Review: Three Act Tragedy

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Cover image of "Three Act Tragedy" by Agatha Christie.

Three Act Tragedy (Hercule Poirot, 11), Agatha Christie. William Morrowe (9780063376045) 2006, (first published 1934).

Summary: Two deaths after a drink, with most of the same guests present on both occasions, sets Poirot to investigating murder.

The famous stage actor Sir Charles Cartwright is hosting a dinner party. In addition to Poirot, he has invited an interesting mix of guests. The local vicar, Reverend Babbington and his wife are there. In addition, celebrate psychiatrist Sir Bartholomew Strange, actress Angela Sutcliffe, and playwright Muriel Wills are part of the party. Rounding out the party are Captain and Mrs. Dacres, he a gambler, she a dressmaker, Lady Mary Lytton Gore and her daughter Hermione (“Egg”), and Oliver Manders, a young financier in love with Hermione. However, Hermione doesn’t reciprocate his feelings; she is attracted to Sir Charles. Unknown to her, he is also drawn to her. And there is Mr. Satterthwaite, who also turns up in two other Poirots.

The dinner party fails to get past cocktails. When Reverend Babbington, an elderly man sips his drink, he collapses. Sir Charles mentions the possibility of murder, which Poirot dismisses. No poison is found on the glass and the death is ruled due to natural causes. A couple months later, Poirot hears from Satterthwaite and Cartwright that Dr. Strange has died under similar circumstances. Again, the glass was free of poison. But an autopsy determined his death was due to nicotine poisoning. Poirot reconsiders his conclusion, now convinced someone murdered both men. A subsequent exhumation of Reverend Babbage’s body determines he also died of nicotine poisoning. All the guests except for himself, Satterthwaite and Cartwright were at the party. Even Oliver Manders, not invited, manages to literally “gate crash.”

Cartwright and Satterthwaite join Poirot. In addition, Christie livens thing up by having “Egg” join in. It’s not clear whether she is more interested in the murder than in Sir Charles. Let’s just say, they find reason to be together a lot. Poirot’s three assistants busy themselves with questioning all the guests. In addition, they attempt to figure out the motive for killing Babbington who everyone loved and the connection between the two murders. There is one other suspect in the second murder–the butler, who has disappeared without a trace, and had only recently begun working for Dr. Strange.

A patient of Dr. Strange, Mrs. De Rushbridger may hold a key to the murders, but before they can question her, she is also murdered. The sleuths appear no closer to a solution, and a serial murderer is on the loose. Others could be in danger. Amid it all, Poirot takes time to stop and think, collects one further piece of evidence, and confronts the murderer, along with Cartwright, Satterthwaite, and “Egg.”

There were so many interesting elements to this. One was the affable and observant Satterthwaite. Another was the spunky “Egg.” Above all, I thought Christie did a stellar job of concealing the culprit. If you read this, did the ending surprise you? It did me.

Review: Martyr!

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Cover image of "Martyr" by Kaveh Akbar

Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar. Vintage Books (ISBN: 9780593685778) 2024.

Summary: A young immigrant poet in recovery struggles to find meaning in a life after his mother’s plane was shot down and his father died.

When Cyrus was an infant in Iran, his mother’s plane was shot down by mistake by a U.S. ship. His father moved to Indiana, seeing a job recruitment notice. He spent the rest of his life cleaning up after chickens and collecting their eggs. And died when Cyrus was in college. Meanwhile his uncle Arash stayed back in Iran, suffering PTSD from the war. He had a gruesome assignment, to ride a black horse through battlefields at night after battle, robed as the Angel of Death. The idea was to comfort the dying. But he would live ever after with what he saw and did.

Cyrus was basically a good boy until his father died. In college, he experimented with all the things many students did, becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol. One day, he awoke and considered suicide, praying for a sign that he should go on living. A “sort of” sign was good enough to get him into recovery.

