By Suzanne Collins New York: Scholastic ©2010

NOTE: This review may have spoilers for those who have not yet read the books.

Imagine the following: North America has been destroyed and in its place is a new nation called Panem. With 13 Districts and a tyrannical Capitol, all the people can do is try to survive while the Capitol resides in luxury. As this goes on, District 13 decides to mount an uprising. The Capitol strikes a deal with them, destroys their buildings as they seek refuge underground, and tells the other Districts that they have been nuked. All this is in an effort to keep control, to maintain luxury. With the uprising stopped, Panem seeks a constant reminder to the Districts of what they’ve done, and why they are weak. They call it the Hunger Games. Every year, each of the 12 Districts send two tributes, one boy and one girl–some volunteers, some just unfortunate souls–into an arena to fight to the death; the last child standing wins.

This is the world of The Hunger Games. The trilogy, penned by Suzanne Collins, takes place in Panem, through the eyes of a teenager named Katniss Everdeen, 74th female Tribute from District 12. The books have a complete mish-mash of beliefs, though none seem to approach anything resembling any sort of theism. Overall, there is a pessimistic feeling to Panem, but each of the main characters seems to find some hope to cling to. It is this, and really only this, that separates Collins’ characters from nihilism. Rather, we find them in a sort of self-defining life, seeking to find each other and live out the rest of their naturalistic days.

Katniss and Peeta–the 74th year tributes, live to the end. In an odd twist of the Games’ rules, two Tributes are allowed to live, provided they’re from the same District. So after a few weeks living in the Capitol, being trained, paraded around in ridiculous costumes for the public to adore them, and basically auditioning for sponsors (people who send supplies to them in the Games), they enter the Games. With weapons such as spears, nets, and bows, 24 children are told to kill or be killed. It is televised. The winner is never a winner. Every “Champion” of the Games leads a fairly terrible life afterwards. There is no escape from the Games or what it does to you.

Katniss, as the narrator, gives us the best idea of what it’s like. She begins to feel isolated and cut off from everyone she’s ever known, as they’ve never seen what she’s seen. Peeta feels the same, but they manage to find comfort in each other. After the first book (and with it the 74th Annual Hunger Games), the lives of all the main characters take a turn. Katniss & Peeta are forced to compete in an “All Stars” edition of the Games. Rescued from the arena, the third book focuses on the destruction of the Capitol.

The second book, Catching Fire, focuses on a love triangle, the effects of the Games on its supposed Champions, and indirectly raises questions of what one will do to survive. The last book, Mockingjay, questions authority left and right as the Districts seek once more to bring down the Capitol; it is only natural. Everyone has their values questioned, some driven insane, others recovering from insanity. As the characters spiral into a more and more surreal life, they can only try to hold on until the Capitol is defeated.

Now, as for what world story the Trilogy tells, that is different altogether. We must look to the individual characters. Katniss expresses an extremely pessimistic naturalism. She believes in people, but can’t seem to remember the last time she met one worth believing in. Peeta has a bright eyed fatalism, a seeming happy existentialism. He enters the Games expecting to die, content only that he will do so in rescuing Katniss, the one that he loves, helping her to win.

Prim, Katniss’ sister, shares Peeta’s optimism, but rather joins it to a naturalistic view. She seems to understand the harsh state of the world, but does what she can to see the good in things. Haymitch, the man responsible for coaching District 12 Tributes, is almost too much of a drunk to express a distinct world story, though tending toward nihilism. Two weeks after he won the Games everyone he loved was dead, joy stolen from him by the Capitol. His humor is blackened by this, and at times you wonder why he continues to bother to live. Gale, Katniss’ best friend, is about as happy as Prim. Though he despises the Capitol, he doesn’t simply stew in it. Rather, he looks for a way to rebel, and fights alongside District 13 in the final days of the Capitol.

The end of Mockingjay is what really brings the books together as a view. Katniss has served as a sort of mascot for the rebellion, pending several conditions. One of them is that she is given the chance to kill the president of Panem. Standing on the stage with Snow (the old president), Coin (the new president), and a bow in hand, Katniss draws back her arrow. At the last second she turns, and puts an arrow through Coin instead of Snow, killing the new (though the former died in an ensuing riot). So what does this say? It seems to push an existential loneliness on the reader, that even the new is wrong. There is no one fit to lead, at least not presented in the book. Collins tells her story masterfully, and it is a rather thrilling book series for young adults (it is, in fact, aimed at teens). However, the incredibly dark material just seems to have an aura of existentialism on all sides.

