Don't jump out of the frying pan yet
Instead of fleeing something bad and finding something worse, we need to learn to live where we are and understand why we're here.
I’ve long wondered why we take our external circumstances and project them onto an inanimate object. We’ve all seen this in trivial examples—a rabbit’s foot as a form of a “lucky charm”—but more recently, it’s been in vogue to point to 2020 as the source/cause for all that has gone wrong.
In the example of the rabbit’s foot, we credit our success to the object. In 2020, we blame our struggles/difficulties on a particular period in time. Only now, we’ve woken up in a new year and found that the same problems (in addition to newer ones!) still plague us. So, is it too early to start blaming 2021?
A psychological explanation of lucky charms says that they give people the illusion of control. The rabbit’s foot has no magical ability but rubbing it in your hands as the cards are shuffled makes you feel as though you have some power over the hand you’re about to be dealt. Unfortunately, as 2020 ceased at midnight on New Year’s Eve, it took with it our illusion of control. We’re going to want to rush to get that back. At least, I am. But what if instead of jumping into something that seems better, we sat still and understood that things actually are out of our control? And that that’s actually okay.
Turning the calendar page from 2020 to 2021 has already felt like a frying pan and fire situation. I thought I didn’t have control in 2020 and now I know I don’t—over current events, over New Year’s resolutions, over the physical health of family members, over the mental health of myself, all of it. It’s jumbled and messy and not looking like it will clear up anytime soon.
This is where books come in. J.R.R. Tolkien presents this idea better than I ever could in two separate but related quotes:
I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which 'Escape' is now so often used. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?
Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!
Here, Tolkien is arguing against those who have faulted his books for being a form of escapism. He actually views that criticism as the strength of literature, his included. If a man who fought in a World War understood the value of having a good book to escape into, shouldn’t we?
The point here is that books can be like a salve on the feet of those standing in a frying pan. Instead of leaping toward a different object that promises the illusion of control, we can stay where we are and learn to get comfortable with—or at least tolerable of—a lack of control.
I have a feeling this is going to be a good year for reading. Below, I’ve compiled reviews of books I’ve read recently that may help get you started. But I’d also like to know what books are on your list. Reply to this email if you’ve got some recs and let’s turn the page on this new year together (brilliant pun! nailed it! thank you! have a nice day!)
Thanks for reading this far.
-jd
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Book Reviews
I’m a consistent reader of books and a sporadic reviewer of them. Here’s some of what I read last year. Hopefully, there’s at least one genre in here that interests you. See all reviews here.
A science (fiction) book that asks alarmingly real questions about what communicating with extraterrestrial life might mean for our planet. If you want to get lost in an epic trilogy, this is a great one.
In this book, you learn about the life of Ronald Reagan, sure. But more importantly, you come into contact with the man he was, with the values that mattered to him, and with the principles upon which he built his life and career. Great for anyone looking to escape modern politics into a brighter era of history.
A helpful, easy to read primer on a complex theological topic. I read this book for seminary, but it’s so well-written that I think anyone regardless of where they are in their faith can pick this up and learn something new.
The Slow Regard of Silent Things
This is the strangest book I’ve ever enjoyed and one that I couldn’t put down. if you haven’t read The Name of the Wind, start there. But this book is so bizarre and so good.
The most well-paced novel I've ever read. Beautiful, tragic, funny, and full of images I'll never forget. I’m hesitant to say this but probably my favorite book from the past year.
The challenger to Lonesome Dove for the best read of the year. This book put me in Leo McGarry’s shoes and took me for a sprint around the Oval Office that I was in no way prepared for.
Hesitant to add this one because it’s now associated with the heartache that is knowing I’ll have to wait a full year for the movie, but this book is so good. A great example of a story you can simply fall into.
Wesley Hill bears his own soul in this book, and in doing so, he encourages readers to join him in the murky and uncertain struggling, thinking, writing, arguing, doubting, praying, and discerning that we all must go through in one way or another.
I know I’m late to the party, but there is a lot of fun in going into a novel knowing there is something edgy coming your way. And it gets even more fun when you realize that yes, Christians have every right to find this novel offensive...if they forget that it's a novel.
Simply put: it’s beautifully written. This book reads like an un-put-down-able confessional. And I really couldn’t put it down.
If dog is a man’s best friend, then this tea is a book best’s friends. Do NOT drink this if you have a serious or ambitious reading goal. It will likely prevent you from reading more than one chapter (sometimes more than one paragraph) a night. But if you like the feeling of falling asleep with a book in your hands, this is the drink for you. It’s like getting punched in the face by a cloud—it knocks you out but feels smooth and soft. Pairs particularly well with small paperback books or any book that you can hold in your sleep and that doesn’t wake you up as it rests on your chest.
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Ah, yes. My favorite part of the newsletter—the section where the only people reading this are the hardened veterans who are willing and able to scroll all the way to the bottom. I sincerely enjoyed reading the responses from those who sent in your best/worst Christmas gifts. The best of the worst included fingernail clippers and socks. And the best of the best included multiple people with bikes and also socks…riddle me that. My question of the month is simple: what’s the best book you read in 2020? Can be new, old, fiction, nonfiction, whatever. If there’s a single group of people I trust in the world it’s the 9 of you who read this far. Let me know what you read so I can add it to my list. Happy Friday.
Try reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars ( or listening to the audible version, it was really good!) by Christopher Paolini.
If you like listening to audible books, try Lawrence block's John Keller series ("Hit Man", "Hit List" etc.) They kinda readout like the old detective series, but updated to the 2000's era.