Cyrus was a poet and writer–or at least aspired to be. Talking with friends, he shared his idea to write a book about martyrs–people who died for something greater than themselves. And in this, we come to a central idea of the book–can one’s life–and death–mean something? He learns from a friend that an Iranian artist in New York named Orkideh is holding a unique exhibition. The exhibit is called Death-Speak. She is the exhibit, a woman dying of metastatic breast cancer willing to talk with any who come about death or whatever they want to talk about.

Cyrus and his lover, Zee, decide to make the trip. And for three consecutive days, he has conversations with Orkideh. At the beginning, she mocks his aspiration to write a book on martyrdom –“another death-obsessed Iranian man?” But by the end, there is a bond as he shares he wants to write about her. By the third conversation, they have become close. Orkideh seems gladdened to see Cyrus. He trusts her with his struggle and comes to his central question, “the trick to being at peace at the end.” They talk a bit further and embrace. He will never see her again. But those conversations and what he learns after them will change him forever…

While the book centers around Cyrus, each of the significant characters narrates at different points, sometimes filling in backstory. The narrative moves from the present back as far as Cyrus’ childhood. We hear from Cyrus father Ali, mother Roya, uncle Arash, Orkideh, and even Orkideh’s gallerist and former lover. There is even a strange, dreamlike segment with Orkideh and “President Invective.” There are also short segments with quote’s from Cyrus’ book on martyrs.

These shifts allow the reader to catch one’s breath, or redirect one’s eye in the story Akbar is painting. The story is one of discovery, one in which Cyrus gains knowledge of himself and the meaning of creating and loving. Akbar offers us an exploration of the human condition in all of its heartbreaks, ambiguities, and noble aspirations. Life can be both messy and glorious and our task is learning to live with both.

The Weekly Wrap: April 13-19

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woman in white crew neck t shirt in a bookstore wrapping books
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Moving Sale

A few weeks back, we stopped by our local Barnes & Noble store to discover everything in the store was 25 percent off. Add my member discount and that made for some cool savings. A couple of the books I will be reviewing in the next week came from that trip. But such a sale was unusual, and to either quell or confirm my fears, I spoke to a bookseller.

What a relief! I learned they are moving into a bigger space across the street, in a building once occupied by Bed, Bath, and Beyond–a casualty of the retail wars. Instead of going there to fit out my son’s college dorm, as we once did, we can feast our eyes and empty our wallets on books!

But the news gets better! This week, I learned that the discount was up to 40 percent. The rationale is that it is easier to sell off the inventory than move it. And they still had books of interest. I came home with three–a collection of Jorge Luis Borges essays, a Haruki Murakami novel, and o book on the working homeless in America I’d seen reviewed recently. My TBR ever groweth!

But not all bookstores do it this way. The Guardian ran a story recently of a small-town bookstore that mobilized a human chain to move 9,100 books to a new location, passed from hand to hand. Three hundred people came out to help. That’s bookstore love! I suspect that wouldn’t work in our case because of a heavily travelled road between the two locations.

Part of me is wistful. I have memories of sitting at the cafe with my wife, sharing our book finds, or “retreat” days that included a stop at the Panera that shared the building, for lunch, then a quick browse and some coffee while I journaled. The Panera moved out a couple years ago, and soon, the building will be empty. I’ll guess we’ll have to make new memories.

Five Articles Worth Reading

“Doing Nothing Is Everything” reviews Aflame: Learning from Silence by Pico Iyer. The author describes himself as areligious but represents a growing trend of areligious people seeking out monasteries for silence.

Miles Terlunen makes a confession that amounts to an apology from literary scholars to the wider reading public. He admits that “Scholars Have Lost the Plot!,” as they follow strategies of slow reading to ferret out other aspects of literary works.

“‘Why would he take such a risk?’ How a famous Chinese author befriended his censor” is a fascinating account by a critic of the Communist Party of his relationship with a censor on Weibo, China’s equivalent of X. Makes me wonder what could happen (or is happening) here.

Emily Henry is described in this article from The New York Times as “a new standard-bearer of the romance genre.” I’m not a romance reader and had never heard of this fellow Ohioan, but for those interest in the genre, this is a deep dive into her work.

