Prince Valiant was never something I particularly cared for. It was one of those comic strips I read just because it was in the paper, probably for old people, who were the only people I could imagine who might keep things like that and Mary Worth going.

With this book, I've finally learned to appreciate Prince Valiant. Because it was presented episodically and I wasn't a regular reader, it never made sense. Here are several complete tales, and everything makes better sense in context.

Appreciation is not the same thing as love, however. While the art is beautiful and the writing makes for some, as my friend Davo might say, "cracking good reads", none of that changes the fact that the whole series is based on violence. This book contains a story about a duet, and another featuring Vikings, who were, at base, thieves and murderers. I can't recommend it.

Review: UNCONVENTIONAL by JJ Hebert

I'd hate for anyone to be in any needless suspense, so I'll just tell you I didn't like this book. It seemed to embody what's wrong not only with "Christian" publishing, but with the American church in general.

First, there's the title. There's nothing wrong with calling a book Unconventional -- and with frequent use of the word -- but if you're going to you'd better make sure it is. Unfortunately, this is possibly the most conventional and by-the-numbers book I've ever read.

Second, it just doesn't ring true. People don't act like this and what's worse according to the Bible they shouldn't. It feels less like a story growing organically from a group of characters than a bunch of characters shoehorned into an existing plot.

Most importantly,  the author seems to have confused the Gospel with the American Dream. This is essentially a Horatio Alger rags-to-riches story with enough Jesus on top that it could be sold in Christian bookstores.

This is Hebert's first novel, and I sincerely hope that he's become a better writer. As it stands, though, this book shouldn't have been published. I don't recommend it,

Review: ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN VOL 1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley

This was the first of the Ultimate comics, and since Spider-Man is Marvel's most important character, this book had to be great.

Fortunately, it was. And it was something the main Spider-Man books hadn't been for many years- fun 

This is partly due to the fact that the main character is younger. This Spider-Man is a teenager, and he acts like it, and the rest of his cast has been similarly de-aged. It's also due to the fact that there's not a half-century of continuity weighing him down. This is a brand-new book starring a brand-new character in a brand-new world, and everything is happening for the first time.

Mostly, though, it seems to be due to the fact that Bendis and Bagley seem to enjoy making the comic book. Whatever it is, it's an entertaining book, and I recommend it.

Review: FANTASTIC FOUR BY WAID AND WIERINGO ULTIMATE COLLECTION VOL 1...

... by Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo, et al.

Before I start, I just want to say that that is a ridiculously long title. Now on to the review ...

Back in 1961, Fantastic Four was Marvel's first superhero book. Despite a few changes and experiments, it's essentially remained the same since then. Mark Waid doesn't try to rock the boat; this is classicist FF, and it's very well done.

Mike Wieringo was a very good artist, but not a spectacular one in that he never seemed flashy or out to impress people. He's been hugely influential, but primarily he just produced very good, very solid work, which is probably what he'd rather be remembered for anyway.

I mostly started FF because of what I knew it didn't contain -- gratuitous sex, foul language, or violence -- but I was surprised at just how enjoyable it was. While the main characters have powers, they tend to win battles by thinking rather than by punching, which has a lot to do with how the book's become so venerable in the first place. I recommend it.

Review: DELIGHTING IN GOD by AW Tozer

Tozer wrote a while back, he remains popular because he just had a very clear and unique way of putting things. The fact that he was almost entirely uneducated makes it even more amazing.

This book is no exception. Tozer's beginning and conclusion are both biblical, and the exposition in the middle is clear and steeped in Scripture. I recommend this book.

Review: ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 1 by Brain Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, and Adam Kubert

About fifteen years ago, Marvel Comics launched the Ultimate Universe, an attempt to reboot some of its signature characters for a 21st-century audience. It was a success, resulting in four ongoing series and innumerable miniseries, all tightly interwoven, until it all imploded in the Ultiatum miniseries.

Bendis and Millar were two of the main architects of the Ultimate Universe, and while it's n pot clear exactly how the writing was divided between them, the dialogue seems to be by Bendis. The characters are similar to their counterparts in the main universe, and are easily recognizable. The art by Adam Kubert is detailed and energetic, but it's also clearly a product of its time. 

What sets this book apart is that the Fantastic Four aren't superheroes. They're fundamentally explorers, and in this book in particular they're people to whom something terrible has happened. I recommend it.

Review: BEHOLD THE LAMB by Peter Hoover

In this book Hoover looks at the rise and fall of the Moravian Church and of its most famous member, Could Nicholas von Zinzendorf.

