50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God by Guy P. Harrison

Read: 21 May, 2009

Harrison goes through all the usual arguments against belief in gods, repackaging them in a new format. Similar to 'Question and Answer,' he uses a 'Reason for Belief and Response' format. Each chapter begins with a single sentence reason, a few quotes that either explain the reason or debunk it, followed by a 2-5 page summary of the arguments against that reason.

Unfortunately, 50 is a very attractive round number and makes for a standard book length. I have seen all these reasons whittled down to only three essential arguments. The result is that many of the reasons are essentially the same with different wording. While I think that it was a good idea not to get into the specifics of one religion or another, this left Harrison with fairly little to say. His entire argument could be summarized as "there are millions of gods to choose from, so how do you know which one is real?" Imagine this, repeated 50 times with only a little variation.

My greatest disappointment is that 50 Reasons lacks focus. I know that I often complain that books, those on Atheism in particular, try to fill too many roles at once. Maybe it's because there are so few books on Atheism on the market, or maybe it's just authorial ego - either way, many authors seem to set out with great ideas, great arguments, and great potential only to fumble because they are trying to catch two rabbits at the same time.

For example, Harrison can't seem to decide who is target audience is. He will sometimes address believers directly, asking them to consider this or that point. At these times, his writing style is soothing and inviting. At other times, he addresses non-believers, as thought this were a "response to every situation" style manual. These passages are interesting, but could easily be interpreted by believers as offensive or condescending. Had Harrison settled on either of these audiences, I am confident that the book would have been greatly improved.

Another symptom of this lack of focus is a lack of efficiency in Harrison's writing. A chapter called "people have gone to heaven and returned" begins with a two-page description of Harrison's travels in which he finds two rotting bodies and stumbles onto a funeral. All this before the afterlife is even mentioned. This happens throughout the book to varying degrees. These passages are very interesting and I would love to read Harrison's travel narrative, should he ever write one, but they simply do not contribute to his arguments.

And finally, I often found myself reading from a believer's perspective and thinking "well, okay, but..." To be fair, Harrison covered far more objections than he missed, but it was enough for me to decide against recommending this book to believers.

I know that this review has been harsh, but only because 50 Reasons was a very good book with a lot of potential. Harrison's writing style is very accessible and he has a non-aggressive way of phrasing his arguments. I sincerely hope that 50 Reasons receives a second edition that addresses my concerns, or at least that Harrison learns from his mistakes and publishes a better book in future.

In the meantime, 50 Reasons is certainly an interesting and worthwhile read. If you've spent much time reading Atheist books or speaking with Atheists, most of this book's arguments will be familiar. But I found Harrison's focus on the 'Many Gods Problem' offers a fairly fresh perspective.

Discworld #12: Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

Read: 26 April, 2009

A beautiful young servant girl is destined to marry a handsome prince, thanks to her fairy godmother. The ball has been arranged, the gown made, and everything prepared so that Ella can meet her prince charming and live happily ever after.

But there's a catch. Three witches have come to put a stop to this fairy tale and make sure that Ella never marries the prince. Ella couldn't be happier!

Terry Pratchett's twelfth Discworld novel returns to Bad Ass and to the adventures of Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat.

There isn't much to be said about this novel that can't be said for pretty much any of the other Discworld books. As usually, Pratchett his hilariously funny. I love Granny and Nanny and how they play off each other. The inversion of the classic fairy tale is quite clever as well.

But this isn't just about fairy tales. A large portion of the novel could better be called a mock-travel narrative, which was very interesting.

Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham

Read: 6 May, 2009

There was a tall pile of them on the sale table, just $4.99 each. I'd never heard of the title, or the author of that matter, but I had my allowance in hand. This was why I had come - to experiment, to sample the books no one else had wanted. $4.99 is nothing, really, especially for a hardcover. So I grabbed a pile of books, anything that looks interesting. I blew my entire allowance. It doesn't really matter. If just one or two of these books turn out to be gems, they will have enough value for the entire pile.

I'm not sure why I picked this one. I don't think I even bothered to read the jacket. The cover is interesting and it says "by the author of The Hours." Hadn't I heard that title before? I was sure it was a movie I had seen, maybe even liked.

