Good Omens

The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
Authors: Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Genre: fiction, fantasy, apocalyptic
Publication info: Workman Publishing, 1990
Pages: 296

Neil Gaiman is an incredibly creative writer. Terry Pratchett is an incredibly funny writer. Good Omens is what you get when you combine the writing powers of both of them. The creativity and hilarity is almost too much to take.

I may have mentioned before that it takes a lot for something that I read to make me laugh out loud. Well, I laughed quite a bit while reading this book. I think that's the book's greatest strength: its little moments of hilarity. The story as a whole is well put together, but it's not necessarily amazing. Individual scenes, though, are quite enjoyable.

Good Omens features an enormous cast of characters, making it hard to follow sometimes, but definitely never dull. Two of the main characters are Aziraphale the angel and Crowley the demon, who have somehow been friends through the millennia of Earth's existence. They both highly enjoy life on Earth and would hate to see it end, so when Crowley is tasked with placing the Antichrist into an English family, they are worried that the end is coming and decide to work together to keep that from happening.

As it turns out, the Antichrist (non-coincidentally named Adam) becomes a rather normal boy. At eleven years old, when most of the book takes place, he does the sorts of things that any boy his age would do. But when he starts to come into his demonic powers, things spin quickly out of control.

I recall one reviewer labeling this book as "irreverent," and I would have to agree. This is not a story for someone whose religious convictions are easily offended. If however, you are confident in your convictions and can see this book for what it is—a farce—I think you will heartily enjoy it, as I did. Don't put too much stock in the story or its philosophical implications (I think Terry Pratchett generally tries too hard in that respect). Just sit back and enjoy.

I should warn you that there is a bit of strong language and some innuendo. It's disappointing in that regard. Definitely not appropriate for children. Overall, though, Good Omens is a hilariously fun romp.

A Christmas Carol

Author: Charles Dickens
Genre: fiction, fantasy
Publication info: Scholastic, 1962 (originally published in 1843)
Pages: 122

You are familiar with this story. I'm sure of it. You've definitely seen an adaptation of it, probably more than one. And there's a good chance you imagine Bob Cratchit as a frog. Okay, maybe not that last one, but my point is that A Christmas Carol is deeply entrenched in our Christmas traditions.

I think that's a good thing. A Christmas Carol is a great story. But I never got around to reading the actual story until just now.

As I've said with many books before, I'd been missing out. Although the story held few surprises for me in written form, I learned that Charles Dickens is a very clever and funny writer. That might seem obvious, but this is the first Dickens work I have read, so it was a delightful introduction for me.

As an example, you are probably familiar with the opening line: "Marley was dead, to begin with." The narrator goes on to really drive the point home that Marley was dead (otherwise his appearance as a ghost would have no significance). A few paragraphs down, he says that Marley was "dead as a doornail." Have you ever wondered what is so dead about a doornail? Well, this narrator wonders that for a while. The tangent he goes on has very little to do with the story, but it made me chuckle. I can tell that Dickens really knew his language.

It was also nice to read the original story so I can know how accurate the many adaptations are. I found that the Hallmark version with Patrick Stewart is very, very close (they even work in the rambling about the doornail). But other versions that you wouldn't think to be very accurate are closer than I thought. Even Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol uses a lot of lines verbatim from the story. Who would have thought?

A Christmas Carol is a delightful story. It teaches some great lessons that are especially important around Christmastime. I'm glad it's so prevalent in our culture, and I recommend the story to anyone who enjoys the movie adaptations.

That Hideous Strength

A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-Ups
Part Three of the Space Trilogy
Author: C. S. Lewis
Genre: fiction, Christian fiction (sort of), science fiction (sort of)
Publication info: Macmillan, 1990 (originally published in 1946)
Pages: 382


This book has a quality that usually bothers me, and yet I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it a lot. The quality I speak of is a "message" that the author is trying to get across to the readers. In poorly written message stories, the message takes precedence over everything else—plot, character, general believability.

That Hideous Strength definitely has a message. But it is also definitely well written.

Although this book is labeled as the sequel to Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, it is quite different from those two novels in several ways. For one thing, it revolves around two entirely new characters. Jane and Mark Studdock are recently married, but they already seem to be drifting apart. (In fact, there's only one scene in the entire novel that includes both of them together.) Mark is a don at the fictional Bracton College in Edgestow. The college is finalizing a deal to sell some precious, historical land to a corporation called National Institute of Coordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.). Before he knows it, he's swept up into the very highest levels of the N.I.C.E. and helping it to achieve its mysterious but definitely sinister aims.

Jane, meanwhile, is suffering from vivid and disturbing dreams that seem to be accurately predicting the future. In her effort to find out what's going on, she finds herself associated with a small group who call themselves the Company, with our old friend Dr. Ransom at its head. The Company is a stronghold for good in England, and it's preparing to fight against the quickly growing evil spearheaded by none other than the N.I.C.E. In other words, Jane and Mark are on opposite sides of a battle in which the stakes are unimaginably high.

