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BOOK LOVER’S GUIDE TO GREAT READING A Guided Tour of Classic & Contemporary Literature Terry W. Glaspey InterVarsity Press, 2001, 237 pp. 0-8308-2329-8 |
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Glaspey, “one who loves books and whose life would seem
incomplete without them,” is the author of several books on prayer and other
topics. Here he provides practical
help to sort through the enormous number of options and select the very best
books for yourself and your children.
You might not agree with all his selections. This is not a book to borrow.
You have to buy it for reference.
It showed me, as a good friend told me recently, “Your reading is very
thin.” In several categories, he lists his favorite authors, a
couple of their best books, a paragraph about their writing, and sometimes a
quote from a book. The major categories are
Smaller categories include
He also includes brief chapters on
Two appendices discuss
There are also author and title indices. Reading great Christian books is one of the surest ways to
broaden and deepen our faith and our commitment. Reading classics is being ushered into the presence of some of
the greatest thinkers who ever lived.
It gives us a perspective much broader than merely contemporary
thinking. (12, 15) A one-year plan for exploring the classics is given on pp.
62-3. Books founded on other worldviews also have a great deal
to say to the discerning Christian reader.
“First, because as sharers in our common human experience they can
provide valuable insights about living; second, because all human beings can
draw on the richness of God’s general revelation; and third, because
sometimes those outside our tradition can see our faults and failures more
clearly than we can from inside that tradition.” (65) In the classics, Glaspey introduces each century with a
bit of commentary. Regarding the 20th
century, “There is a pervasive note of despair that runs through much of the
art, music, literature and philosophy of modern times. In our relativistic age, many people have
given up hope of finding any real answers to life’s perplexing
questions. This has tended to produce
work that is intricate, witty or complex on the exterior, but morally hollow
at its core. In many ways we appear
to be a culture that is dying, losing that which gave us the strength to
achieve much of our greatness. But
the despairing voices do us a service in clearly pointing people to their
need for the hope and meaning that is available in the gospel.” (87) Books to Help You Think Like a Christian “A worldview is a set of beliefs about reality that have
an impact on every area of our life.
It deals with such questions as Is there a God? If so, how can we know
him? What is the nature of humankind? What is truth? What is our purpose in
life? The way we answer these questions will affect the way we view almost
every area of our lives….” (103) A
list of books to help develop a Christian worldview includes authors
Blamires, Colson, C. S. Lewis, Sire, and Daniel Taylor. (105-6) Reading for entertainment is good, “but people who read
only for entertainment are robbing themselves of one of the true pleasures of
reading: that of expanding the mind, heart, the soul and the spirit.”
“Learning is a lifelong activity.” (198)
“Top ten” list of books and authors are offered for
several categories. (200-201) “The only palliative [for the errors of our modern world]
is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds,
and this can be done only by reading old books. Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer than they are now:
they made as many mistakes as we. But
not the same mistakes.” C. S. Lewis
(209) “The Christian faith is not just some unique modern way of
looking at life, but the single most powerful influence in the construction
of Western civilization.”
“Christianity is not just a modern conservative outlook on life, but a
richly textured way of looking at life and understanding our existence as
human beings.” (209-10) “Our lives will not be well nourished by an exclusive diet
of the new and trendy. To truly grow
intellectually and spiritually, to break outside the limitations of our own
modern patterns of thought, requires that we partake of the rich feast that
is part of our past.” (210) Chronological snobbery – “the uncritical acceptance of the
intellectual climate common to our age and the assumption that whatever has
gone out of date is on that account discredited.” “…our age is also a ‘period,’ and certainly has, like all
periods, its own characteristic illusions.
They are likeliest to lurk in those widespread assumptions which are
so ingrained in the age that no one dares to attack or feels it necessary to
defend them.” (quoting C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy) (213) The past provides us with a viewpoint from which to
critique our own age. Tradition frees
us from the siren of relevancy. (213) “We use our perceived freedom from the constraints of the
past to follow blindly the whims of the moment. But, “He who is married to the spirit of the age will soon find
himself a widower.” (quoting Dean Inge) (214) “The past is a priceless treasure.” (214) Further good reading on this topic: HOW TO READ A CHRISTIAN BOOK - A Guide to selecting and reading Christian books as a Christian Discipline, David L. McKenna |
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