Lying by Sam Harris

A friend on Facebook recommended this book - and posted the link to the (then) free pdf. I downloaded the book with the hopes of reading it some day. As this category - hope to some day - describes too many books/things in my life, it says something that I managed to read the whole book.

The book itself is short - about 50 pages - which makes it inherently readable and something one can read through on a train ride or several lunch breaks. The topic, lying, is also of interest today, especially as we have often become a culture of nice, in which insignificant lies seem inevitable. Harris challenges, rightly I think, whether lies, insignificant or not, are appropriate.

As a Christian, I believe lying is categorically wrong, even nice lies. Harris provides in his book a more sociological reasoning for why lying is wrong. Ultimataely, he argues that lying is unfair to others. It is done out of our own selfishness and not out of goodwill for others. After all, if someone really does look fat in a dress, doesn't it help her more to honestly say that so that she doesn't buy it and continue to look bad in it - or so that she considers losing weight? Of course, it needs to be done tactfully - but even a "thanks for the present, I don't think this is my style" can be done tactfully. After all, isn't that more tactful than disappointing the person because they never see you wear it?

The book is worth picking up and thinking about. I think it would also make a good book for a discussion group. If you'd like to borrow my copy, let me know and I'll send it to you.

Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma (2006)

Someone outside of the Netherlands had recommended this book, and I finally got around to reading it this summer. For anyone interested in Dutch culture today, it is definitely worth reading. It summarizes well events connected to Theo van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Furthermore, he accurately highlights some of the underlying assumptions found in Dutch politics and society - something that both insiders and outsiders would do well to read.

A good review of the book can be found online at the Guardian - Review: Murder in Amsterdam. 

On a personal note, Buruma also helped me understand better why people have reacted how they have to Hirsi Ali (the author of Infidel). He describes her as being almost religiously devoted to the Enlightenment (and hence her quick acceptance within Dutch political circles). She also seems to expect that once a Muslim is enlightened he or, more so, she would then leave their religion. Buruma even gives an example of her dismissing women who validate their being Muslim. As much as her questions about the influence, radicalism, and intoleration of Islamism are good to think about, her enlightenment devotion and her refusal to listen to others holding different beliefs makes her a less than ideal advocate for Christians.

Pretty Woman (2006) by Karen Schwarze, Marianne Berger, Edith Geurts

This book, written in Dutch, gives practical information about how teen prostitution and how one can help. It is based on the experience of the Pretty Women Foundation.The book is specifically designed for those who work with teenagers. The first half of the book focuses on the problem of teenage prostitution and how Pretty Women gives presentations to on this topic, and specifically to teenagers. The second half of the book specifies how Pretty Women reaches out to teenage girls through individual contact and group settings.

For those working directly with teenagers, it is a helpful resource. For those, like me, who are somewhat more removed from the target group, it is less helpful. Yet, two overviews are worth reporting here - not because they are so much new or unique to this book, but because they have been presented here in a clear and accessible manner - and these two overviews are: the means in which teenage girls are often led into prostitution and the risk factors for entering prostitution.

The means in which teenage girls are often led into prostitution by a pimp/loverboy (pages 13-14)
- led away and isolated from family and friends (and thus dependent, especially emotionally, on the one pushing them into prostitution)
- physical violence
- psychological pressure - e.g., pressure on her to repay the gifts/attention to her, threats against family, threatening to disclose to family and/or culture group how she has harmed the honour of her family.
- false promises - especially that of a good future together
- addiction to drugs

Risk factors in teenage girls (pages 18-20) - both for going into prostitution or already being involved in it:
- dysfunctional family background, notably the absence of one or both parents and, more so, a lack of supervision.
- problems at school - this can be both a cause or a result of prostitution
- drug or alcohol problems - this can lead to prostitution but also can be a means of surviving prostitution
- psychological problems,
- traumatic youth, especially sexual abuse. This leads to unhealthy perspectives on both sex and relationships.
- problems with relationship (e.g., dating older men, highly influenced by other's opinions, and/or social isolation),
- runaways (both as cause or result of prostitution)
- time spent in the foster care system - here teenagers who are less socially competent are exposed to those who are already involved with prostitution,
- strong sexual morals of family - if a girl breaks these, she is more likely to be cut off from her family/culture and potential help.