—Alex

 By Steve Wilkens & Mark L. Sanford. Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2009

Many Christian books on worldviews fall into one of two general categories of interest. There are those whose main interest is in identifying rival worldviews through expose-and-refute tactics with a strongly apologetic impetus. Often these other worldviews are characterized from a no-holds-barred, adversarial perspective. Another approach deals with worldview formation, seeking to integrate a biblical, Christian theism into all sectors of life, often with special interests in politics, law, and the public square. The goal here is to recapture the influence upon greater society that held sway in earlier periods of western and especially American culture.

In Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories that Shape Our Lives, Steve Wilkens and Mark Sanford had taken a different tack. While they do enumerate and explain eight worldview competitors to biblical theism, the ones that they have chosen are not merely the standard categories of the scholars and philosophers, but the popular-level versions which are far more pervasive and subtle. It is popular culture, not the academy, which exerts most pressure on Christians to drift from biblical moorings into adopting other modes of thinking, behaving, and perceiving. “[F]or most of us, worldviews are not primarily systems of interlinked ideas and beliefs, but they are experienced, absorbed and expressed in the midst of life” (p. 15). Wilkens and Sanford prefer the term “cultural story” to “worldview,” since people normally understand and come to experience these not so much as a series of propositions or questions-and-answers or philosophical systems, but as broad narratives or life stories in which they see themselves.

Each of these cultural stories receives a chapter-length treatment (of approximately fifteen pages). Our authors, both of whom teach at Azusa Pacific University (Wilkens in theology and ethics, Sanford in practical theology), begin each chapter with an explanation and description of the cultural story. Following that, they point out some of the strengths and positive aspects that the cultural story might offer to Christian theists. The tone that is struck in this section for each chapter is irenic and charitable, largely free of condescension and open to learning from others. This is followed by a section of “potential problems,” a delicately-named treatment of the weaknesses of that story at either the levels of its conceptual coherence and/or its practical livability. Each chapter ends with a conclusion that draws out implications from the overall discussion.

The first of these eight chapters addresses the cultural story of individualism, which perceives reality through the lens of the autonomous self pursuing personal achievement and success. While we would all acknowledge the presence of this trend in society, most worldview textbooks have not addressed it as a distinct cultural story per se. This well illustrates the point that cultural stories are not imparted through formal teaching of frameworks, but absorbed through osmosis from the ubiquitous voices of pop culture. In this view, corporate bodies and other individuals are deemed good only to the degree that they enable me to achieve my own personal goals. The authors point out that “[o]ne of the first questions we need to ask about any worldview is, Who gets to be God?” (p. 41-42). In this cultural story that figure is the idiotes, the self-imploded individual.

The next chapter deals with consumerism, belief that fulfillment is dependent upon the acquisition of wealth and the lifestyle it offers. This is followed by (religious) nationalism, a surprising selection for inclusion given the fact that this rival cultural story is most prevalent among conservative Christians. Their point, though undoubtedly controversial within conservative churches, is that because of “belief in some sort of superiority, … nationalists claim that God has given their country a special mission to the rest of the world” (p. 64), with the result that we fail fully to recognize that God’s work transcends any particular social structure. “History reveals that far more have suffered and died under nationalism’s banner of God and country than under relativism’s rallying cry of ‘whatever’” (p. 76). We must resist the temptation to use God to subsidize the political purposes of any given nation.

Under moral relativism, the authors distinguish the relatively small number of (principled?) moral relativists who are convinced by philosophical arguments from the far more common “moral relativists” (in quotation marks) who are simply anti-legalistic or anti-absolutist from a reactionary stance. The weak link here is that relativism’s insistence upon tolerance toward all perspectives implies an appeal to a non-negotiable, universal good, an irony now widely recognized. They also point out that, practically speaking, relativism concerning right and wrong flies out the window when we find ourselves victims of others’ wrongdoing—the laws by which every society chooses to live indicates that there are always limits to acceptable tolerance.

