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50 Book Challenge 2009
01. The Last Lecture (Randy Pausch/Jeffrey Zaslow, 2008, 224pp)
I'm not a fan of self-help books in general, but this one had a lot of heart. Based on the 'last lecture' of computer science lecturer Randy Pausch, who was diagnosed with cancer, the book is basically an encouragement to follow and achieve childhood dreams. Pausch has a wonderfully charismatic voice and many delightful anecdotes to share, but a book like this surely gives rise to the feeling that the author considers himself a perfect man who has perfect ideologies and morals, which made me a little uncomfortable - but striving for perfection is the name of this game. A quick and easy read with some excellent words of wisdom though, lots of laughs and quite a few tears. RIP Randy Pausch.
02. Atonement (Ian McEwan, 2001, 377pp)
Having seen the film last year, I was very drawn to the absurd yet unique story and decided to pick the book up. Good choice. While the film did very well to communicate the story's many intricate windings, McEwan's language and narrative structure brings it to a sweepingly epic dimension. The tale of little Briony Tallis' mistake and its effects on others is simple, yet so devastatingly complicated as all the twists and turns masterfully fall away under the command of the written word. The ideas and thoughts of the characters are explored so much more profoundly in writing, and McEwan does well in telling the story from multiple perspectives. They say books are always better than films, and they don't lie. It was an incredible film - it is an absolutely phenomenal novel.
03. People in Glass Houses: An Insider's Story of a Life In and Out of Hillsong (Tanya Levin, 2007, 270pp)
Hillsong, Australia's biggest Assemblies of God Pentecostal church, has long been under public scrutiny for its cult-like status and blatant financial motives. People in Glass Houses is a personal account of one woman's experiences at Hillsong, from its humble beginnings in the early 1980s to its multi million dollar enterprise today. The church's techniques and tactics are carefully explained and explored, and what is revealed is often shocking. Tanya Levin is not a fantastic writer, but this is a very engaging book nonetheless - it balances personal anecdotes with pastoral stories and figures that unravel a complete picture of Chri$tianity and the corruption that masquerades itself as a religious institution.
04. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Milan Kundera, 1984, 310pp)
This book offers a postmodern perspective on life in general, based on Kundera's interpretation of Nietzsche's idea of eternal return (in which everything that happens happens ad infinitum). From an omnipotent perspective, it follows the lives of couple Tereza and Tomas through their relationship and the various infidelities that Tereza has to endure by means of her womanising husband. The story runs parallel to a number of other characters and their respective weaknesses, all the while circling around the general idea of conflicting dualities (mainly lightness and weight) and what they mean in regards to the phenomenon of what it means to be alive. This was by no means an easy read and I will probably have to read it again, but the writing style (translated from Czech) flows with flawless grace, and Kundera presents many ideas which I've never even given a thought to before.
05. Devout Sceptics: Conversations on Faith and Doubt (Bel Mooney, 2003, 192pp)
This book contains 20 transcripts of conversations with well known intellectuals about religion originally aired on BBC's Radio 4 program in Britain. The interviewees, including novelists Amy Tan and Philip Pullman, all come from vastly different religious backgrounds and most identify as agnostic or atheist, but the common theme that runs throughout the book is one of wonder, of a certainty of something bigger than just science, but not exactly theistic. As a 'devout sceptic' myself, I was able to identify strongly with a lot of the opinions raised in this book, as well as being able to learn new perspectives from people of different backgrounds. The Q&A format made it a really simple read, but it really does ask the deeper questions that some people don't usually dare reach for.