Monday, September 23, 2019

World War II: The Definitive Visual History (DK Publishing)


People thought World War I was the war to end all wars; they were wrong.  World War II (1939-1945), starting just 20 years after, reached new heights of death, suffering, and destruction, as the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan, and their allies) sought domination in Europe and Asia against the Allies (USA, Britain, Russia, and their allies). Fighting would happen on land, air, and sea, across desert, forest, jungle, mountain- few places were safe. Eventually repulsed, the Axis killed millions of civilians in horrific concentration camps- largely Jews- as they sought to re-mold the world to their vision. This, in addition to the standard horrors of war (military deaths, civilian casualties, food shortages, displaced populations, etc.). An estimated 70-80 million people died overall. A horrible time, indeed, looked at holistically in DK's Definitive Visual History.

This book is in the same style as DK's WWI volume- two pages per topic (which could be a battle, personality, technology, event, or related item of interest), chronologically presented and full of maps, pictures, and other visual aids.  And as with the first book, this is well done and an excellent overview of the conflict.  Highly recommended.

Rating: A

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Lego Movie 2


The sequel to 2014's The Lego Movie, here we find everything is not awesome.  Five years have passed since the first movie, and the lego world has been destroyed.  Emmett and the whole crew are now surviving in 'apocalypseburg' any way they can.  And one day, a strange new visitor from another galaxy shows up, promising their greatest dreams if they would join her in her world.  Is it a trap, or the answer to their prayers?

The sequel has many of the first movie's features- zany humor, some of it geared towards adults, with a lot of silly things and a serious underlying message.  The overall point is to play with others who may have different tastes than you (here, it's brother and sister learning to play together, while the first film looked at dad including the kids and being willing to create new things).  And that's great.  I will say, though, this second film seemed less captivating, slow in places, and . . . overly bizarre, even for an intentionally zany movie.  My son said he liked it for that reason; it was a bit too much for me.

Rating: B

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Wildered Quest (Kate Elliott)


Will and Rowan are ready to quest after turning eighteen. And their task is obvious: find their missing father, high king of the realm, before the five kingdoms tear themselves apart fighting the encroaching Wilds.

This book was released to preview the world and characters in the forthcoming Magic the Gathering set, Throne of Eldraine. The story was okay, but the dialogue was poor and the character/plot development was terrible. The book should have been two or three times longer to adequately tell the story; as written, though, it seems more like a rushed advertisement than a true story. Not shocking, but disappointing nonetheless.

Rating: C-

Monday, September 16, 2019

The Bridge Over the Drina (Ivo Andric)


The Bridge over the Drina looks at life as it evolved over the centuries in the Bosnian town of Visegrad. The novels centers around the Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge, built in 1577 during the Ottoman rule. Here, we see Serbs, Turks, and Jews live largely in harmony until about 1914, when increasing nationalist sentiments became more popular and started ripping Europe to shreds in WWI, when the bridge would be partially destroyed.

This book won the Nobel prize for literature and has been called an excellent introduction to the study of Balkan and Ottoman history. It is quite good- it's sort of a collection of short stories through the centuries about common people, all under the shadow of the seemingly eternal bridge. This quiet town, the novel conveys, seemed to notice and be noticed by little outside its borders, until nationalist ideas and wars came. It survived Ottoman, then Austrian, rule for centuries with few changes to the lifestyle or disposition of the people. But things change, and not always for the better.


Rating: A


P.S. The real bridge can still be seen today.

Friday, September 13, 2019

The Prodigal God (Timothy Keller)


You probably know the Biblical parable of the prodigal son- or do you?  The story- where a wayward son demands his inheritance, wastes it, and in desperation returns to be (surprisingly) welcomed back by his loving father, while the older (obedient) son watches with disdain- often focuses on the disobedient child.*  But should it?  In The Prodigal God, Tim Keller points out that the story would be more suitably referred to as the tale of two lost sons- for the obedient child is just as rebellious, albeit differently.  He looks at the "parable's basic meaning," demonstrates "how the story helps us understand the Bible as a whole," and shows "how its teaching works itself out in the way we live in the world."

Summary
The two sons represent two types of people:
1) "The younger brother in the parable illustrates the way of self-discovery."  These people do what they want, and spurn authority.  They are selfish.
2) "The elder brother in the parable illustrates the way of moral conformity." These people do what tradition/authority want them to do- but not for a good reason.  They are self-righteous, and think that obedience is a way of gaining leverage.  In other words, "I'll get what I want if I'm good."


"The person in the way of moral conformity says: “I’m not going to do what I want, but what tradition and the community wants me to do.” The person choosing the way of self-discovery says: “I’m the only one who can decide what is right or wrong for me. I’m going to live as I want to live and find my true self and happiness that way.”"

