June Book Log

This didn't feel like a heavy reading month, but the output here says otherwise. My vanity reading project continued at a rate of 5 pages a day (it'll be November before I finish it and reveal what it is), but I also made time for plenty of theology, history, and comics...and zombies! Enjoy the reviews and let me know what you're reading on Facebook!

TO THE CROSS by Christopher J. Wright

*I actually wrote a brief review of this book for the Baptist Standard. So as to neither plagiarize nor repeat myself, allow me to simply link to that review here.*

A GENEROUS ORTHODOXY by Brian D. McLaren

This was actually the second time I've read this book, the first being in college when McLaren came to speak at Baylor. When I bought and read the book before his lecture, I had never heard of him before, but could tell from the excitement in the religion department that I should have. So this time around, I went in with more information—and more preconceptions. But much like when I first read A Generous Orthodoxy 7 years ago, I walked away from it agreeing with some parts and disagreeing with others, and generally feeling unsatisfied and unsettled...which may be exactly what McLaren wanted.

A Generous Orthodoxy has become a sort of manual for the Emergent Church (also known as the Emerging Church), a movement that swept through evangelicalism in the early 2000s. In it, Brian McLaren, a pastor in the northeastern U.S. at the time of his writing, deconstructs many of the assumptions of evangelical Christianity and explains why they are failing in the postmodern world, only to offer his own, more 'generous' idea of how the church should seek to serve Christ. His hope is that Christians might 'emerge' from modernity and Christendom into the postmodern world and more effectively and lovingly witness to Christ than they have in the past.

As is often the case with books like these, McLaren's deconstruction of modern Christianity is powerful and convincing. Having lived, worked, and worshiped in evangelical circles his entire life, he has the credibility of experience when talking about all the ways that Christendom in general and American Christianity in particular have failed both God and people. When reading his criticisms of the faith I was raised in, saved through, and now minister to, I found myself nodding in agreement a lot.

But when he then has to pick up the pieces and build something new, the results are mixed. In some chapters his brand of tolerant, skeptical, questioning Christianity rings true. In other cases, it sounds a lot like pluralistic relativism (a charge he confronts and denies, but not entirely convincingly.) McLaren wants a kinder, gentler Christianity, and while in some places that seems completely in line with historical orthodoxy, in other spots it sounds a lot more like a "Coexist" bumper sticker than the Bible.

A Generous Orthodoxy is a good place to start a discussion, and holds up surprisingly well 13 years after its initial publication. If you're like me, you won't agree with everything he has to say, but you won't disagree with everything either. In any case, it's required reading for anyone interested in the future of the church, and I'm glad I gave it a second try.

LIVING WITH THE WALKING DEAD: THE WISDOM OF THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE by Greg Garrett

This book came to me courtesy of my dad, who read it and interviewed its author, Greg Garrett, for an article in the Baptist Standard (yep, this was my second freebie courtesy of the Standard.) Garrett, an English professor at Baylor University, has written several books exploring the cultural, ethical, and theological themes that make certain pop culture icons resonate (his other offerings tackle U2 and superheroes), so this type of book was not new for him. It was, however, new for me--I'll admit to a snobbishness about "The Gospel According to [Insert Fad Here]" books, so I probably wouldn't have given this a second glance but for my dad's recommendation. By the end of the prologue, I was glad he'd put it in my hands.

Turns out that, when it comes to the "zombie apocalypse" genre, there's a lot more there than just blood and guts! Garrett convincingly makes the case that movies like 28 Days Later, books like Cormac McCarthy's The Road (an apocalyptic novel, even if there are no actual zombies), and TV shows like The Walking Dead have a lot to say to us about fear, community, and what it means to truly live. The terrifying situations inherent to zombie apocalypses give readers and viewers the chance to both confront our fears and work out our ethics and theology. The real world presents us daily with real fears--war, terrorism, disease, etc.--and forces us to make hard choices about what lines we are willing to cross to be safe from those fears. But in zombie stories, we get to vicariously live through fictional characters and confront those same choices without real blood being shed.

While not writing just for Christians, Garrett is an Episcopal minister and makes no apologies for tying both his conclusions about the subject matter and his own sense of morality back to Christ. Thus, Garrett ends the book on a note of hope that connects to the gospel seamlessly. In any zombie story that gets beyond the nihilism of its premise, hope is inevitably found in community, compassion, hospitality, and grace--in those who "carry the fire", to use the language of The Road. Zombie stories and other tales from the apocalypse offer stark reminders that even in the most terrifying times, we can overcome--not by imitating or embracing the darkness, but by shining a light in it.

I was surprised to like this book as much as I did...but I really liked it. Highly recommended, whether you care about zombies or not.

