Stopping to Think

  Jack by Marilynne Robinson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Robinson's prose is worth 5 stars. This book does take a while to get going, as it opens with a long conversation...I'm not sure if I was helped by having previous familiarity with Jack as a character, or if coming in cold would have benefited me. Jack is the character in Robinson's novels whom I find most troubling. I have people in my life who have held to a similar trajectory of self-destruction, wrecking or at least hurting others in their wake. And the easy thing to do is mentally dehumanize them, categorize them as irredeemable screw ups, and move on. But Jack is so deeply human. He troubles me, because if a character in a novel can be this complex, how much more the people in my real life? I needed to read this book, and it makes me want to revisit Home. In more ways than one. View all my reviews

Here is a link to an excellent review of C.S. Lewis's masterpiece, Till We Have Faces.  This book is one of the few novels I've ever re-read, and much like the author of this piece, I found the second reading far more rewarding. Lewis is using the metaphor of this myth to pierce into the deepest realities of our souls. Read the review to taste that, pick up the novel to experience it.  An excerpt:  Telling her strange story for posterity, this old queen presents a body of evidence, for her goal is to make a case against the divine. She details her complaints against the gods—their cruelty, hiddenness, jealousy, and trickery. But as she tells the story of hurt and injustice, something else develops. She realizes her case is, in reality, a case against herself. Indignant, she discovers that, after all, she was the cruel and unjust one. Logical and learned, she discovers that, after all, she was the liar and deceiver. (The worst lies she tells are to herself.) Pragmatic an...