Saturday Good Reads

The year 1968 was a big one for protest and upheaval; some of us are actually old enough to remember the protests against the Vietnam War, the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the student protests in France that nearly topped Charles DeGaulle’s government, and more. Don Whitney at the Center for Biblical Spirituality notes that the Jesus Movement followed 1968, and he wonders what will follow 2020. (If you look closely at the photograph of Explo ’72 in Dallas, you might see my wife.)

A cultural pandemic is raging in America, making the old idea of “culture war” seem rather quaint. John Horvat at The Imaginative Conservative says rage is the new standard for public discourse. Peter Savodnik likens the collapse of backbone by the nation’s elites, and the sharp division of Americans into tribes, to what happened in Russia in the late 19^th century – the prelude to what eventually became the Bolshevik Revolution. Abraham Miller weighs in with a bit of perspective, telling the graduating class of 2020 how they won’t really change the world simply by following woke causes.

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo is (once again) a bestseller on all the lists, but some Black readers are weighing in with negative reviews. John McWhorter at The Atlantic describes its “dehumanizing condescension.” Samuel Sey at Slow to Write says the book is actually pro-racism.

More Good Reads

Poetry

Schubertiana (IV) – Tomas Transtrὄmer at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin).

Stones – Daniel Leach at The Chained Muse.

As a fantasy – Eleanor Parker at A Clerk of Oxford.

Writing and Literature

Shakespeare’s Richards – Theodore Dalrymple at CityJournal.

Writing Lessons from Monet – Amy Baik Lee at The Rabbit Room.

Let’s Not Forget the Time Mario Vargas Llosa Sucker Punched Gabriel García Márquez – Olivia Rutigliano at CrimeReads.

‘Something is About to be Illuminated’ – Rod Dreher at The American Conservative.

Ten Great Roman Works – Laurie Wilson at The Scriptorium. 

Faith

How Early Christianity was Mocked for Welcoming Women – Michael Krueger at Canon Fodder.

Life and Culture

Dr. Green’s Dictionary: Narrative – Dominic Green at The Critic.

News Media

China’s Long Tentacles Extend Deep into American Media – Arthur Bloom at The American Conservative.

American Stuff

My Hunt for the C.S.S. Alabama – Sean Michael Chick at Emerging Civil War.

Sayings from Southern Appalachia – Caroline Sanders at Garden & Gun.

A Page of Gettysburg History & Humanity’s Struggle – Sarah Kay Bierle at Emerging Civil War.

Your Will Be Done – City Alight

Painting: Man Reading a Newspaper, oil on canvas by Yehuda Pen (1854-1937).