P.S. Here is the article my dad wrote about the book. You should read it.

THE PATRIARCH: THE REMARKABLE LIFE AND TURBULENT TIMES OF JOSEPH P. KENNEDY by David Nasaw

He was an immigrant's son who worked his way into the nation's most elite circles. He was a titan in the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was appointed the first commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He became one of the wealthiest men in America. He served as the United States Ambassador to Great Britain during the days of Roosevelt and Churchill. Yet, for all his many personal accomplishments, history remembers him mostly for being Jack, Bobby, and Teddy's father...and he wouldn't have had it any other way.

This is the portrait David Nasaw presents of the endlessly interesting Joseph P. Kennedy, father to the nine Kennedy children who continue to fascinate the nation even today. The Patriarch is a masterful biography of a subject you've probably heard a few tidbits about—didn't he have an affair with Gloria Swanson? (Yes.) Didn't he make his money bootlegging during Prohibition?? (No.) Didn't he buy votes for JFK in 1960? (Maybe.)—but with whom you likely aren't as familiar as his children, who lived their entire lives in the public eye. Nasaw traces Kennedy's entire life story, beginning with his grandparents' journey to America and concluding with Kennedy's death in 1969, with the careful precision of a historian and a journalist's strictly-the-facts writing style. Nasaw doesn't shy away from the more sensational parts of Kennedy's life, like the aforementioned relationship with actress Gloria Swanson, but neither is he trying to sell books with gossip—this is a well-researched, comprehensive, and ultimately compelling biography.

Kennedy was a man with many influences and motivations—always wanting to get on the inside while never really believing he'd be accepted there, always believing he and his family were overlooked because of their Catholicism—but in the end, two things seemed to override all other considerations in Kennedy's life. The first was his fortune; the second was his children. He would do anything to protect them, up to and including opposing American intervention in World War II as ambassador to Great Britain, a position he would hold so furiously that it would ruin his career in politics. His thoughts on the war were simple: it threatened to cost him money and to put his sons in danger, and so he wanted the U.S. out. That kind of single-mindedness made Kennedy a fascinatingly consistent figure for a biographer (and, in turn, for the reader), an almost literary character whose story arc could not have been penned better by even the best screenwriter.

There are no frills to this biography, and it's long at 789 pages, but by the end I could comfortably say it was one of the most interesting biographies I've ever read, a compliment to both the writer and his subject. America's 'royal family' was made in the image of its patriarch, and if you want to understand him, this is the place to turn.

THE INFINITY GAUNTLET by Jim Starlin, George Perez, Ron Lim, et al

Have you ever ruined your reading experience by going too fast? When I first read The Infinity Gauntlet a couple of years ago, that was my mistake--I tried to read all six issues on a 2 hour flight, and by the story's end, I was more concerned about finishing before the plane landed than I was about enjoying it. When I finished reading, I found myself unimpressed with this seminal story, and attributed my disappointment to the way I had read it. So when my brother reread it himself a few weeks ago and offered to let me borrow his copy, I decided to give it another try, this time at a more leisurely pace. 

So did I get religion on round 2? Well, no. It was better than I remembered, but I'll stand by my initial judgment: The Infinity Gauntlet has a great premise, a fascinating villain, and an epic scope, but is executed unevenly.

The Infinity Gauntlet was a 1991 Marvel crossover event featuring virtually every hero in the Marvel universe (though only truly starring about 3 of them, none of whom I'd consider A-listers.) It tells the story of what happens when the nihilistic Thanos, in an attempt to woo the cosmic being Death, acquires all five Infinity Gems, thereby making himself omnipotent. Hoping to impress Death, he wipes out half of the universe in the blink of an eye, prompting the surviving heroes of Earth, led by the enigmatic Adam Warlock, to take him on. The resulting battles stretch across the universe and unite not only familiar heroes like Spider-Man and Captain America, but also the heaviest hitters in Marvel's cosmic coterie (Galactus, Eternity, Lord Order and Master Chaos, etc.). However, Thanos's real enemy, as always, is his own self-defeating hubris, and it is from his pride that Warlock is able to plant the seeds of the mad titan's eventual downfall.

It's a big story--maybe too big. I enjoyed the first two issues, which were mostly buildup, for the way they showed how impossible the task at hand was for the heroes--how can you possibly defeat someone who is literally all-powerful? As with many event books, these initial issues set the tone for what was to come so well that it was hard for the remainder of the series to deliver on their promise. Nobody draws doomsday stories like George Perez, who had taken on that task for the Distinguished Competition 6 years earlier with Crisis on Infinite Earths. And nobody writes Thanos like Jim Starlin, the man who created the character and has overseen virtually every major development in his history from his creation up to the present day.