Camino Real by Tennessee Williams is set in a mental institution. In “Faulkner and Plath Go to a Play,” we learn of the profound impact the play had on each of them, due to their own histories of institutionalization.

Quote of the Week

Thornton Wilder, born April 11 1897, offered this advice, that could be a personal watchword:

“Seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment every day.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I’m thoroughly enjoying The Bookshop by Evan Friss. It’s a history of the American bookstore, from Ben Franklin on, concluding with Parnassus, Ann Patchett’s bookstore. It impresses me with the unique personality of every bookstore, one thing that makes visiting them so much fun.

I’m reading a rather thick book on “the next quest for the historical Jesus.” It is a collection of essays that seems to be an effort to lay the groundwork for this “quest.” But it is curious in admitting on one hand that we cannot get behind the accounts of Jesus, yet also explores many of the background factors from class and clothing to the military presence in Judea. One thing that I do appreciate is the easing up on the criteria of “authenticity” which would reject as an authentic saying of Jesus anything anyone else had said.

One of the books coming out this spring is a new biography of Mark Twain by Ron Chernow, who has written a number of significant biographies, including biographies of Alexander Hamilton and George Washington. It’s at the top of my wishlist.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Kaveh Akbar, Martyr!

Tuesday: Agatha Christie, Three Act Tragedy

Wednesday: Camden Morgante, Recovering From Purity Culture

Thursday: C.S. Lewis, The Reading Life

Friday: Evan Friss, The Bookshop

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for April 13-19, 2025!

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page

Review: Turning Points

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Cover image of "Turning Points" by Mark A. Noll

Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity. Mark A. Noll. Baker Academic (ISBN: 9781540964885) 2022 (the link and publication info is for the 4th edition of the book. My review and the cover image are of the 1997 first edition).

Summary: Twelve decisive moments in Christian history along with twentieth century events that may be turning points.

Mark A. Noll, who has taught history at several colleges, first wrote this concise distillation of Christian history in 1997. In that edition, he identifies twelve decisive “turning points” in the history of Christianity. He also discusses important twentieth century events that may be considered turning points. Noll’s method has the advantage both of focus and offering the ability to incorporate contemporaneous events.

An example of this is his first turning point, the fall of Jerusalem, and how this led to the expansion of the church. In this chapter, he incorporates discussions of the formation of the canon, apostolic succession, and the early creeds of the church.

Subsequent turning points include the Councils of Nicea (on the Trinity) and Chalcedon (on Christology), the rise of monasticism with Benedict, and the culmination of Christendom in Charlemagne. Noll next turns our attention to the East-West schism of 1054, the Diet of Worms, the English Act of Supremacy, and Catholic Reforms including the missionary order of the Jesuits. Latter chapters cover the rise of pietism, focused on the conversion of the Wesleys, the decline of Christendom marked by the French Revolution and the rise of secularity, and the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910 and the explosion of Protestant Missions.

There were several things I appreciated in this work. One is that each chapter opens with a hymn from the period being covered and closes with a prayer. Another was Noll’s focus on Catholic history from the Benedictines to the reforms at Trent to the Jesuit movement, the first modern missionary movements. Protestants were latecomers. A third aspect to which I would call attention are the numerous sidebars, for example “Aquinas on Sacraments.” Each chapter includes bibliographies for further reading. Finally, Noll provides an account at once detailed and yet concise of the rise of “the secular age” or modernity at far less length than Charles Taylor!

David Komline and Han-luen Kantzer Komline co-author the newest edition. In addition to Noll’s content, the edition includes new sidebars and updated reading lists. The chapter on the twentieth century now highlights the Lausanne Conference as well as Vatican II. Because of the Lausanne movement’s global impact over fifty years, this is fitting.

The book is ideal for a college-level introductory course in Christian history or an adult education class. Likewise, it makes a great read for anyone who wants to brush up their understanding of Christian history!

Review: American Prometheus

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Cover image of "American Prometheus" by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

American Prometheus, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Vintage Books (ISBN:  9780375726262) 2006.

