Sofa Spotlight - Perelandra Voyage to Venus, C. S. Lewis

It’s not taken me long to crack on through this trilogy and this is book two. Thankfully the series is such that there are few spoilers along the way. It’s less about drama driven by action but drama driven through moral dilemma.

As the second book in the series there seems to have been a move from being ambiguous about which religion the story is tied to, and instead it’s fairly explicit about following the Christian narrative. That being said to get full appreciation of the novel a knowledge of the early chapters of the Biblical book of Genesis certainly helps.

In contrast to The Silent Planet which explores what has happened to our world from the perspective of those out in the universe, Perelandra is about the start of a new world. Just as in our own world Perelandra is initially occupied by a man and woman paralleling Adam and Eve. And just as in our world there was a temptation to disobey God, that same temptation is offered to the inhabitants of Perelandra.

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Ransom who reappears in this story and is a pivotal character. He goes through a lot and most of the book I spent worrying that he would lose his integrity by trying to save the innocence of the King and Queen. What upset me though is that it is never resolved whether they could stop his heel bleeding. So if for nothing else I will have to read book three!

Sofa Spotlight - Hamlet Globe to Globe, Dominic Dromgoole

Last year I spent some time reading Hamlet again, possibly the first time I’d read it since studying it for A-level. It was part of a campaign I had to read all of Shakespeare’s works. That didn’t work out so well and I quickly found that spending time studying Hamlet had greatly enhanced my enjoyment of it – an element that was missing in my reading of the other plays. So, I’ve given up until a later date.

The result of the above musing was that I thought that Hamlet Globe to Globe would be a good read. The idea is that Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre tried to take Hamlet to every country in the world and on the whole succeeded. I enjoyed the connections that were made between elements of Hamlet and the cultures that were encountered on the journey.

I think what I appreciated the most was the way that it allowed me to explore Hamlet again. There’s a difference between studying a play for an exam and being able to think about it for pleasure. I would say that there are benefits to both, but this book reopened the play to me and took me around the world as part of the deal!

This is a book I would recommend. The author comes across as very down to earth and human, and not afraid to talk about the less than glamourous side of the tour. It’s fun and informative – what more could you want from a book?

Sofa Spotlight - Out of the Silent Planet, C. S. Lewis

 

C. S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy was always one of those things that I meant to read. Right after I had reread The Chronicles of Narnia. I must confess that I was a bit intimidated by it and didn’t want to read it in case I didn’t like it as much as Narnia.

Well, I needn’t have worried.

I’ve finished the first book and as I started it, I wasn’t sure what I was getting, and at the back of my mind was the idea that Aslan would be strolling onto the scene. And in some ways Aslan isn’t far away in this book. Don’t get me wrong – this is a very different kind of story, but there are important scenes. I couldn’t help thinking about what Aslan says in one of the books about how he is not just in our world as well as in Narnia, but he has a different name there.

But before I explain about that. The story is about a guy called Ransom who, at the start of the book, is on a walking tour for the summer. He bumps into two unfriendly types, Weston and Devine, who subsequently kidnap Ransom and set off for the planet of Malacandra. As much as I felt sorry for Ransom, it just goes to show that you shouldn’t tell a relative stranger that you are set to be alone for some time and that no one would miss you for a few weeks.

It’s on Malacandra that Ransom has some similar Narnia experiences. There are different types of creatures and there is an Aslan character, by a different name, just out of sight. But the concept this time centres on a world where sin has not corrupted, and what that would be like. It provides a different take on the Biblical story of what has happened on Earth, the Silent Planet, and gives it a wider context, albeit a fictional one.

I’m certainly interested in reading more in this series. There’s a lot to unpack in this first one. I felt that it was a mix of excellent writing at the beginning as I explored an intriguing world through Ransom’s eyes. But for me the pace really picked up towards the end. It’s not so much that there was more action, just much to ponder and think about.

Sofa Spotlight - Burmese Days, George Orwell

 

Having read the obvious George Orwell books I thought it was time to move on from Animal Farm and 1984 to other books that I didn’t know. Burmese Days was my choice and I have to say that I enjoyed it more than the other two.

The main character, Flory, is part of the white community in Burma sometime after the First World War (I wasn’t paying much attention to when it was set). His struggle is that he doesn’t agree with the racism that radiates off his fellow club members and prefers the company of the local Burmese doctor. 

Flory’s struggle is one of putting his values above his need for a quiet life that doesn’t involve rows with the other members of his club. It is forced to come to a head by the schemes of one of the Burmese officials who wants to be a member of the all white club. What stands in his way is Flory’s friend the doctor who would be a more natural choice for the first non-white member.

From what I’ve read Burmese Days was inspired by George Orwell’s time as a policeman in what was then Burma. I found it hard to read because of the prejudices of many of the characters who seemed to lack substance when compared to Flory, who is capable of thinking for himself even if he has a hard time standing up for himself and his values.

I’d say it’s definitely still a relevant book. There are many contradictions in the characters which reflect so accurately the contradictions people have in themselves in real life. The characters are flawed but real and the book does expose the ridiculousness of racism. 

