I enjoy  reading a well-written memoir.  I'll pass on the smarmy ghostwritten celeb autobiography and I'll skip the snarky exposé.  Just walk on by, as my brother says.  I picked up This Boy's Life at a huge book sale because, frankly, the cover drew me in.  I didn't know the author but his name sounded to me like some obscure 18th century writer.  Silly me, they didn't have cars in the 18th century.

I read the first two pages and was completely drawn in.  With Amazon's Search Inside feature you can read them. I highly recommend that you do.  This is the story of a boy whose father is absent, whose step-father is abusive, and whose mother is trying to make the best of a grim life.  That should make for a sympathetic reading; however, I didn't like Toby/Jack much at all. 

He is a habitual liar, a fighter, a shoplifter, a sneak--well, you get the idea.  He didn't do drugs because they weren't available and he didn't "do" girls.  He managed to find many other avenues full of trouble. I wondered as I read, how we could know we're getting the truth from the adult when the boy lied all. the. time.  I listened to an interview on Wired for Books and that very question was raised.  Tobias Wolff's reply was that if he wanted to lie in writing the book he would have cleaned up his childhood, would have presented himself in a rosier light.  He explained that one of the survival mechanisms he used was creating an alternate persona that in some degree he believed was a real person.  One of the most engaging episodes near the end of the book involves Wolff's receiving a scholarship to attend a tony prep school in the east based entirely on transcripts and letters of recommendation that he himself wrote. 

The prose is pretty good.  I was regularly delighted by the vocabulary and his ability to pack so much meaning into so few words.  The analysis of his childhood choices and actions, the understanding of some of the undercurrent of his life is absorbing. Life was raw and he doesn't smooth any edges.  This is a heartbreaking book, in the way Angela's Ashes is a heartbreaking book. 

 

Bronson Alcott's Maxims on Education

These are the first five of 58 maxims that were found in Bronson Alcott's Journals.  I bought a calligraphied copy on my visit to the Orchard House and it is hanging on my wall.  From time to time I will post groups of five for your perusal.  While I differ with Mr. Alcott's transcendentalism, veganism, and other things, I am sure, there is so much to be gleaned from these maxims. 

That reminds me about a book: Fruitlands, Louisa May Alcott Made Perfect by Gloria Whelan.  This book was a howler!  It is a fictionalized account of the Alcott's experiment with transcendentalism and a vegan lifestyle.  What is so funny in the book is Louisa's two diaries: One for public consumption which parrots the thoughts she is supposed to have.  The other, private diary reveals her true thoughts.  Whether she meant to or not, Whelan exposes the fallacies of the philosophy behind the utopian experiment.  If I were the mother of a nine year old girl, I would read this book together, or together separately, and discuss it.  There are many things to ponder.

I felt his gaze before I saw it.  My eyes wandered toward him and our eyes locked.  He held my gaze, as if by command, and then a slow, demi-smile started across his face.  I turned away and concentrated on playing the piano. 

The next time I looked over at him, he had shifted to get a clearer view.  Now it was a full frontal stare.  My cheeks warmed and I allowed a small smile to work its way onto my face.   He sensed the control he had over this situation. His eyes started dancing; he grinned straightforwardly and unabashedly. 

My propriety weakened; I winked at him. 

He moved again and the top of the chair framed his sparkling eyes.  He shifted so I could not see him.  Slowly, his face came into view between two chairs.  Distracted, I searched for my place in the music.  I took a deep breath and refocused on my duties. 

Those insistent eyes kept tempting me and finally I snuck another glance.  So far down the slippery slope of brazen behavior, I winked again.  His grandpa winked back at me.  My cheeks are hot.  Next song.

Unless you're among theology wonks, church history isn't bound to start a stimulating discussion at the coffee klatch.  My teenaged son and I are reading the Great Books as outlined by Veritas Press' Omnibus II.  The first book we are studying, out of the blocks, is The Church History by Eusebius of Caesarea (c.265 - c.339).  Why? As Christianity spread from the Middle East to areas throughout Europe and beyond it effected the culture, the music, the art, the literature of all those lands.  Studying Western Civ inevitably involves studying the imprint of Christianity on the culture. 

Eusebius quotes Clement of Alexandria: a wonderful story about the apostle John, sort of a reverse prodigal son, and well worth your time.  My little grandson's favorite book at our house is The Lost Sheep.  Someday I will read this account of a lost sheep to him. Do you remember another time when John ran as fast as he could? This was the week's teaching highlight.

Barbara introduced me to the Japanese Impressionist artist Kuroda Seiki (1866-1924).  He accompanied family members to Paris to study law. While there he had a change of heart and took up the study of painting.  Y'all know how I love pictures of readers.  Isn't this a lovely find for Fine Art Friday?  It's called Reading (1891).

Here's some more:

Woman (In the Kitchen)

It is a sober week in my small town.  The sin of a local youth pastor has been exposed and he has been arrested.  Some of the very people he was supposed to shepherd and nurture have become victims.  The church where he worked is shocked and distraught.  The consequences are far-reaching; the fall-out will be coming down for a long, long time.  Our hearts ache for our friends who are facing such a heavy, heavy thing.

Sin is so ugly. 

Secret sin is insidious.

In a letter of apology to the church this pastor said something like this: I thought I could control this.  But it controlled me.

It's a mercy, really, that he was caught.  It's always a mercy when a dark corner is exposed to light.  The opportunity to privately and publicly confess the sin can begin the healing that needs to take place.  James says that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.  Justice also needs to be served, and that is now in the hands of the judicial system.

We are humbled by the knowledge that none of us are immune to the temptations that brought this man down.  We are talking in our family about the need to seek help when you are struggling with wrong desires, no matter how shameful they may seem.  We've discussed  the trajectory  that  sin takes.  One does not wake up  out of the blue one morning and say, "Let's see, I think I'll go do _____ today."  Jeremiah Burroughs put it this way:

Another warning about secret sins from Thomas Goodwin:

Lord, have mercy.