Summary: A biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, focused on his leadership of the atomic bomb program and security clearance trial.

My birth and the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima occurred on the same day (although in different years). I’m in my eighth decade of living under a nuclear cloud. One of the scientists who helped make that possible was J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer led the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, from 1943 to 1945, that built the first bombs, including those dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Therefore, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin’s massive biography of Oppenheimer was one of those books I knew I would read sooner or later (though I will pass on the movie). They trace his early life and educational work, and early work in theoretical physics that led to appointments at Caltech, and eventually at Berkeley.

While at Berkeley in the mid-1930’s he expressed his developing social consciousness through associations with and support of organizations with Communist party ties. While likely not a party member, he had close friends who were among the scientists he worked with and others he associated with. One of them, Haakon Chevalier, would later cause him much grief. He also pursued an intimate relationship with psychotherapist and party member Jean Tatlock, who later committed suicide. His wife, Kitty Puening had previously been married to a man killed in the Spanish Civil War fighting for the Communists.

World War Two changed many things. The USSR became an ally. Intelligence, including warnings from Albert Einstein, revealed the Germans were working on an atomic bomb. Oppenheimer’s theoretical work with Ernest Lawrence made him a strong candidate to lead the bomb development program. By this time, he had severed ties to the Communist Party, but his past raised security issues. But investigations cleared him and he became director under Leslie Groves.

His fertile mind and quick grasp of the various challenges facing the teams of scientists made him an ideal director. Meanwhile, he paid assiduous attention to building the Los Alamos community, including cross-team seminars that facilitated teamwork and advances on the science front. But his past associations tripped him up. Haakon Chevalier made an approach, exploring whether Oppenheimer would consider sharing information with Soviet scientists. While he flatly refused Chevalier, his tardy reporting and attempts to cover for his friends, including his brother Frank, made him suspect, though he maintained his clearance and overall director, General Leslie Groves staunchly supported him.

The successful Trinity test of the bomb was significant in raising Oppenheimer’s own fears about using the weapon. He sought unsuccessfully to stop its use. The book raises evidence that the U.S. could have ended the war without using it or invading the mainland. I think that will continue to be debated. But Oppenheimer later had a meeting with Harry Truman “repenting” his own role, something Truman ever after despised.

Leaving Los Alamos, Oppenheimer accepted a position as director of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton, perhaps the happiest situation he enjoyed. He advocated for open sharing of nuclear secrets (though maintaining security himself), hoping for an international order that would oversea and prevent nuclear war. He also opposed the H-bomb, although a member of the Atomic Energy Commission. Chairman Lewis Strauss, who was also on his board at Princeton, became an enemy. Eventually, when he was up for renewal of his security clearance, Strauss orchestrated a star-chamber-like hearing process with the result of denying that clearance. The father of the atomic bomb was excluded from all further nuclear work.

The biography portrays the complexity of Oppenheimer. He is both aloof and condescending and warm and sensitive, He both adored Kitty and yet engaged in several outside relationship. Intelligence mixed with lack of common sense. Most notably, we see how his enemies used the McCarthyism of the early 1950’s to smear him. Yet his character emerges as he comes to terms with his fate. But he was a victim of one of the uglier sides of American character.

Most of all, there is the bomb. Oppenheimer stood apart from many scientists in wrestling with the morality of what he had done. And he spoke out against the fundamental immorality and insanity of a nuclear arms race. His life exemplifies the inherent immorality of war-making. It implicates us in the taking of lives we would never personally choose to take. Bird and Sherwin’s biography serves as a mirror that makes us take a good look at ourselves.

Review: Bring Back Your People

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Cover image of "Bring Back Your People" by Aaron Scott

Bring Back Your People, Aaron Scott. Broadleaf Books (ISBN: 9781506494555) 2025.

Summary: A blunt discussion of how to reach out to those who have embraced Christian nationalism.

