A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards

Plot Summary
A Tale of Three Kings walks a tightrope between narrative and instruction. The narrative part takes the form of a dialogue between its story's characters, in the instructional part, the narrator addresses the reader directly, using the second person pronoun.

A Tale of Three Kings is about the basis for spiritual authority. The narrator identifies two different types of spiritual leaders; leaders like King Saul and leaders like King David. The third king is Absalom, who the narrator identifies as a recycled King Saul. But Absalom is cast in the reactionary position and answers the question: "What would David have done, while he was under Saul's authority, if he was just like Saul?"

The subtitle of this book is: "A Study in Brokenness." And it is fitting. The narrator concludes that the only way right to exercise spiritual authority is through submission.

What I liked
I don't normally like this kind of book, the way it was written. I don't like books that walk a tightrope between narrative and instruction because they generally tend to do both poorly. However, reading this book, I felt like I was reading the transcript of a good sermon, and like a good sermon, it was relatively short. I was able to read through it in an hour and a half while I should have been sleeping. And it was interesting enough to keep me awake.

I feel I've learned from this book. I've been occupied with the concept of leadership lately, both because of the lack of it in my workplace and because I've been watching Star Trek and have been finding in it an exploration of the ideology of Leadership. (I do intend to blog on that later.) This book is like an instruction manual in spiritual leadership. And one that I appreciate very much.

What I didn't like
Nothing, really.

I don't usually enjoy reading a book addressed to the second person, but in this case, it worked. These addresses make up personal challenges to the reader that inspire reflection and inner seeking.

Conclusion/Recommendation
I will quote here the book's dedication:

To the brokenhearted Christians coming out of authoritarian groups, seeking solace, healing, and hope. May you somehow recover and go on with him who is liberty.

And to all brokenhearted Christians: May you be so utterly healed that you can still answer the call of him who asks for all because he is all.

I recommend this book to any Christians who have been brutalized by other Christians and to any who desire or feel they are called to positions of leadership.

If you are one who desires a position of leadership I don't think this book will encourage you to abandon that desire but it may inspire in you a desire to be a greater leader than you had ever before imagined you could be or wanted to be. I know it has for me.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Plot Summary
Guy Montag is a fireman. A fireman who is paid to set fire to books. In Fahrenheit 451's futuristic world, there is no need for firefighters since all buildings are fireproof. Instead, firemen are employed to enforce the censorship of books. A long list of censored books now includes all works of fiction, philosophy, religion, ideology... you get the picture. A list is posted in each firehouse and firemen wait for alarms. When the alarm goes off, the firemen rush to the address, expose the hidden forbidden books and set fire to them and the house they are found in. The owner is arrested and immediately disappears; but many choose to stay behind and be burned with their books. And the firemen graciously oblige them.

This is Guy Montag's job. He works twelve hour shifts at the firehouse. He plays poker with his fellow firemen while they wait for an alarm.

At home, his wife is occupied with the drama that is broadcast over the walls (giant television screens that occupy full walls--the Montag living room has three and Mrs. Montag wants a fourth, although they can't afford one quite yet on Montag's $6000 yearly salary.) The dramas they broadcast seem to be interactive reality-based shows. The viewer can interact and engage in the drama interjecting his or her own opinions into whatever conflict is brewing between the people on the "walls." Each wall broadcasts one person's face, so having three walls gives you three people, four walls give you four people; and you can imagine how overpowering that would be to have larger-than-life people constantly yelling in your living room at full-volume. Mrs. Montag pretty much lives for these dramas, she calls the "wall people" her family and spends her whole days in the living room. She has friends over and they hang out in the living room with the family. She also has radio receivers plugged into her ears, so she can listen to music, commercials, and news (but not too much news, just two or three sentences of it between songs and commercials) all the time. They're even plugged in when she's sleeping, which is probably why she needs so many sleeping pills...

It seems like everyone is occupied with similar pursuits. If they're not sitting in the living room with their wall-families, they're out driving recklessly--another popular pastime. It seems that people in Fahrenheit 451 will do anything to avoid boredom or silence. And their society is more than happy to provide them with all kinds of distractions.

Maybe that's because the government doesn't want its people thinking. The government wants its cheerfully ignorant voters thoughtlessly absorbed in make-believe worlds so it can pursue its own agenda. Even now, the world is on the brink of nuclear war and nobody seems to care.

There's something about all this that seems vaguely disturbing to Guy Montag but he can't quite put his finger on it. He doesn't even realize that he finds it disturbing until he catches himself stealing censored books and hiding them in his ventilation ducts.

And then he meets a seventeen year old girl who seems very different from everyone else.

What I liked
Ray Bradbury's classic bestseller is startlingly prophetic. Facebook, iPods, Big Screen TVs, it's all in here. Kind of scary, considering it was written way back in the 1950s.

The book is very well written. The writing style is ... spartan. Bradbury says so much in so few words. It's actually intimidating. It's a very short book, but it's so deep. There's so much here that I could probably read it several more times and find many more things waiting to be unpacked.

