I have a lot of respect for Billy Graham, who is now almost ninety years old. The American evangelist is known all over the world for his campaigns to introduce people to Christ. He has some detractors, of course and his methods seem rather dated in the 21st century. But he is - or was, in his younger days - a man of vision, who followed God's call and reached out to millions.
He's also written several books, a few of which I've read and enjoyed. So when I saw 'The Secret of Happiness' on a second-hand bookstall, I bought it without hesitation, despite the rather dodgy sounding title.
It was written in 1956, when Billy Graham was still in his thirties, so I expected it to be a bit immature theology-wise, as well as rather dated in style. I was right on both counts. The thesis of the book is the Sermon on the Mount - or, more particularly, the Beatitudes: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall receive the Kingdom of God' and so on. After an introductory chapter, Graham takes one Beatitude at a time and expounds on them.
He makes the point that the word translated as 'Blessed' also means something like 'happy', although it's not the kind of shallow happiness that so many people seem to search for in material possessions and casual relationships. He looks at what is meant by each of the statements made by Jesus in the Beatitudes, how they are of relevance in the modern (or at least mid-20th century) world, and why they could lead to 'happiness'.
It could have been excellent - the Sermon on the Mount was, after all, one of the greatest talks Jesus ever gave, full of wisdom and insight for Christians, and admired by even many who are not believers. But Billy Graham is primarily an evangelist, and could not resist putting a short evangelistic message into almost every chapter. Happiness, he keeps explaining, can only be found by trusting in Christ and asking him into our lives. True, but not the point of the book, and rather distracting to read so often.
I was also a bit disappointed that he didn't seem to say anything particularly deep or thought-provoking, or, indeed, anything I had not already read or heard many times. Perhaps he was one of the first to look at these sayings of Jesus; maybe other writers used this book as their research - I don't know. All I can say is that I kept hoping for something more interesting or profound.
It isn't a bad book - I read a chapter per day for about ten days, and found it fairly easy reading. Other than being full of exclamation marks, the style wasn't so old-fashioned that it couldn't be read by most people today, as the English is fairly simple. It might even be a good book for young Christians to learn some basic doctrine, based firmly on Scripture.
However, don't necessarily take my opinion as correct. Evidently it remains popular since it's still in print, in both the UK and USA, over fifty years after it was first published.
Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 23rd September 2008
I had never heard of Erica James until Christmas 1999, when my husband bought this book for me. He thought it my kind of book, just based on the cover and the blurb on the back - and he was right. It started my quest to collect all the books by this author; having succeeded, at least so far, I've decided to re-read them.
It was in March 2000 when I first read 'Airs and Graces', with no idea what to expect. Eight and a half years later, I'd entirely forgotten what the book was about. The story opens with Ellen and her friend Hermione meeting in a tea shop. Hermione is clearly something of a dreamer, and Ellen more practical, but she is also generous. A girl is begging outside the shop, and Ellen not only gives her a pound coin - worth rather more even eight years ago than it is now - she also buys her something to eat.
As the friends are driving home, they see the girl trying to hitch a lift... and so, reluctantly, Jo-jo enters their lives. She's not a typical beggar: she has a lot of pride, but has run away from home. She likes to cook and clean, and soon edges her way into both Ellen and Hermione's hearts.
Meanwhile Ellen, whose husband Roger left her some time before the story starts, is trying to decide whether to marry the dull but wealthy Duncan. She runs a dried flower shop and lives in a little cottage, but would really like to stop having to work so hard, and to have plenty of money. At the same time, Hermione, who is rather older, needs to consider whether to stay in her large and draughty house, or move somewhere more convenient.
Then there are Hermione's neighbours, Susie and the strangely named Bonkers, who have employed Hermione's nephew Matthew to paint a mural for them. And Matthew is rather attracted to Ellen...
So there are several subplots nicely interwoven in this novel, and some good characterisation. I did like the eccentric Hermione, and could empathise with Ellen in her desire for an easier life. Jo-jo is an interesting creation too, and a good catalyst for some of the other plot-lines.
I couldn't quite see and feel the people, but I certainly felt I was beginning to get to know them, even if some - such as Duncan's mother, and Bonkers - are more one-dimensional caricatures.
Good light reading which I enjoyed thoroughly on the second read. I will probably read it again in another eight or nine years, if I remember. Still in print in both UK and USA.
Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 21st September 2008
I'd only vaguely heard of Nick Hornby, who has written a couple of other novels as well as this one. But I had heard of the film version of 'About a Boy', which I'd like to see some day. So when I saw a paperback version of the book in a thrift shop, I bought it, and have just finished reading it.