Though acting very differently, "underneath the brothers’ sharply different patterns of behavior is the same motivation and aim. Both are using the father in different ways to get the things on which their hearts are really fixed. It was the wealth, not the love of the father, that they believed would make them happy and fulfilled."  Both "resented their father's authority . . . [and] they each wanted to get into a position in which they could tell the father what to do. Each one, in other words, rebelled—but one did so by being very bad and the other by being extremely good. Both were alienated from the father’s heart; both were lost sons."

Wow.  Think about this. "Neither son loved the father for himself. They both were using the father for their own self-centered ends rather than loving, enjoying, and serving him for his own sake. This means that you can rebel against God and be alienated from him either by breaking his rules or by keeping all of them diligently. It’s a shocking message: Careful obedience to God’s law may serve as a strategy for rebelling against God."

What's the point?  Whether you do define right and wrong for yourself (younger brother) or obey out of fear (older brother), it shows that "we habitually and instinctively look to other things besides God and his grace as our justification, hope, significance, and security. We believe the gospel at one level, but at deeper levels we do not."  In effect, we are our own god. "There are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord. One is by breaking all the moral laws and setting your own course, and one is by keeping all the moral laws and being very, very good. "

"Everybody knows that the Christian gospel calls us away from the licentiousness of younger brotherness, but few realize that it also condemns moralistic elder brotherness." And in fact, the focus of the tale is on the older brother. Why? "the younger brother knew he was alienated from the father, but the elder brother did not." "Elder brothers obey God to get things. They don’t obey God to get God himself—in order to resemble him, love him, know him, and delight him. So religious and moral people can be avoiding Jesus as Savior and Lord as much as the younger brothers who say they don’t believe in God and define right and wrong for themselves."  In fact, the older brother may be in greater danger, as he doesn't realize his need.

Whether your life more resembles the younger or older brother, this story is about all of us. "the Bible teaches that, as in Jesus’s parable, God was the “father” of that home and we chafed under his authority. We wanted to live without God’s interference, and so we turned away, and became alienated from him, and lost our home for the same reason the younger brother lost his. The result was exile. " We all sin, and "sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life."

Enter Jesus. "Jesus does not divide the world into the moral “good guys” and the immoral “bad guys.” He shows us that everyone is dedicated to a project of self-salvation, to using God and others in order to get power and control for themselves. We are just going about it in different ways. Even though both sons are wrong, however, the father cares for them and invites them both back into his love and feast."  Indeed, in the gospel view, "everyone is wrong, everyone is loved, and everyone is called to recognize this and change."  How can we change?

"The first thing we need is God’s initiating love. Notice how the father comes out to each son and expresses love to him, in order to bring him in."  Most people believe "religion operates on the principle of “I obey—therefore I am accepted by God.”" This is incorrect.  "The basic operating principle of the gospel is “I am accepted by God through the work of Jesus Christ—therefore I obey.”"  Christ died for us- to save us and bring us home, out of exile. And so "all change comes from deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ and living out of the changes that understanding creates in your heart."

"Faith in the gospel restructures our motivations, our self-understanding, our identity, and our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without heart-change will be superficial and fleeting." "But if we truly believe and trust in the one who sacrificially served us, it changes us into people who sacrificially serve God and our neighbors."  We must keep telling ourselves "how graciously loved and accepted" we are because of Him. We "need to be moved by the sight of what it cost to bring you home."  The result will change "the inner workings of the heart . . . from a dynamic of fear and anger to that of love, joy, and gratitude."

In conclusion, the point of the parable is that "both the worldly life of sensual pleasure and the religious life of ethical strictness fail to give the human heart what it is seeking." "Jesus’s great Parable of the Prodigal Son retells the story of the entire Bible and the story of the human race. Within the story, Jesus teaches that the two most common ways to live are both spiritual dead ends. He shows how the plotlines of our lives can only find a resolution, a happy ending, in him, in his person and work."

Review
Keller says this book "is meant to lay out the essentials of the Christian message, the gospel." And it does, most excellently.  It shows both the "freeness" and costliness of God's grace. Moving, humbling, convicting, profound, thought-provoking . . . I could go on.  But this book was amazing, and it's so short (140 pages, or 2.25 hours on audiobook), I highly recommend it to all- Christian and non- as a good explanation of the gospel and how we all run from it.  Keller's writing is simple yet powerful.  I listened to it, but may buy it in paperback to highlight its gems- and there are many.

Rating: A

*You can read the whole story in Luke 15:11-32, here

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Faust (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)


Faust is a classic play about a man who makes a deal with the devil for worldly power and pleasure. I listened to the pictured abridged dramatization, a translation of Goethe's version.