Sofa Spotlight - Becoming, Michelle Obama

I’m behind on reading this for a couple of reasons. The first is that I’m not a big reader of autobiographies so it wasn’t a book I would naturally reach for, and secondly I thought it might be a bit too heavy on American politics, not something I know a lot about, so my thinking was that it probably wasn’t for me.

But I kept hearing good things about it and I thought it might be worth a try. After I’d got over my initial shock of reading an autobiography I found that I was really enjoying it. It was a very engaging read and provided a window on a world that I didn’t know about. What came across to me was how much both Michelle Obama and Barack Obama cared about what they were doing, and how genuine they seemed to be. Whilst I was reading Becoming I was also reading other books and coincidently the authors of those books mentioned meeting the Obamas. What I thought was great was that the impression that those authors had of the Obamas was the same impression that I was getting as I read Becoming.

The focus is really on her family and what they went through together. It is very readable and one that I would recommend. Her life is inspiring but also human and relatable. Oh and there was an easy balance on the American politics thing, I wasn’t overwhelmed and I could understand what was going on – always a good thing!

Sofa Spotlight - Passenger to Frankfurt, Agatha Christie

If I was not prepared for Towards Zero, I was definitely not prepared for Passenger to Frankfurt. Again I went in blind, no reading of blurbs or anything like that. Just wanting the story to speak for itself, and I was surprised at what this was about.

It isn’t a murder mystery so much as an attempt at a spy thriller. It’s set in a world where someone posing as Hitler’s son is trying to restart the campaign that Hitler began, and is trying to influence the world’s youth to rise up and take power. The fate of the world seems to rest on them being able to find and use a drug or gas, similar to tear gas, that makes those that inhale it permanently benevolent.

I think that I just found this book a little too bizarre and I couldn’t work out what was going on towards the end. Some things I did guess right, but it was a bit too vague for me to really know what the outcome was. Not my favourite read but it was alright and intriguing because of how different it was to other Christie novels.

Sofa Spotlight - Towards Zero, Agatha Christie

This was not what I was expecting. I went into reading it blind, all I knew was that it was by Agatha Christie and would probably involve a murder or two, but I wasn’t sure who would be playing detective – Poirot or Marple. As it turned out it was neither, although Poirot did get a mention.

I wasn’t disappointed though. The idea was introduced by one of the characters early on as the hour of a murder being zero hour, and for a murder novel to be really good it should start long before that, with all the players being drawn together by different events that ultimately lead to murder. It was that same character, Mr Treves, who I thought would be murdered, and indeed he was murdered, and this made me very sad because he was so likeable.

What made this so good was the way everything was tied together. I almost felt at the beginning that it was too long of a build up to the action, but as it happened it worked well. I was annoyed that I didn’t work out who the murderer was but maybe that made it more fun.

Sofa Spotlight - The Chemist, Stephanie Meyer

I wanted to read this because I wanted to try a book by Stephanie Myer that wasn’t Twilight. And this sounded like a good option, my other choice was The Host, which maybe I will get to later this year.

The Chemist is about a scientist who is on the run from her formal employers, not because she did something wrong, but because she knew too much. Her life is all about staying alive and using various convoluted ways of doing that and staying anonymous. I could definitely relate to her as someone who thinks through all the possible scenarios, but not because it’s a life and death thing to me, it’s a be the most efficient I can be thing.

As the story starts she is contacted by the people she used to work for and that throws her for a loop, and the rest of the story is about watching her make choices that she never thought she would make. All that thinking every detail through – it’s gone. And that kind of made me lose a bit of respect for her, but then I’m not in her shoes experiencing what she was.

For me this was very entertaining, there were a few mushy scenes worthy of Twilight, but on the whole it had me semi-guessing what was coming next and the ending was rather pleasing.

Sofa Spotlight - Cumulative Advantage, Mark W Schaefer

The basic premise of this book is that everyone has something that they can build on, some kind of advantage, and if you get the timing right, you can keep building on that advantage to reach your goal.

The principle is to do with what is called the Matthew Effect, taken from Matthew 25:29 which reads: “For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” And instantly I’m kind of ticked off because it might be a nice little soundbite that in some way reflects how the world works – the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. But when you look at the context of what Jesus is saying you see that it isn’t a commentary on how society’s work. Where this little soundbite sits is in a wider narrative, where Jesus is talking about the end of time and what it will be like to stand before God as the judge. It’s not about making money or achieving goals. It’s about making sure that we’ve made the most of the truth that we know about God, and that we won’t have any reason to be ashamed when we stand before Him.

Anyway after I’d got over my confusion of how that verse from Matthew was being used I thought that maybe there was something to this book. Maybe in a spiritual sense we should be looking at what we have and using it to have cumulative advantage in spiritual growth. And growing to be more like Christ is a goal, right?

For goal achievement I think this a great book. It is very clear and each section has a handy diagram, which as a visual learner I enjoyed very much. And what I liked about the conclusion of the book was the way Schaefer wasn’t worried that his goals might not be the same as everyone else, but he is doing what has value for him. That for me was a good takeaway and I appreciated his honesty. And in fact, the final part of the book felt very honest. What came across was that he felt no pressure to try and reach the top and have it all, but freedom to choose to do ordinary things well and add value to other people. I suppose for me that is more of a spiritual thing than a material thing.