Twelve Years, MaddAddam, Romans

We went to see Twelve Years a Slave, expecting not to enjoy it but knowing it was an amazingly well-told and moving story. Two things affected me the most: the cruelty of people to their own fellow human beings, and the strength of the will to live, partly through the ability to cling to a tiny shred of hope. Before we even see the way the plantation owners use and dehumanise the slaves, we see how two profiteers blatantly befriend and entrap a happy, normal family man and musician (the main character), and sell him to slavers, in full knowledge of what they are doing to him. What makes people able to misuse each other so baldly?

While I do sometimes feel like punching somebody (not saying who...!) out of anger or frustration, I'm not sure I could actually cause physical harm to another person cold-bloodedly, for my own gain. But we hear about this kind of cruelty and misuse of others all the time - young girls being trafficked, women held captive and raped for years on end in a suburban house, drugs cynically sold to teenagers, etc etc etc.

(But, what about the harm I cause others without seeing it? As when I buy a cheap T-shirt which was made by a child-labourer somewhere? Just because we don't see the effects of our actions doesn't mean they don't have that effect. I worry about that.)

I have just finished reading Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam, the third part of her brilliant MaddAddam trilogy. (The first book was Oryx and Crake, the second The Year of the Flood.) As with the film, this was an uncomfortable read, but giving some enlightenment. It is set in a dystopian future, where the human race has been almost entirely wiped out, through a drug hidden in a pleasure-pill called "Blyssplus". In this future world, people have become obsessed with leisure, self-image, and gain, and society is controlled by corporations who are developing more and more extreme ways of using technology to make money. Consumerism gone completely mad. For example, Paintball has become Painball where people literally fight to the death, watched online by any who want to. Corporations kidnap their rivals' employees and strip their brains of the information, rendering them brain dead. The depths of cruelty and cynicism in this world are phenomenal. But much of what the author imagines, has been done, or is now possible to do, and actually, the cruelty we see in our entire human history is only being projected into a more technologically able future.

Margaret Atwood does give a glimmer of hope, in that a very small group of humans survive, along with some human hybrids made by one of the corporation geniuses. The survivors are mostly former members of a quirky religious cult called The God's Gardeners. Whilst they are not really Christians, their religion is a hotch-potch of Christianity, Judaism, and conservationism. What I like is that it is the people of faith who still love the natural world and try to conserve it, who do recycling, grow their own food, avoid harming others. And they are the ones who survive, mostly (not taking the Blyssplus) and who know how to make a go of living in community, and without electricity or supermarkets. (By the end of the trilogy they are actually still using commodities raided from the falling-down malls. But there are some hints about them learning to make their own ink and paper for when those things run out.)

It is not as simplistic as I have made out here, the characters are complex and among the God's Gardeners there is all the nominalism, doubt and division that we see in our churches. I think it is the understanding of the deep-seatedness of faith in God, the wisdom of living his way, and as part of that, a hope for creation and a mandate to love it, that I really warm to.

Thinking about the cynicism and greed in our society, the terrible things that people do to each other in war or for financial gain, can make me pretty depressed, and sad in general for the world, and for God who must feel so let down, so disappointed. But reading the biblical book of Romans in our home group, I have been reminded that evil is nothing new, God knows and has always known what his people are capable of. And he is light. The light of goodness and love does shine, although sometimes it feels very small. But, it won't be overwhelmed. The hope we have is that evil practices will end, and that there will be justice, that God does reign. In the meantime, we have to hold on to the hope, not get too sad, and more importantly, keep doing our bits of goodness and kindness, being that light to others.

Best Reads 2013

Boy I have read a lot this year. Partly because of taking the bus to work two days a week (I drive on the others). Also because... I have come across some excellent books.

My reading year started with receiving a Kindle for a Christmas present. Having been reluctant to have one, I finally decided, though, that a Kindle might be a good thing. And I do believe that it has led to... more reading! I still read "real" books, borrowed from the local library, or from my brother Mark who reads as much if not more than me, or occasionally bought. And maybe one in three books I read on the kindle.

Kindle books:
I started by reading all three Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins. I raced through them, quite drawn into that world (another dystopia to add to my collection), wanting to know the outcome. The books are gripping, although I kept asking myself if I really should be reading about teenagers being made to kill each other. A bit dodgy... But now that Alex has read them, I am glad I did first. And we all enjoyed seeing the two films so far.

Another attraction of the kindle is that many older books are free. So I have filled in quite a few gaps in my reading of classics this year. These included Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Wolf - so clever how it segues from one scenario to another as though the reader leaps from one narrator's head into another's; The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath - a fascinating journey with the suffering narrator, where you get to experience what electric shock therapy is like among other things; The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”) - if you haven't read this, I highly recommend it, it is a fabulous story and so beautifully, amusingly written.

Also on Kindle I read Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant, which is a historical novel set in a convent in Italy in the 1500s, about a younger daughter who is sent to the convent against her will because of an "unsuitable" romance - living through that captivity with her is eye-opening. Quite an easy read but very evocative.

