Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)

Guy Montag is a fireman. But in this dystopian future, his job is not to quench fires but start them. Books are the target; they were banned years prior as people learned to embrace entertainment and happiness over thought, differing viewpoints, and reality. But is Guy happy? Does he have real relationships? Is he really alive? His struggle grows as he comes across people who seem to be different—who have real conversations, an awareness of the world, and may even be hiding books to enjoy in secret. Is all Guy knows a lie? And if so, how could he possibly live in a society that has embraced it?

Unsettling in its portrayal (made moreso by how close we are to its fulfillment), this was a sobering but powerful read. We're not burning books today . . . but in many cases, we are ignoring them. We are an entertainment- and happiness-obsessed culture. We've lost the ability (and desire) to have thoughtful discussions with others of differing viewpoints. We don't like having our views challenged. "Fall in line, be kind, be happy, be entertained" seem to be prevailing messages of the day. And this book, chillingly, predicts it to be so (it was written 70 years ago). It mirrors the fears of Huxley's Brave New World and Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death.

The protagonist at one point asks "Where do we go from here? Would books help us?" The answer from a former professor: Only if we have three things. "Number one . . .[is] quality of information. Number two: leisure to digest it. And number three: the right to carry out actions based on what we learn from the interaction of the first two." Indeed.

Neil Gaiman penned an outstanding introduction to the version I read, with helpful thoughts on the book in particular and fiction in general. You can find that here.

Rating: A

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain)

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is the classic Mark Twain novel about a boy and his adventures. Growing up with his Aunt Polly in a small Missouri town along the Mississippi River in the 1840s, Tom lives for adventure, freedom, and glory. And trouble—his disobedience earns him frequent punishments at home and school. But Tom cares not; he lives for himself, and floats from one activity or desire to the next with little regard for consequences. We follow Tom for a brief period in his life as he runs off with friends (to  be pirates, robbers, indians, Robin Hood, or treasure-seekers), skips school, falls in love, invents ingenious ways to turn situations to his advantage, witnesses a murder, and finds a great treasure. Is there any hope for him? Perhaps—intermixed with his typical self-absorptions are several examples of self-sacrificial love.

This was a fun and briskly-paced read. There is a touch of wisdom throughout, but that is not the focus. In the preface, Twain claims that "most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred," and that many of the characters had characteristics based on one (or several) boys Twain knew growing up. The book's stated purpose is "mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls," but his goal was also "to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in." He succeeds; he conveys the child's mindset well, with all its wonders, desires, fears, struggles, hyperbole, and follies. He also shows how 'free' children of the age were, in the sense that they could roam around (and outside of) the town, sometimes for days, without concern. A large part of the book's amusement comes in this portrait of childhood, and part of this in turn involves conveying superstitions. The ones here "touched upon were all prevalent among children and slaves in the West at the period of this story," which fascinated me.  

Rating: A-

Forbidden Island

Today's review is of the 2010 release, Forbidden Island. For 2-4 players, it takes 30 minutes.

Overview

In this cooperative game, you and your friends are on a sinking island. You race to collect four treasures (obtained by collecting matching cards) and then take a helicopter to safety. But time is short; the island is sinking. Can you make it in time?

Gameplay is straightforward. On a given player's turn, they:

• take up to 3 actions (moving, giving cards to another player, shoring up a sinking tile, or playing a set of 4 matching cards to obtain a treasure)
• draw 2 treasure cards
• reveal 2-5 flood cards (the amount increases as the game goes on). For each card revealed, the matching island tile is flipped over (indicating it is sinking). 
• If a flipped-over tile has a card drawn, it 'drowns' and is removed from the board! 

Only once all four treasures are obtained can the players safely leave—and only then if they all reach the helicopter tile and play a helicopter card to get to safety. If that tile (or their path to it) sinks before they can escape, they all lose! Can you use your wits and resources to stem the tide (literally)?

an island layout at the start of the game; image from here

Review

Quick to learn and fun to play, this is a winner. There are meaningful decisions and some strategy, but it is light enough for children to enjoy. Check this one out.

Rating: A-

Everdell

Today's review is of the 2018 release, Everdell. For 1-4 players, it takes 40-80 minutes.

Overview
In Everdell, you lead a group of creatures as they seek to establish a new community deep in the forest. Smartly playing buildings (constructions) and creatures (critters) to a tableau (a 3x5 grid) will give you the points you need to win. But resources can be scarce, and it will take good planning and a little luck to be the most efficient. Do you have what it takes to prevail?