It's a compelling story, I think, and the writing is very polished. I guess that's why I liked it even though the messages are rather overt. One such message is one Lewis considered very important, according to his biography that I read earlier. Humans are naturally inclined to be a part of the "inner circle," an elite group that by definition includes only a few and excludes all the others. It is Mark's desire to be a part of the inner circle that gets him involved in all the evil schemes of the N.I.C.E. Jane, on the other hand, is also part of a small group, but this group has no desire to exclude anyone.

I knew going into this book that it wouldn't involve any space travel, unlike its predecessors, and because of that I was worried it would be a little dull. To my surprise, I think it is possibly the most exciting installment of the whole trilogy. Part of that is due to its compelling depiction of genuine evil. Some parts of the book really gave me the creeps because of how dark they were and also because of how plausible they seemed.

If you enjoy and respect the writing of C. S. Lewis, I highly recommend this book. You can even read it without having read the other two parts of the trilogy (Lewis said so himself). I probably should warn you, though, that this isn't a children's book. The climactic finish is surprisingly violent, and the book deals with some topics that children wouldn't appreciate. But the book has many lessons that I hope many adults will appreciate.

Tron: Betrayal

An Original Graphic Novel Prequel to Tron: Legacy
Author: Jai Nitz
Artists: Jeff Matsuda and Andie Tong
Genre: graphic novel, science fiction
Publication info: Disney Press, 2010
Pages: 127

Yes, I admit it: I went from a C. S. Lewis book to a graphic novel. But there is something you need to know about me. I am a total Tron geek. When my family got its first VCR years ago, for some reason the first thing we recorded from TV was Disney's original 1982 film. I grew up on that movie, watching it nearly every day as a kid (much to my parents' and sisters' chagrin).

I eventually grew out of that phase, but when I heard, about a year and a half ago, that Disney was making a sequel, all my Tron mania returned. Now I recognize how geeky (and sometimes even campy) the whole idea is, but I have never been more excited for a movie in my life, and I probably never will be again. I've learned to accept that. It's like being validated after all these years.

In just a few days, the wait will be over!

One unique aspect of this long-awaited sequel, Tron: Legacy, is the fact that it is so long-awaited. It has been 28 years. How do you connect two movies that are separated by so much time? Disney has found some creative ways to attack this problem. One is a set of video games that, rather than simply retelling the story of the movie (as so many film-based games do), take place in between the two movies and fill in the gaps. The other is this book, Tron: Betrayal.

The prologue of this book summarizes the events of the first movie, which shows Kevin Flynn's adventures in the computer world. The new story begins immediately afterwards. Flynn has become the CEO of tech giant Encom, Inc. He has also gotten married, and his wife is expecting a son (Sam, who will be the main character of the upcoming movie). And he has created a new computer system which he dubs Tron.

Always innovative, Flynn sets out to make it "the perfect system." He enlists the help of his old friend Tron to be in charge of security. And then he creates a program named Clu in his own likeness to keep things running smoothly. At first everything works great. Then the system starts spontaneously creating new programs, called isos, who choose their own names and run more or less independently. Flynn is excited about this development and its implication. Clu, on the other hand, has other ideas about how the system should be run.

I have to admit, it's actually a pretty interesting story. Now I want to make it clear that I have never been a fan of graphic novels. I probably would have preferred this prequel to be done in another form, but what could I do? Since I have no experience with this genre, I don't know if some of the things that bothered me were unique to this book or characteristic of graphic novels in general. Sometimes the story felt disjointed, with strangely abrupt scene changes. Sometimes it was hard to tell what was going on based on the pictures.

Overall, though, I enjoyed reading through this little book. The pictures are of very high quality. And most of all, I was glad to find out how the two movies are connected. I recommend this book to all Tron fans. I think it's a great preparation for the movie opening next week.

I can't tell you how excited I am for that.

Perelandra

Part Two of the Space Trilogy
Author: C. S. Lewis
Genre: fiction, science fiction (sort of)
Publication info: Scribner Classics, 1996 (originally published in 1944)
Pages: 190

You probably know by now that I am a pretty big fan of C. S. Lewis. As such, I'm surprised it took me this long to get to this book. I read part one of the trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet, nearly ten years ago. I loved it, but when I tried to read this second installment, I had a hard time getting into it. With some prodding from my sister, I finally returned to this book.

The hero of this lesser-known series is Elwin Ransom, who in the first book traveled to Mars (Malacandra) and became acquainted with the eldila—mystical energy beings who are forces for good in the universe. Now that Ransom has returned home, the eldila have an assignment for him. He is to go to the young planet Perelandra, known to us as Venus.

Without knowing any details of his mission, Ransom travels to Perelandra, which he finds to be an utterly strange and beautiful place. Flexible islands float on a vast ocean, trees bear bubbles of water, and the night is totally dark. Soon he encounters a woman, the only woman in the world, much like Eve in our world. And, similar to what happened with Eve, a tempter arrives to disturb this paradisiacal world.