You might know “Randy.” He (or she, in this case Brandy) may be a sibling or relative. Maybe a next door neighbor. Or it could be your auto mechanic, or hair dresser, or a favorite waitstaff at a restaurant you frequent. Randy embraces ideas of American greatness, often coated with an icing of Christianity. As I write, Randy is probably in hog heaven. And you may be dismayed and wondering where do you go from here.

Aaron Scott has worked with a lot of Randys in his ministry. He helped start a church among the rural poor on coastal Washington State, many of whom have been attracted by Christian nationalism. He offers a blunt, plain-spoken ten-step guidebook to talking with the Randys in our lives. He begins by discussing the tenets of Christian nationalism and why they attracted Randy. Often it came down to someone talking to Randy and caring about him and offering a vision and ground game of how his life and community could be better. And sadly, more progressive folk probably never did.

That’s the starting place: talking to Randy and caring about his life. Sometimes, that means getting past the things that get under your skin to see the person and taking time to really listen. Scott also takes a deep dive into American history and how white supremacy, nationalism, and white evangelicalism have sadly walked together. Randy may well be where he is because a church embracing Christian nationalist ideas has taken him in and provided a place of belonging. Many progressive folk have nothing nearly as compelling to offer.

Scott shows how so much of the political rhetoric of both parties tries to recruit the poor while preserving the wealth of a tiny number. He believes the answer is mobilizing a people’s movement that calls both to account. He also recognizes this could be emotionally and physically dangerous. He discusses honestly assessing these to navigate both safely and strategically. He also argues that progressives need a religious strategy. Spirituality matters to Randy, yet progressives often shun it like the plague. All of this so that you can offer Randy a new home, one speaking compellingly into the real-life issues of one’s own community. He argues that we have to stop blaming people and “pledge allegiance to the bottom.”

In sum, Scott seeks to rally the church, not to the cause of American greatness, but to the 140 million poor in our country. He offers a bracing call to get to work. Christian nationalism has succeeded by relentless organizing that has extended into poor communities. Yet they are not delivering for the poor, an opportunity to “bring back” people like Randy. But it means talking to Randy, organizing to reach and serve Randy, and taking Randy seriously rather than dismissively.

As I mentioned, Scott speaks bluntly. His writing is laced with profanity (but that’s often the language Randy uses). While progressive both theologically and politically, he is critical of the abandonment of the rural poor by many progressives. His approach is one that goes beyond the church truly being the church to community and political organizing. It doesn’t strike me as an approach to healing the divides but rather of outdoing the opposition. I’m not sure I agree with that but Scott makes me ask hard questions about how we are caring for the Randys in our lives.

____________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers Program.

Review: Tending Tomorrow

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Cover image of "Tending Tomorrow" by Leah Reesor-Keller

Tending Tomorrow, Leah Reesor-Keller. Herald Press (ISBN: 9781513813356) 2024.

Summary: Facing an uncertain ecological future by drawing on one’s faith and learning from creation, to re-vision how we may live.

Many of us are convinced that our warming earth poses a threat to the flourishing of life on our planet. More deeply troubling is the awareness that our own patterns of consuming earth’s resources are a causative factor. In fact, that influence is so decided that scientists have named our epoch in global natural history the Anthropocene.

I’m a Christian who believes God loves his creation but observes a world responding inadequately to the threat. The question then arises of how then should we live into an uncertain ecological future without giving way to despair. Christians are people of hope. Leah Reesor-Keller wrestles with these questions in Tending Tomorrow. Her response to the uncertain future is to dig into the roots of her faith in five “thematic actions”: redreaming, retelling, renewing, reimagining, and rewilding.

Redreaming involves re-examining one’s religious and cultural roots and is foundational to the author’s project. It means recognizing the things worth embracing and the harmful trajectories it is time to re-direct, all with an eye toward what we would hope for the world in 2100. This leads to looking at our origin stories. The author illustrates with the story of her Mennonite family and how they settled in Canada. She learned that it was a story of colonization. A future might involve acknowledging that Indigenous presence and drawing upon Indigenous wisdom rather than dominionist theology for how one lives on the land.