Fietsen met God: van Canterbury naar Rome (2007): by Monic Slingerland and Alja Tollefsen

the following has been least partially copied from my other blog: brendahey.blogspot.com
 
In anticipation of my father-in-law's bike trip to Rome, I borrowed the book, Fietsen met God (biking with God) from my in-laws. It tells the story of three women who made a pilgrimage to Rome: one a Catholic, another an Anglican priest, and the third Reformed (vrijgemaakt - Canadian Reformed). I had planned to read it slowly, so that I could have a picture in my head of what my father-in-law was experiencing. But I just found it so fascinating that I couldn't help but continue reading! (Unfortunately, it hasn't been translated into English).

It tells not only of the physical challenge of the adventure but also of the exploration of three different expressions of the Christian faith. Although Monic could handle the physical challenge of it, the other two both had moments when it was too much for them. And while Monic had expected the physical exertion to be the challenge, she soon discovered that this paled in comparison to the challenge of learning how to wait patiently for the others.

The most fascinating part of the book for me was the desire of the women to discover what their faith traditions had in common -  to explore their ecumenicity. It was interesting to see that it wasn't simply doctrines that were different - it was a complete manner of looking at the world that was different. And it was here that Agnes, the one from the Reformed Church, stuck out for me: her stubborn determination to search for the truth and to place that truth only in what the Bible says (and ignoring both the mystery of the faith and years of church tradition). And her scorn for relics and holy water (hocus pocus) caused friction. And it made me somewhat disappointed to be from that tradition. It was obvious that faith isn't simply what you believe, but also how you believe.

And yet, despite the differences in each of the women, it was obvious from the beginning that they needed each other. And learning how to need each other, while both acknowleding and honouring the differences, is a challenge - not only for a bike trip - but also anytime different Christian traditions come together.

Echte mannen eten geen kaas (2008) by Maria Mosterd

This book is a story of a teenage girl who claimed to have been involved in prostitution via a relationship with a loverboy. As I've once again been reading books about prostitution and trafficking, it seemed only appropriate to read one of the most famous ones. The edition I had from 2009 was the 22nd printing of the book (sequels were written, numerous interviews were made, and film writes had been sold,) - and then came the scandal. The true story was filled with lies (see the dutch article on wikipedia). Most notably, the lawsuit against the school for neglect was dismissed - in the book, Maria claims to have attended class only on days when there were tests, which should have raised questions and caused the school to contact her mother, at the very least. Maria did not skip class at any level of significance (and significant contact was attempted with her mother). Classmates/friends of Maria testified in public to her presence around school - and that she had a good imagination. There is little doubt any more that significant parts of the book are fictional.

Before reading the book, I knew about the scandal - and I'm sure that influenced my reading. I found the book itself hard to believe; yet, at the same time, in the midst of this rather nasty and depressing story, I am concerned about the fact that at least some of it isn't fiction. As for the parts about power and violence, I tended to skip over - they seemed untrustworthy enough that it wasn't worth the effort to sort through their validity. And the way that Maria related to her loverboy also came across as strange - because it was the wrong kind of strange. The relationship with a "loverboy" - a dutch term for a guy that uses the guise of love and promise of a future together in order to convince a woman to prostitute herself for his benefit - is for me, by definition, strange: a woman, because she has "fallen in love", accepts things that are not loving. The relationship gets more complicated with time, but the desire of the woman for her loverboy and his (positive) attention to her remains, irrelevant of everything that has happened. Maria tries to convey that desire, but it falls flat as it misses the echos of a longing for an addiction that you know you need to rid yourself of.

Maria herself, as she presents herself in the book, is not a sympathetic character. She is unmotivated and lazy with regard to school and studies. She claims to be looking for trouble in the beginning of the book. She claims to know how to manipulate people well. She acknowledges lying (or at least withholding information) in regard to police actions in a rape case. She regularly does drugs. She doesn't appear to care much about other people - she expresses some desire of protection for her friend and sister - but generally seems indifferent. If such a character were to write a book, what kind of book could we expect? A book that bends the truth and tells people what they want to hear (i.e., manipulates) seems not unlikely.

Yet, even if I find Maria rather unlikable, I do find it a pity that her story has been completely dismissed. Her book suggests that she knows a lot about having sex with strangers - and not good sex, and only partially because she was a minor when it happened. It is also obvious that she was mixed up and hanging out with a bad crowd. Both of these things should raise questions amongst Christians and Dutch society (see Guardian article from 2009) in general. It should also raise questions about how much catering to popular taste messes with truth - both on the side of the writer and on the side of the reader. Have we avoided the real story - both with Maria and others - because a story was written that would sell?

