The Once and Future King, by T.H. White

***

An excerpt of a review recently posted on Schaeffer's Ghost:

Camelot has come to be associated with ideas of potential, hope, and promise, but in T.H. White’s book, it’s an even more striking picture of the depravity of man. [...] 

Arthur: “I will impregnate my half sister (it’s a long story—there was witchcraft) and then ineffectually arrange for the murder of the resulting bastard child. I will also devote my life to becoming a staunch advocate for justice and no respecter of persons, except when the person in question is one of my knights, in which case I’ll totally overlook minor infractions like the slaughter of innocents. Oh, and despite Merlin’s explicit warning about my wife and BFF hooking up (and the resulting downfall of my kingdom), I will turn a blind eye to their affair and instead adopt the tried-and-true ‘La la la I can’t hear you’ approach.” 

Other knights: “We will constantly lose our tempers, go off half-cocked, and/or avenge various wrongs (real or imagined) by murdering women, bystanders, and other knights, then apologize to Arthur, who will pardon us as long as we promise not to let it happen again. Then we will totally let it happen again. Also, the only one of us who is remotely virtuous will act like a sanctimonious and self-righteous jerk who is too busy being ‘holy’ to ever actually care about another human being.” [...] 

Some utopia you’ve got there, Arthur. Yessirree.

Full review available here.

Columbo (Series)

****

An excerpt of a review recently posted on Schaeffer's Ghost:

People take one look at the raincoat and the car, at the unprepossessing manner, and decide that Columbo is not worthy of their respect. He endures snide remarks by the boatload. The wealthy and powerful individuals involved in his cases demean him to his superiors and try to have him thrown off the case. They laugh at him to his face, and they talk to him like he’s five years old.

And how does he respond? He accepts their condescending suggestions and reprimands with humility—sometimes he even seems grateful. He is unfailingly polite and courteous, even in the face of rudeness, anger, and spite. He often acquiesces in the criticisms of others, and laughs along at jokes made at his expense, even though they are none-too-kindly meant. And it’s not because he’s oblivious to their scorn. He knows exactly what they think of him, and it doesn’t seem to bother him one particle. [...]

I wish I could say the same thing about myself. 

Full review available here.

The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins

****

An excerpt of a review recently posted on Schaeffer's Ghost:

Classic literature doesn’t offer much in the way of strong, single, unattractive heroines. If you’re a reader, it’s ridiculously easy to become persuaded that only attractive people matter—that they’re the only ones who get to have stories. Unattractive people are relegated to the sidelines. And a single woman, well, she’s just a problem to be solved. Elizabeth Bennet is witty and charming and attractive, so she gets a (fantastic) book and ends up with one of the Catches of All Time. Juliet’s story doesn’t end well, it’s true, but it’s highly regarded as a romantic classic—and she was no dog. Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, Emma …these are stories about attractive women. Then there’s Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty (it’s right there in the name), Snow White … even biblical matriarchs, such as they are, skew hot—look at Sarah, Rachel, and Rebecca. Sure, Jane Eyre is no looker (and I love her for that), but even she winds up paired up with the gruff Mr. Rochester. And the unfortunate Leah, though unloved, still gets married. Only tragedies end with single heroines still single. Happily-ever-afters require marriage (or at least romance). [...]

But in the face of countless, gorgeous Disney princesses and their (admittedly dull-as-toast) Prince Charmings, it is crazy easy to believe that if you are not a) a knockout, and b) married, then you either don’t get a story, or your story is incomplete until you acquire both these things. You are incomplete until you acquire both these things.

Which is why I love The Woman in White’s Marian.

Full review available here.

Monsters University (2013)

***

An excerpt of a review recently posted on Schaeffer's Ghost:

We want the truth to be that anyone can do anything, that if you just set your mind on it and work hard enough, you can achieve your dream. But that’s not the real world. We have limitations. The world is full of little boys who wanted to play basketball like Michael Jordan. Many of them worked really, really hard at it. But to date, no one has pulled it off. If we tell them that anything is possible, that they can make their dream a reality, then how do they explain their failure? After all, failure is not always a function of ‘not working hard enough’. If insurmountable limitations exist, hard work, though morally beneficial, is just a hamster wheel to nowhere. Some dreams are beyond our power to achieve. That is life. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, ‘playing basketball like Michael Jordan’ isn’t the only worthwhile goal in the world. As children, we’re drawn to extreme goals—be the best, the brightest, the first. But these kinds of tasks fall to a very few individuals, and the majority of kids (even your kids), will never be the best at anything. And that is ok. There is no shame in merely being good, being bright, loving your friends and family, and working hard, even if you never win a gold medal for any of it.

Full review available here.

Epic (2013)

**

An excerpt of a review recently posted on Schaeffer's Ghost:

In a post Occupy Wall Street world, we’re used to hearing about the 99%, used to hearing about how those rich jerks owe it to us poor schlubs of the world to help us out and spread the wealth. We hear community touted right and left, but it is a community of entitlement. Community means I deserve. I am owed. I am entitled … to a house or a car or a bigger chunk of my neighbor’s paycheck. I have rights, and heaven help anyone who tries to take them away or infringe on them in any way. Community, in America, seems to be about what we can get. 

Not so in … Leafy-town or wherever it is that the story takes place. Here, the mantra is ‘Many leaves, one tree.’ As Captain Ronin explains it, this kind of community is one of service. America, with its ‘take take take’ attitude, has the community stick by the entitlement end. Ronin and his fellow Leaf-Men, by seeking to serve others, have figured out what we are still struggling to understand.

Full review available here.

Comforts from Romans: Celebrating the Gospel One Day at a Time, by Elyse Fitzpatrick

***

Counselor and author Elyse Fitzpatrick's devotional study of the book of Romans. The book is broken up into 32 daily meditations, each under 10 minutes, as well as an introduction and appendices. Fitzpatrick's focus is on, well, the Gospel--specifically, the finished work of Christ on the cross. In fact, she focuses so much on Christ's finished work that she winds up sounding (at least to this recovering legalist) borderline antinomian. Not explicitly antinomian, mind you--she is adamant that the completeness of Christ's work in freeing us from the law should not result in lawlessness. But she is clearly focused on undoing the evils of legalism and salvation by works, the earning of God's favor by our own efforts. And good on her for taking that bull by the horns. But as someone who is all to willing to tolerate my own sin, I know I need a good kick in the pants and a healthy dose of teaching on how to fight the sin from which I have been set free.

The Sermon on the Mount: Kingdom Life in a Fallen World, by Sinclair B. Ferguson

****

The inimitable Sinclair Ferguson takes on the Greatest Sermon of All Time. Obviously, the result is well worth reading.

I came to the book having read and, nor the most part, enjoyed several other books on the subject, including Charles Spurgeon's God Will Bless You, Puritan Thomas Watson's The Beatitudes, and Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy. I think Ferguson's is my favorite so far.