Like all of Lewis's fiction, Perelandra is heavily laden with Christian messages. I don't normally like when the message is more important than the story. But it turns out that this is also a pretty compelling story. He has excellent descriptions of a world totally foreign to our own. Some moments in the book are fairly intense and very fun to visualize.

As for the Christian teachings, once again Lewis gives you a lot to think about. It isn't always easy to understand, but much of it feels very true to life. For instance, his depiction of the devil is almost frighteningly realistic. Dr. Ransom also provides a great example of submitting to the will of God.

If you are a fan of C. S. Lewis, definitely don't miss this book. If you like Christian fiction and want something that will really make you think, you can't go wrong with this book. I understand that not everyone will like this type of book, but I for one am glad that I finally read it.

The Good Earth

Author: Pearl S. Buck
Genre: fiction
Publication info: Buccaneer Books (the one I read, anyway), 1931
Pages: 260

I'm lucky to have family and friends who love to read, and whose reading tastes are similar to mine. When I'm looking for a new book to read, I often rely on recommendations, and the books recommended to me turn out to be some of the books I enjoy the most.

Such was my experience with The Good Earth. I had heard of it, as I'm sure most people have, and I was vaguely aware that it is good, but it wasn't until it was specifically recommended to me that I finally got down to reading it. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I knew early on that this wasn't like most books I've read, and it was hard to get used to at first, but pretty soon I came to enjoy it.

The Good Earth is the story of a poor Chinese farmer named Wang Lung. His story begins when he marries a woman who was a slave in the great house of Hwang. Although their relationship seems nothing more than cordial, the presence of O-lan (the wife) improves things vastly. Although there is a brief period of destitution, Wang Lung's family quickly rises from being poor farmers to being wealthy land owners.

What Wang Lung discovers is that the problems of the rich possibly outweigh the problems of the poor. At least that's what I got out of it. After reading about this man's life, I think I'd much rather be poor than obscenely rich. Wang Lung makes stupid mistakes, his sons bring him grief, and his relatives beg from him. At the end, though, there's no real reason to believe that Wang Lung has become a better person from all his trials.

It's an interesting book, a difficult one to describe. I would like to say I wish I'd read it sooner, but I'm not sure I would have appreciated it had I read it when I was younger. What's really fascinating about this book is the picture it gives of Chinese culture. It's quite a bit different from the one I know, but there definitely are values I could learn from it, especially family loyalty.

So my judgment is that The Good Earth. It's skilfully, sometimes even beautifully written, and its story is one you'll be likely to think about for a long time.

Man's Search for Meaning

Author: Viktor E. Frankl
Genre: nonfiction, psychology
Publication info: Washington Square Press, 1984 (first published in English in 1959, and it has gone through many editions)
Pages: 221 (including bibliography)

This book makes me want to shout for joy!

Undoubtedly you've heard of this book. I think I first heard about it when I was in fourth or fifth grade, and it wasn't until now that I finally read it. I can see now that I was missing out on something great. If you are one of those people, like I was, who says, "I've heard that's a good book. Maybe I should read it," I say, Yes, you definitely should!

Most people know this book as one man's harrowing account of his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. It is certainly that, but it is also much more. It is not so much a story of what happened to him and his friends but an explanation of what he learned from those experiences—and how he took what he learned and created a revolutionary school of psychiatry called logotherapy.

Logotherapy is the therapy of meaning. The preface to the edition I read explains logotherapy as a sort of Freudian analysis turned on its head. Whereas Freud and his followers would have you search into your childhood for some kind of trauma—usually sexual in nature—and confront that to solve your problems, Frankl and his school asks you to dig deep for a meaning in your life—a purpose for living. Frankl himself, for example, often thought of his wife while in the camp. In fact, he talked with her, and doing so kept him going even while everything around him was so terrible.

Frankl's utterly realistic approach is refreshing. During my short-lived stint as an English major, I took a couple classes on literary theory, and I quickly grew frustrated with the psychoanalytical technique of finding sexual symbolism in everything. But instead of having us look at our frustrations in base, animal desires, logotherapy has us look at our existential crisis, our search for meaning. We are humans first, animals second.

I suppose one of the greatest lessons to learn from this book is that no matter what our circumstances are, we can choose how we respond to them. It's hard to imagine circumstances more appalling than what Frankl faced. He really had nothing but his own life, and that just barely. But he found a meaning in his life and chose to live for it. All of us can do the same.

The book has two major sections. The first is the story of his time in concentration camps. It is disturbing and heartbreaking, but the way he writes about it will surprisingly give you hope. The second part summarizes the practice of logotherapy. Since that part is more abstract than the first, I thought it would be harder to read, but I actually really enjoyed it. It's grounded in reality as I mentioned, and the way Frankl understands life and people is very reassuring. It was at the end of these more abstract parts that I wanted to shout for joy.

I think everyone would benefit from reading this book. Viktor Frankl was a brilliant man, but I think his real greatness was his warm, caring insight into the nature of human beings. Read this book. Isn't it about time you did?