Emperor of all maladies: a biography of cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee; in translation

As it was only possible to get ahold of the Dutch translation of Emperor of all Maladies in the libraries here, this is what I read. I found it a fascinating book. The storyline, with its underlying question of how what I now know about cancer fits with the history of development of treatment, was laid out very well. He also sorts through the information in an incredible way - somehow organising and connecting what is obviously a wide range of efforts to fight cancer - despite those efforts being often made disjointly from each other.

He also does a good job of giving a face to cancer: besides the numerous stories of the researchers and doctors and lobbyers fighting cancer, he also tells the tales of those who have cancer, both those who survive and those who don't. Cancer becomes real in a new way to the reader.

Although I found the scientific part of the book incredibly fascinating, I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed by the humanside. Listening to others praise the book, especially the human side of it, I've tried to figure out why I was disappointed. I wonder if reading it in translation hindered my catching all the nuances - and made the individuals slightly flatter. I also wonder if the individuals I know who have had cancer, a number of whom have died, have coloured my understanding of the human side of cancer too much: no matter how many faces or people Mukherjee names, there remains always something slightly less human in a brief synopsis of someone's struggle with cancer when it compares to the reality of having watched a 23-year-old international student lose his fight with stomach cancer.

Another (positive) review of the book can be found at the website from Mountain View Public Library. 

The value of reading fantasy literature

Abbot Andrew of St. Gregory's Abbey in Three Rivers, MI recently wrote a great piece expounding the value of reading fantasy literature.

The following is the beginning of it:

Baptizing the Imagination

In Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis describes his chance encounter with a book he found in a book stall in a train station that played an important role in his conversion to Christianity. Its title was Phantastes and its author, George MacDonald. With hindsight, Lewis realized that, through the novel’s enchanted landscape, his “imagination was, in a certain sense, baptized.” Here, Lewis uses the term “baptized” in a sub-Christian sense to show how the vision of George MacDonald led him to Christianity. At the time he first read the book, he was overwhelmed, drenched, by the enchantment of MacDonald’s writing. Only later was Lewis overwhelmed by the grace of his baptism when he returned to the faith of his youth, at which time he also appreciated how deeply MacDonald was inspired by the Gospel.

In Phantastes, Lewis “saw the common things drawn into the bright shadow” of MacDonald’s novel. The same can be said of any good fantasy story. It is impossible to see trees the same way after meeting the Ents in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Every fresh snowfall is more enchanting after having read of Will Stanton’s first journey through a time warp to a wintry landscape in Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising. The unicorn in Madeleine L’Engle’s The Swiftly Tilting Planet is so luminous that it casts a spell on everything for ever after. (Isn’t that what unicorns are for?)

Much of the enchantment of fantasy stories is that they draw us into a world different from the world we normally live in....

The full article can be downloaded as a 'pdf' file until fall 2011 at the link for current issue.
Otherwise it can be found via the archives of the Abbey Letter: Issue 246. It is the main article in the journal.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova (2007)

This book recounts the story of a successful woman who is faced with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. As the disease progresses, Alice changes and yet stays very much herself, albeit a self that at the beginning of the book neither the reader nor Alice expect. In the beginning of the book, Alice's identity is very much wrapped up in her being a professor at Harvard. Yet, as the book progresses, it becomes obvious that the things so important to her old professor life, things she did not believe she could live without, are actually forgetten as even being of importance. The author conveys this in subtle ways: relating Alice's expectations and perceived necessary level of awareness at the beginning and then subtly showing the reader that Alice has learned to live without these things, without her showing any awareness about what she had lost.

In many ways, it is a tragic story - the loss of a gifted mind and the confusion brought on by Alzheimer's are made real to the reader. And yet, at the same time, it is also a story of hope - Alice is not simply her gifted mind and aspirations, but also someone who loves her family and can enjoy life. Thus, even as her mind goes, she is still Alice. Furthermore, as she becomes more attuned to enjoying life and becoming aware of others, a side of Alice that was earlier overshadowed comes out, bringing joy and restoration in the midst of the all the suffering and loss.

Dorsvloer vol Confetti (2009) by Franca Treur

It is a coming-of-age story set in a conservative, ultra-Christian family in Zeeland. The main character is precocious and full of life - and the persective she gives on life is a delight to read.

In my perspective, one of the most positive aspects of the story is that the focus given on Christianity isn't negative; despite not fitting into the family norms, there's still a sense that the main character is loved and cared for. And there's a sense that there are many good things about her religious upbringing, even if more freedom and a broader outlook on life would have been appreciated. In this way, the book besides being a coming of age story is also a book that gives a positive glimpse into the life of a fairly closed group, which is often misunderstood by those not holding to the same conservative Christianity.

