Paul Keeble shares, on the one hand, his family’s experiences of living for over 30 years as part of an underprivileged community in inner-city Manchester and, on the other hand, his personal (theological, social, political) reflections on his motivation and influence in that situation. Continue reading “Review of Mission With by Paul Keeble”
Category: Rezensionen / Reviews
Impressions of The Shack
Saw The Shack yesterday. Excellent film, very true to the book, highly recommended. It has a very refreshing message:
- God really loves us and longs for us to share our lives with Him day by day.
- Horrible things are not His doing; there is an evil power at work; but God can bring blessing out of the most tragic events.
- We are wrong to judge others; with God’s help we need to forgive those who wrong us.
- There is a very real life after death, where pain is forgotten, wrongs are forgiven and relationships are healed.
Tanausú: König der Guanchen von Harald Braem
Wir tauchen in eine bislang unbekannte Welt des Mittelalters hinein, die Kultur der Guanchen der Kanarischen Inseln, die grösstenteils von der Aussenwelt abgeschnitten existieren, weder Metall noch Papier kennen, jedoch einen eigenen Glauben, eine fortgeschrittene Ethik und eine raffinierte Heilkunde besitzen. Zwei Fäden leiten uns durch die Geschehnisse: Eine herzliche Liebesgeschichte zwischen Bencomo und Ica, und der spannende Zusammenprall zweier Zivilisationen, als die Spanier sich verpflichtet fühlen, die Insel La Palma zu erobern und die Einheimischen zum christlichen Glauben zu bekehren. Continue reading “Tanausú: König der Guanchen von Harald Braem”
A convoluted family saga – Chosen? by Mel Menzies
We are plunged into a multifaceted family intrigue that seems to have rather too many coincidences at first. As the plot thickens, we are drawn in on the excitement and left guessing time and again. The main characters are well-developed and the storyline thought-provoking. Continue reading “A convoluted family saga – Chosen? by Mel Menzies”
Moving marriage maelstrom – Review of Time To Shine by Mel Menzies
A deep childhood wound plagues Carl’s conscience but the discipline and drive instilled in him by his severe and – as it turns out – hypocritical father nevertheless enables him to succeed in his business venture. Sadly, this is at the cost of failing to show true love for his wife and family and succumbing to a disgraceful affair. Continue reading “Moving marriage maelstrom – Review of Time To Shine by Mel Menzies”
Tomfoolery again! – a review of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I took advantage of my bedridden state to remedy one of my childhood lapses – and quite enjoyed it.
Exciting, silly, rather harmless and quite preposterous adventures. The insight into white hypocrisy – preaching love and conducting a bloody feud at the same time – and racial injustice, whereby Blacks are treated little better than animals, is rather salutary.
We love Huck and Jim, and join them wholeheartedly in their various escapades. On the other hand, the criminal deception shown by the gate-crashing pranksters rather disgusts us.
When Tom suddenly turns up, his ridiculously romantic ideas about how a real escape should be orchestrated cause the plot to drag for a while, until the final showdown.
Uncanny – a review of The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
Vogler seems to know all about my novel, Aquila! Or is he saying that all stories are basically the same, whether it’s The Wizard Of Oz, Star Wars or Titanic? Then how can anyone write anything new? [But that would be like arguing that since most sentences consist of a subject, a verb and an object, with a few adjectives, adverbs and subordinate clauses thrown in here and there, no one can ever write or say anything original!]
Continue reading “Uncanny – a review of The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler”
Gently provocative, very inspiring – Review of We Make The Road By Walking by Brian McLaren
My wife and I used this book for our weekly devotions over an extended year. We found it both challenging and at the same time reassuring. Each time it led is into an extended time of prayer for friends, family, neighbours and the world in general.
Each chapter starts with several Bible passages, which I would highly recommend taking the time to read. Some that particularly spoke to my heart were on Love, the Holy Spirit and Death.
Intimate insights into a devout community – review of the Gilead trilogy by Marilynne Robinson
Gilead – Deep but a bit tedious
This is a very unusual book in that it doesn’t follow any recognised structure. This makes sense when one realises it’s an old preacher man jotting down his reminiscences about
significant events and minor incidents, while trying to impart wisdom to his young son in a letter he intends him to read after he has died. Continue reading “Intimate insights into a devout community – review of the Gilead trilogy by Marilynne Robinson”
Intriguing insight into Neapolitan girls’ lives and feelings but too long and too complicated – Review of My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
This book is captivating from the start and very well written. We feel we get to know unfathomable Lila in spite of her contradictory character and also Lenù, the narrator. We feel their strife, their longings, their first attempts at love, the inevitable rivalries.
But there are too many characters to keep track of and by chapter 45 we begin to wonder where this is all taking us. It’s a big disappointment – and too much like hard work – that we are supposed to read the next three books in the series before getting any real answers.