The belief that the essence of the universe is matter—and nothing else—is addressed in the chapter on scientific naturalism (a less cumbersome moniker than the more accurate term anti-supernaturalism). While I find myself in agreement with nearly everything in this chapter, I am somewhat troubled acceding the term “scientific” over to the naturalists. It is certainly true that atheistic humanists or secularists usually claim that science is on their side, but I would resist granting that point. Our authors rightly argue that the “laws” which describe the material world are themselves immaterial, and thereby fail to meet naturalism’s own criteria for reality. They also maintain that the conceptually necessary corollary to this view is determinism, which most people find unsatisfying in explaining all human behavior.

Their chapter on New Age is cleverly subtitled, “Are We Gods or Are We God’s?” I’m not convinced that the name “new age” should continue to be used when, in my contact with those embracing these beliefs, they do not use this term for themselves (“so 1970’s!”), preferring to accept the term “spiritualist.” Wilkens and Sanford cast the two-tiered epistemology of spiritualism as “logos” (an acceptance of much left-brained logical and scientific thought regarding the material world) and “gnosis” (becoming attuned to the metaphysical alternative realities through nonscientific, mystical, and intuitive means). They helpfully point out that “New Age and naturalism are monistic” in that while naturalism reduces all reality to the material world, New Age reduces all reality to the divine—everything is god (p. 127).

Their chapter on Postmodern Tribalism may be the strongest chapter in the book in that it explains postmodernism, a term widely used but poorly understood, in a manner easily grasped by nonprofessionals. Truth here is seen as socially constructed, dependent neither upon the autonomous, objectively rational individual (neither possible nor desirable) nor upon the grand totalizing schemes that lay claim to universality (which have given rise to oppression and war), but upon the values embraced by one’s own like-minded tribe. The authors demonstrate that they are neither enamored with the cultural story postmodern tribalism nor merely reactionary against it. The both draw insights from its critiques of modernism and enumerate its shortcomings.

In the chapter on salvation by therapy, the reject the oft-encountered wholesale rejection of psychology of some conservatives while pointing out how the models of Freud, Skinner, and Rogers proceed from assumptions incompatible with biblical anthropology—they pose an alternative religion. Wilkens and Sanford also describe the Family Systems approach, allowing for a more direct appropriation within the field of Christian counseling.

In the concluding two chapters they address Christian theism, laying out its contours along narrative rather than propositional lines, followed by guidelines for developing a worldview using the Wesleyan “quadrilateral” resources of Scripture, reason, experience, and tradition.

For this reviewer, it is an encouraging sight to see Christian worldview studies developing in new directions. While Naugle and Sire have both rightly pointed out that worldviews are better conceived as life narratives than systems of thought, Wilkens and Sanford have here joined the emerging ranks of others (e.g. Bartholomew & Goheen, Mohler, Walsh & Middleton, Newbigin, MacIntyre, Wright) who are making fresh contributions using this dimension. Coupling this together with the insight that most people acquire their own world-story through encounter with popular culture(s) rather philosophical systems yields a much more accessible, realistic, and readable picture for their targeted audience. This kind of “cultural exegesis” (Vanhoozer) is a skill which Christians will need to gain if they wish to enter into actual conversation with those outside our circles rather than merely lobbing critiques in the general direction of the “enemy.” Kudos to Wilkens and Sanford for a thought-provoking, current, and enjoyable text!

— Dr. Ray Lubeck

©1983 Harcourt Eng. Trans. from ©1980 Il Nome della Rosa

The Name of the Rose is the first novel by this acclaimed Italian literary critic. And because Eco is a well read literary critic, he makes many references and allusions to other books, which can make it difficult for a reader to follow if they do not know the other works. The story is set in the 1300's in Europe with the focus on two monks, one, the narrator, is a Benedictine monk named Adso; the other is his teacher, William, who is a Franciscan friar.

William and Adso are brought to an Abby in order to facilitate a meeting between men representing the pope in Italy, and men representing the pope in Avignon, France. However, upon arriving at the Abby, William and Adso discover that something is awry: someone has been murdered at the Abby. Thus, they set out to solve this murder before the popes' men arrive, and the meeting is hampered.

Through this initial murder, William and Adso are drawn into a string of murders, deceptions, mysteries and lies, all of which center around the mysterious library in the center of the Abby.

Throughout the course of the story, the reader discovers that no one is good. Each faction of monks, or pope's men, or friars all has its faults or deep sins. And each group offers an appearance of being “holy,” but this merely masks their underlying faults and biases. Thus, Eco portrays a negative view of the Catholic Church in general. This is also supported by the fact that the protagonists, William and Adso, champion reason over against the Church’s traditions.

