50BC2011 #9: Schuman, Persichetti and Mennin

The Music of William Schuman, Vincent Persichetti, and Peter Mennin by Walter Simmons

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


professional review forthcoming

50BC2011 #8: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I held off writing this review until I had read the sequel, which is why this is listed as 50BC2011 #8 instead of #7 (The Girl Who Played With Fire).



This is an intriguing book because Larsson didn't seem to know whether he wanted it to be a mystery, a thriller, a novel, or some combination thereof. The story is really fascinating, but if you are an instant-gratification kind-of reader, you'll be disappointed. Larsson takes his time in getting to the juicy mystery-type material. I like that Salander is instantly enigmatically likeable, even though he reveals very little about her in the first book. She's an excellent character--complex, but honest in that she occasionally surprises herself. I did feel the book is a bit heavy-handed with all the references to technology--there are pages that read like Mac ads. The Girl Who Played with Fire moves much more quickly, so I'm glad I stuck with this one long enough to want to read the second one.

50BC2011 #7: The Girl Who Played With Fire

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this one much more than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...it moves at a much faster pace and didn't seem quite so intent on creating reality by including technical minutiae all over the place. It is nice to have a slightly better sense of Salander's character, as well, although she's still hard to pin down (and that is part of her character). I did NOT like the ending--it just doesn't ring true. I'll be curious to read the next one.

50BC2011 #6: Let The Great World Spin

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I loved the concept of telling the story of the world that spun beneath the tightrope. That said, I always had the sense that the author was trying to hide plot points that weren't really hidden, so that I spent much of the book just wondering when these revelations were going to poke their head out of the narrative. I enjoyed the moments inside Phillipe Petit's mind, and McCann does a great job of crafting NYC and its stories as a figurative gyroscope spinning around the axis of a single event.

50BC11 #5: Letters by a Modern Mystic

Letters by a Modern Mystic by Frank C. Laubach

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I was skeptical going in when I ordered this book upon the recommendation of a friend. I was pleasantly surprised at Laubach's equanimity when it came to Islam v. Christianity. For example:

"A good Muslim would fill his life with God. I fear there are few good Muslims. But so would a real Christlike Christian speak to God every time he did anything--and I fear there are few good Christians. What right then have I or any other person to come here and change the name of these people from Muslim to Christian, unless I lead them to a life fuller of God than they have now? Clearly...my job here is not to go to the town plaza and make proselytes, it is to live wrapped in God, trembling to His thoughts..." (13)


I liked this idea of the reflective missionary--one who is as much on a mission for himself as looking to spread the Gospel. I used the book for my Lenten meditations and it worked very well for that. As for the "Game with Minutes," at the end? I didn't like it. I found the metaphor sort of silly and glib and it was a rather bizarre shift of tone from the letters, which are filled with the real anguished questioning and blissful moments of a true spiritual sojourn.

50BC11 #4: Like The Flowing River

Like the Flowing River, Stories 1998-2005 by Paulo Coelho

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a great book of meditations large and small in the form of stories and true vignettes from the life of the author. I recommend keeping it on your nightstand and reading just one or two stories before you go to bed--you'll sleep well. If you are familiar with Coelho's works, you'll recognize the "warrior of the light" and the reference to "personal legends" (see The Alchemist). The collection is a testament to Coelho's expansive horizon (see The Valkyries: An Encounter with Angels) and will likely inject you with little doses of inspiration for your personal legend.

50BC11 #3: Putting Away Childish Things

Putting Away Childish Things: A Tale of Modern Faith by Marcus J. Borg

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'll be honest and say that I'd like to give this book two different ratings. As a novel, I'd give it only three, maybe 3.5, stars. As a "didatic novel" (what Borg calls it), it rates higher (hence the four stars). So, in the end, I think I really wanted to read a novel, not the latter.

On a personal level, I had a lot in common with the protagonist, Kate--a young introspective professor, who drives a red Volvo! Borg does a good job of developing her character as well as presenting a vivid supporting cast in Fredrika, Geoff, and to some extent, Martin (although I wanted more there).

Depending on the reader's background in theology and desire for it, this novel will at times seem tedious as the various characters exchange in Christian theological discussions which are largely meant to educate the reader. I felt the classroom discussions were rather contrived, although I congratulate Marcus Borg if those discussions were based on his actual teaching experience. Kate's class is one that most professors will only dream of having.

There was, however, quite a bit that touched me in this novel, largely through the protagonist. Universal themes of rejection, self-doubt, growth, leaps of faith--it is all there, and much of it was very resonant as I am familiar with the political environment of academia.

I admire Borg's non-fiction writing to a tremendous degree and hope that a second novel will aim to be less didactic, perhaps, because the strength of this novel was actually obfuscated by the "teaching" aspect.