I've been chewing my way through the pile of books I've bought in that way, but months went by before I got to this one. In the meantime, the bookstore marked it down to $2, and then only $1. The pile, sans my copy, never seemed to get any smaller. For whatever reason, this is a novel that has failed to catch the public's eye.

But I like the cover. I like the dandelion parachute ball, green and glowing. I would see it on my shelf and try to imagine what the story could be about. With a name like Specimen Days, it could be just about anything. Horror, maybe? I think I confused The Hours with The Others.

I had just finished Witches Abroad. Discworld novels are safe; I know what to expect when I crack the spine onto the first page. I was ready for something different, unexpected, adventurous.

So I picked the glowing green dandelion parachute ball with the black background. Why not?

Specimen Days is not a novel, no matter what the cover says. Specimen Days is a meditation, a thought experiment. It glides through experiences like a breeze, offering no explanations and no resolutions. To call itself a novel, it experiences the world through three characters: the child, the woman, and the man. Each of these receives a chapter, an age, and a genre. The book is at once historical fiction, detective story, and science fiction. Somehow, the whole is held together by an experience of Walt Whitman. I won't try to explain - I can't. You'll just have to read it for yourself.

I'm not surprised that Specimen Days can now be purchased for only $1 on the book's sale table. It isn't bad, it's just so experimental, different, and genre-defying. It's an experience of beauty and thought that can be both marvellous and uncomfortable. It isn't a casual read.

That being said, it was a wonderful experience and I feel enriched for having been seduced by that glowing green parachute ball. Read it, give it a chance, and let yourself experience the touch of the literary numinous.

Bridei Chronicles #1: The Dark Mirror by Juliet Marillier

Read: 5 April, 2009

As a small child, Bridei was given to the powerful Priteni druid Broichan for his education. It soon becomes clear that Broichan has a destiny in mind for his young ward, a destiny that Bridei has no choice but to accept. But the moon goddess seems to have plans of her own as, one Midwinter's Eve, she sends him a very peculiar baby girl whom Broichan immediately perceives as a threat.

I'm finding it extremely difficult to write this review. The Dark Mirror is by no means a bad book, nor is it a good one. I can think of nothing that Marillier did wrong, yet I can think of nothing that she did very well. This is the epitome of average (though, to be fair, my standards can be very harsh). I can only think to say that the novel seemed very slow-paced, but I can think of no scene that could have been cut. The fat is far too well spread.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel, but I can think of very little that was memorable. In that sense, I will recommend it as filler, something to read on a rainy afternoon. This is a book that can be put down without much of a struggle when the phone rings.

Icarus at the Edge of Time by Brian Greene

Read: 8 April, 2009

Icarus is the classic story of the boy who flew too high for his own good. The twist here is that the titular hero lives in the future, grew up on a space ship, and flies into a black hole rather than the sun. Icarus is also a rather large board book, illustrated with beautiful images taken by the Hubble space telescope.

POSITIVE: Icarus offers an interesting blend of classical mythology and modern science. It's a great introduction to black holes and the relativity of time. Finally, the stunning images can only feed a young mind's interest in science.

NEGATIVE: I don't know what Icarus was trying to be. Board books are normally associated with younger children, but the diction seems too advanced. I'm all for books that challenge kids, but I think that this would only serve to frustrate. The book is also far too large to be comfortably read to a young audience that wants to see the pictures too. If, on the other hand, Icarus was intended for a slightly older set, I think that kids would find the story too simplistic.

Another major flaw was the choice in representation of the black hole. This is shown as a black dot (literally a 'black hole' in the middle of the page) that progressively takes over the entire page and then shrinks back down. I can understand an appreciate that this is supposed to allow the reader to "approach" the black hole as Icarus does, but it's just plain black and it obscures the beautiful background images (almost completely for several of the middle pages). It's both distracting and frustrating.

The greatest flaw this book has is its apparent lack of direction. Perhaps the author wanted it to be too many things at once. Who can blame him? The niche for storybooks that also teach science is severely under-filled - but one book alone cannot hope to fill all of it. The result is literary schizophrenia.

This, coupled with the unfortunate design choice, makes this book somewhat of a disappointment. It's still worth getting, though, if only because of how sparse the genre is.

