Forgotten Books: Out of the Silent Planet

I’m trying to keep ‘recommended classics’ and ‘forgotten books’ apart but really they are probably all going to bleed together in the end.

With Lewis’ fame as a children’s book author and theologian, his skill as an adult fiction writer is often overlooked. That is a shame. Out of the Silent Planet (Amazon Affiliate link), the first in a trilogy, is a fascinating and wholly original work.

CS Lewis Out of the Silent Planet

I’m currently reading The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis (Amazon Affiliate link), where Alan Jacobs writes

“Surely Lewis himself would have said that when we can no longer be ‘wide open to the glory’–risking whatever immaturity thereby– we have not lost just our childlikeness but something nearer the core of our humanity. Those who will never be fooled can never be delighted, because without self-forgetfulness there can be no delight, and this is a great and grievous loss.”

Based on this assessment, I think there’s a hint of autobiography about the main character in Out of the Silent Planet; this openness and sense of wonder is much more genuinely expressed here than in other sci fi I’ve read. (Incidentally, this linguistic ability is also part of what makes the Chronicles of Narnia so wonderful.)

The thing that surprised me most about Out of the Silent Planet, though, was how wholly new it felt. Admittedly I haven’t read a lot of sci fi but I have seen many movies and TV shows, and while the story is formulaic (man from earth goes to space, winds up on another planet for a while) the science concepts are pretty novel (much like Jules Verne in his own time).

It’s a quick read suitable for the kids who’ve grown up with Narnia but need something new. We’re getting on toward summer (especially here in Florida– this week’s highs are in the mid-80s) and you’re going to need some beach reads. Whether you read it years ago or are just hearing about it now, you can’t go wrong with C. S. Lewis’ space trilogy!

What’s going on right now (3/17/11)

Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me.

-Saint Patrick

St. Patrick's Day clover
Image by AdamSelwood

Yup, it’s St. Patrick’s Day (The History Channel has some good, uh, history of the holiday)… and I’ll be wearing orange because I’m Protestant. 🙂

Gene Veith suggests we use today to honor all missionaries.

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It’s easy to think we’re spending more on gadgets than ever before (iPad 2, anyone?), but consider 8 gadgets that used to cost a fortune over at Mint.com.

Just in case you need a reminder that formal higher education isn’t for everyone, here are 5 jobs that make $100,000 a year without a college degree. FB also posted a reminder to keep eating out in check for your budget’s sake!

Do you get terrible PR pitches offering pictures of celebrities, coupons, and other junk for the “privilege” of giving companies free publicity? I bet you’ve always wanted a snarky reply to send, and The Bloggess has you covered.

Now you know about Lifehacker, but have you seen Instructables? You never even knew what you didn’t know how to do!

Strange Herring has a hilarious take on time stealing (from earthquakes or calendar syncing).

Links to edify and educate

Tomorrow I’ve scheduled my usual roundup of just-because-they’re-interesting links, but there were a lot more valuable ones this week I thought deserve their own post.

Celtic Cross - M.B.T.
Image by M.B.T.

Whether you fast or not, Lent should be a period of reflection and repentance. We can’t just jump straight to Easter without considering the darkness that Jesus overcame. Desiring God has a series of eight biblical devotions to prepare for Easter you can read either on the Sundays of Lent or in Holy Week leading up to Easter.

C. H. Spurgeon is excellent, as always, about why creeds are important to worship.

Ligonier posted an excerpt on hell from R. C. Sproul. Thank God for His mercy.

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A friend wrote a beautiful post when her family visited the Taj Mahal

Because despite the beauty and spectacular, seeming perfection of this wonder, I couldn’t help but feel a little saddened by it all: a king, heart and will set to finish something wonderful, in the name of love no less, but thwarted in the end by his own son. That’s the earthly version. The story that failed. But I know a King who set out to do something wonderful, too, also in the name of love. And not only did he finish it, His Son finished it for Him. In a manner most painful and most giving. And most most beautiful.

“…For nothing can be sole or whole that has not been rent.”

She also has a great way for you to donate to Japan and make sure 100% of the funds goes to relief.

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It’s a crazy world we live in, and just when you think you’ve heard it all you realize even worse things fly under the radar. Did you know Michigan is essentially considering suspending democracy? (On the Ides of March, no less.) It’s still amazing to me that while there are protests around the world against totalitarian regimes we’re begging for them here.

Photo Wednesday – Spring Fever in the Garden

My amazing southern grandmother and the rest of the Bloom ‘n’ Grow Garden Society work very hard each year to put on a lovely street festival in downtown Winter Garden, Florida called Spring Fever in the Garden.

This year it’s going to be on April 9 and 10 – you should go!

