I felt like I didn't do a whole lot of reading last year, but I think what may have happened was that I read less books that had more substance. All of the books I completed last year really asked me to let the ideas do some work inside me as I proceeded through the pages. Allow me to tell you about a few I really enjoyed and a brief explanation of why I really liked them.
(In no particular order)
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals - Michael Pollan
I can't remember exactly how I heard about this book, but I am so thankful I did. I read through it in the late Summer, and by Fall I had changed many things about my eating, shopping, and dining-out habits. I didn't feel guilted in to changing, never felt like I was ever told that I had been "eating wrong," or anything like that. Pollan is a Journalism Professor at Berkeley, so his approach to the subject of what-we-eat and how-we-eat is very investigative and contextual--not a ton of propaganda or ethical high-horsing. The things I loved about the book were: learning what the ridiculous words in the ingredients of common supermarket foods represented, finally reading about what the differences are between the various meats in the supermarket, a de-bunking of "common sense" understandings of what the words "organic," "natural," and "sustainable" mean, and a full account of a responsible and "sustainable" farming and eating community in practice. After finishing this book, my eating changed, my respect for eating changed, my buying habits changed, my dining-out habits changed, but most importantly: my attitude toward food changed. I was led by Pollan's work to respecting food, respecting the meal, and away from a need to feel like I was "eating right" (or, pretty much using the word "right" at all in my thinking). I've started his follow up In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, and so far (about 90 pages in), I am enjoying it with the same enthusiasm as I did Omnivore's Dilemma.
The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church Beyond Belief - Peter Rollins
This one I definitely may not have come across if not for Seth Thomas. He had also introduced me to Rollins' first book, How (Not) To Speak of God. I was curious about Fidelity of Betrayal, because I felt that Rollins' was one of the few authors associated with the "Emerging/Emergent" community that I had read that had really put in the scholarly hours and was writing from a place free from sentimentality or vanity. Rollins became somewhat of a controversy hot-spot for beginning Fidelity with a sympathetic and almost apologetic view of Judas Iscariot, but I appreciated that take very much. I constantly am needing to be reminded that humanity doesn't reduce to "good guys" and "bad guys" (thanks, Hollywood), and Rollins seeks out the humanity in Judas' betrayal. He then (as many with a Ph.D. in Postmodern Theory would) spends the rest of book considering if those with views in or on Christianity have been so busy taking on living rightly and obediently, that we haven't allowed ourselves to really understand what those things might mean. He really pushes us toward leaving our beliefs and our icons behind us and move on--not to abandon them, but to become more than they would have us remain. I felt compelled to really dive in to this book, because I had already felt like I was "leaving Christian things behind." I had moved away from church, the Bible, whatever some people would call "Christian living," and my attitude about how to even use words like "Christian." I found myself in an odd spot--stripping away what I had learned was a Christ-like life, and yet never feeling like I ever lost hope that Christ may have had something good going on. So when I read the book, I was comforted by the idea that Christianity could be "irreligious," that I didn't need to call myself or anyone else a "Christian," and that the whole idea of those classifications might be kind of silly and childish anyhow. Rollins delivered a book that really met me with great timing, and though I'd like to to think I have moved beyond his ideas along with the ones I had before I read them, chances are I am still pretty entrenched in all the ideas I now consider silly. I'll also mention that I love that he is published by a company named Paraclete Press. Don't know the word Paraclete? Look it up, it's awesome. Christ used this word as a name for what many now call the Holy Spirit.
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
I read this book because of Rikk Watts. As many of you know, I regularly follow Rikk's lectures at The Rock Garden through their Podcasts of his teaching. I enjoy Rikk because he is a staunch and unapologetic academic, but never loses his sense of fallibility and silliness. He takes the sentimentality and assumption out of Christian thinking, and approaches questions of Christianity by contextualizing (he often repeats, "history is the fundamental paradigm for understanding") and seeking out the humanity of the ethical and strictly theological issues at hand. Rikk is an emboldened teacher, but I have never heard him as fire-laden as when he would address the current popularization of Dawkins and others associated with the New Atheist Movement. For over a year I had listened to Watts' diatribes on the alleged irresponsibility and negligence of Dawkins' most popular work. I decided I needed to read this thing for myself to make up my own mind about it, so I picked up the UK-release (probably closer to the actual print Dawkins himself penned) and didn't put it down until I was finished.
The God Delusion was controversial for excellent reason. Dawkins has put together quite the convincing argument. Acerbic and needlessly confrontational? Absolutely. Is Dawkins smug and an un-apologetic narcissist? Hey, from what I can tell: probably. But I went through his work doing my best to practice Epoché, and let any defensiveness that I anticipated just suspend until I could let the new perspective in. As I allowed the things I had always let myself believe in be de-bunked and de-throned, I wondered if I would lose faith in a God, in a Christ, in a Prophet, in anything the Big Three had to offer. What if I decided to worship Science instead? Hmm....
As I finished the book and continued the process of wondering what to believe, I arrived at a place that Rollins suggested I might: beyond belief, irreligiously clinging to faith in God. As I learned that I had the capacity to (as Dawkins and friends do) intellectualize religion out of my beliefs, or (as Watts and friends do) intellectualize myself in to deeper belief, I found out that I was quite comfortable not needing to know what I believed. The place I found discomfort was when I anticipated the unknown: death. I suppose the fear of Death is a root cause for "the opium of the people," (Marx), but Pascal's Wager would haunt me when I leaned toward faithless living. Ultimately, I think the fear of the Unknown and the fear of Death will always leave me with a hope that God does exist, that this God is more decent than Man, and that Christ is somehow at the center of God's extended decency toward Man. Belief has almost nothing to do with it at this point--Hope has everything to do with it--but I may never have come to that understanding had I not read The God Delusion.
**I should note that while I was reading this book, I had several friends ask me "Why would you ever want to read that?" And not just because they were "worried" I'd be convinced in to faithlessness, but because it is inevitably going to be a confusing process for a Christian to hear that everything they believe is wrong. I appreciate that, but like I said before--I just had to read it to make up my own mind. You might not need to read it make up your own mind, who knows?
Looks like I didn't read much fiction last year! At least none that made it in to the Three I felt compelled to tell you about. Here are my other recommendations from the last 13 months:
Hot, Flat, and Crowded - Thomas Friedman
Intellectually stimulating, and a unique approach to the problem of inevitable climate change. However, only interesting to a point. I didn't change much for reading it.
What I Know For Sure - Tavis Smiley
So powerful a story of accepting the combination of Giftedness and Responsibility, and sprinting full-speed-ahead despite trauma and pain. Smiley is a truly awe-inspiring man.
Hope On A Tightrope - Cornel West
Not much new here, but timely in the election of Obama, and came with an audio CD of West discussing his primary book topics with Tavis Smiley.
Debating Race - Michael Eric Dyson
Excellent transcriptions of excellent debates. You wouldn't believe what goes down in this book and what you will learn. Even Ann Coulter concedes respect for Dyson in a book cover blurb. Ann Coulter! Are you kidding me?
I am excited by the first two books of my 25th year: In Defense of Food, and Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison). Invisible Man was a recommendation from my good friend Andy Orr, and I must tell you that I haven't been this excited about a piece of fiction as I've been reading it since I read The Brothers K several Summers ago. Ellison is.... incredible.
Any recommendations to fill the remaining 11 months of my 25th year? On my bookshelf and in queue are When Work Disappears (William Julius Wilson), Cannery Row (John Steinbeck), and The Rest is Noise (Alex Ross).
As always.... stay tuned for more!
