Collected Miscellany

A week or so ago I promised as a service to my readers to referee the dueling New York Times reviews of  Angelology by Danielle Trussoni. Put aside the fact that one was technically in the New York Times Review of Books and the other in the paper – or the fact that they were not really side by side reviews – and focus instead on the very different reaction the book produced.

But first, let’s allow the publisher to introduce the book:

Sister Evangeline was just a girl when her father entrusted her to the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in upstate New York. Now, at twenty-three, her discovery of a 1943 letter from the famous philanthropist Abigail Rockefeller to the late mother superior of Saint Rose Convent plunges Evangeline into a secret history that stretches back a thousand years: an ancient conflict between the Society of Angelologists and the monstrously beautiful descendants of angels and humans, the Nephilim.

For the secrets these letters guard are desperately coveted by the once-powerful Nephilim, who aim to perpetuate war, subvert the good in humanity, and dominate mankind. Generations of angelologists have devoted their lives to stopping them, and their shared mission, which Evangeline has long been destined to join, reaches from her bucolic abbey on the Hudson to the apex of insular wealth in New York, to the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris and the mountains of Bulgaria.

This was in fact the blurb that intrigued me enough to read the book (generously provided by the publisher in this case). But the same book produced two very different reactions.

Janet Maslin calls it “a class-obsessed, scholarship-spouting, minutiae-strewn thrill ride that follows the ‘Da Vinci Code’ model as loftily as it can.”

In contrast, Susan Cokal: “Sensual and intellectual, “Angelology” is a terrifically clever thriller — more Eco than Brown, without the cloudy sentimentalism of New Age encomiums or Catholic treatises.”

So if I had to choose side in this debate who would I declare the winner? I would have to side with Cokal but I can understand where Maslin is coming from to a degree.

More below.

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I have seriously mixed feelings about The Power of Half: One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back. On the one hand I firmly agree with the idea behind the book: that we focus too much on collecting “stuff” and not enough time on giving of ourselves and this impacts the character of our children. On the other hand, the tone and style of the book just doesn’t quite work.

Allow me to kick things off by lazily stealing using PW’s review:

In this well-meaning but self-congratulatory memoir, the Salwen family decides to sell their gorgeous Atlanta mansion, move to a home half the size, and commit half the proceeds to the needy. Putting their plan into action, a raft of family decisions and meetings are led by mom Joan, a former corporate consulting executive and teacher, with the help of an actual whiteboard. Entrepreneur and activist Kevin, a former Wall Street Journal editor, writes with daughter Hannah, who, as instigator of the family project, provides commentary and practical suggestions. The chronicle is intriguing and the cohesiveness of the four family members is remarkable: “Friends and others… always focused on… the big house, the big donation, or the trip to Africa” with their eventual partner, The Hunger Project, rather than “the transformational energy” of “a family eager to stand for something collectively.” The authors tend to gush over their efforts while discounting the privileged position that allows them to make them (“we think everyone can give one of the three T’s: time, talent or treasure”); their unflagging optimism, buttressed by clear self-regard, can also be tiring.

The hook (selling their house and giving half the proceeds to charity) is intriguing and following the story on how that process plays out is interesting in many ways.

But the drawbacks of style and tone noted by PW really drag the story down.

More below.

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The Rise and Fall of the Second Largest Empire in History: How Genghis Khan’s Mongols Almost Conquered the World by Thomas J. Craughwell is about the rocket-fast expansion of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan to its equally rapid disintegration under Genghis’ grandchildren – including Kublai Khan.  Craughwell chronicles all of the events in between and how the Mongol Empire influenced not only Asia, but also the Middle East and Europe as well.

It is hard to imagine unassuming Mongolia being a world power – the most powerful in the world – but this was the case for a brief period in history.  This rise to power was led by Genghis Khan – arguably the greatest conqueror in world history.  Craughwell describes how Genghis generally took a no-prisoners policy in his conquests – killing tens of millions of people.  

Craughwell not only chronicles the expansion and contraction of the empire, but also the tactics used by Genghis and his followers to conquer so much territory in so little time.  In short, they brought devastating tactics to bear on their opponents – super fast light cavalry with far superior bows.  Their horses were more agile and had more stamina then their opponents’ mounts and their bows could shoot arrows much farther than any of their opponents.   In addition, the Mongol warriors were superior riders with excellent archery skills.

Reading the exploits of the Mongols, it is hard to imagine that they conquered an area from Hungary to the China, including much of modern-day Russia and many areas of the Middle East.  The fact that the Mongolian military conquered all of this land area with an estimated strength of no more than half a million.  Many times they defeated foes that were two, three, or five times larger.