The world of Fahrenheit 451 is rich with detail and very real. Bradbury certainly knew what he was doing when he wrote this. Reading this book, I could imagine myself in it, walking the streets of Guy Montag's city with its two-hundred foot billboards and its constant noise and entertainment and its firemen racing to the latest alarm aboard a salamander truck while its dissidents hid in their homes in fear, harbouring their books and their freethinking.

It's also a very imaginative novel. And, like I've said before, imagination always scores big points with me.

What I didn't like
Almost nothing.

The book was extremely boring at first, I'm embarrassed to admit. I was very tempted to give up on it entirely in the first fifty pages. But, it picked up. The ending was very exciting.

Conclusion (spoiler warning)
Ok, I really didn't see that nuclear holocaust coming at the end... and that was kind of frustrating because I kept trying to piece it together in my head with the previous events. But now that I think about it, my surprise at the nuclear holocaust kind of mirrors the surprise of the people in the novel. The people in the cities that were destroyed didn't see it coming, they died doing what they always did--entertaining themselves thoughtlessly. Meanwhile, it seems as though everyone outside the cities, the dissident freethinkers who had fled civilization and lived as vagrant fugitives in the wilderness expected the nuclear holocaust, knew it was coming, and were prepared for it and prepared to help rebuild the world afterwards.

I give this book a rating of 5/5 flamethrowing firefighters and recommend it to anyone who has the patience to wade into a slowly unraveling story of a dystopian future. Just, beware the dark stuff, it can get kind of creepy.

Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo

Plot Summary
Rob Horton has a suitcase. It isn't a real suitcase, it's imaginary. In it, he keeps all the things he's not supposed to think about--all the thoughts and feelings about his mother, her name, how she died. The stress from keeping the suitcase closed is giving him a rash on his legs. A rash so severe that the principal of his school asks him not to come back until it clears up.

But Rob's okay with that. In fact, he's overjoyed. It's like a vacation from being bullied.

On the same day that Rob finds a caged tiger in the woods behind the motel where he lives with his father, Rob meets Sistine. A fiery little girl.

He begins to learn that certain things, like heartache and memories and tigers aren't meant to be locked up.

What I liked
This is a nice story. It isn't gripping or exciting, but it flows nice and slow and keeps me interested the whole time. The characters are well developed. Kate DiCamillo has a knack for making real-life characters in few words. It isn't moving like Edward Tulane, but it isn't meant to be... it's more like real life.

What I didn't like
Nothing.

Conclusion/Recommendation
This is a great story. It's short and easy to read. It's got a bit of adventure, a bit of suspense, and a whole lot of feeling. Kate DiCamillo makes magical sentences; no word is wasted. And her characters are fantastic. This one gets 5/5 fiery little girls.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

Plot Summary
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is the story of a china rabbit who is owned by a girl who loves him and adores him completely. Unfortunately, the china rabbit knows nothing of love. Neither does he care to. He is a conceited, arrogant, self-centered, overdressed china rabbit.

But one day, he is lost.

The story chronicles the adventures of Edward, the china rabbit, as he passes from one person to another and learns what it is to love and be loved.

What I liked
Everything. A perfect book.

I still find it hard to believe that a story about a china rabbit could move me like this one did. It is possibly one of the most beautiful heart-wrenching stories I have ever read.

What I didn't like
Nothing.

Conclusion/Recommendation
This is a beautiful book that I recommend to everyone. It scores 7.5/5 long furry ears. (Kate DiCamillo, if you ever happen to read this, I love you for writing this book and I don't think I will ever get over it. Thank you.)

The Breadwinner By Deborah Ellis

Plot Summary
Parvana is a little girl, growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan shortly after the reversal of the Soviet Invasion. The Taliban has taken the city of Kabul, forcing the women out of their jobs and schools. Every day, Parvana accompanies her father to the market, where he sets up a booth and reads and writes letters and other documents for the mostly-illiterate population of Kabul.

Parvana's mother and sister have to stay inside their tiny apartment in a partially bombed-out building because it's illegal for a woman to be seen outside without a male escort. And, even with a male escort, they'd have to wear burqas.

When Parvana's father is arrested for no reason, Parvana cuts her hair and dresses like a boy so she can continue her father's business.

What I liked
A great story, and exceptionally well written. Just as I've come to expect from Deborah Ellis.

The characters are well drawn. The description of Kabul under the Taliban is very good.

The quality of this novel is awesome. It was pretty much like being right in Kabul and getting to know little Parvana and her family.

What I didn't Like
Almost nothing. The story-telling (to me) reads a little bit like a newspaper (lots of detail, not much feeling) but that suits the story, and the characters. It actually works pretty well.

Conclusion/Recommendation
As with every Deborah Ellis book I've read so far, I recommend this one to EVERYBODY. A solid 5/5 turbaned Talibs. (Thanks, Joey!)