Review of Book Reviews from 2007 by RayS

Directions: The date at the beginning of each book is the date on which my review was published in this blog. Each review consists of three parts: 1. “Why read it?” 2. Sample ideas from the book, either paraphrased or quoted, and 3. Final, thought-provoking quotes. To locate the review, look at the “Blog Archive” at the right of the blog. Click on the year 2007. Find the month in which the review was published, click on it and go to the date of the review.

Monday, August 13, 2007. Montaigne: Selected Essays. The Charles Cotton, W. Hazlitt Translation, Rev. and Ed. with Introduction by Blanchard Bates. Beyond the definition of the essay as written on a single subject, there are two types of essays. The first type of essay is planned, with a beginning, middle and end, like the essays of Francis Bacon and Joseph Addison, and the essays written by students in modern American schools based on the model of the "five-paragraph essay."

The second type of essay, less imitated, is like those of Montaigne. These essays give the impression of not being planned, of moving as the mind muses, from idea to idea. As the editor of these selected essays of Montaigne, Blanchard Bates, describes them: "Often a sentence rambles on, idea suggesting idea, and clause added to clause, and then suddenly returns to the original thought. He wanted the style of the essays to convey an impression of the movement of the writer's thought."

Tuesday, August 14, 2007. Mr. Blue. Myles Connolly. Novel. Mr. Blue is an unusual character. He is a Christian who loves life, who can sacrifice his own personal interests to help others with no promise of reward other than alleviating the plight of others. He is, in short, a replication of Christ in the modern world.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007. My Antonia. Willa Cather. Novel. “Ántonia” is pronounced An’ toe nee’ a. The joys and sorrows and burdens of being pioneers in America's westward movement. The history books can tell about the westward movement, but this novel—and others, notably Giants in the Earth—can convey the experience and the human cost of being a pioneer.

Thursday, August 16, 2007. The Naked and the Dead. Norman Mailer. Novel. A novel about the complex inner workings of people who engage in war, their interactions with others, and the effects of authority on individuals who are under their command. The battles can be named, won or lost, and the statistics of losses can be compiled, but the personal experience of war is most vividly found in novels like this one. This novel demonstrates again the ironies of warfare.

Friday, August 17, 2007. Nathaniel Hawthorne In His Times. James R. Mellow. Biography. You're going to learn about the contradictory personality of one of America's greatest writers—the recluse who forced himself to become involved in society and politics. With themes like hidden sin and the unpardonable sin in his romances, (novels?), tales and stories. .

Monday, August 20, 2007. The New Golden Bough. Sir James George Frazer. Edited by Dr. Theodore H. Caster. This book contains a thorough discussion of primitive superstitions. The book may appear to be of formidable length, but it is readable, entertaining and even humorous. I loved discovering ideas buried in my memory that had been passed on to me by my mother and other relatives. Readers will learn just how much our thoughts are controlled by ideas that go back to primitive people. They will be surprised by the degree to which these superstitions are part of our present-day thinking.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007. Northanger Abbey. Jane Austen. Novel. Satirizes the genre of Gothic mansions with mysterious goings on and horror. I think this novel illustrates Austen's versatility within the limited experiences she was able to describe. Of course, for another point of view on the Gothic, read Edgar Allen Poe.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007. Notes from Turtle Creek. Ted Browning. Essays. Makes a convincing argument for man's learning to live with nature, not exterminate it. A local (Chester County, PA) naturalist helps us to see the world of nature with a fresh view. You'll never look at nature again in the same way after reading these essays. Ted Browning is right there with Loren Eiseley and Joseph Wood Krutch, though not so well known. They all believe that people should be partners with nature, not dominate it.

Thursday, August 23, 2007. Not So Wild a Dream. Eric Sevareid. Autobiography. To those who heard and watched him on TV or read him in his newspaper columns, Eric Sevareid expressed himself concisely and memorably. He never wasted a word. One of his prominent traits was irony. This book helps people who are not familiar with Eric Sevareid to learn from him again. Most of this book describes his experiences in WWII.