The story: pretty good, if confusing at times.  That may be due to listening to the entire 4-hour audiobook in one go, though- hard to maintain concentration. Part one is much more focused on Faust and (in my opinion) better; part two is all over the place historically (visiting characters of history and legend in different tiems) and harder to follow.

The poetry: excellent.  I'm impressed with the verse, doubly so as it was translated. There is what I'd call a 'flexible' rhyming scheme, where the syllabic distance between rhymes varies, but I liked that more than I expected.

The presentation: excellent (in the pictured audiobook version). 

As this is such a classic, you should give it a go.  I didn't realize the concept of Faust long predated Goethe (by 200 years), and is based on a historical figure.

Rating: B

Monday, September 9, 2019

The People vs. O.J. Simpson


The People vs. O.J. Simpson is a 2016 FX series currently available on Netflix.  It recreates the 'trial of the century'- the mid-90s affair we all watched, which saw OJ charged with killing Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman- and is based on the book The Run of His Life by Jeffery Toobin.

Well I remember this trial, which captivated the nation starting with the white bronco chase on a California highway.  This series was good, if hard to watch. I can't speak to accuracy, but they did an excellent job casting (see this article for a person-by-person comparison) and seemed fairly balanced, presenting the qualities and weaknesses of personalities on both sides of the story.

My overriding takeaway from this is the reality that there's not one righteous- everyone is messed up.  You see the personal flaws of all lawyers, cops, the judge, jury, and defendant.  A very sad case, it quickly lost sight of the victims- Nicole and Ronald- and became enmeshed in the broader racial discussions of mid-90s LA.

Rating: A

Sunday, September 8, 2019

MTG: Explorers of Ixalan


Today's review is of the 2017 release, Explorers of Ixalan.  For 2-4 players, it takes 30-60 minutes.

Overview
Explorers of Ixalan is a Magic: the Gathering variant.  The game includes four preconstructed decks, one for each tribe on Ixalan (vampire, dinosaur, pirate, merfolk). Everyone starts at 20 life, and the game is played according to normal Magic rules (get your opponent to zero life), but with a twist: on your turn, you can buy up to one tile, laid out before the game starts as displayed below, by spending the amount of mana indicated on it.  Purchased tiles are flipped and effect performed (it could be ongoing or one-time use)- and the ongoing ones can be taken from other players (when your creature(s) do them damage, you can take one tile).
game in progress; image from here
Review
This is a fun variant of Magic and worth a play or two; they basically mixed the Magic engine into a board game.  The tile angle helps make the game 'busier' in a good way- it increases the probability that you can do something every turn (you can spend your mana on land tiles if you can't play spells). The included decks are okay- not overly special, but they give you the flavor of the Ixalan block.  It does make the game more complicated, and may thus only appeal to Magic players.  I prefer 'normal' Magic, but this is a good exercise in how a slight rules change can alter strategy (and/or gameplay experience) a good deal.  I've seen this game go on clearance occasionally; pick it up when it does.

Rating: B+

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Sorry!


Today's review is of the 1929 release, Sorry!  For 2-4 players, it takes 30 minutes- but feels like hours.

Overview
You have four pawns in your starting area.  The goal: get all four to your home area first.  On your turn, you draw a card.  Generally, it's a number card, and you move one pawn the stated number of spaces.  It might be a Sorry! card, though, which lets you take one pawn from your starting area and replace an opponent's on the board, forcing them back to their starting area.  You can only move a pawn out of your starting area when you draw a 1 or a 2, and other numbers have special rules, as stated on the card.  First with all four in the home zone wins!
a re-relase of the Sorry! in its original form; image from here

Review
My kids are really into this game right now, and it makes me sad.  Sorry! is a horrible game, for several reasons:
- many turns where no action is possible.  You need a 1 or 2 to start, and sometimes you don't draw those for five or ten turns.  And towards the end, when your pawns are close to home, you need a card with the exact number on it to get your pawn home, which can take forever to draw.
- there are many cards that make the game last forever.  Sorry! cards, swapping cards, etc., drag the game out and cause frustration.
- there are few meaningful choices.  Games, at their heart, are about meaningful choices.  Sorry! has almost none.  You draw, you move.  Okay, maybe you can pick which of your pawns to move . . . if you have more than one out, and if both are eligible to move the number of spaces.  That's it.

The only redeeming value is its simplicity (my 4-year-old enjoys it) and helping kids learn counting.  Otherwise, avoid- or you'll be sorry.

Rating: D

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Eldraine is coming


Have you heard?  A new Magic: the Gathering expansion launches soon, and spoiler cards are popping up every day.  The Throne of Eldraine's theme is- wait for it- a mix of Arthurian legend and Grimm's Fairy Tales.  What?!  Check out the trailer below.