'About a boy' is, indeed, about a boy. Twelve-year-old Marcus. He's a bit of a geek, with little awareness of fashion or pop music, or any of the other things that most boys his age are into. That was fine in his old school, but he and his mum have just moved to London, and Marcus is going to a large comprehensive where bullies target the uncool and geeky.
Marcus's mother isn't much help - she's a free-thinking vegetarian, who wants Marcus to be individualistic and honest. Unfortunately, although she doesn't mean to, she manages to coerce him into her way of thinking all the time. So he's never worn trainers, or been to MacDonalds, or listened to grunge music. Marcus is really a very likeable boy, very mature for his age. But the school has no way of dealing with the bullies other than to advise avoidance, and Marcus knows that his mother could not want to educate him at home, because she went out to work.
The book is not just about a boy, though. It's also about a man. Will is thirty-something, and a man of leisure. His father earned millions by writing a trite Christmas song that gives Will immense royalties, even decades later. He fills his days by reading, and watching television, and going to see friends, and doing a bit of housework.
He's thought about having a job, or doing some voluntary work, but it would all require effort... so he prefers life as a late 20th century version of Bertie Wooster. He likes to have a girlfriend, but doesn't want to get serious with any of them. At the start of the book he decides that some of the nicest women are single mothers... so he invents an imaginary son, two-year-old Ned, in order that he can join a single parents' group.
It's all a little surreal, and yet the characters really come alive. The chapters alternate Will's and Marcus's point of view, written from a third person perspective. I've seen reviews of the film suggesting that Will is a child in a man's body, and Marcus a man in a child's body... but it's not really that dramatic. Will does need to learn to be a bit more responsible and think about the future, and Marcus, if he's to survive at school, needs to learn to be a bit cooler and relax more.
Inevitably they meet, and become friendly in a strange kind of way, after a dramatic and nearly tragic event that draws Will into Marcus's family. And gradually, Will shows helps Marcus to think a bit more like the average twelve-year-old, while Marcus helps Will to think a bit more about life, and being an adult.
The writing style is great - fast-paced, a little sardonic, and with some brilliant touches of humour that made me chuckle aloud once or twice. The storyline is good too, with some thought-provoking themes about honesty and the nature of friendship.
There was a fair amount of bad language, but it was mostly used as expletives - albeit in a slightly repetitive way at times - and nowhere near as much as some other books I've read. I can only assume that the language must have been cleaned up for the film, as the rating is only 12.
All in all I enjoyed 'About a Boy' and am looking forward to seeing the movie at some point. Recommended, if you don't mind four-letter words scattered throughout the conversations.
{Note: I saw the film about nine months later, and reviewed the DVD of 'About a Boy' on my DVD review blog}
Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 18th September 2008
I first came across Mary Cavanagh when I was sent her debut novel, 'The Crowded Bed' by The Bookbag for reviewing. I very much enjoyed it, despite a bizarre opening and unusual theme, and looked forward to reading more by the same author.
So I was pleased when The Bookbag sent me a copy of Mary Cavanagh's second book recently, and have been reading it for the last few days.
'A man like any other' - with subtitle 'The priest's tale' - is the story of Marina Proudfoot, who has just died. She is mourned in different ways by four people, whose stories are also explored during the course of the novel.
Tim, Marina's gay son, was very attached to her. He and his lover, Roger, plan to live together once his mother has gone. Roger's wife Sally knows this will happen, so this is a major turning point in her life. She is going to work as a grief counsellor at an Abbey, where she will report to Father Ewan.
Ewan has been counselling Marina for over twenty years - and they have also been having a passionate affair. As the crisis approached, Marina wrote some recollections of her past, to be read by Father Ewan after she had gone, and he starts to think back to his earliest memories from childhood.
The novel is cleverly written, interspersing action in the present - Tim grieving deeply for his mother; Sally meeting Father Ewan for the first time - and the past. And the reader quickly learns something far more shocking than any of the characters could imagine. I found it quite tiring reading at first. I felt drained by some of the emotion, and I also had to pause between chapters to consider the implications of new revelations. By the end, though, I was racing to find out what was going to happen.
I did like Father Ewan. He's a priest who is very human, struggling to work for God and help the bereaved, while living a secret life. I also liked Sally, whose loyalty is down-to-earth and realistic. I didn't much like Roger, though. He seemed a very selfish person, wanting to have everything, while unable to relate to Tim's grieving. Tim himself seemed rather weak, full of guilt for something which isn't revealed until later in the book, although I guessed what it was.