"Normal" books:
One great non-fiction book I read was The Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford. Since the author grew up reading many of the books that I did, it was such good fun being reminded of them all, but he also analyses them brilliantly to show how they shaped his growing understanding of the world. 

Another non-fiction book I adored was Congo Journey by Redmond O'Hanlon. This is a bit like Blood River in that it tracks a somewhat crazy white guy as he makes a sometimes dangerous, always fascinating journey on foot and by boat through the Congo. The author was interested in the wildlife of Congo in particular, giving brief but lovely descriptions of the birds and insects he found; his ultimate goal was to find the Congo dinosaur which was said to inhabit a remote, sacred lake. Whether he found it or not, I'll leave for you to find out... It is an amazing description of the country and the people he travelled with, giving occasional glimpses of the terrible history of the Congo. O'Hanlan entered fearlessly into the culture, drinking palm wine quite wildly with his guides at night, acquiring a fetish to keep himself safe, surviving on foufou, fish and monkey meat... Total immersion. It is a wonderful read.  

I also loved The Blue Afternoon by William Boyd, a murder mystery/love story/historical novel which describes 1930s colonial life in a new part of the world to me, the Philippines. The main character is loveable and annoying - but you so want to know how it all works out for him in the end. 

I raced through The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, set in 1930s Alaska - a very sweet poignant tale of an older couple who long for a child; it reads like a folk story and is based on one - it is a beautiful book.

My two favourite books were Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver, and Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth. Flight Behaviour combines my interest (is that the right word?) in global warming, with the fantastic writing of Barbara Kingsolver who is one of my top authors. It tells of how an invasion of monarch butterflies transforms life for the people of an Appalachian town. 

Sacred Hunger is a historical novel set in the 1700s in England, about the slave trade, and human nature. It is told from the point of view of a wealthy merchant who sends off a ship to buy slaves from West Africa and sell them in Jamaica, and also of a doctor who travels on the ship, who abhors the whole thing and ends up bringing about, although involuntarily, a mutiny on the ship. This book was mind-blowing in revealing to me how the slave trade was considered legal and defensible among the Georgians, and how their entire economy was wound up in it. Some people were beginning to see the vileness of it, and yet how to bring about change? It seemed impossible as all the powerful, influential people depended on it for their wealth and status. It has made me think about things in our society that we take for granted as being reasonable, and that we depend upon, and yet in future will be obviously abhorrent and utterly unacceptable. As Dan and I talked about it we thought that the way we are damaging the planet is probably the thing about which in the future (I hope at least) people will look back and say, "How could they have been so arrogant, so foolish, and so blind?" In a similar way, the people, governments, companies who could bring the necessary changes, have too much to lose. But at some point, the obviousness of the cause, - the truth, in fact-, will become so clear that the necessary sacrifices will have to be made. 

A good year in books! 

My Favourite Children's Books

Now that I'm a school librarian... I thought I should list my ten favourite children's books - that is, the books I loved most as a child. If I do it nicely, I can print it out and put it up in my new library! For most of them I have found images of the covers of my actual copies, rather than more modern covers.

1. Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion - a dog who started out white with black spots, and ended up black with white spots - so even his mistress didn't recognise him. The story ends with a glorious bubble bath. Being known is better fun than being filthy!




2.  Diana and her Rhinoceros by Edward Ardizzone - my goodness I made my parents read this story SO MANY TIMES! A young girl befriends a rhinoceros who escaped from the zoo, treats its nasty cold, and feeds it toast made in front of the fire. When the zoo keepers come with long guns, she fends them off and manages to keep her unusual pet... To this day, a ghostly Edwardian lady walks the streets of London with her huge companion at her side...




3. Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson.
This is the first of a whole set of books that I adored. The main character is a short, round, amiable troll-person, called Moomintroll, and his friends are Snufkin and Sniff. There is Moominmama and Moominpapa, and a beautiful but sad creature called the Snork Maiden, the strange Hattifatteners, and many more. Moomintroll gets up to adventures and makes strange and fascinating friends along the way. Endearing and magical. I could read them all again right now...




4. Green Smoke by Rosemary Manning.
This book tells of a young girl who goes on holiday with her parents to a Cornish beach, and one day hears a loud sneeze coming from a cave. The sneezer turns out to be a dragon - fortunately a friendly talkative one. The dragon tells the girl wonderful stories, and takes her on some magical journeys, including a visit to a mermaid. How I wanted to have that dragon for a friend!

5. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis. I lapped up this whole set of books, adoring each one in turn, relishing the winning mixture of adventure, talking animals, magic, siblings, the awe and love surrounding Aslan, the underlying tenet that good is strong and powerful. I knew Narnia must be a real place, and that even though I most likely wouldn't find my own magic wardrobe door or living painting, I would eventually go there...

6. My Family and other Animals by Gerald Durrell. I read lots of Gerald Durrell's books, mostly about his life of collecting rare animals to bring back to his zoo to study and to help preserve their species. I loved how he arrived in an exotic location with a "shopping list" of animals, and the often hilarious accounts of how he tracked down and captured them, with the help or hindrance of local people. But My Family and Other Animals is about his childhood on a Greek island, and is as much about his whacky family and friends as about animals - and very funny.