But once the plot is fully underway and its time to pit Thanos against the protagonists, you can't help but think Starlin wrote himself into a corner with the lofty premise. The story's progression can be difficult to follow at times, demands an encyclopedic knowledge of the Marvel cosmic universe, and abandons characterization of anyone but Thanos midway through--there's no time for anything but plot. To make matters worse, Perez was forced to leave the book midway through issue #4, leaving the capable but stylistically different Ron Lim to pick up where he left off. As strong as it starts, it seems to get lost in its own scope by the end.

The Infinity Gauntlet's basic premise, about Thanos acquiring ultimate power, will serve as the foundation of the next two Avengers movies, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been steadily building to it since the post-credits teaser at the end of the first Avengers film. But other than that basic premise, I wouldn't expect the movies to draw too heavily from the book, and I hope they don't. There are things to like about The Infinity Gauntlet, but on the whole its a prime example of style over substance. Come for the cool moments (Eternity vs. Thanos!), but don't expect to be totally satisfied with the experience--no matter how slowly you read it.

THE GREATEST TEAM-UP STORIES EVER TOLD by Various

Remember how mind-blowing it was when Marvel Studios put Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, all characters who had already carried their own blockbuster films, in the same movie, fighting side by side as the Avengers? And remember how awesome it was to see Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman all in the same frame at the end of Batman vs. Superman (admittedly, one of the only enjoyable moments of that dreadful mess of a movie)? There's a simple rule when it comes to superheroes, on the screen or the page: if one superhero is good, two (or three or four or five) superheroes is better.

Drawing upon that simple lesson, The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told compiles twelve stories stretching across nearly 30 years of DC Comics, all featuring team-ups of some sort. From the wacky Silver Age silliness of "The Three Super-Musketeers," in which Superman, Batman, and Robin travel back in time to uncover the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask, to the classic-but-dated tale of Green Lantern and Green Arrow discovering America's social problems together, to Superman's fever dream encounter with Swamp Thing in the swamps of Florida, there is something here for everybody. I can prove it: I read several of the Silver Age stories to my infant son, and he thought they were good enough to eat (or try to, anyway).

Because the book is an anthology, the quality of the stories is understandably hit-or-miss, with most of the misses coming from the 1970s, not DC's most memorable decade. But with classics like "The Flash of Two Worlds" and the first team-up between the Justice League and Justice Society, the book can be forgiven its more forgettable pairings. I first read this book when I checked it out from the public library as a child, and my opinion of which stories soared and which fell flat hadn't changed much.

In addition to the stories themselves, the book also has two forwards, one by Mike Gold and another by Julius Schwartz, and an afterword by Brian Augustyn. The forwards, which define what exactly makes a "team-up" and give a brief history of them in comics, aren't essential reading by any means. The afterword, however, basically serves as an honorable mentions list for the book, highlighting stories that didn't make the cut for one reason or another, and it had me wishing some of those stories had been included instead of some of the ones we got (for example, I'd have loved to read one of the many Superman-Flash races.) Plenty of material for a second volume, I suppose!

ESSENTIAL DEFENDERS VOL. 1  by Roy Thomas, Steve Engelhart, Sal Buscema, et. al

Thanks to Netflix, when you hear "the Defenders", you now think of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Daredevil. But in the early 1970s, before three of those characters had even been created, the Defenders had a far different lineup, ethos, and mission. Usually composed of Doctor Strange, the Incredible Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the Silver Surfer, the Defenders were a "non-team" of loner heroes who teamed up when necessary to face threats they couldn't handle single-handed—the Avengers without the infrastructure.

Essential Defenders Vol. 1 collects those earliest team-ups, starting with crossovers in the heroes' solo titles and then moving to the bimonthly Defenders series. In these stories, the Defenders often face off against mystical foes (since Doctor Strange is the group's unofficial leader), few of whom would be familiar to even the most knowledgeable Marvel fan. But the fun is not really in the villains anyway, but the interplay between the heroes, none of whom particularly want to be on a superteam. Put Doctor Strange's arrogance, Namor's imperiousness, the Silver Surfer's nobility, and the Hulk's clueless anger in the same room and sparks will always fly.

The centerpiece of this volume is the Avengers-Defenders War, a 1973 summer crossover event in which Loki and Dormammu pitted the two teams against each other, giving fans a chance to see fights they had been waiting for: Sub-Mariner vs. Captain America, Thor vs. Hulk, etc. Like much of this book, it's good goofy fun—nothing meant to be taken too seriously, but a fun story nevertheless.

I've already bought volume 2, so expect more Defenders next month. For that matter, there are 7 Defenders volumes in the Essential line, 150 issues total (the entire initial run of the series)...not sure if I'm ready for that kind of commitment, but we'll see!