Book Reviews

Book Review: “1984” by George Orwell

January 15, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

1984 by George Orwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finally got around to reading this classic (is it a classic?). Terrible timing on my part. Basically, reading 1984 it is just like scrolling through a newsfeed in 2021.

Orwell was a prophet in many ways. He saw the temptation of authoritarianism. He saw the danger of what he termed “the mutability of the past.” He was right that the direction our culture is headed is towards the proliferation of sex to the point where sexual enjoyment is nonexistent. Orwell sees that the intimacy which sexual union creates also brings loyalty to an entity outside of the State’s oversight and authority.

He couldn’t have foreseen that Big Brother would be an example of using gendered (and oppressive) language and thus would be guilty of ThoughtCrime, but the Ministry of Truth would correct that in a future edition of the Newspeak dictionary. Big Sibling will suffice, comrade.

The story was well told. It isn’t a warm fuzzy ending. It doesn’t really offer any solutions, only warnings. The solution, I would submit, is hot Gospel. Jesus died for your sins; so love your wife, raise your kids, go to church, work hard.

Some of my highlights:

“It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy.”

“Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.”

“Now that he had recognized himself as a dead man it became important to stay alive as long as possible.”

“You don’t grasp the beauty of the destruction of words. Do you know that Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year?”

“The aim of the Party was not merely to prevent men and women from forming loyalties which it might not be able to control. Its real, undeclared purpose was to remove all pleasure from the sexual act.”

“The heresy of heresies was common sense.”

“But you could not have pure love or pure lust nowadays. No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred.”

“…the object was not to stay alive but to stay human…”

Book Review: “It’s Better Than it Looks” by Gregg Easterbrook

December 17, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

It’s Better Than It Looks: Reasons for Optimism in an Age of Fear by Gregg Easterbrook
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Contrary to the media, the politicians, and many preachers of doom and gloom, things are getting better. Easterbrook lays out in well documented detail how every metric shows that the standard of living is getting better for every human on planet earth. Yes, incrementally. Yes, not at the same pace in every place. But things are getting better.

Easterbrook is no conservative, and not sure if he’d call himself a liberal; but either way, he offers equal opportunity critique of the doom and gloom prophets of the left and right. He advances a position he calls dynamism.

I would call it postmillennial optimism without the Gospel. As such, where he is able to see the wonderful advances in technology, medicine, agriculture, manufacturing, rising incomes, less crime, etc., he isn’t able to see that without Christ, it is all so much chaff and stubble.

The problem he lays out is that, all too often, we are told how bad things are. Politicians love to talk of some bygone golden age, which we have fallen away from and need to recover, or else everything will spiral into chaos. They love to talk of emergencies (cough COVID), cataclysms, and other nations stealing our jobs. Environmentalist loons warn that we have like 14 minutes until the planet combusts into a flaming ball. Conservatives bemoan rampant crime in the cities. Left and right, politicians try to tell the middle class that they’ve got it real bad.

The problem is that at every turn and by every measure, our projections are usually not only off, but very off. We use less land to grow more food. We have higher life expectancy than ever, thanks to the reduction of deadly diseases and effective treatments for such infirmities. Crime is trending downward almost everywhere in the world. Incomes are rising worldwide. Cars & factories run more efficiently than ever anticipated. Acid rain has become a non-issue.

The list could go on, but the long and short is that we tend to focus on bad things, and exaggerate them. Instead, we ought to recognize that there are still plenty of “issues” to solve, but also be able to do so optimistically. Easterbrook, rightly, points out that human ingenuity should be seen as a resource for solving our problems, not as a drag on our attempt to solve problems. An important point to be sure.

The first half of the book deserves 5/5 stars. There are some laugh out loud stats, which cut across the grain of the prevailing media narratives on various topics. However, the second half was 1.5/5 stars. Easterbrook floats some ideas that just need to be round filed (i.e. UBI, same-sex parenting as a good thing, and some other stinkers). That said, he does a great job of pointing out that a pessimistic outlook would make us think that everything is going to the dogs. I’ll leave off with this insightful quote:

Groups that sink into siege mentality usually wind up on the margins, while optimists slowly achieve their goals.
Gregg Easterbrook.

Also, here’s an interview with Easterbrook at the start of the COVID-craziness.