These are some pictures I took at last year’s festival (and man oh man has my photography improved since then, sheesh)…

Sarah Fowler - Spring Fever in the Garden 2010Sarah Fowler - Winter Garden water towerSarah Fowler - purple flowersSarah Fowler - white rose red brickSarah Fowler - downtown Winter Garden fountainSarah Fowler - wooden vases

Weekly Devotional: Amy Carmichael

Chad Levitt - Sarah Fowler - Temple Jerusalem
Image by Chad Levitt / Sarah Fowler

THE QUARRY

His thoughts said, The time of preparation for service is longer than I had imagined it would be, and this kind of preparation is difficult to understand.

His Father said, “Think of the quarry whence came the stone for My house in Jerusalem.”

THE TOOLS

His thoughts said, I wonder why these special tools are used?

His Father said, “The house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither; so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
If though knewest the disappointment it is to the builders when the stone cannot be used for the house, because it was not made ready before it was brought thither; if thou knewest My purpose for thee, thou wouldst welcome any tool if only it prepared thee quietly and perfectly to fit into thy place in the house.”

-Amy Carmichael

As printed in Becoming a Woman of Excellence (Amazon Affiliate link).

Essential books: three classics

Van Gogh still life with three books

I read a lot of classic literature. It’s passed the test of time, which means the possibility is very low that I’ll get halfway through the book and wish I hadn’t started it. It’s also because it’s what I’m used to reading. In high school I read through 100 of colleges’ most-often-recommended books. That’s how I first discovered some of my favorite (and least favorite) authors. This trend continued when I majored in Creative Writing in college. I took all the classic literature courses I could get my hands on!

I’m going to start posting once a week on essential books you should read, trying to keep context in mind so you’ll know ahead of time whether you’ll like it!

We’ll start with some obvious ones:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Timeless and delightful, the Holmes books are excellent beach and commuter reads. They’re somewhat more intellectual than your standard mystery/detective lit of today but very accessible. If your only exposure to Holmes is the recent dreadful movie, pick one up immediately.
Alternative: The Hound of the Baskervilles
If you like this, you might also like the first-ever mystery novel writer Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White or The Moonstone; or the more modern Hercule Poirot Novels by Agatha Christie.

Pride and Prejudice
If you’re female and haven’t read this book, it’s time to hand in your woman card. (And no, marvelous adaption as it is, seeing the 6-hour BBC miniseries doesn’t count.) If you’re a man and haven’t read this book, you probably should just to get a handle on what exactly Mr. Darcy means to every woman of your acquaintance.

Alternatives: Persuasion is very good with a somewhat more mature (that doesn’t in any way mean inappropriate) storyline. Northanger Abbey can be better for younger readers; there’s more action.
If you like Austen, you might also like Elizabeth Gaskell’s books– Wives and Daughters, North and South, or Cranford; or George Eliot’s Middlemarch.

A Tale of Two Cities
Probably the most accessible Dickens novel outside of A Christmas Carol, you just shouldn’t go through life without this classic French revolutionary tale with the best opening paragraph ever. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
(I’m scheduled to lead discussion on this one for the LOST book club… in May I believe, although the schedule may have changed.)
If you like this, you might also like The Scarlet Pimpernel or Les Miserables.

(All are Amazon Affiliate links.)

What I’ve been cooking lately

Sarah Fowler - strawberry chocolate fondue

On Thursday I made chocolate fondue and a platter of apples, strawberries, pound cake and pretzels to my grandmother and aunt’s house. Both of their birthdays happened in the last month and I hadn’t gotten to celebrate with them yet because of my ankles.

Sarah Fowler - goldfish chickenMy friend was craving Goldfish Chicken so I whipped some up tonight.

I had a lot of client projects this week so I didn’t cook full meals as much as I’d like. Next week is looking busy too… but hopefully I should be able to cook a few nights!

Forgotten Books: Atlas Shrugged

Inspired by this post on the books we forget, and aided by finally being able to unpack all my books after years they spent in storage (sorry babies!), I’m going to start blogging about books I haven’t read recently.

Gene Veith quoted a great rant about in the wake of a Huffington Post article on the topic (which I didn’t read). It still amazes me how many Christians believe He was.

The rant, along with too many recent new stories, called to mind Ayn Rand, and Atlas Shrugged in particular (Amazon Affiliate link), which I read rather belatedly a few years ago. While Ms. Rand was a devout atheist and worships only ‘the human ability’ in her books, they still contain many kernels of political truth.

When bureaucrats begin to tell us how our hard-earned money should be spent, we have a problem. Liberals tend to forget that Rand lived through Russia’s attempt at true (open, named) socialism, and those horrors more than anything else shaped her political opinions.

A radio host (sorry, I can’t remember who) the other day expressed outrage when a college student called in and asked an honest, incredulous question: What makes you think you have a right to your money? The host explained he’d earned the money by trading some of his life (hours/labor) for it. By asking what right we have to our money, we’re asking what right we have to our lives. I believe the Declaration of Independence had something to say about that.

I constantly recommend Ayn Rand to others, and I plan to re-read Atlas Shrugged soon!