On your turn, you take one of three actions:

1. Place a worker to gain resources or perform special actions. There are several resources in the game (twigs, resin, berries, stone, cards), and cards you play have a cost that requires some combination of them. Once you place a worker, it activates only once and is there until you prepare for the next season. Some options enable you to place a worker on a special spot to gain points.
2. Play a card to your tableau by paying its costs, laying in your grid, and activating effects (if any). Constructions and critters have abilities that may activate immediately, later (when a condition is met), or at the end of the game (during final scoring).
3. Prepare for the next season. There are three stages: spring, summer, fall. Everyone starts in spring with a certain number of workers. If you cannot place a worker or play a card, you must prepare for the next season by putting your workers back in your supply and moving to the next season (which gives you more workers and triggers some other conditions). Then you can resume placing workers or playing cards. 
• Note: players can prepare for the next season at different points in the game, so it is possible for one to be in spring and the other to be in summer.

After all players have completed their three seasons, final points are tallied. The most wins!

game in progress; image from here

Review

This game is rated highly and I see why. Though it seems like a lot is going on at first, you quickly get the hang of things. The worker placement is typical and good. I liked the independent triggering of seasons; that variation shook things up and gave strategic options. The theme and artwork is excellent, too. Overall, this is a winner. 

Rating: A

The House of the Seven Gables (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

The Pyncheon family is a New England dynasty with a dark secret—their house, with seven gables, was built on land wrongly taken from its prior owner, who was executed after false accusations of witchcraft. That was generations ago, but perhaps the dead man did indeed have magical powers, for a curse seems to pervade the family through the ages, bestowing both foul natures and tragedy alike on the descendants. The current occupant, though—the maid Hepzibah Pyncheon—doesn't fit the family mold. Nor does her neice, Phoebe, as she comes to live there one season. These two eke out a meager existence as some others in the family thrive. But change may be in the air . . . ancient wrongs may be righted . . . and only love can be responsible.

Hawthorne tells us the point of his tale in the preface:

the wrong-doing of one generation lives into the successive ones, and, divesting itself of every temporary advantage, becomes a pure and uncontrollable mischief

And repeats it on the second page of the story:

the act of the passing generation is the germ which may and must produce good or evil fruit, in a far distant time; that, together with the seed of the merely temporary crop, which mortals term expediency, they inevitably sow the acorns of a more enduring growth, which may darkly overshadow their posterity.

He wrestles with the responsibility of subsequent generations:

whether each inheritor of the property—conscious of wrong, and failing to rectify it—did not commit anew the great guilt of his ancestor, and incur all its original responsibilities.

But (in my mind) doesn't fully explore the concepts or the solutions.

He acknowledges that the past's wrongs, even once realized, may not produce notable change. Regarding the witch trial hysteria, 

[We] made such laudable efforts to weaken the great Enemy of souls, by sending a multitude of his adherents up the rocky pathway of Gallows-Hill. Since those days, no doubt, it had grown to be suspected, that, in consequence of an unfortunate overdoing of a work praisworthy in itself, the proceedings against the witches had proved far less acceptable to the Beneficent Father, than to that very Arch-Enemy, whom they were intended to distress and utterly overwhelm. It is not the less certain, however, that awe and terror brooded over the memories of those who died for this horrible crime of witchcraft.

That less sentence is key—the public still looked with disdain and distrust upon those accused of witchcraft (and their descendants) . . . even as they acknowledged they were often wrong in the accusations. They acknowledged the error of their fathers but allowed the biases to continue. This is a powerful indictment of several dark parts in American history; may we learn from it and build a better future.

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This novel is a tough read. Hawthorne, like Dickens, is eloquent and verbose. Long sentences were (at times) beautiful to behold but could be laborious. Akin to the novelists of his day, there is key background information that is implied but withheld until the final chapters, giving an air of suspense and confusion to what we witness. Things move along slowly at first—too slowly—but the action  speeds up a good deal—too much so—at the end. Ultimately, the message is good but wrapped in an unwieldy package.

Rating: C+

Prophetic Books (C. Hassell Bullock)

In An Introduction to the Old Testament: Prophetic Books, C. Hassell Bullock provides historical background, cultural context, and message analysis on the 'major' and 'minor' prophetic books in the Old Testament. After a general overview on prophets and Jewish history during this time, he looks at these 16 books in the Bible according to the three main prophetic periods:

• Neo-Assyrian (Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah)
• those who prophesied before the Northern Kingdom's (Israel) fall in 722 B.C. to the Assyrians
• Neo-Babylonian (Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Nahum, Ezekiel, Obadiah)
• those who prophesied before the Southern Kingdom's (Judah) fall in 586 B.C. to the Babylonians
• Persian (Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, Malachi)
• those who prophesied in the Babylonian–Persian period (to include the exile's return to Judah starting in 538 B.C.)

For each book, he includes sections on

• The prophet himself (personal background where known)
• The book's outline and literary forms/structures
• Dating the book (and/or the activity of the prophet)
• The message of the book

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This book is a solid introduction to the prophetic books of the Bible. 