Book Review: “The Madness of Crowds” by Douglas Murray

September 23, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity by Douglas Murray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I quite enjoyed this one, but I couldn’t help but feeling like there was a big gaping hole right in the middle of it (more on that in a minute). As Reb Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof once said:

As the Good Book says, “Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed. ” In other words, send us the cure. We’ve got the sickness already.

Murray points towards our cultural problems with deftness and clarity…like a resident of Las Vegas in the 1950s could point to the mushroom clouds of the atomic bomb tests. Anyone with eyes can see these major problems and conflicts within our culture. Not everyone has the solution.

Douglas Murray is a gay atheist. So, he’s not my typical co-belligerent, you might say. However, he sees our current cultural madness with great clarity. The old adage about blind squirrels finding acorns seems apropos here. His clear identification of the problematic trends in our cultural adoption of the various insanities is an indictment against many professing Christian leaders who’ve simply coasted along with the crowds, adopting all the “new orthodoxies” of feminism, anti-racism, and trans issues.

That is the main point of Murray’s project, pointing out how rapidly Western culture has adopted “new orthodoxies” without weighing why things had been the way they were. He also points out the numerous falsehoods which parade as truth (i.e. that men earn more than women, that racism only goes in the direction of whites towards blacks, that being concerned about gender reassignment surgeries necessarily makes one transphobic, etc.). The main takeaway is to always remember that crowds pick up steam as they go, and it takes great courage to stand against the stampeding hordes.

The hole, however, which is missing in Murray’s book is that he has, of course, left the center of history out of the picture: Christ on the cross. Murray identifies the problems. But his answer/solution is necessarily void of a true and lasting resolution to our cultural enmity. All of our delusions, all of our cultural tensions will only escalate into greater madness and vengeance on each other until we repent and come to Christ.

Murray gives example after example of how our culture has rapidly adopted new views on gender, sexuality, and race, but Murray notes how little reflection has been done on why the rules, norms, mores were there in the first place. He is concerned that society is moving too fast in its adoption of these new orthodoxies, and cautions against the vitriol that is poured out upon those who differ with the new orthodoxy. He points out how dangerous cancel-culture can be by showing examples of how ostensibly progressive people have transgressed the new views and then been summarily condemned as racists, bigots, transphobic, etc. This cancelling happened simply because they expressed an opinion that had only ten minutes earlier had fallen out of fashion. He notes that as a gay man he might not agree with the Christians who want to counsel people out of the gay lifestyle, but he wants to strive to understand why they believe what they believe before banishing them to societal Siberia.

Murray is a good writer, and excellent on the analysis. He doesn’t offer much by the way of solution (as I mentioned already). He seems to think we just need to do more studies (on things like the trans issue) before we condemn people who object to the rapid acceptance of gender reassignment surgeries as a positive good. He does appeal for patience and forgiveness for each other. He is an atheist who seems to really wants there to be a Gospel which can truly forgive our sins against each other, and give us grace to love our neighbor truly. He just doesn’t see it as the true answer to all the maladies we face.

Book Review: “I See Satan Fall Like Lightning” by René Girard

July 30, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

I See Satan Fall Like Lightning by René Girard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Folks have been telling me for years now that “It’s all in Girard, man.” Finally, I’ve gotten around to reading one of Girard’s books, and whattya know…it’s all in Girard, man.

Of course, there are caveats to be made. In particular, Girard reads Scripture as an anthropologist. He undertakes to argue that the profound change which Jesus’ ministry and death wrought in the world doesn’t necessarily hang on anything supernatural; this is, of course, as they say in Mexico, “el problemo.” He admits that the resurrection was indeed a miracle and supernatural intervention by God, but also tries to argue that from an anthropological viewpoint, the miraculous nature of the Gospels is not necessary in exposing the mimetic cycle that mankind is caught in. The short hand is that Girard’s view of Scripture’s inspiration is weak sauce.

That said, his observations of how fallen man operates, and how the Gospel exposes Satan’s fundamental need for innocent victims, is incredibly salient, shrewd, and like I’ve said already and will continue to say, “It’s all in Girard, man.”

The first, and most important, takeaway is that when a mob makes up its mind on something, you’d find it easier to stop a Kanye rant at an awards show. In other words, when a crowd gets moving in a direction, there’s no reasoning with the mob. The “violent contagion” will spread and grow until a unanimous victim is chosen and scapegoated. Then, and only then, will the mob’s bloodlust subside into calm…until the next cycle begins.

