Each week (give or take one or two here and there) I share three things I like – It could be a book, a movie, a podcast, an album, a photo, an article, a restaurant, a food item, a beverage, or anything else I simply enjoy and think you might too. You can find a whole pile of things, especially books, I like and recommend HERE.
1) The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
I read this book years ago, in my early twenties and was largely underwhelmed. I was clearly the problem. Upon re-reading it this month I was blown away by the depth and richness of this little book. For those who have not read it, I would not call it allegory or fable. It is more like a parable–a story with outsized characters and settings designed to emphasize particular truths. In this case, Lewis is reflecting on the wonders of heaven and the horrors of hell (yet with no fire, brimstone, or over scare tactics). Lewis depicts so vividly the realness of heaven and the un-realness of hell, the joy and fullness of heaven and the grayness of hell, the joy and reconciliation of heaven and isolation and antipathy of hell, the humility of heaven and the stubborn arrogance of hell. He uses vignettes of conversation between a heavenly dweller and a “ghost”–one who lives in hell–to draw out the motivations of the human heart for rejecting redemption and life. They are magnificent and horrifying in their humanity and subtlety. Lewis, as he was wont to do, also declines to address certain theological controversies for the sake of emphasizing great truths, such as the wonders of heaven. In all, the reader is left with uncomfortable self-examination and a deep sense of the magnetism and beauty of heaven. And we are better off for it.
2) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Westerns, when written well, are a particularly wonderful genre. In a unique way, the setting is a character–land, weather, emptiness–that shapes the story. It draws characters in, shapes them, and sometimes ruins them. And this is the greatest western novel ever written. (Also a brilliant mini-series starring Robert Duvall & Tommy Lee Jones, and a delightful audiobook read by Lee Horsely.) McMurtry was a brilliant novelist, a sparse, humane storyteller who truly seemed to understand the workings of the human mind and heart. And that’s what you find in Lonesome Dove. It is “about” two retired Texas Rangers and their crew who decide to uproot from the Texas/Mexico border and take a herd of cattle north to settle in Montana. But that is merely the device McMurtry used to introduce, develop, and explore the characters. It is a story of quest, of love, of revenge, of regret, of seeking peace, of aging, of coming of age, of success, and of failure. It has adventure–stampedes, gun fights, villains, chases, suspense. But those don’t drive the story and they certainly aren’t the point. They happen to characters you have come to love (or hate) in the setting of the American West, a lead character in its own right. To make all this work takes a genius hand, and Larry McMurtry offered that with sharp prose, smart dialogue, and a clear love for his characters and their place. I am on my third or four re-read, or rather re-listen this time, and Lonesome Dove is as good as it ever was.
3) Come by Me” by Harry Connick Jr.
Harry Connick Jr. was the first jazz musician I remember loving, to the point that I would say his early albums made me fall in love with jazz–especially jazz piano. He has done a lot of big band in more recent years, which is excellent, but I love his earlier stuff that featured the piano a bit more and is seasoned liberally with New Orleans. Here is one of his best, most fun hits.