Craughwell provides a lot of information in a small amount of space – 272 pages.  His writing style is easy to follow and understand.  He includes 125 color pictures, including several good maps.

This book would be an excellent addition to a person’s military history collection.

Despite the fact that he lives and preaches in my home town (well, town I was born in anyways) of Grand Rapids, Michigan – and I have always heard good things about him – I was never a big Rob Bell fan. There was something about him that put me off a bit – a little too hip, the religious left type language and attitude, a post-modern sensibility, I am not sure.

But I read Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile for our church’s summer book series and found myself enjoying it (more about that later).

So when the publisher offered Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith for free on Kindle I scooped it up (free is free after all) and started reading it on a recent trip (my Kindle is a lifesaver when I travel). And maybe Bell is winning me over because I really enjoyed this book too.

Here is the Bell’s blurb for his own book from the publisher:

We have to test everything.
I thank God for anybody anywhere who is pointing people to the mysteries of God.
But those people would all tell you to think long and hard about what they are saying and doing and creating.
Test it. Probe it.
Do that to this book.
Don’t swallow it uncritically. Think about it. Wrestle with it.
Just because I’m a Christian and I’m trying to articulate a Christian worldview doesn’t mean I’ve got it nailed. I’m contributing to the discussion.
God has spoken, and the rest is commentary, right?

My take below.

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Susan Cokal in the NYTBR:

Sensual and intellectual, “Angelology” is a terrifically clever thriller — more Eco than Brown, without the cloudy sentimentalism of New Age encomiums or Catholic treatises. It makes no apologies for its devices, and none are necessary. How else would it be possible to bring together the angels of the Bible and Apocrypha, the myth of Orpheus, Bulgarian geography, medieval monastics, the Rockefellers, ­Nazis, nuns and musicology? And how splendid that it has happened.

And Janet Maslin in the NYT:

These details are brought to mind by Ms. Trussoni’s first novel, “Angelology,” a class-obsessed, scholarship-spouting, minutiae-strewn thrill ride that follows the “Da Vinci Code” model as loftily as it can. In fathoming the grandiosity of Ms. Trussoni’s escapism, maybe it helps to recall the world from which she had to escape.

[...]

This novel is neck deep in mumbo jumbo and will do its tireless best to conflate fact and fiction. Obscure theories? Nonexistent historical events? Exact anatomical details about otherworldly beings? Complaints about the naysayers who have “distorted angelic reality”? Yes, “Angelology” has them all.

Confused? Never fear, dear reader, Angelology is in the TBR pile. In the not too distant future I will offer what I am sure will be the definitive take on this polarizing novel …

I think I am pretty clearly on the record in favor of short biographies but even I might blanche at a book that covers a subject as immense as Abraham Lincoln in a mere 70 or so pages.  Such is the boldness of James McPherson’s Abraham Lincoln.  But this essay/book turned out to be an enjoyable and interesting approach to the enigma that is Lincoln.

I was trolling the library when I saw it and decided it was short enough to read over the President’s Day weekend. Alas, I was not organized enough to post a review on either President’s Day or Lincoln’s birthday. But I wanted to report back anyway.

Here is whay PW had to say:

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian McPherson (Battle Cry of Freedom) contributes to the slew of Lincoln biennial books with this succinct biography, weighing in at a lean 70 pages (plus notes), that delivers gracefully on McPherson’s promise to capture “the essential events and meaning of Lincoln’s life without oversimplification or overgeneralization.” McPherson is a precise writer with a masterful command of the subject, guiding readers through the evolution of Lincoln’s thinking on race, his lifelong struggle with depression, his improbable rise to political power, his anguish over the breakup of the union and his determination to see it made whole again. For anyone wanting to fill the gaps in their understanding of the Great Emancipator by the end of President’s Day, this efficient account from a noted Civil War scholar is a near-perfect solution.

McPherson touches on Lincoln’s political career leading up to the presidency, the issue of slavery as a constitutional and political issue and the conduct of the war in particular. Drawing out in each one the critical role Lincoln played and how his character and decision making impacted the outcome. He notes criticisms and controversies and offers succinct responses of his own.

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As I have noted before, the fine folks over at NetGalley operate sort of like an open bar for alcoholics. People who just don’t have enough books to read can get a hold of even more!  I kid, of course, as it is a very convenient way to get review copies without making your TBR pile even more of a fire hazard.

Speaking of which, one such digital galley I picked up was The Social Media Marketing Book by Dan Zarrella. Since social media plays a big role in my “day job” I thought it would be worth checking out.

It turned out to be a useful approach but a very basic introduction. A useful and easy to read book for those just looking to explore social media marketing and want to know how to get started.

More after the jump.

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