The Moravians were well-known both for their tolerance and their missionary zeal. All was not well in the movement, though, and the decline in the Count was matched by a decline in the denomination as well. As he grew older, the Count's focus on the wounds of Christ became an obsession, and within a few generations the Moravia Church had lost all that had made it distinctive.

This book is a cautionary tale, showing what can happen when a group of people take their eyes off of Christ. I recommend it.

Review: DAREDEVIL: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR by Frank Miller and John Romita, Jr

This is a limited series, meaning that it was a comic book only meant to last a few issues. (At the time, I think the regular Daredevil series was up to around 250 issues.) This is the character on which Miller made his name as a writer and artist back in the early 1980s, and he was the first creator to really give the book its own identity, playing up the noir and crime elements. He's a very talented writer, and this is a very well- written book.

It's the art, though, that was the real revelation for me. I've always liked John Romita, Jr's blocky, massive figures, but I'd never paid attention to his backgrounds. Since the stroke, my eyesight isn't as good as it was, so I've had to read most comics a panel at a time. Enlarging them this way makes them easier to read, but it also reveals details that are unnoticeable at regular size. Not every artist's work can stand up to this kind of scrutiny, but JRJR's can.

Between the story and art, this is possibly the best-produced comic I've ever seen. I still can't recommend it, though. There's some sexual content, which isn't explicit but isn't necessary either. Mostly, though, it's because off the violence. This is a very bloody book, and not one I'd recommend.

Review: GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS by John Bunyan

This is quite possibly the most depressing thing I've ever read.

This is supposed to be Bunyan's "spiritual autobiography", but it could have been summed up in six words: "I suck, but God loves me." It's typical of 17th century Calvinist literature, in that it's longer than it needs to be and seems much longer.

I don't recommend it unless you like having nails pounded into your forehead.

Review: SUICIDE SONS by Michael Gold

Thiis is a fictionalization of the way the conflict between Arabs and Israelis is sometimes carried far beyond the Middle East. It also examines how parental expectations can cause adverse feelings in the sons.

Though Gold is apparently Jewish, he is careful not to take sides. Each of his fictional tribes has similarities to both Muslims and Jews, as well as wholly imaginative elements. All told it's an interesting and entertaining book, and I recommend it.

Review: THE INFINITY GAUNTLET by Jim Starlin, George Perez, and Ron Lim

This is a comic book, and the basis for the next couple of Avengers movies. It was first published in the early 90s.

Jim Starlin created many of Marvel's cosmic characters in the 1970s, and this features his two most popular creations, Adam Warlock and Thanos. The first part of this miniseries is illustrated by George Perez, with the remainder drawn by Ron Lim, and while Lim's art is good enough, it's a definite step down 

Even with its faults, this is a good comic that's cast a long shadow the last 25 years or so. I recommend it.

Review: MARTYR'S MIRROR by Thielman van Braght

I once read that every Mennonite home had a copy of the Bible and one of the Martyr's Mirror. That said, this is an even older Dutch book, which was definitely a product of its times.

It is not, as I'd thought, just a lot of names of martyrs through the ages with a particular.focus on the Anabaptists. Between the martyrologies, though, are several chapters apparently meant to be educational. These are often polemics against whoever opposed them, which for the Dutch Anabaptists meant pretty much everybody. This is a particularly anti-Roman book. 

I don't recommend it. I understand that it's a valuable historical document and I'm glad I read it, but I don't see doing it again. There are better martyrologies out there, and better screeds.

Review: THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF MICHAEL SATTLER by C Arnold Snyder

Michael Sattler was an early Anabaptist leader and the principle author of the 1525 Schleitheim Confesion. Records in the early 1500s were often incomplete, and the first part of Snyder's book is filled with suppositions and speculations.

Oddly, calling these guesses what they are make them more reliable. Snyder won't say with certainty what he doesn't know with certainty, and the reader gets the impression that if he can be trusted when he's unsure, he can be trusted when he's sure. Snyder is a very careful historian, and I recommend this book.

Review: ONBOARD FRENCH/FRENCH CANADIAN by The Eton Institute

I'm interested learning French, primarily because I want to be a missionary to Canada, and because it's one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world. These Kindle books claim to teach you a language "before you land", and they were free, so I got them.

Simply put, its claims are false. The books are word lists, nothing more. I found them to be a waste of time, and don't recommend them.

Review: TAKING GOD AT HIS WORD by Kevin DeYoung

One of my core beliefs is that God is not an idiot. He's fully capable of saying what he means to say, when he means to say it. There are good reasons to believe the Bible.

That's basically DeYong' point. Instead of expecting the Bible to prove itself or looking for reasons to reject it, we should give it the same consideration every accused criminal gets: it should be considered innocent until proven guilty. I agree, and since it's also well-written, I recommend it.