I love both themes, and seeing how the mix will be a lot of fun.  I need to build a gingerbread deck.


Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Reflecting on the MCU


The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is far from done, but it passed a significant chapter in its history after Avengers: Endgame.  That film ended not only phase 3, but some main characters' involvement in the franchise, and clearly marked the end of an era. Thus, it's time to reflect.

It's astonishing that Marvel could put together a 22-film run that was, largely, interesting and well done.  Not every movie was gold, but many were, and almost all were at least entertaining.
The below titles link to my reviews of each film, are presented in order of release, and broken into the three phases.

Phase 1:
Iron ManThe Incredible HulkIron Man 2ThorCaptain AmericaThe Avengers

This phase, understandably, introduced us to the 'main' avengers- Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America.  Each (except Hulk) got an origin film; only Iron Man had more than one film before the first group film, The Avengers.  From this lot, I liked Iron Man and The Avengers best; The Incredible Hulk was terrible, and the remainder okay.

Phase 2:
Iron Man 3Thor: The Dark WorldCaptain America: The Winter SoldierGuardians of the Galaxy
Avengers: Age of UltronAnt-man

Phase two kicked off with more films from main characters before introducing the Guardians of the Galaxy crew (though it was back to the mains in Avengers: Age of Ultron).  Ant-man rounded out the group.  The two newcomers introduced a more playful flavor into the universe and were my favorites from this block.  I remain impressed that Marvel could pull off an Ant-man film.

Phase 3:
Captain America: Civil WarDoctor StrangeGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2Spider-man: HomecomingThor: RagnarokBlack PantherAvengers: Infinity WarAnt-man and the Wasp
Captain MarvelAvengers: Endgame

By this point, the films were a well-oiled machine.  Civil War felt like another Avengers movie, new characters (Dr. Strange, Spider-man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel) joined the scene and blended in well [mostly . . . more on that in a minute], and the series concluded masterfully with the two Avengers flicks.  I liked almost all from this block, with Spider-man being a slight favorite.

Tiering the movies
I started my reviews in 2013, a year after I started blogging.  Looking back, I got nicer over time with my grading, or I was too harsh initially.  This is how I ranked them:

Movie Rating Numerical
Spider-man: Homecoming A 96
Guardians of the Galaxy A 95
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 A 95
Iron Man A 94
The Avengers A 94
Captain America: Civil War A- 93
Avengers: Endgame A- 93
Ant-man A- 92
Doctor Strange A- 92
Avengers: Infinity War A- 92
Iron Man 3 A- 90
Black Panther A- 90
Thor: Ragnarok B+ 89
Ant-man and the Wasp B+ 88
Captain America: The Winter Soldier B+ 87
Thor B+ 86
Avengers: Age of Ultron B 85
Iron Man 2 B- 82
Thor: The Dark World B- 80
Captain America C+ 79
Captain Marvel C+ 78
The Incredible Hulk D 65

Again, those were assigned over a 6-year period.  Would I grade them the same?  I'd change only two, making:
- Captain America higher (B or B-)
- Thor: Ragnarok higher (A-)

I'd put the movies in three tiers: excellent, good, and poor.  Adjusting for two films as I state above, I'd rate 13 films "excellent," 6 "good," and 3 "poor."  Not bad overall; good job, Marvel.

Overall Observations
I was impressed with the way they wove 22 films together, and managed the 'overall' suspense levels.  They did a good job spacing climactic movies (like the Avengers films) with other titles that contributed to the overall story but gave the audience a 'breather.'

My main beef with the franchise centers around Captain Marvel.  She's an (apparently) invincible being that thankfully only shows up at the end of the series, in her self-titled film and Endgame.  They say she's the Marvel equivalent of Superman.  That's fine, but unlike Superman, we never saw any weakness- no kryptonite.  To solve that problem, the writers had her come and go in the movies, dismissing the pattern as necessary since she has to protect many worlds.  Not convincing enough for me; I would have liked better.  Why can't she just show up and kill all the enemies?  Why involve the others?  That was disappointing.

Consistent Themes
Most people don't go to Marvel films for their messages; they want action, suspense, and humor.  You get that in each film, yet there are always messages.  In the MCU, many films deal with some aspect of responsibility or authority, looking at questions like:

If you have a superhero gift or develop amazing technology, must you use it for good?  And does the government have the right to control that tech (or person)?  To whom do superheroes answer?  How should they handle collateral damage?  And what happens when things go wrong- when technology or gifts are used poorly?  How do we respond?

Final Thoughts
When my kids are a bit older, I'd like to sit down with them and watch through the MCU, start to finish.  Perhaps I'll have a different take on them.  But for now, it was a great ride.