Author: saxonshane@gmail.com

The essay, and the essayist, is a rare breed, but Jacobs revives this tradition with force. In the introduction, he tells us that he’s self-consciously patterning his essays after two of the great essayists of the early 20th century, Orwell and Lewis. Like Orwell, he sees the essay as a direct means for “facing unpleasant facts,” but like Lewis he wants to pair that determination with Christian charity. For Jacobs, honesty and charity belong together and that’s what he’s striving for in A Visit to Vanity Fair. He also mentions Montaigne who above the door to his study had the words “What do I know” inscribed. Jacobs takes Montaigne literally imagining that Montaigne wrote in order to answer the question and see what he knew. So, like Montaigne, Jacobs sets out to determine what he knows by seeking the truth with charity wherever he can find it.

Jacobs has a singular ability to draw my attention to types of books that I would never have thought even existed. This ability is undoubtedly related to his conviction that we must be highly selective about what we give our attention to and his interest in Breaking Bread with the Dead. So, his essays are filled with references to books, essays, and projects that are fascinating and at times feel other-worldly. I frequently come across a book he’s discussing and think, “Books like that exist?”

For instance, in the first essay, “A Bible Fit For Children” Jacobs is examining the conflict between the Romantic notion of childhood innocence and the reality of childhood suffering which culminates in a moving reflection of the conclusion of The Brothers Karamazov. As an example of the Romantic notion of childhood innocence, however, Jacobs discusses the book How Like an Angel I Came Down by Bronson Alcott, a stream of consciousness transcription of philosophical discussions that Alcott had with school aged children.

Another example is American Sermons in the Library of America collection edited by Michael Warner. In “Preachers without Poetry” Jacobs muses about the fact that the Romantic period removed much non-fiction literature from the status of literature, and how this anthology represents something of a corrective, but in the end, it reveals that much of the sermon writing that has predominated the American landscape is neither literary nor theological.

In “Friendship and its Discontents” Jacobs discusses The Norton Book of Friendship what he considers an optimal choice for the bedtime or mealtime reader. This anthology is a collection of letters, poems, and stories about friends. Reading the anthology prompts Jacobs to muse whether the Christian emphasis on family relationships has actually diminished Christian reflection on friendship.

The second aspect of this collection of essays that I enjoyed was meditation on how Auden’s persona has deeply affected Jacob’s thinking and moral vision. I recently read What Became of Wystan and several themes from Auden’s life developed in Jacob’s first book were scattered throughout these essays. For instance, in “Donald Davie” Jacobs discusses the poetry of the titular poet and draws strong parallels between Auden and Davie. Both of these poets hated the Romantic sentiment that poetry somehow had some kind of “magical” ability. Instead, they both engaged in “dialogue” through their work that pressed toward virtue and integrity with no patience for falsehood or exaggeration.

This dogged pursuit of truth wherever it might be found is the topic of his final essay “A Visit to Vanity Fair” where he discusses Auden’s belief in the “sin of being interesting.” For Auden, the aesthetic realm is dangerous precisely because the wicked are always more interesting. Auden, Davie, Jacobs, these are men who are dedicated to the truth, and not merely a desire to be interesting. That kind of virtue, especially for an author, comes at a cost, but what could be more valuable?

Collier’s Burning is a well written biography of America’s great pastor, Eugene Peterson. I was disappointed with the early chapters of the book because Collier relies heavily on Peterson’s retelling of his own life in his memoir, Pastor, which happens to be one of my favorite books. The stories are great, but Peterson tells them extremely well. Reading them in the biography just made me want to go back to the memoir. As the story of Peterson’s life progressed there were more anecdotes and themes that diverged from Pastor. I would have probably finished the book anyway because Collier writes with a vivid and elegant prose, but I really started to enjoy the book as Collier shed some light on some of the themes of Eugene’s adult life that weren’t addressed in his memoir. For instance, Collier discusses Eugene’s relationship to alcohol. He consistently felt like he drank too much and struggled with it for much of his life. This was a humanizing touch for a life that otherwise seems so pristine. Additionally, an important theme was Eugene’s dedication to his marriage, but the bumps along the road were a sobering reminder of the challenge of marriage. I also loved the section on his relationship with Bono. Peterson’s principled stand against fame and modern celebrity were confronted by a person, Bono, who seems to have won him over.

Collier also developed a couple of themes from Pastor with more clarity that stood out to me. For instance, Peterson mentions his love of Newman, Dostoevsky, and Barth, but I didn’t realize the extent to which he dedicated himself to understanding these men and appropriating their work.

At the end of Becoming Dallas Willard, Gary Moon writes that Willard was struck with a profound gratitude at the end of his life and his last words were “thank you.” Similarly, as Peterson’s life and mind were fading in the hospital, Collier remembers him saying thank you repeatedly. Collier didn’t mention that the two men had any relationship though they had the mutual acquaintance of Richard Foster who Peterson knew through the Laity Lodge. But, it is striking that two of the leading figures in the “spiritual formation” movement in the 20th century would end their lives defined by gratitude.

If you can read just one book, then read Pastor, but A Burning in My Bones is a solid biography.

Stoner is the story of the titular character’s journey from the farms of rural Missouri to the halls of the great state’s university. On the journey, William Stoner epitomizes the intellectual transformation that many 19th century Americans took when they migrated from the hollers of rural America to the classrooms and institutions that would define the 20th. For Stoner, the catalyst of his transformation is an encounter with Archer Sloan. Sloan is the consummate mentor who has a genuine life of the mind and, through his revulsion and rejection of the first World War, illustrates his keen grasp on human nature and its value. After encountering Sloan, Stoner is seduced by the university life and becomes a professor of the humanities. Though the life of his mind is his only solace in a life fraught with emptiness, bitterness and disappointment, even the intellectual life is something he only briefly makes contact with here and there because of the pressure of global conflict, interdepartmental struggle, and familial unrest. I think that his brief affair with Catherine Driscoll which coincidentally is intertwined with their shared passion for the world of ideas seems to illustrate how brief, fleeting and elusive the joy of discovery is. The affair with Catherine is just one of the extended conceits that seem to operate allegorically in the novel. Another is the way that Williams describes Stoner coming to be aware of the look and feel of his own body as he begins to study the humanities illustrating the way his studies expand his understanding of human nature; or the physical deformities of both Charles Walker and Hollis Lomax that seem to display on their exterior the true nature of the institution that Stoner inhabits for his entire academic career. In the end, Stoner’s life is brief, fleeting, and only rarely punctuated by moments of true beauty, and in that way, his existence is a mirror for all of us.