• The content is excellent. Bullock presents important historical information and context, and valuable insights into the meaning of the texts. For disputed areas (where scholars disagree on time period, meaning, or other things), Bullock does a good job presenting the different positions fairly. 
• The structure is frustrating. That is the only thing I would change. While Bullock covers the same type of information for each prophet, he does not follow a consistent structure from chapter to chapter. At times, that may make sense based on the nature of the book he is discussing, but it drove me crazy.

Overall, I learned a lot from this book and used it as one of my sources for a study I am currently leading on Habakkuk. I read 16% of this book as a result—the overview sections and select information on each prophetic book as well as the entire chapter on Habakkuk. I would recommend it as a reference.

Rating: A-

Enjoying the 2022 Eagles

Go Birds! Image from here

As I did last year for the Calgary Flames, today I reflect back on the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles and their amazing 2022 season. Yes, it is not over yet—and I hope they are Super Bowl-bound—but there are no guarantees, so I'll reflect now.

Last year, the Eagles were mired in mediocrity. A first-year coach (Nick Sirianni) and his staff showed glimpses of promise, but results were mixed. That team finished 9-8, lost in the first round of the playoffs, and faced an uncertain offseason.

This year's Eagles have been stellar in many respects. The stats are impressive. They set franchise records in wins (14), points (477), yards (1,496) and receptions (95) by a Wide Receiver, and probably other areas. They had three players (Miles Sanders, Devonta Smith, and A.J. Brown) go over 1,100 yards on the ground or in the air, and Jalen Hurts (and Dallas Goedert) may have joined them had they not missed time with injuries—they logged 700+ yards each. Defensively, they were the first team in NFL history to have four players (Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, Javon Hargrave, Brandon Graham) record 10+ sacks each in a season, and they are only the fourth team in the Super Bowl era with 70+ total sacks on the season.

It all started in the offseason. Some key moves:

- In free agency, they added defensive starters Haason Reddick, Kyzir White, and James Bradberry. 

- In the draft, they traded two of their three first-round picks, but still ended up with defensive stud Jordan Davis and offensive terror A.J Brown.

- After the draft, they traded with the Saints to acquire Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, completing their defensive transformation.

The result is a roster that is impressive across the board. Offensively, they have top talent at every position. Their offensive line is widely regarded as the best in the league. QB Jalen Hurts was an MVP candidate before his injury. Two amazing WRs, a great RB, and excellent TE give the offense many ways to beat you. Defensively, They have depth across the line, decent linebackers, and unrivaled secondary. Rounding out the team is a solid kicking duo of PK Jake Elliott and P Arryn Siposs (who got injured and has been replaced by the capable Brett Kern). It's no wonder they have 8 players named to the Pro Bowl and have 6 All-Pros. And ESPN had 12 of the Birds in the Top 100 players in the NFL:

There is strength and depth on both sides of the ball:

It was a wonderful year, and I hope the season continues. But there are clouds on the horizon . . . after starting 13–1, an injury to Jalen Hurts took some steam out of them. He came back in the final week to help the team win their last game, finish 14–3, and clinch the top seed (and first-round bye) in the NFC. But he's not fully healed, and I'm not sure a week off will be enough. Other players (Lane Johnson, Josh Sweat, Avonte Maddox) are in the same boat. I hope for the best, but health takes priority. 

As much as it pains me to say it, this might be the best Eagles team for a few years. They have several notable free agents, and you can't pay everyone. Some may retire. Their coaching staff is likely to change, too, as their coordinators already have head coaching interviews lined up. So we enjoy what we have, when we have it. Go Birds!

Cold Mountain Path (Tom Kizzia)

"This is the story of a town that disappeared in the snows of Alaska's Wrangell Mountains." 

McCarthy, east of Anchorage and 60 miles from the nearest village, was a small town to begin with. When the nearby Kennecott copper mines closed in 1938, the rail access to it was torn out and the town dwindled—but did not disappear. "For half a century, McCarthy was a ghost town, home to just a few holdouts, joined over time by various prospectors, dreamers, back-to-the-landers, chiselers, escape artists, hippies, speculators, preachers, and outlaws. An old and makeshift way of life persisted against the quiet undertow of the past, that ebbing toward the nature that was here before." Cold Mountain Path is McCarthy's story, focusing on the era (1938–1983) before it became more accessible (there was no road to it until recent decades, and the rivers had to be cross in terrifying ways), in the middle of a national park, and well known (in part due to, unfortunately, the mail day murders). "We all have ghost towns, impermanent places we dream of returning to. Here was Alaska's."