Second takeaway is that it is because of Christ and the spread of the Gospel throughout the world that mankind has come to prize concern for victims. In fact, Girard forcefully argues that it is Christianity that gave the world a concern for victims. Now, however, Satan has corrupted that conscience and we now hunt for the hunters of victims, in order to slake our appetite for human sacrifice. Our concern for victims is poisoned, and society still wants to scapegoat someone for not being concerned enough about this or that victim group.

Third, Girard points out that the hub of human strife is always desire. I want what you have, and because you know I want it you now want to hold onto it more. Thus is born a mimetic rivalry, which inevitably comes to blows. The Apostle James gets at this very thing in his epistle, and Girard certainly builds on that fundamental principle of our envy and desire being a spark which ignites our violence towards our neighbor.

All said, Girard is wonderful. Even though he’s weak sauce on the atonement, the inspiration of Scripture, and the Resurrection, he is a tremendously helpful at pointing out what’s laying there, out in the open, for any with eyes to see: mankind needs Jesus to set us free from all our strife, envy, and vengeance towards our neighbor.

Other Book Reviews

Book Review: “Belichick” by Ian O’Conner

July 14, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time by Ian O’Connor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Ok, ok…I got curious. I am decidedly not a Pats fan. But success is intriguing, and I wanted to see what sort of leader the most successful coach in NFL history was.
In short, there aren’t a lot of takeaways in this book, as Belichick notoriously holds his cards close. This biography is largely what others have to say about him. He is ruthlessly focused. He is surprisingly generous. He is shameless in gaming the rules. He is great at taking responsibility for team failures. He is willing to listen to any idea which legitimately gives his team an edge.
In other words, he knows what his job is, and he has devoted himself to getting that job done and setting an example to his team to be that devoted. The most interesting tidbit is when O’Conner makes a clear case that Belichick was ready to move on from Brady quite a while ago…so the 2020 season will be a wish come true for ol’ Bill.
The writing style was a bit too scattered/disorganized for enjoyable reading. The “episodes” often felt out of order, or told in a clunky way. But fans of football will quite enjoy a more “inside” look at the most hated (or if you’re from Boston, beloved) coach of all time, largely because he is the most victorious football coach of all time. I guess the main thing to takeaway is that it ain’t easy being the best.

OTHER BOOK REVIEWS

Book Review: “In the Devil’s Snare” by Mary Beth Norton

June 24, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 by Mary Beth Norton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well this was a fun, albeit tedious, one to read. Mary Beth Norton, a feminist historian, took a look at all the “interpretations” of the Salem Witch Trials, and finally concluded they all got it wrong. She set about putting all the legal and personal documents into a chronological timeline and you might say she found something many historians (who were wearing the feminist tinted glasses) had missed when looking at this famous period of early colonial history.

In short, most historians had never made the connection between how all of the “victims” of the witches, and many of the witches themselves, had either been or had relatives affected by the Wabanaki Indian wars on the Maine frontier. In other words, the Puritan mindset of coming to establish a City on a Hill, and thus coming into spiritual conflict with unseen powers, became a broiling fear of witches who were in league with the Indian tribes which the settlers were locked in gruesome battles with.

This was a very thorough history of the Salem Witch crisis, and Norton, to her credit, refuses to put on the “smash the patriarchy” mindset that many of her predecessors have. She argues that what made the Salem trials different is that very young women were given more legal clout than ever before during this crisis. This was not the Patriarchy trying to suppress and kill “unruly women.” This was the result of fear unfettered and imaginations left to run wild. On the whole, a really worthwhile book with some fascinating historical details.

View all my reviews

Book Review: “American Nations” by Colin Woodard

April 2, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One of the more prevalent myths about the US of A is that we are united. We all know that it isn’t true, and yet in every political speech we are reminded that we must “come together”, unite, work as one, etc. This presumes that the various states have a monolithic goal, and that our priorities can somehow find harmonic allignment.

Colin Woodard puts forward an excellent hypothesis that America is not a nation of red states or blue states, marked by conservatives versus liberals. Rather, we are a nation with eleven distinct nations, rooted in very distinct cultural values and aims. He shows how the various European migrations and settlements in the New World had wildly differing priorities and formed a smorgasbord of civilizations.

