"The Grisham"

My literary diet has taken a junk food twist. After several months of exhausting classical literature, I was ready for a snack - a modern novel.

It is always with some trepidation that I embark upon a novel. I have rather high standards when it comes to the arts and entertainment, so the marriage of the 2 in fiction novels provides a marked potential for disappointment. I've left a scattering of unfinished novels in my wake over the last few years. Gratuitous anything, typically qualifies a book for a quick return trip to the library.

In the same way I coaxed the family out for a long walk on a cold and rainy Thursday evening, by promising I would "treat" them to a snack while we were out, so I was coaxed through to the end of some rather weighty tomes by the promise of some refreshment I had borrowed from the Walnut Creek Library.

The high calorie, high carbohydrate, high sodium sidetrack I just finished was one of John Grisham's books in his "The _______" series. Or maybe all of his novels start with "The"? I won't disclose the actual book, since I don't necessarily recommend it. Yes, I just said that I don't recommend a book that I just finished and enjoyed. Think about that one and come back when you're ready.

Similarly, I frankly don't recommend any of his novels to be digested as pure and mindless entertainment. One should always read with eyes wide open and pen in hand, if necessary. Even those authors I respect most, I find fault with upon occasion. Those I respect most are lauded to fellow readers, while those with works less compatible with my world view are held closer to vest. If it requires much sifting and skipping, then I will likely let you find it on your own lest you hold me responsible for your inability to sift and skip.

Grisham, though brilliant in his own genre, is by no means the same caliber writer as John Bunyan, John Milton, or Leo Tolstoy, and maintains a paradigm wherein the morals, ethics, and basic principles whereby his character's lives are lived often differ diametrically from that of those who are intentionally writing from a Biblical world view.
That is not to say that Grisham is a foreigner to Christianity, as is evident from his portrayal of all variations of practice and pretext that fall under that label. It could even be said that he possibly bears a deeper understanding as an informed outsider than do many of those I interact with inside what is considered Fundamental Christianity. However, that doesn't mean that he communicates his plots, creates his characters, or controls the outcomes of his real to life situations with the objective of glorifying his Creator. We forgo that expectation when consuming secular works, leaving such high standards for the judgment of works created by those claiming the privileges of a Christian faith. And rightly so.

This particular story had a rapidly moving plot, colorful characters, and a perspective on morality that was compatible with my own. Not all of his novels meet these criteria. It was for those misgivings that I tentatively opened the cover, but I was soon drawn in, and thus found myself anxiously anticipating the ending.

As is typical of Grisham, the ending was not as expected. Though disappointed, I recognized the didacticism that saturated the plot and was contentedly relieved to disassociate with fictitious characters and their contrived dilemmas. In his "Afterward", he artfully exposed his agenda for the unobservant without offending the astute.

In short, Grisham is a skillful secular author with insight and creativity that can be enjoyed and appreciated by a reader armed with an adequate store of good judgment.

Pilgrim's Progress Part 2

Well, I spoke pretty highly of John Bunyan's account of Christian's travels along the narrow path toward the Celestial City. And right rightly so.

I then started what I hadn't expected - Part 2. It sure seemed like Christian's story was wrapping up quickly in comparison to what remained of the book. The Celestial City is the end right?

How is it that I have lived in literary ignorance of the second journey recorded by Bunyan? Christians' wife Christiana, after having abandoned her husband to remain in the city of Destruction, finds conviction and a conscience upon learning of the exploits and end of her estranged.

A second recorded journey ensues where Christiana and her 4 sons in repentance and anticipation likewise endure hardship on the long narrow path toward the bright city where her husband awaits.

I don't know if a stroke of regret brought Bunyan back to this story, or if possibly his readers demanded resolution for Christian's widow, or if part 2 was integral to his initial plot. Whatever the case, the plot in part 2 develops far more slowly as the former adventures of her now beloved are expanded upon at each turn, adding to the dialogue and enhancing the didacticism intrinsic to the previous narrative. The roving allegory of Christiana, her companion Mercy, and the 4 young men is thus layered atop that of the now epic journey of her husband.

In a word, Part 2 can become tedious. I don't say that in a completely negative sense, though at times I'm hesitant to return to the reading during long passages of reminiscence by some former acquaintance of the pilgrims of Part 1. Fortunately, the pilgrims of Part 2, the crowd of whom grows rather large by the end of the story, navigate their own adventures, thus making the steady though languid flow bearable in all but my most overstimulated moments.

The didactic asides and perpetual allegory are the marks of the progress of these pilgrims. Bunyan allows no blade of grass, ray of sunshine, pit, or stone to go unscrutinized for its pedantic potential. With that understanding and a willingness to ride the swells of this literary tide, the story can be appreciated much the way a sermon is appreciated - not exclusively for the vessel of plot, but rather for the power that drives the vessel forward.

I was moved to introspection many times, and would set the reading aside to muse on a principle expanded as I had never seen before. Both Part 1 and Part 2 could, I believe, stand alone. However, I recommend the whole as a discipline for any believer. I was improved by Bunyan's labors, and as stated in his closing poetic arguments, such was the purpose of his labors.