I found the ending a bit frustrating. And yet, once I'd finished, I'm not sure that anything else would have worked. It's a tribute to the author that I found myself imagining what could have happened if circumstances were different for some hours afterwards - if Tim hadn't done this, or Roger hadn't done that, or Sally hadn't phoned when she did... clearly they all got under my skin.
I have only two small criticisms of this book. The first is the amount of bad language. As in Mary Cavanagh's other novel, there was an excessive use of just one four-letter word, in many different grammatical forms. I was disappointed that such a good writer could not find at least a few other words to replace it.
My other problem was the somewhat explicit descriptions of some of the love scenes. Still, it was easy enough to skim these passages, and there weren't very many of them.
All in all, I'd recommend it highly - just be warned that the language is definitely '18' rated.
Note that my longer review of 'A man like any other' can be found at the Bookbag site.
I know very little about seventeenth century monks, but I'd heard Brother Lawrence's book recommended more than once by people I respect. Since my son had a copy on his shelves - translated, of course, into English! - I thought I would read it.
'The Practice of the Presence of God' is a short book, consisting of three sections. There are some reported conversations with Brother Lawrence, some letters he wrote to nuns and also women 'in the world', and then, at the end, some spiritual maxims he lived by.
There is also a lengthy introduction in the version I read, which I found a bit long-winded and tedious - but it's not part of the original.
Brother Lawrence advocates a total reliance on God, and - in effect - regular short chats with him, involving him in every part of the day, including chores. Brother Lawrence worked in a kitchen for some years, and apparently talked to God while peeling vegetables or washing dishes, and found that the more he did this, the more he felt in God's presence continually.
However, this seems rather obvious to me. I'm not one to spend hours at a time in prayer; perhaps I should, but I much prefer to 'chat' to God silently through the day. I don't always remember. I certainly haven't reached Brother Lawrence's level of feeling himself in God's presence all the time. But in the theory he espouses, I didn't find anything new.
Moreover, I wasn't entirely comfortable with his comments about suffering. He tells people not to pray that their suffering or pain would be removed. Instead, he suggests praying that they would be able to worship God despite it, and perceive it as something to help them draw closer to him. Of course, that can certainly happen at times. But in my reading of the New Testament, Jesus physically healed people. He didn't tell them to learn to deal with their suffering and see it as a way of getting closer to God.
More worrying still, Brother Lawrence seems to wish that he were suffering, as if that would somehow make him holier. Perhaps the translation isn't clear, or perhaps I missed something... but this seems like very dangerous ground. Yes, we need to trust God in our sufferings, and draw close to him, and love him even if we're in pain. But that doesn't mean we should ever look for suffering, or see ourselves as better if we do suffer.
I expect the main focus of the book - that of talking to God about everything, all day long - may have been quite radical in the seventeenth century Roman Catholic church. Perhaps it is even today to people brought up to lengthy formal prayers, rather than short impromptu ones. But I must admit I found myself wondering, all the way through, what it is that makes people rave so much about this book.
Still, I'm glad I read it. It isn't a difficult read, and it was interesting to get an insight into this remarkably humble and holy man. It's still in print in both the USA and UK in several editions, and is evidently still very popular... maybe I'm a lone voice in wondering why.
Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 14th September 2008
I discovered Marcia Willett about ten years ago, with a chance purchase from a charity shop. Since then I've collected all her books, either second-hand, or as presents, and decided recently that it was time to start re-reading.
I last read 'The Courtyard' eight years ago, and had entirely forgotten it. It opens with a chance meeting in a tea-shop. Gussie, and elderly and impoverished woman, has just bought a dress for a wedding - second-hand, but attractive - and despite her natural reserve, is longing to tell someone about it. Nell, another very private person, happens to be sitting there, and somehow the two of them click.
An unlikely friendship is formed, with - at first - most of the giving on Nell's side. Nell is married to John, who used to be in the navy, but is currently working as an estate agent. Unfortunately due to the recession, things are not going to well. Moreoever, John feels guilty, refuses to talk about his problems with Nell, and takes it out on her when she tries, gently, to question him. They have a son called Jack, and my only mild irritation with the book was the assumption that he was getting the best education by going to an expensive boarding school, despite being only eight.