Then renewing involves reflecting on how one has found hope in past challenges and suffering. One lesson in hope is that we don’t need to see all the steps to the end but just the next ones. Likewise, we nurture hope in community by continuing to show up for each other.

But the “re” word Reesor-Keller gives the greatest attention is reimagining. She begins with reimagining leadership, not as the hero leading the charge, but as an interconnected network of people. This is exemplified in the interconnected character of forests. She recognizes that the flow of power is always a reality of leadership in community. She describes her own leadership and use of Power Mapping to empower marginalized community voices. Then she turns to re-imagining accountability and repairing harm, both within the community, and in the wider Canadian culture with Indigenous people. Finally, she returns to Anabaptist roots to reimagine church communities as people movements rather than institutions.

As she concludes, Reesor-Keller meditates on re-wilding her yard and is reminded that such a project can go in a number of directions. Re-visioning the future has no singular outcome. Rather, we strive to create a flourishing space for many visions while taking the next steps we need to take.

The approach to this book was far more holistic than I expected. The author addresses our origin stories, our blind spots, marginalized people, redemptive community, as well as our care for creation. But in doing so, she shows us her understanding of what it is to be the church in the world. This both addresses our crisis of hope and vision and needs for culture change. She offers no silver bullets. But she offers a vision of how we might live into the uncertain future.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: How to Get Along with Anyone

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Cover image of "How to Get Along with Anyone" by John Eliot and Jim Guinn

How to Get Along with Anyone, John Eliot and Jim Guinn. Simon & Schuster (ISBN: 9781668033074) 2025.

Summary: An approach to conflict resolution based on the five ways people respond to conflict.

156. The number of hours a salaried employee in the United States spends, on average, engaged in moderate to intense workplace conflict that is reported to adversely impact job performance. That adds up to essentially one month of work per year per person. (p. xiv)

Productivity. Job satisfaction. Employee retention. All of these measures and more are impacted by unresolved workplace conflicts. Conversely, effective conflict resolution affirms the value of people, and results in greater organizational effectiveness.

But the workplace isn’t the only place where effective conflict resolution is needed. Unresolved conflict shreds families, undermines voluntary associations and renders toxic our political processes. Knowing how to get along with anyone is a pretty important skill, yet less than 40 percent of full-time employees receive any form of conflict resolution training.

John Eliot and Jim Guinn have worked with an extensive variety of organizations in conflict resolution training and conflict mediation. This book distills the wisdom they’ve gained from that work and the core of the resources they offer. The key idea of the book is that it is crucial to understand the five ways people respond to conflict, and to base one’s actions in resolving conflict on understanding a person’s pattern of responding to conflict. The first section of the book lays the groundwork of good conflict resolution processes while the second focuses on the five conflict response patterns.

First of all, good conflict resolution begins with identifying the three types or triggers of conflict: task, process, and relational. Each of us are triggered more by one of these. The authors offer a trigger analysis process to understand what is triggering conflict. Second, it is vital to predict behavior by identifying a person’s “Go-To Conflict Personality Style.” Specifically, there are five styles: Avoider, Competitor, Analyzer, Collaborator, and Accommodator. For each, they outline strengths, weaknesses ideal conflict scenarios, main MO’s, nicknames, best and worst teammates. However, no conflict style is necessarily better or worse.

Third, after understanding triggers and conflict styles, is getting to a persons underlying interest. Active listening is critical and they offer specific suggestions how to do this. Fourth, it is often necessary to defuse emotion in conflict situations. The authors describe ways to do this through lowered voices, validation, detours, e-mail drafts, and relationship investment. Finally, the authors tie it all together with Matt Damon’s axiom from Rounders: “The key to the game is playing the man, not the cards.” In conflict, we often try to make better arguments, solve problems, and strategize. Rather than playing these cards, we need to play the player, building rapport, summoning their motivations and using momentum to build wins together.

Then the second section of the book takes a deep dive into each conflict style. The authors offer specific techniques for conflict resolution for each style. Throughout, they illustrate these methods with stories from their consulting work. For example, they describe how a competitor’s ultimatum, walking away from a deal, was turned into a five year fleet purchase agreement. In addition to working with a person’s conflict style, it is important to understand one’s own “go-to.” If you can’t figure this out from the descriptions, you can go to The Conflict Docs website and take an assessment (for $25.00).

