Erik's Book Club: October Selections

I read five more books in October, all of them very good. I used to provide my brief reviews in the order I read each book, but now I am featuring the most important book that I read first.

The essential book of the month on my list is White Evangelical Racism by Anthea Butler, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.  A few people who follow me on Facebook have sent me private messages chastising me for my constant criticism of American Evangelicals and their immoral alliance with Trump.  Well, they should read this book that not only concerns itself with the moral problems of current evangelicals, but also traces the racism that has been the driving force of white Evangelicalism for over 200 years.  Racism is not a bug, but a feature of most white evangelical movements.  Yes, some white evangelicals were at the vanguard of the abolitionist movement, but Professor Butler traces this ugly history of racism that has dominated white evangelical movements, particularly in the South, from the 19th Century until the present day.  I already knew much of this history, but Butler compiles it in one place, and it is a damning indictment of the majority of the white evangelical movement written by a Black Evangelical disillusioned by her experience in the faith.  If you want to understand why 81% of white evangelicals support Trump, this book will open your eyes. Essential reading and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for all American Christians or anyone who is trying to understand how a large segment of American Evangelical Christianity has tumbled off the rails.

Second book is a novel by Avni Doshi: Burnt Sugar.  It is a story of a dysfunctional relationship between an Indian woman growing up in the 1980s and her highly messed-up mother and it follows their path to the present day. This novel was a finalist for the 2020 Booker Prize and I understand why.  It is an extraordinary piece of writing and a story powerfully told. The Booker Prize judges cited it for being "emotionally wrenching" and they are all too correct. The poor young woman narrating the story suffers so much horror and abuse, not just at the hands of her mother, but also from several months at boarding school with vicious Catholic nuns, and neglect from an uncaring father who zips off to America to live with his second wife. It is a phenomenal novel and I do recommend it, but you must be strong to endure all the pain and misery.  If you've had a bad relationship with your own mother or need a read that provides you joy in your life, this might not be the book for you.

Third book is a small compilation of short stories by Hiruki Murukami entitled: Desire.  If he sounds familiar, it is because I have reviewed two of his short story collections in previous months. An interesting fact about book stores in Indonesia is that they wrap all their books tightly in cellophane, so that you can't open up your books to inspect them before you buy them.  In this case, I purchased this collection of stories with the theme of desire, because it was very cheap and I didn't realize it until I tore off the cellophane at home, that the miserable Vintage Book publishing company had taken stories from a few previously published Murukami collections, including one that I already had purchased, and put together this somewhat devious collection as a sneaky way to make money.  Luckily only one of the stories was one from a collection I had read before, so I did have some new material to read. If you haven't read Murukami before, it's a nice introduction, but you should buy one of his authentic collections instead.  Bottom line, Murukami is a master of short fiction and I heartily encourage you to explore his works in whatever volume you find them.

Book #4 is How to Fight by Thich Nhat Hanh a famous Buddhist Zenmaster who has developed a worldwide following of those interested in mindfulness.  It's an amazing little volume that attempts to show the reader how to use Buddhist practices like compassionate listening and loving speech to deal with those who have made us angry and harmed us.  It's beautiful and wonderful and I think it is great to use this approach on an individual basis with the people who are directly present in our lives, but I wonder if it is all that relevant today as a means of dealing with mass movements of evil as Hanh suggests.  I have seen people attempt to use this Buddhist approach on MAGA types who aren't responsive at all.  MAGA types receive so many hundred angry and propogandizing messages a day designed to inflame them, I don't see how our small efforts at compassionate listening and loving speech can have any impact against the avalanche of hateful speech that power these MAGA people's lives. Can fascism and hate on a mass scale be overcome by loving kindness? I wish it could be, but I am not sure.  At least we can practice Hanh's Buddhist principles in our own lives and influence our little corners of the globe, but I think the power of billions of hateful messages on social media just might be too strong for little bits of loving speech to overcome. Still, it's a very worthwhile book.

Finally, I added an Indonesian novella to my reading: It's Not an All Night Fair by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, perhaps Indonesia's most famous novelist who lived from 1925 to 2006.  Toer was one of those who fought for independence from the Dutch and against the Japanese too.  His life story is astonishing as he spent 10 years in prison and wrote his four most important novels in prison by dictating them orally to fellow prisoners (his captors wouldn't allow him pen or paper) who would devise means to write them down and smuggle the texts out to be compiled into books.  The novella I read, from 1949, is about a young man who returns to his ancestral village to come to terms with his dying father and the cruel realities of life in Indonesia after Independence.  It is an extraordinary read that also is a philosophical meditation on families, Indonesia, and the meaning of life. It's a remarkable work by an author highly under-appreciated in the West. 

Even if none of these volumes is for you, try to read at least one book this coming month. The act of reading can provide you enlightenment and transform your life.  Happy Reading!