The wedding Gussie attends is that of her cousin Henry and his new bride Gillian. Henry is a likeable man, very tied up with the estate he owns, and keen on a courtyard development of cottages which he is gradually building. Gillian, however, is shallow, materialistic, and selfish. She thinks she can twist Henry around her little finger,a and is surprised to find him rather stubborn on some points.
The story develops over a couple of years, as Courtyard cottages are built, and people gradually move in. One of them is a minor character from some of Marcia Willett's previous books, with several rather shadowy connections, also people in other novels. This would probably be a bit confusing to anyone who hadn't read the other books, as there's quite a large cast in this novel; however, having recently re-read a couple of the earlier books, I quite appreciated a chance to catch up with some names I remembered.
There are some shocks in this book, most of which I had totally forgotten, and some delightful moments that made me smile. The theme is friendship, of giving and receiving, and family loyalty. There's also a rather strong hint to avoid getting involved in any shady deals, and to consult solicitors before signing any documents!
All in all, I enjoyed it although it took me a few chapters to get into the story. A pleasant light read, and it's certainly not necessary to have read anything else by this author. Recommended.
Not always in print, although there have been a few different editions, but it's a book that's widely available second-hand.
Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 9th September 2008
I haven't come across Jerry Bridges before, but this paperback was lurking on our shelves, and I thought it about time I read it. It was written in the 1980s - I have no idea where we picked it up from - and I thought it might be a bit dry.
I was pleasantly surprised by 'The Practice of Godliness'. Yes, it's a little old-fashioned in places, and more strongly 'evangelical' in style than I'm entirely comfortable with these days, but those were only minor problems. I read about a chapter a day for a little over two weeks, and found each one inspiring and thought-provoking.
The theme is that as Christians we are called to godliness. The book expounds on what that means. The author proposes that it has two broad parts: a deep devotion to God, and the development of godly character. The first few chapters talk about the vital importance of being devoted to God; of reading, meditating on and studying Scripture, of prayer, and fellowship both with God and with other believers.
The rest of the book looks at developing godly character. Bridges takes one trait per chapter, looking at the 'fruits of the spirit' one at a time, and a few other important Godlike characteristics. He emphasises the importance of striving for these things even though we so often fail, and also the necessity of relying on the Holy Spirit to develop them in us.
He acknowledges that this is something of a paradox - we are wholly reliant on God to change us, and yet we need to take action ourselves at times: for instance to develop patience, or to do acts of kindness. He points out that our motivation must always be our devotion to God, rather than anything self-seeking, and also that we will never actually achieve godliness in this lifetime.
There are plenty of Bible references to check throughout the book, and some quotations from other writers on similar topics. Not much that's personal; few stories - not the kind of book I would normally enjoy. But nonetheless encouraging and well worth reading.
Still in print in both the UK and USA, and widely available second-hand.
Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 8th September 2008
I like Jane Aiken Hodge's writing. She tends to write low-key thrillers with a romantic element, some of them set in exciting historical periods, others contemporary at the time of writing, although now thirty or forty years out of date. On the whole I prefer her more modern fiction, but I thoroughly enjoyed 'Savannah Purchase', which is set in the 18th century, during the era of Napoleon.
So I was pleased to find 'Wide is the water' a while ago in a charity shop, which - according to the blurb at the front - is about the same family (the Purchis and Purchas people in the USA and UK). Apparently there are two other books in this series too. This one is set during the American War of Independence.
It's the story of Hart (an American) and Mercy (an English woman), newly married on board a ship, and now separated for a while as Hart goes back to his ship. I don't know if their story was told in one of the previous books; there are a lot of references made to Mercy as a British spy, and the hastiness and dubious legality of their wedding, as well as the sailors calling her a 'Jonah'.
When this book opens Mercy has been left behind, and is about to go and stay with one of Hart's cousins while she waits for him to return. The story then alternates between the two of them, both having exciting adventures and temptations before they eventually meet again. Mercy finds that she must look after a naive young woman who has screaming fits, and Hart's ship is captured by the British, where he meets a relative of his.
The characters are well drawn, and the plot moves forward rapidly; however I found the book a bit over-political for my tastes. There wasn't so much intrigue and political talk that I skimmed, but sufficient to make me wish for more human interaction, and less historical detail. Still, it gave me an insight into life during this period, and once I'd got into it, I mostly enjoyed it.
None of the characters from 'Savannah Purchase' appeared, as far as I can remember; it certainly isn't necessary to have read it or any other book prior to this one.
Recommended in a low-key sort of way if you like realistic historical fiction with well-rounded characters. Not always in print, but the book can often be found second-hand.
Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 4th September 2008.