What is most interesting is his application of these “fault lines” to more modern elections/issues. The eleven nations he identifies can have their borders traced clearly after every election. His twitter feed is often full of maps of various issues or elections and, true to form, there are the several nations/blocs he identifies.

Even in avoiding death, #AmericanNations patterns recognizable: https://t.co/weJGkbu56X
— Colin Woodard (@WoodardColin) March 23, 2020

In short, the Puritans of New England shaped their modest, self-government, promised land culture, the Scots-Irish shaped a warlike ethos of individualism in Appalachia, the gentry of the Carolinas and Virginias aimed to recreate the traditions of the English countryside, the Spaniards left their legacy of communalism mixed with autocracy. After showing the formation of these and a few other cultures/nations, Woodard goes on to trace how they mingled (or not), and how they have set the landscape for current political and cultural battles.

Overall, this was a terrifically insightful book. At points Woodard whiffs, in my estimation, in fleshing out some aspects of the various nations. In particular, he falls victim to one of the classic caricatures of Puritans being folk who don’t like having any fun, and make it their business to make sure other don’t either. Also, as is common, he doesn’t present some of the better aspects of the Deep South before and during the Civil War (painting it largely in terms of their attachment to racism/slavery, with little “airtime” given to some of the other factors in play). The nature of his book necessitates plenty of generalizing, and on the whole, I think he generalizes with the best of ’em (for better or worse).

The main takeaway is that the US never has been a monolithic culture, and any attempt to do so will quickly discover the fault lines of our various “nations.” He notes that it is likely that by 2100 we will see a different border to the US than the present one, and he presciently mentions a global pandemic as an event which might result in a “redrawing” of the nation’s border through a break-up into smaller confederations.

Something that struck me (which Woodard doesn’t draw out as he is not writing this with a religious lens) is that while Yankeedom (i.e. Puritan Calvinists) set out to bring the Kingdom of God to earth (as we are called to do), this must never be divorced from the pure Gospel of Christ and Him crucified. Yankeedom went far astray when it thought it could shape a gloriously ordered culture merely by human will-power. It will never happen apart from evangelical faith in the Son of God.

This was a really terrific read. There are plenty of valuable insights to be gleaned, and where I differ with Woodard on certain things he would likely point out that it is because he is from Yankee-dom and I’m a mutt of Greater Appalachia and Midlands who was raised in the Far West who wants a return to the glory days of Puritan Yankeedom. If you don’t understand any of that…then read the book.

Book Review: “The Coming of Bill” by PG Wodehouse

March 26, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The Coming Of Bill by P.G. Wodehouse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Were I to go out on a limb, as I am often inclined to do, I would say that this book should be mandatory for engaged couples to read. I read it on a trip recently, and then––as soon as I finished it––I started it again, reading aloud with my wife. First of all, Wodehouse is positively hilarious (especially throughout the first half). Here is a sampling of both his laugh out loud moments and pithy sayings which are sprinkled throughout:

The minding of other people’s business a duty not to be shirked.
[Many suitors had] laid their hearts at her feet. One and all, they had been compelled to pick them up and take them elsewhere.
They have all got little, narrow faces without chins or big, fat faces without foreheads.
Fatted ease is good for no one.
To think humbly of herself was an experience that seldom happened to her.
His face increased the illusion of squareness, for he had thick, straight eyebrows, a straight mouth, and a chin of almost the minimum degree of roundness.
Talent without hard work is a poor weapon.
[The Baby had] a dough-like face almost entirely devoid of nose, a lack-lustre eye, and the general appearance of a poached egg.
P.G. Wodehouse, The Coming of Bill

The main arc is that of a young man (Kirk) and woman (Ruth) who fall in love, get married in a whirlwind, have a goodly child (Bill), and then are driven apart due to financial ruin and meddling relatives.

Kirk is the quintessential husband in need of a spine, and Ruth is the quintessential wife in need of submitting. The journey each of them go on to see their besetting sin is both humorous and illuminating. Wodehouse nails how dangerous feminism is in a marriage, especially when a wife listens to someone other than her husband, and how the responsibility for the marriage lies at the feet of the husband.

A good novel is like a mirror that shows you your own tendencies towards the follies being displayed by the characters. Wodehouse makes it clear that busybodies are just the worst, and common sense courage is just the best. Men need to work hard and love their wives, wives need to honor their husbands and care for the children.

This really was a terrific novel. Perfect reading during a national quarantine.