I read books sometimes.

Very fun! Read in one sitting, which I haven’t done in a while. I knew I was in for a treat from the very first sentence:

“In the history of the world there have been lots of onces and lots of times, and every time has had a once upon it.”

Had some fun allusions to The Odyssey (a long journey home, characters named Lotus and Siren, a bed with a corner post carved out of a tree), as well as both Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (getting lost in a cave without light, a raft, and hidden treasure).

Quotes:

“But one thing I do know is that our bellies aren't big enough for revenge. It turns sour and eats you up. We'll get out, but we'll get out for the sun, the moon, and mothers, not for small-souled enemies.”

“Tom, unaware that he had even slept, opened his eyes on darkness, but it was darkness with a story.”

“His skin crawled in the warm breeze and sent up goose bumps to celebrate. Every breath, every smell, and the laughter of faraway insects, every bit of the world's dance greeted him at once, and the noise overwhelmed him. From the rippling green and the lazy willows beneath them to the blue kingdom and its cloud herds above, all the world rose up, stood on its head, and crushed his soul with joy.”

I had to keep reminding myself that this book was written 100 years ago because it just as easily could have been written today. The author was extremely prophetic. It was not a thrilling read by any means, but he methodically and effectively dismantles various notions of modern liberal theology and shows how incompatible they are with historical and biblical Christianity.

Kinda torn on how to review this... I think it's a great read if you go into it with the right expectations. On the one hand, you can't expect a thrilling plot or complex character development or impressive prose. The world and characters are all super flat. But I don't think the author was too concerned with that when writing the book. In some ways, it even helps to emphasize his point of God's sovereignty.

On the other hand, the book made for a really fun, simple read (Name a more classic archetype than a boy going on a quest to slay a dragon and rescue a girl. It's what Christ does in the Bible, after all.), with all sorts of deeper meaning sprinkled throughout. As other reviews have said, it's a hearty mix of Tolkien, Lewis, Bunyan, and Chesterton. It's the kind of book I'd like to have read as a kid — the kind that tells children that dragons can be killed (see the famous G.K. Chesterton quote about fairy tales). The author is also a bit of a wordsmith, which made for some fun one-liners.

If the number of quotes I highlighted is any indication, this is a solid book. Here's a sampling:

"Finally, the dragon spoke, and his voice was a mountain brook clattering down over a steep jumble of rocks."

"His white hide shimmered in the morning light, as though his color was the sum of all the colors, and not the absence of them."

"The dragon is evil, but not an outlaw. He follows the deepness of things and loves to do what is expected of him."

"So you may not think you have the strength, or power, or wisdom to attack Fafnir. And this is all true. But you do have the authority."

"The creature seemed rebellious and evil without having rebelled against its own nature."

"He said that it was like breathing glory, and that it was too thick for him to breathe in."

"The dragon obeys all the rules of the story. He hates them, but he obeys them. If you ever meet a dragon in a story that does not obey the rules, then that story is even more wicked than the dragon is." (even the White Witch in Narnia has to abide by the deep magic, even if she doesn't understand it)

"'Who brought you to this place? The one who writes all stories,' Kyru said. 'We don’t know how, or fully why, but we can always know who.'"

"But when the dragon is speaking, it will seem to you then that this bread was made from sawdust. Our words to you will seem full of malice. The water in this pitcher will be remembered as foul. And when you enter that great darkness, do not doubt in the dark what you knew in the light."

Such an impressive work. How does someone even begin to write something of this scale?

I'm glad to have read it, but that's about all I can say. I remember maybe like 5% of what I read. But hopefully I'm a better person for having read it. Hopefully, in the words of another author, "Most of the good your reading and education has done for you is not something you can recall at all."

“You have said, 'Seek my face.' My heart says to you, 'Your face, LORD, do I seek.'" (Psalm 27:8)

Full of good stuff! If you’ve ever read Martin Luther of Jonathan Edward’s or George Whitefield and wondered “whether you have any acquaintance at all with the mighty God whom they knew so intimately,” this book was written to help with that. The first two parts of the book are basically just a survey of the attributes of God — not unlike what you’d find in a systematic theology textbook, except with a more pastoral style. The last part of the book turns to application.

I really appreciated his emphasis on adoption as the highest privilege that the gospel offers. I’d never thought about how much of a privilege it is that “Father” is God’s covenant name in the New Testament. Old Testament Christians had no such privilege.

He also constantly quotes from classic hymns to model the kind of worship which such knowledge of God ought to evoke. Knowledge of God without worship is worth nothing — even the demons believe.

Quotes:

“To live wisely, you have to be clear-sighted and realistic—ruthlessly so—in looking at life as it is.”

“Seek grace to work hard at whatever life calls you to do, and enjoy your work as you do it. Leave to God its issues; let him measure its ultimate worth; your part is to use all the good sense and enterprise at your command in exploiting the opportunities that lie before you.”

“A study of the concordance will show that there are morereferences in Scripture to the anger, fury, and wrath of God, than there are to His love and tenderness.”

“Divine love is a function of omnipotence and has at its heart an almighty purpose than cannot be thwarted.”

This was my first Jane Austen book, and it was very different than I thought it would be. Much funnier and more entertaining than I had expected! I found the beginning a little slow, but it picked up towards the end.

There was one particular quote shortly after the climax of the book that caught me off guard: "What had she to wish for? Nothing, but to grow more worthy of him, whose intentions and judgment had been ever so superior to her own. Nothing, but that the lessons of her past folly might teach her humility and circumspection in future." That struck me as exactly how Christians should feel about Christ. If the LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing and shall not want. The only thing left to do is "live in a manner worthy of the calling to which I've been called."