In conclusion, I found the book to be very helpful. For example, understanding one’s own triggers and “go to” style seems critical. Likewise, the “play the player” insight, I thought, was gold. I can’t enumerate how many conflicts went sideways in my own life because I was oblivious to this insight. However, I think it can be a challenge to keep all the techniques straight, so keep this book handy.

One concern I have is the risk of using the techniques in this book manipulatively. So much hinges on one’s character, it seems. The authors show they care for people and want individuals and organizations to flourish. But I also have known clever manipulators who negotiate their way through conflict, making others feel good while acting only in their own interests. It’s never a good approach to build long-term relationships where trust is important. But some don’t care about the long term.

However, that doesn’t detract from the value of this book. Few people want to be at odds with each other. Most want to work productively. Learning to resolve conflict strengthens relationships, and enhances productivity and organizational effectiveness. Learning how to get along with anyone is a good thing.

____________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers Program.

The Weekly Wrap: April 6-12

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woman in white crew neck t shirt in a bookstore wrapping books
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True Readers

I’ve just begun reading a new collection of C. S. Lewis’s pieces on reading titled The Reading Life. One of the first pieces in the book is “How to Know if You are a True Reader.” Since you are all waiting to know Lewis’s answer, here it is:

1. Loves to re-read books
2. Highly values reading as an activity (versus as a last resort)
3. Lists the reading of particular books as a life-changing experience
4. Continuously reflects and recalls what one has read

By these criteria, I’m a true reader, although I have more trouble with #1 since I’ve begun reviewing books. But there are many old friends I love to revisit, including those of several of the Inklings.

I was astounded to learn Lewis spent an average of eight hours a day reading. He clearly valued reading as an activity. I do as well, but at probably less than half that amount of time.

Books have changed me, from J. I. Packer’s Knowing God and Calvin’s Institutes to the Port William stories of Wendell Berry, Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country, and the poetry of Mary Oliver, George Herbert, and Gerard Manley Hopkins.

And reflecting and recalling? That’s what I do all the time when reviewing. I’m thinking not only of the book under review but others as well. I don’t have Lewis’s eidetic memory. Students could read one line of a book on Lewis’s shelves and he’d complete the page, often verbatim.

I don’t think there is a switch one flips to become a true reader. Rather, I feel I’ve been becoming a true reader all my life. I think as readers, we are all works in progress.

Five Articles Worth Reading

However, being a true reader by Lewis’s criteria doesn’t make me all knowledgeable, even in the history of books. I only answered two out of five questions in this short quiz on “How Much Do You Know About the History of Books?” I’d love to hear how you did in the comments, especially if you go five for five!

Stuart Whatley asserts that “[O]ur nihilistic politics are a product of the crushing ennui and spiritual vacancy of modern life” in “The West is bored to death.”

I always look forward to The Millions previews to tick off books I want to check out. “The Great Spring 2025 Book Preview” went up this week.

I learned recently that there are 153 data centers ringing my city, and this is true in many parts of the country, driven by the rise of AI. Until a few years ago, Intel chips were synonymous with computers. But the rise of AI has been paralleled by the rise of Nvidia. “The New King of Tech” profiles Jensen Huang and reviews a new book, The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip by Stephen Witt.

Finally, I began this post talking about true readers. Open Road ran an article with video on “Why the Romans Stopped Reading Books.” I’d be curious if you think there are any modern parallels.

Quote of the Week

April is National Poetry Month. And April 9, 1821 was the birthdate of Charles Pierre Baudelaire. I love this simple challenge he offers:

“Always be a poet, even in prose.”

It makers me wonder how it might shape our public discourse if we heeded this!