7. King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green. I read and re-read these stories. I greatly admired the knights, each riding off to do noble deeds and save lives, even if it meant sacrificing themselves. And I so felt the sorrow of Lancelot who loved Guinevere even though he shouldn't, and of Arthur whose beautiful wife loved Lancelot.






8. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. The story of this loyal, faithful, and strong horse, who was friend and companion to a succession of fellow-horses and humans, contains so much sadness, and yet I loved it. Maybe I loved the fact that he survived it all and in the end was reunited with his beloved owner and given a peaceful retirement in a green field...






9. The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkein. Probably don't need to say anything about this wonderful trilogy. But, suffice to say, when I first read these books as a young teenager, at the end I turned straight from the last page of book three, to the first page of book one, and read it through all over again.

10. The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge. This remains my favourite children's book ever; I re-read it several times through my teenage years, and took it to Zambia in my twenties. Everything about the story: the hero Maria, her little dog, her governess, her new home in a castle, her valley, her pony, her church, her friend Robin, and then the adventures that followed, charmed me and drew me into another world where friendship and courage mattered, where bad things happened but could be overcome, where mysterious creatures had been sent to be by your side and guide you, where magical moments do happen which prove you are special. A perfect world.

Whatever is the world coming to...?

This morning, drinking coffee and reading in bed, deliciously late in the morning, Dan and I were talking about the movie he went to see last night (I didn't want to go) - Django Unchained, by Quentin Tarantino. We know Tarantino's movies are very violent, always, but some students had seen this one and raved about it, and it won Oscars, so... Dan wanted to see it. He felt that it was a good movie, but, horribly violent, in fact, it got more and more violent as it went along. He commented that it is incredible the level of violence and gore we are used to seeing now on the screen. People no longer complain about it, although not everyone likes it obviously, it is just almost always there.

The graphic-ness is partly because special effects have developed so much, that anything can be portrayed realistically, even disembowellings, burnings at the stake, and decapitations.  And then apparently there is the director's urge always to push the boundary, and do the next thing, the next most horrifying, bloodthirsty thing, just because, you can. And it is for the sake of "art", after all. Um, no, I don't think so. I think it is for the sake of being "daring," and shocking.

At the same time, we have been watching a TV series we missed while away, "The Tudors" (which I do not recommend as you will understand in a minute.) Along with many I have a fascination for the Tudor period, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I and all that. I enjoy reading novels set in that time. But it was also by all accounts a frightening, violent time to be alive. Then, people went to watch in the flesh the beheadings and burnings, and shouted along. So, maybe I shouldn't feel so concerned... But again, I have been shocked in another way watching this series, about the graphic sex that is shown. Bar actual genitalia, you see ev-er-y-thing. It is strange really, how the most private activities are now acted out, not briefly, not just above the neck, not with one foot on the floor, not with even a scrap of sheet or hair discreetly positioned. This is in a show that would have been aired late evening, and on national TV, not rated as pornography, just, a "historical drama." You have to wonder about the actors - they are basically acting out porn, and, did they really sign up for that? It has changed so much in the course of my adult life, that I am sure older actors must wonder why and how they have ended up stripping off quite so much. I mean, would you do it?

So is it in there for the sake of art? Sometimes they say it is essential to the story - but usually, it isn't. The implication would be enough. Have we have become so used to seeing it that we don't question it? Or, am I really that much more squeamish about both violence and sex than most people - even than most other missionaries?!

When I was first a short-term missionary in Zambia, there was a lovely older American missionary lady, who loved reading, and often lent out her books to both other missionaries and Zambian friends. So, she had gone through all her books and used a black sharpie to blot out all the swear words in her books! And really, there weren't that many! Now, she would have to blot out a good proportion of every book.  Although I laughed about that, I do warn friends when I lend them books about the "rude bits."

Oh dear, what is the world coming to?

A kindle?!

As you drive into Hay-On-Wye, town of a hundred second-hand and antique book shops, there is a big sign that says "Kindles not allowed in this town."

I had that sign kind of written over my head, book-lover that I am. But... I began to think that maybe, it would be OK to have one... and then I began to feel it would be more than OK, I HAD to have one... and finally for Christmas Dan gave me one, a kindle fire no less.

When I got it working, the first thing I did was to download a Bible onto it - the ESV - to "sanctify" it. Haven't actually read any of that yet. The next thing I did was to download a free game, Puss In Boots Fruit Ninja, so that the children would love me forever.

Since then I have read two books on it: The Hunger Games part 1,which was pretty good and an easy holiday read, and The Picture of Dorian Gray (which was free) and I loved it. Oscar Wilde is such a good writer! I never knew. Abigail is reading Pride and Prejudice on it and is loving it.

I decided that rather than being instead of books, I will still get books out of the library as well. So the kindle just means... even more reading! And I can feel as though I belong in the 21st century into the bargain!