"...This book is writ in such a dialect

As may the minds of listless men affect:

It seems a novelty, and yet contains

Nothing but sound and honest gospel strains.

Would’st thou divert thyself from melancholy?

Would’st thou be pleasant, yet be far from folly?

Would’st thou read riddles, and their explanation?

Or else be drowned in thy contemplation?

Dost thou love picking meat? Or would’st thou see

A man i’ the clouds, and hear him speak to thee?

Would’st thou be in a dream, and yet not sleep?

Or would’st thou in a moment laugh and weep?

Would’st thou lose thyself and catch no harm,

And find thyself again without a charm?

Would’st read thyself, and read thou know’st not what,

And yet know whether thou art blest or not,

By reading the same lines? O then come hither,

And lay my book, thy head, and heart together."

From: Pilgrim's Progress - THE AUTHOR'S APOLOGY FOR HIS BOOK

Revisiting a Classic

John Bunyan
"If you release me today, I will preach tomorrow"

Bec and I were reading a piece of literature, which I will comment on at a later time, wherein was listed a handful of books recommended as mandatory reading for children. Among those books was the long neglected Pilgrim's Progress. The compilation had "allowed" for a condensed version though I decided that if I was going to attack it, it would have to be in its original form as written in the 17th century.

I had felt for a long time that I was above this piece of literature, encouraged by my recollections of watered down adaptations for children. The link between the story and reality appeared far too tenuous even for my young mind. Those picture books had caught the drift, but, I believe completely missed the point. What had been lacking in the full color caricatures parsed out for children was the depth of the dialogue and brilliant use of the English language found in the original work. The Pilgrim's Progress was, so far as I can tell, never intended to be a child's story. In relegating it as thus the efficacy of this classic has been marred.

An unabashed allegory of the Christian life, this work is easily mishandled by well meaning tutors seeking a convenient cudgel wherewith to temper young minds.

John Bunyan intuitively warns at the end of Christian's pilgrimage in the conclusion to Part 1...

Now, reader, I have told my dream to thee,

See if thou canst interpret it to me,

Or to thyself, or neighbor: but take heed

Of misinterpreting; for that, instead

Of doing good, will but thyself abuse:

By misinterpreting, evil ensues.

Take heed, also, that thou be not extreme

In playing with the outside of my dream;

Nor let my figure or similitude

Put thee into a laughter, or a feud.

Leave this for boys and fools; but as for thee,

Do thou the substance of my matter see.

Put by the curtains, look within my veil,

Turn up my metaphors, and do not fail.

There, if thou seekest them, such things thou’lt find

As will be helpful to an honest mind.

What of my dross thou findest there, be bold

To throw away, but yet preserve the gold.

What if my gold be wrapped up in ore?

None throw away the apple for the core:

But if thou shalt cast all away as vain,

I know not but ‘t will make me dream again.

Bunyan no doubt suspected the misuse of his allegorical work and sought to preclude the very damage that was done to my understanding of the complex personifications of virtue and vice in his characters. Bunyan was no slack. He suffered under the Anglican church, even to imprisonment, for his resolve to handle the Word of Truth in a manner consistent with it's very teachings. What he created in the The Pilgrim's Progress is a timeless piece of literature that gives a face, a gait, and a demeanor to concepts, attitudes, and characteristics in such a way that forces the reader to reconsider the effects of those elements in his own life.

I for one, thought long and hard about the conversation that Christian had with Faithful in an aside regrading one Talkative as they traveled. Talkative's speech was seemingly noble and certainly heavenly, leading Faithful to assume good character in his companion. However, Christian knew of Talkative and held him in less high esteem and explained his rational to Faithful...

Christian: ...This man is for any company, and for any talk; as he talketh now with you, so will he talk when he is on the ale-bench; and the more drink he hath in his crown, the more of these things he hath in his mouth. Religion hath no place in his heart, or house, or conversation; all he hath lieth in his tongue, and his religion is to make a noise therewith.

Faithful: Say you so? Then am I in this man greatly deceived.

Christian: Deceived! you may be sure of it. Remember the proverb, “They say, and do not;” but the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. Matt. 23:3; 1 Cor. 4:20. He talketh of prayer, of repentance, of faith, and of the new birth; but he knows but only to talk of them. I have been in his family, and have observed him both at home and abroad; and I know what I say of him is the truth. His house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is of savor. There is there neither prayer, nor sign of repentance for sin; yea, the brute, in his kind, serves God far better than he. He is the very stain, reproach, and shame of religion to all that know him, Rom. 2:24,25; it can hardly have a good word in all that end of the town where he dwells, through him. Thus say the common people that know him, “A saint abroad, and a devil at home.” His poor family finds it so; he is such a churl, such a railer at, and so unreasonable with his servants, that they neither know how to do for or speak to him. Men that have any dealings with him say, It is better to deal with a Turk than with him, for fairer dealings they shall have at their hands. This Talkative (if it be possible) will go beyond them, defraud, beguile, and overreach them. Besides, he brings up his sons to follow his steps; and if he finds in any of them a foolish timorousness, (for so he calls the first appearance of a tender conscience,) he calls them fools and blockheads, and by no means will employ them in much, or speak to their commendation before others. For my part, I am of opinion that he has, by his wicked life, caused many to stumble and fall; and will be, if God prevents not, the ruin of many more.