The Reader (film - 2008)

Knowing that the movie was significantly centred around a questionable relationship between a teenage boy and an older woman, I was unsure whether I'd really want to watch it. I'm still not sure about it - especially with relation to the limited moral commentary on a number of questionable events / actions. I don't know if I'd recommend it.

Yet, at the same time I found it to be a very thought provoking movie. The movie illustrates the power of shame – and how it has the ability to shape so much of our life. It also shows how actions sometimes have more consequences than we might ever expect. It is these two aspects that have caused me weeks later still to be thinking about the movie.

Biblical Hebrew in Transition: The Language of the book of Ezekiel by Mark F. Rooker (1990)

This book argues that Ezekiel displays a mixture of early and late biblical Hebrew, thus indicating a transition. It begins with a fairly brief discussion of linguistic change, followed by a brief discussion of diachronic reading. The bulk of the book is made up of examples of late grammatical features found in the book of Ezekiel.

There is limited questioning/challenging of assumptions made about linguistic dating or what would be considered late or early Hebrew. The solution to the placement of features that are arguably early in the book of Ezekiel is found in Ezekiel being a book in transition. With all the evidence, the book does a good job of showing the mixture of perceived early and late Hebrew features in the book of Ezekiel - and just appears to be a book in transition. However, questioning whether the compiled data might be indicative of anything beyond transition; thus going further into linguistic dating or beyond the assumptions at the time of its writing, are things this book is, unfortunately, lacking.

disclaimer: This book was read fairly quickly (almost skimming) in search of information helpful for a syntactical analysis of Ezekiel. As such, the reading might not be fair to all of what was happening in this book.

Hoe overleef ik mezelf? by Francine Oomen

The main character is a young teenager, who could only be described as annoying. It's a journey of self-discovery, where the main character struggles to appreciate herself - her body image, her personality, others' reactions to her, whether she has a boyfriend, and so on. She struggles with who she is and who she wants herself to be (graffiti being the hobby she takes up in the book). Although her perspective can be quite refreshing, it can also be a bit 'over-the-top.' The mess she gets herself in is a bit unbelievable at times, even if she still is a fascinating character to get to know.

De Rode Prinses and other books by Paul Biegel

I would describe Paul Biegel's books as classic fairy tales. In each of the (3) novels that I've read there is an overarching story with the different characters in the book experiencing/sharing stories that are only slightly connected. The language is at times difficult, but the stories are always delightful and perfect for bedtime stories.

(dutch) children books

the main reading of the last few months has been dutch children/youth books - of which i have read a phenomenal number. the following is a list of just some of them:
- De GVR (THE BFG) - by Roald Dahl (the author of Matilda)
- Madieke van het rode huis (Madieke of the red house) - by Astrid Lindgren (the author of Pippy Long-stocking)
- Hoe overleef ik MEZELF? by Francine Oomen.
- De Rode Prinses by Paul Biegel (also De tuinen van Dorr and Het sleutelkruid)
- De verloren tuin by Maria Van Eeden
- Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek (Crusade in Blue Jeans) by Thea Beckman (also Mijn vader woont in Brazilië and Kinderen van Moeder Aarde)
- Spreuken & slaapzakken (Spells and Sleeping Bags) by Sarah Mlynowski (and also Beha's en bezemstelen)
- and more...

I read a couple of books a week, so it adds up pretty quick :)

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (1996)

The Sparrow tells the story of a group of people who are sent to explore a new planet and get to know the people and culture there. At the beginning you already know that something went wrong in the mission, as you introduced to the sole survivor - a priest who is beat up and broken. The chapters that unfold the wonder found in discovering and venturing a new planet are juxtaposed against the priest's processing and sharing (or lack of sharing) the tragedy that occurred on the planet. And yet even as it is tragic, it is also hopeful.

Although it is a very good story, it is also a difficult story - the events that happen on the planet are disturbing. They describe a culture that uses another culture/race to meet their own desires and needs. And the book questions the assumptions we make about what is appropriate and reasonable. In their interactions with the other cultures, they naturally makes mistakes - things they did even with the best intentions - and being as careful and sensitive of the other cultures as possible.

It does a very good job of discussing how God reveals himself, how people relate to God (and spiritual) and what can happen when one's expectations of God are completely demolished. It is the story of a slow healing and a growing awareness that there is no simplistic way that one can see God's working in the lives of people.