Miscellaneous Musings

I’m just coming to the conclusion of American Prometheus, on the life of Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atom bomb. It is sobering to see how a powerful figure who disliked Oppenheimer orchestrated a star chamber to strip him of his security clearance because he opposed expansion of our nuclear arsenal to include hydrogen bombs. But Oppenheimer received vindication late in his life, offering hope that dissent cannot be suppressed forever.

It’s always nice to get around to older books one missed the first time around. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity by Mark Noll. His summary of the European transition from Christendom to secularity is a tour de force.

I met one of my goals in selling books to our local Half Price Books. I walked out with cash in my pocket, even after our purchases! Yes, my retirement portfolio may have decreased by $80K in value over the last months, but I’m running to the good at at least one bookstore!

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: John Eliot and Jim Guinn, How to Get Along with Anyone

Tuesday: Leah Reesor-Keller, Tending Tomorrow

Wednesday: Aaron Scott, Bring Back Your People

Thursday: Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, American Prometheus

Friday: Mark Noll, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for April 6-12, 2025!

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page

Review: Citizenship Without Illusions

/ rtrube54 / 3 Comments
Cover image of "Citizenship Without Illusions" by David T. Koyzis

Citizenship Without Illusions, David T. Koyzis. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514008621) 2024.

Summary: How Christians may engage politically without giving idolatrous devotion to parties or ideologies.

For years I’ve found myself in this place. I recognize that we need good governance from the officials we elect. But I cannot fully endorse what either of our parties propound nor give unquestioning allegiance to person or party. What is difficult is that I have friends on both sides of the partisan divide who seem to give unflinching allegiance to their party and the people they have elected or want to elect. Often, I find conversations with such individuals futile. There is no questioning allowed and only one side is right on everything. It is particularly disconcerting when my friends resort to lies and character assassination to buttress their political allegiance. I grope for a different kind of political engagement or want to just withdraw.

Citizenship Without Illusions is written for people like me. In his introductory chapter, David T. Koyzis identifies the illusion of political idolatries yet refuses the route of disengagement. He believes we are called to active citizenship as Christians in society. But first, he focuses on the nature of citizenship. Koyzis argues that political rule has always existed but not citizenship. Citizenship arises with the idea of “the state as a public legal community of people led by a government.”

Koyzis then turns in Chapter 3 to a delineation of the responsibilities of citizenship. He maintains that citizens are part of a community whose first task is to do justice in all areas of public life. This includes obedience to the rule of law, including the payment of taxes, staying informed, thinking locally, where all politics begins, and answering the call of service, including both jury and military service. Koyzis explores the challenges of living out the call to citizenship when the opportunities for participation are limited. But sometimes the requirements of citizenship and Christian faithfulness may collide. Chapter 4 explores these conflicts, including the possibility of civil disobedience and what principles ought inform us should we choose this route.

Voting is an expression of our citizenship but what does one do when none of the alternatives are good? Koyzis talks about different systems and shows a preference for proportional representation rather than single member plurality, where only the winning votes are represented. But sometimes the only way to pursue change is through political mobilization. Chapter 6 introduces political mobilization and points to models like Voice of Calvary Ministries.

But what about our political divides? Chapter 7 analyzes our political divides and advocates for a kind of principled pluralism. Then Chapter 8 turns to our global context and explores the tension between our citizenship and love for our global neighbors and God’s world. Finally, Chapter 9 concludes with a focus on the importance of prayer and the place of the church in shaping us. He advocates for the church to be the church, and not aligned to any particular political ideology.

Koyzis offers a model of political engagement that is an alternative to becoming a devotee of a political cult. He articulates for churches being the church. His analysis of voting raises a question many struggle with–why vote in situations where a vote doesn’t matter? Proportional representation would require constitutional changes. This is not an easy fix. I particularly appreciate his focus on the local as well as his recommendations for political mobilization. There are some things we can’t change alone. I did wonder whether the author might have written any of this differently after January 2025. His section on citizenship under less than ideal circumstances may be more relevant than ever.

In all, Koyzis offers a clear-eyed guide for redemptive political engagement rooted in a commitment for public justice for all. It’s not the route to power but the long road of service. It’s just being a citizen.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.