rednoW Favorites 2007.
Life has a rhythm to it - the changing seasons (for those of us who live in a part of the world where they actually change) remind us that everything has its time. As 2007 comes to a close and 2008 stands at the door knocking with the unknown in tow, we here at rednoW are feeling that tis the season to reflect on what caused us to wonder this year [yes that means we are wondering about wondering...we can't help ourselves].
We aren't making a Best of 2007' list in the sense that this is an exhaustive list of all things good - it is simply what we happened to engage with in 2007 that has caused us to think more about what is going on in this world, in our lives and what's behind it all.
Word.
Every year there are a few books that capture our attention, through which we seemingly filter all of our everyday interactions and thoughts. Below is a list of books that occupied the thoughts of our rednoW Word editors in 2007. These books weren't necessarily published in 2007 or even books that we first read in 2007 but are the books that made us wonder in 2007.
Fiction:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
My favorite book in 2007, without a doubt. Diaz's first novel, anticipated eagerly by fans for 11 years, not only tells the story of Oscar Wao, a young, overweight, depressed substitute teacher in New Jersey whose interests are limited to comic books, sci-fi literature/films, and women whose attention and love he can't seem to attract. It is the history of Oscar's family and Dominican background that bring this novel, and Oscar's character, to life. Diaz's text is spattered with Spanish phrases, footnotes that occasionally stretch to nearly a full page, and hilarious descriptions and details, all of which make his novel hard to forget and impossible to ignore. (Katie Soderberg) [amazon]
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
This book was first published in 1946, but even 61 years later this book tells a tale that has a significant impact on how we look at the afterlife, as well as how we look at our current situation. Lewis's book centers around a bus trip from hell to heaven, a bus trip that takes place everyday. The people who are brought up from hell on the bus are offered the chance to venture into the mountains (aka "deep heaven"). In the end it is each person's choice where he or she makes his or her home in the afterlife. A bulk of this rather short book is made up the interactions between the bus riders and people who now make their home in the mountains and who knew the riders in a previous life and have come to meet them when they get off the bus and attempt to talk them into moving into the mountains. It is Lewis's imagination that makes this book though. One of the riders is connected to his "demon" by a leash, and while he shrinks the "man" at the other end of the leash grows. The riders find that when they step off the bus in heaven they are aren't quite "whole," they are not weighty in heaven. The grass pricks their feet and makes it difficult to walk while they don't sink in water, but are also unable to lift it to their mouths in order to get a drink. While this book is heavy on allegory it's of a more intricate sort than Lewis's own Chronicles of Narnia. This intricacy leaves one sorting out all the details of this allegory for months, and viewing his or her life with a sense of great importance and the world with sense of great grace. (Matt Browning) [amazon]
Poetry:
The Wild Iris by Louise Glück
It's not like this book needs my praise, as it did win the Pulitzer Prize, but I will still give it my own hearty thumbs-up. Glück's strong sense of the spiritual comes through earnestly, but is not overly emotional in this book, which is difficult to do. All of this is couched in the world of horticulture. Glück speaks to her husband, speaks to the physical world, speaks to herself, to God and as God in this book, all with the natural world as the backdrop, giving this book the feeling of a post-creation myth, sorting through the natural world and relationships and God in hopes of better understanding who we are and why we are. (Matt Browning) [amazon]
Tarantula by Bob Dylan
While I'd highly recommend this collection for its thought provoking content, gritty characters, and its influential author, I'd also like to suggest reading it in small doses. Reading straight through this collection is, I think, nearly impossible; its pages overflow with stream-of-consciousness prose poems and free-verse pieces, all filled with strange images and seemingly random musings. Dylan's characters are rough around the edges, fighting constant battles against man and self in settings that reach fantastical heights while somehow remaining shockingly real. His voice as a poet, though, is consistent throughout, and as a follower of his music, I found it interesting and entertaining to find traces of Dylan's lyrics and themes in various poems. Tarantula gives its readers a chance to explore a different aspect of Dylan's creative process, and requires each individual to take away their own interpretations of his words. (Katie Soderberg) [amazon]
Non-Fiction:
Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock by Andrew Beaujon
I first heard Beaujon speak at Calvin College's Festival of Faith and Music. He was not only entertaining, but he was wonderfully insight. That is why I first picked up his book, and I was pleased to find that his witty and caring personality came across just as well in his book as it had when I saw him in person. Beaujon is not a Christian, but after a magazine assignment (he's a journalist) led him to witness a Christian rock concert he became fascinated by the genre. He spent a hurried year researching and writing this book, and more than a study of Christian rock, this book is an adventure to discover what makes Christian rock and how it came to be, all on a budget and a time table. I must confess that I am not a huge fan of what we normally think of as Christian rock, in fact I'm not a fan at all, but that isn't the point of Beaujon's book. Beaujon looks at this genre as an outsider, attempting to honestly understand the music and those who make it, in an effort to understand why Christian rock has seen such success. But what makes this book special is that Beaujon does this not only with a witty and critical eye, but also with a care for those he is writing about and with honest hopes of understanding that person, despite what difference in beliefs may exist. (Matt Browning) [amazon]
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink
As long as creative types have existed parents who wanted them to become accountants have also existed. Pink's book makes a great gift for those parents. Pink makes the case that our culture and our economy are coming to value the creativity of right-brainers just as much as (or maybe even more than) the logic of left-brainers. America has arrived at a place where computers at workers overseas are able to do much of the work that has traditionally been done by logic and processed oriented left-brainers. It is the creativity of the right-brain that is unable to be recreated by computers, and is what sets us apart as humans. This book affirms those with active right-brains, but also is written in a way that makes sense to left-brainers and helps them to cultivate their right hemispheres. It will give a whole new perspective on what abilities are valuable in our society and speaks clearly of what it is to be specifically human. (Matt Browning) [amazon]