In following the extended narrative excerpted above, I was forced to consider my own speech and that of others around me. As was no doubt intended, I was able to easily apply this allegorical figure with vibrancy to my relationships.

Bunyan could have easily chosen common names such as "William" or "John" or "Michael" and then allowed the reader to interpret from their actions the typology intended. Instead a far more direct approach was taken, leaving no doubt about the disposition of the new character. What this adds or detracts from the narrative is closed for debate. What remains is a great read and an opportunity for sincere introspection.

I enter into Part 2 of his book with a far greater appreciation and a far different expectation.

Coming to the End of - War and Peace

Author of War and Peace

Do you think, If I were to grow a beard like his I could compose such outstanding literature? It may be worth a try.

Alas, like Sampson, I suppose the potency of the works is not at all attributable to the characteristics of the shell, but rather are the manifestation of a far deeper source.

After reading nearly 360 chapters of Tolstoy's War and Peace, I am pressed by the notion that I am little worthy to be commenting on such an amazing work of literature. I don't use the word "amazing" lightly. I am spellbound as I totter along the path of logical thought laid out by this brilliant author. In the epilogues to the book, which are no less a part of the whole than are the Bill of Rights a lesser part of the Constitution, Tolstoy seems to be expanding the philosophy behind the narrative of the previous books and chapters. I could not do him or his work justice with a description of, nor do I recommend any person attempt to glean the full import of the philosophical essays without the aid of the overarching narrative. Likewise, I fall short of even a coherent synopsis of his essays.

Therefore I am left to simply quote the the following passage which stands alone well enough in sagacity and clarity, but hopefully will impel the curious to a full consumption of this classic work. (I nearly said "full digestion," but chose rather consumption, being the first step in the essential process of nourishment, since I acknowledge humbly that to digest this material would require me to eat Borscht, grow a large beard, and read through it many more times.)

From:

War and Peace - Epilogue 2, Chapter 8

"Only in our self-confident day of the popularization of knowledge- thanks to that most powerful engine of ignorance, the diffusion of printed matter- has the question of the freedom of will been put on a level on which the question itself cannot exist. In our time the majority of so-called advanced people- that is, the crowd of ignoramuses- have taken the work of the naturalists who deal with one side of the question for a solution of the whole problem.

They say and write and print that the soul and freedom do not exist, for the life of man is expressed by muscular movements and muscular movements are conditioned by the activity of the nerves; the soul and free will do not exist because at an unknown period of time we sprang from the apes. They say this, not at all suspecting that thousands of years ago that same law of necessity which with such ardor they are now trying to prove by physiology and comparative zoology was not merely acknowledged by all the religions and all the thinkers, but has never been denied. They do not see that the role of the natural sciences in this matter is merely to serve as an instrument for the illumination of one side of it. For the fact that, from the point of view of observation, reason and the will are merely secretions of the brain, and that man following the general law may have developed from lower animals at some unknown period of time, only explains from a fresh side the truth admitted thousands of years ago by all the religious and philosophic theories- that from the point of view of reason man is subject to the law of necessity; but it does not advance by a hair's breadth the solution of the question, which has another, opposite, side, based on the consciousness of freedom.

If men descended from the apes at an unknown period of time, that is as comprehensible as that they were made from a handful of earth at a certain period of time (in the first case the unknown quantity is the time, in the second case it is the origin); and the question of how man's consciousness of freedom is to be reconciled with the law of necessity to which he is subject cannot be solved by comparative physiology and zoology, for in a frog, a rabbit, or an ape, we can observe only the muscular nervous activity, but in man we observe consciousness as well as the muscular and nervous activity.

The naturalists and their followers, thinking they can solve this question, are like plasterers set to plaster one side of the walls of a church who, availing themselves of the absence of the chief superintendent of the work, should in an access of zeal plaster over the windows, icons, woodwork, and still unbuttressed walls, and should be delighted that from their point of view as plasterers, everything is now so smooth and regular."

A final thought:

The first paragraph stated, "Only in our self-confident day of the popularization of knowledge- thanks to that most powerful engine of ignorance, the diffusion of printed matter- has the question of the freedom of will been put on a level on which the question itself cannot exist."

If thus was the opinion stemming from the the keen intellect of a man living over 100 years ago in eastern Europe seeing the influence of the 400 year old printing press, what shock would that same mind have faced in today's culture at the "popularization of knowledge" vomited out in the name of "reality", "news", and "information" through 42" LCD screens and 15.5" monitors?

______________

"While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:

“ Lord, who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”

Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
“ He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”
John 12:36-39