Curse of a Winter Moon by Mary Casanova

Read: 20 March, 2009

Twelve-year-old Marius has been burdened with the care of his little brother, Jean-Pierre, ever since their mother died in childbirth. But Jean-Pierre was born on Christmas Eve and the villagers believe that he carries the mark of the loup garou - the werewolf. With the longest night of the year approaching and the villagers thirsting for heretic blood, will Marius be able to protect his little brother from the clutches of the Catholic Church?

POSITIVE: The story is short and reasonably entertaining. It's obviously written for children in the 10-14 age range and makes for a great introduction to the Inquisition and schism between the Catholic and Protestant Churches. I could definitely see quite a few teachable moments scattered throughout the novel.

NEGATIVE: However, there just didn't seem to be that much of a point to the story. I never felt swept into the story, or even that I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. There just wasn't much enthusiasm in the narrative. Admittedly, it could just be a subjective conflict with the narrative style, but I usually get swept into stories - even poorly-written ones. The ending fellt a little arbitrary as well.

Overall, I really can't say that anything was bad about the story, it just didn't take my interest. It's a shame because the subject matter is definitely up my alley. As I said above, it's worth reading if only for the teachable moments. It's short enough that it doesn't really need more of an argument than that for its usefulness.

The Greener Shore by Morgan Llywelyn

Read: 17 March, 2009

In this sequel to Druids, Ainvar escapes from a Roman-ruled Gaul to the shores of Hibernia. Once there, he must learn the ways of Eriu, a strange woman who speaks to him from the Otherworld. As he forges a place for himself and his large family among the Gaels, he manages to tread on the toes of some locals. Unfortunately, his druidic powers have deserted him since the battle of Alesia, leaving him vulnerable. Meanwhile, Cormiac Ru must find the long-lost Maia, whom he believes himself destined to marry despite the fact that she was stolen and sold into Roman slavery as an infant.

POSITIVE: Llywelyn's writing style has not much changed in the years between Druids and Greener Shore. This new novel has most of the same strengths and flaws as its predecessors. While this can certainly be a negative (it would have been nice to see the author correct what had held Druids back from being a great novel), I found it a positive - if only because Greener Shore didn't suffer from the all-too-common sequel-itis. This was not a novel released hurriedly in the hopes that it would ride its predecessor's laurels.

As in Druids, the beginning was rather painful, but the story soon picked up. I managed to fly through two-hundred pages in just a few hours.

NEGATIVES: There didn't seem to be much direction to the novel. Druids had the creation of the Gaulish federation and the defeat of Caesar, but Greener Shore lacked any kind of similar goal. Rather, the plot ambled along until it reached an epiphany, but this was done in a rather lack-luster way. Had the epiphany been very good, or had the journey been dotted with thought-provoking insight, this would have been fine. Unfortunately, Greener Shore lacked both. Those many sayings peppering the novel that were clearly meant to be "deep" were rather quite obvious and common to most books that seek depth. Those little surprising, funny, and interesting sayings that sometimes found their way into Druids were lacking here.

I also found exposition of what had happened in the previous novel to be rather heavy-handed. I wish Llywelyn had either sought to make Greener Shore a stand-alone part of a saga, or a straight sequel of Druids. Instead, she gave it a completely different feel (which is a completely waffly term, I know - but it's the best I can come up with) while constantly bogging it down with "as you know, Martha" moments where characters narrate the events of the first novel to characters who had been present! I raised a similar complaint when I read Druids. Llywelyn spends far too much time on exposition and simply does not seem to trust her readers.

The Greener Shore is only a sequel of Druids in the sense that it involves many of the same characters and takes place after the events of the early book. Yes, that sounds like the definition of a sequel, but Greener Shore is an entirely different book with a completely different story to tell. Change the names and strike out the cumbersome "in the last episode" passages and it would function perfectly as an independent novel. Those wanting more Druids will be disappointed. Those wanting more Llywelyn will not.

P.S.: If anyone can tell me why Ainvar keeps refering to Ireland by its Roman name instead of the name the Gaels use, please explain it to me. I would have assumed that he would eager to accept just about anything other than the Roman designation. All I can think is that it was supposed to have some sort of symbolic significance when, at the end, he talks about remembering Eriu, but it just doesn't make sense to me.