The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters is written from the perspective of an experienced devil, Screwtape, trying to teach his nephew, Wormwood, how to tempt. It is composed of letters from Screwtape to Wormwood regarding the man the nephew is responsible for tempting.

Thinking about spirituality from this opposite perspective gave me new insights into ways I can change. I learned a great deal throughout the book. One of my favorite chapters centered on where we have our focus, in the past, present, or future:

"The humans live in time but our Enemy [God] destines them to eternity. . . . The Present is the point at which time touches eternity. . . . He would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity or with the Present . . . bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure.

"It is far better to make them live in the Future. . . . thought about the Future inflames hope and fear."

Black Like Me - John Howard Griffin

Black Like Me is the story of a Texan journalist who, in 1959, decided to undergo heavy medication to turn his skin dark and live as an African American man in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. He wanted to see for himself if all of the rumors about the superiority of Whites were true, as well as to experience what life as an African American man was like at that time.

He spent time in the same cities as a white man, and noticed a dramatic difference in the way he was treated by Whites.

For some reason the most poignant part of his experience, for me, was that he often had to walk blocks or even miles to find a restroom, water, or food he was allowed to use as an African American. Seeing this experience from his perspective gave me a greater understanding of a lot of the problems we still face regarding poverty.

While is style of writing is not necessarily compelling, his whole experience and bravery helped me to gain a better understanding of the inequalities faced by so many people. I think it would be interesting for someone to undertake a similar experiment regarding other groups which are discriminated against today.

Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

I have been wanting to read this book for over two years. I heard about it right before we moved away for graduate school, and so I finally got around to checking it out from the library, or at least trying to check it out, in April or May. I couldn't understand how the Lincoln library could have over 50 copies, and yet it was still a long waiting list. The following week, I saw the first preview for the movie adaptation. Ah-ha!

So, I finally broke down and bought it when we made a visit to Vernal in early August and I had already finished the only book I brought with me for the trip.

I LOVED this book. It is broken up into three sections detailing Liz's experiences spending four months in each of three locations: Italy, India, and Indonesia (Bali). She is healing from a terrible divorce and a long bout of depression, so she decides to go on a journey of self-discovery.

While I loved the descriptions of Italy and the things she learned about herself there (all focused around food - hence the "Eat" in Eat, Pray, Love) and her time in Bali (focused on finding balance between the physical and spiritual - the Love part), the section detailing her spiritual journey in India is what made me love this book.

Say You're One of Them - Uwem Akpan

Apparently graduating and moving severely limit my time to review the books I read.

Say You're One of Them is a collection of 5 short stories about the resilience of children based in various African countries. None of the stories, however, are uplifting. They are fictional accounts of real suffering in these countries.

In "An Ex-Mas Feast," a mother, father, and several children all live in a shanty. As a prostitute, the oldest daughter brings home the only real money the family gets. She is saving to pay for her younger brother to go to school. The family looks down on her and frequently criticizes her for the way she earns her money even though their only other source of income is begging, which usually in unproductive. In the end, she pays off her family's debts, brings home a feast, and prepares to leave the house to work full time. Her younger brother threatens to run away and not go to school if she follows through with it.

"Fattening for Gabon" is the story of a young boy and girl who are sent by their parents to live with an uncle in a distant city. They are happy with him, but soon new people appear in their lives and say they are going to take them away to give them a better life. Even though they are both about 10 years old, their new "mother" changes their names to European names and they are forced to be called by these new names. As time passes, it becomes clear that their uncle sold them to these people. He becomes remorseful, but he has already received part of the payment for them and so he is killed by those who plan to take the children away. The older brother manages to get a spare key to allow him and his sister to escape. His sister screams and refuses to come as they try to escape, and he runs away without her.

"What Language is That" is the story of two little girls, one Christian, the other Muslim. They enjoy playing together and their families have no problem with their friendship until tensions break out. Neither of them understands why she is not allowed to see the other.

"Luxurious Hearses" is the story of a Muslim teenage boy who is trying to flee south to escape his fellow Muslims who are planning to kill him for being the son of a Christian father. He spends an exhausting couple of days trying to hid his religion from a bus full of Christians who are fleeing the same violence. However, upon reaching the south, they realize that tensions are just as bad there with the Christians persecuting the Muslims, and the southern Muslims are trying to flee north.

Set in Rwanda, "My Parent's Bedroom" is about two young children who find themselves in the middle of a conflict because their parents are from two different tribes. Their father's family is demanding that he kill their mother, which he refuses to do. In the mean time, he is hiding injured Tutsis in their ceiling, causing it to sag all over. The children are barely able to escape. Their father's family kills their father, and drags away their mother after setting their house on fire.