july books

Lately, I have been very bad at completing good books, so while I was on my last trip I resolved to finish two books I had started. This did not require too much effort since both books are very short, but I still had to convince myself to stick to it.

The Great Gatsby

I have been meaning to read this for several years. It is considered one of the great American classics from the last century, and I have not put the time I should reading real classics in recent years.

It was particularly difficult to stay interested in this book in the first three chapters because the main character is surrounded by three different groups of people in those chapters and I was having a hard time seeing how characters from one chapter would be relevant to those from another.

I don't want to give too much away for the few who have not yet read Gatsby, but the story is an illustration of strong and, I believe, deeply misguided love. The main character spends time with his rich cousin, then with his rich neighbor. Later he discovers the connection that binds the two. I greatly appreciated the melancholy conclusion of the book because it appeared to be headed the direction of the sentimental romance for a while. Gatsby is meant to illustrate the emptiness of wealthy life in the 1920s, and it is successful.

A Grief Observed

I am a little embarrassed to admit that I had to make a pledge to myself to finish this book. It only takes about an hour-and-a-half to read in one uninterrupted sitting. I have also read it before, so I shouldn't have to stop and think about certain passages as much.

I actually started this book in part to refresh my mind about some things Lewis said for a different blog post that I have been planning. That post will come shortly.

C.S. Lewis wrote this one as a journal of his thoughts and feelings in the months after his wife died. It was initially released under a pseudonym, but so many of his friends recommended that he read the book that he finally confessed to being the author.

I appreciate Lewis' earlier book The Problem of Pain because he dealt with this very difficult issue very academically. The problem with that prior work, though, is that it feels like it is being written by someone who is not currently experiencing pain. He just does not feel empathetic enough for a lot of people to accept what he has to say. A Grief Observed does not suffer this problem.

In this work, Lewis seems the most frustrated about the things people say to help him get through the death of his loved one. "She isn't experiencing pain any more." What makes you believe that? "You should not fear because God is good." Why isn't a good God more scary than an evil one?

I know that I will be reading this book again some time in the future, because I can imagine it would be very cathartic when going through a hard time. That is the real reason I have the book in the first place.