Also, if I ever happen to be looking for backhanded compliments, I have a whole repertoire of quotes to use. For instance, "I know there is not a better creature in the world: but you must allow, that what is good and what is ridiculous are most unfortunately blended in her." Poor Miss Bates.

Just so good! The whole series is great, but this last book is one of my all-time favorites. I don’t think I’ve ever read a story by someone who sees the world so much like I do, much less by someone who can put it all into words far better than I ever could. I know it’s just a series for kids, but “no book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond” (C.S. Lewis).

Andrew Peterson wrote somewhere that his goal in life is to “tell the truth in the most beautiful way that he can.” He succeeded with this book.

One of my favorite quotes: “He felt in his heart a braid of pain and delight and longing that made his bones burn and his heart quake. All his attention turned from himself, and he yearned for the speaker of those words so desperately that he wished he could die and be born again as a single spoken syllable from his mouth, just to know the pleasure of his presence.”

It's always good to spend time in and around Narnia. The depths of wisdom hidden in the stories seem endless. Now I'm just looking forward to my next read through. I agree with Puddleglum: "I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."

"All the best stories which had been told or lived out before this were like dreams compared to the real story that we will all eventually wake up into. That story is one that never ends, 'in which every chapter is better than the one before' (211)."

Very simple, but very helpful, book. One I hope will yield fruit in my prayer life. It did get a little repetitive, but that probably just helped to drive the point home.

I was really struck by the author's point that the last thing Jesus did on the Cross (when it would have been agonizing to gather the breath to mutter a single word) was pray two different Psalms.

This book has given me a lot to think about. I haven’t really put much thought into what evils I might be supporting with my investing. Now I have, and it’s not pretty.

“Immediately the Holy Spirit gripped my heart. Here I was, the president of our local pro-life pregnancy center, and I owned stocks in three different companies that were manufacturing abortion drugs. It struck me that every time a young lady walked into the Planned Parenthood across the street and had an abortion, I was profiting from that transaction. With God’s money, no less.”

“As a Christian, wisdom requires you to be a fool—in business, family, investing, and every other area of life. You will be called on by Wisdom to make decisions that seem like folly to bystanders.”

“Trust in the Lord’s goodness. Submit to His Word. Silence the snake. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And investments.”

A master class in praying the Scriptures. More of a reference book than the kind of book you'd typically read cover-to-cover, though.

Decent read. Mostly just puts cold, hard numbers behind a reality we all already recognize, but someone has to do that work.

Had to read for an ethics class. Mostly just common-sense stuff.

Wilson is one of my favorite writers, so this made for a fun read.

———

“Live an actual life out there, a full life, the kind that will generate a surplus of stories. Don’t go slumming in order to garner a few superficial observations. A two-week camping trip doesn’t make you a mountain man, and a three-week job does not constitute the kind of life experience platform that will bear the weight of a lifetime of writing. If you want to say a lot, you need to have a lot to say.”

“Most of the good your reading and education has done for you is not something you can recall at all.”

“You read widely to be shaped, not so that you might be prepared to regurgitate.”

“As long as you live, if you continue to ask this question of language, “What else can it do?” you will always find an answer.”

“Good writing is like a great cathedral. The echoes are lovely.”

“The brain is not a shoebox that “gets full,” but is rather a muscle that expands its capacity with increased use. The more you know, the more you can know. The more you can do with words, the more you can do. As it turns out.”

Really solid, helpful book. Voddie will be sorely missed.

Good stuff. The main point of the book is that death is the only thing certain in life (and I'm closer to dying now than when I started this book), and as such we ought to order everything else around the fact that we will die.

"Dying people who truly know they are dying are of all people most alive."

"To die well means everything I have in this world I hold with open hands because I love Jesus more than anything and anyone else, and I'm happy to go home to him."

"Wise people, who understand how God has made us to long for him and for heaven, don't look backward when they get nostalgic. They allow the feeling to point forward. They look up to heaven and to home."

"Living a good life means preparing to die a good death."

A healthy dose of classic Puritan wisdom. Such a valuable perspective on the Christian life, which the Bible repeatedly describes in terms of waging war or running a race.

Couldn't help but think of the famous John Piper "Make War" sermon clip while reading.

Quotes:

"Lord, teach me to use every piece of the spiritual armour; how to hold the shield how to wear the helmet, how to use the sword of the Spirit. Lord, strengthen me in the battle; let me rather die a conqueror, than be taken prisoner, and led by Satan in triumph."

"Christ was violent in dying, to teach us to be violent in believing."

"Can we behead our beloved sin? To pluck out the right eye requires violence."

"The heart will persuade that a slight tear is repentance; a lazy desire is faith."

"Faith not only not yields, but beats back the temptation. Faith holds the promise in one hand, and Christ in the other: the promise encourageth faith, and Christ strengthens it: so faith beats the enemy out of the field."

"Heaven is inherited by the violent. Our life is military, Christ is our captain, the gospel is the banner, the graces are our spiritual artillery, and Heaven is only taken in a forcible way."

"This, if any thing may excite prayer, and carry in it a fiery chariot up to Heaven, when we know we pray for nothing but what God is more willing to grant than we are to ask."

Super well written. We become like what we worship.

Pretty good. I finally feel like I get Ecclesiastes now. Favorite takeaway is that the very ability to take joy in anything - in a world where all is meaningless, fleeting vanity - is itself a gift from God.

“In the world of creatures, we may only enjoy what we do not worship.” 

Some good takeaways and worth reading (especially on company time), but not quite what I was hoping for.