Tom Kizzia walks us through McCarthy's story to the best of his ability, supplementing the scant written records with interviews of the locals. "In the geography of Alaskan romance, McCarthy had a reputation as a hermit kingdom, contrary and self-reliant, where settles tougher than the rest of us were salvaging, in postapocalyptic fashion, the rusted relics of a profligate past." Due to its history (as a copper mine), location (in the beautiful Wrangell mountains), and inaccessibility, it created a unique environment. "The combination may have no equal on the American continent. Here in a single place three intertwined eras in Alaska's history lay almost literally one atop the other—the pristine wilderness, the intrepid exploitation of mineral wealth, and bush Alaska in its authentic late-twentieth century form." Effectively, McCarthy was "a rare window into a way of life that was supposed to have disappeared long ago." "The challenge of living kept the place from being overrun." But change is inevitable.

The outside world became more aware of McCarthy in the 1970s, as legislation turned it (and millions of surrounding acres) into a national park. Kennecott (the nearby mining ruins) and McCarthy was an enigma—and people took notice. Humans enjoy "pondering that enigma of ruins . . .: is this where we've been, or where we're going?" "History moved on, but places left behind could stir the soul." "A powerful sense of place, like Kennecott's, was an essential precursor to the sense of loss such places aroused." 

There was an inherent tension as some 'reverse migration' began in the mid-1970s; "a return of humans attracted by the absence of other humans." McCarthy residents were contrarian and grappling with how to proceed. Time was taking its toll, and the ruins were also starting to collapse. But rebuilding them might create a false "Disneyification." They settled on a concept of arrested decay—the goal was "to hold back "progress" in one direction and collapse in the other." The area had been "about destruction and renewal. That was how history moved too. How were you going to stop change?"

In modern times, tourism in this national park has grown exponentially. McCarthy had a television show (Edge of Alaska) for a time. The road is now there but inaccessible for larger vehicles. The mail plane now comes twice a day (vs. once a week), and residents have Internet access (presumably through cell towers; Amazon Prime is popular). Even in 2016, though, "McCarthy retained itse sense of being a place apart." One called it "A commune run by anarchists." It remains a hard life; said one local, consoling another: tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to live without it.

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Last year, I read Pilgrim's Wilderness, also by Kizzia, about Papa Pilgrim and his terrible deeds. That family lived in/near McCarthy, so this book intrigued me. I enjoyed the read, though this tale is not as compelling as Pilgrim's story. It is rather a chronicle trying to scrape together a quickly-fading past. Lots of names and gaps in the story can make it hard to follow in places, but it is sprinkled with intriguing observations and amusing stories. The residents would laugh at things that we decimate a 'regular' person, and be decimated by things we would laugh at. They were communally-minded but prone to petty grievances that could escalate into years-long feuds. They were impressively creative, using the extensive goods left behind by the mining company in innovative ways. They were also amazingly patient—nothing happened fast in McCarthy.

I love ruins, and "Ghost towns are monuments to impermanence." Though they fade, "Our pasts and our histories are with us whether or not we know them. There is immense value in that knowing, in cultivating an awareness that helps us understand the contours of the present."

Rating: B+

A Month in the Country (J.L. Carr)

Three years after he experienced the horrors of WWI at Passchendaele, Londoner Tom Birkin takes up residence in a small village for a month to recover the church's Medieval wall-painting. Living in the belfry, he finds solace in the beauty of simple things and quaint ways of the townsfolk. But "You can't make it last forever." Like any good thing in life, "You can only have this piece of cake once; you can't keep on munching away at it. Sad, but there it is! You'll find that, once you've dragged yourself off round the corner, there'll be another view; it may even be a better one." Though "for a few of us there will always be a tugging at the heart – knowing a precious moment gone and we not there."

Well-written, short, and poignant, this was a nice reflection on enjoying your work and the 'little' things in life while simultaneously not holding a given time or moment too closely, understanding the transitory nature of this world.

Rating: A

So Begins 2023

image from here

Happy New Year! As is my custom, this post lays out goals for the year. The goals themselves are in italics, with explanation where needed in regular font.

Spiritual

Largely the same as last year. I explained it then, so I won't repeat the background here. In a nutshell:

- Be disciplined in prayer. 

- Overcome two besetting sins. 

Nutritional/Fitness

I am fit fat. I work out a lot but eat poorly (and excessively). Continuing high amounts of activity, but improving nutrition, and lowering the weight (to 185 lbs) are the goals. 

- Get (and keep) weight under 185 lbs.

- Complete 240 workouts (run, bike, gym, hikes, etc.).

- Eat more fruit/vegetables.

Reading

Reading lists are fun. Being in America, I want to focus on an "American Reading List," similar to what I've done in the past (British and German). And, if possible, I'd like to study humor.

- Read 40 books.

- Focus on American authors/topics.

- Pick another topic and 'get smart' (i.e. read a few books) on it. Probably humor.

House

Last year's goal remains. 

- Finish the basement.

Language

This one is simple.

- Continue studying Spanish. 

Stuff

I've documented my struggles with materialism several times on this blog. It's good to own less. 

- Minimize clothing.

- Minimize game collection.

To 2023!