In the end of the book, readers discover that many of the murders revolve around a homosexual love-triangle within the Abby. However, this is only a pseudo-motivation for the murders; in fact, one of the oldest monks in the Abby is murdering people to keep a secret safe. The secret is that he has acquired a book by Aristotle on comedy. The book champions laughter as something good, while the older monk sees it is frivolity at best and a sin at worst. The older monk could not bring himself to destroy Aristotle's work, since it is the only one, but he does not want to bring it to the public eye, because Aristotle's reasoning contradicts the Church’s tradition.

Thus, The Name of the Rose reflects a critical pessimism towards the church and anything religious. Followers are either hypocrites or they are blind. The only characters that seem somewhat sane are those who champion reason and intellect. And eventually the murders and the mystery are solved by William’s superior reason. Finally, Eco uses a plethora of symbols and signs throughout the book. This allows the reader to interpret them as they will which lines up with Eco's theory of reader-centered interpretation.

—Matt R.

In the late months of 2004, Frank Warren had a thought. Why not distribute thousands of postcards to random people, asking them to write down a secret they had never told anyone. They would then mail the cards back to him anonymously. The response was overwhelming. Cards began to pour in from all over the globe. Warren, so impressed with the response, began posting a sampling of the cards every week online. It became apparent, though, that this was an opportunity for the world to see the world. Therefore, Warren took a large chunk of the postcards and filled a 300-page book with them. In this book, the pages are stuffed with color photographs of the postcards. These postcards are sometimes humorous: “I love to pee when I’m swimming”; sometimes simple: “shoplift”; but mostly they let us see into the darkest corners of human life. It is here that issues of denial, fear, hatred, and regret run rampant. Many of the postcards are as profound as anything I’ve ever seen on any billboard. The common theme throughout the majority of the postcards is one of disillusionment. A lot of the postcards also deal with atheistic questions. Therefore, this book is not the cheeriest read, but it is quite informative as to what the world is at its core. It turns out that the things we think make us so different from one another are actually the ties the bind all of humanity. Everyone questions things, everyone regrets, everyone wonders. It’s what we do with those questions that matters.

-- Peter

Goodkind transports the reader to a fantasy world inhabited by wizards, sorceresses, dragons, and other magical life forms.  He weaves together a brilliant saga spanning nations and millennia and bringing together personalities of every sort.

The story centers on Richard Rahl.  Though raised in a small town by a simple woodsman, Richard is a war wizard, one of the most powerful types of wizards, and the first war wizard to be born in 3000 years.  His story is one of discovery and revolution as he learns who he is and how to use his “gift” or what we would call magic.

Early on in the story, Richard meets Kahlan Amnell, the Mother Confessor of the Midlands .  Though not a wizard of a sorceress, Kahlan also possesses a magic so powerful that she and others like her are feared and hated wherever they are known.  Her power released on a man or woman will cause them to suddenly develop and unnatural and absolute loyalty to her.

Together, the war wizard and the mother confessor embark on an extravagant adventure that will completely transform each other them as well as the world they live in.

Spiritual themes play a large part in the world of the story.  Underlying motivations for people’s actions are determined by whether they serve the Creator or the Keeper.  The Creator brings life and the Keeper seeks to consume it.  These two are similar to God and Satan except that they are portrayed as equals, perpetually balancing each other out.  Furthermore, they are portrayed as being distant and uninterested except for when they must use people as agents to accomplish their own ends.

 In addition to the Creator and the Keeper, the good spirits play a prominent role.  These are the spirits of the ancestors who now dwell in the underworld.  They are inaccessible except through special ceremonies, yet the characters frequently pray for the blessings and protection of the good spirits.

Goodkind’s story relies heavily on magic.  In the world that he creates, magic is a gift that certain people are born with.  Those with the gift learn how to access and control their “han” or life force or internal energy.  Their han is an extension of themselves by which they can exert power over the natural world.

 With an incredible myriad of characters and over three thousand years of fictional history, this series of books cannot be neatly labeled with one worldview.  Rather, there are several that intertwine together.

The worldview of western spiritualism is the essential perspective presented throughout the book, as seen in a number of factors, including the spirits of the ancestors and the life energy of the wizards which play such a large part. However, in keeping with the eclectic nature of western spiritualism, elements from other worldviews are infused in the storyline: Deism is seen in that there is a god figure, but he remains mostly detached from creation, as well as humanism, because even though there is a god, the characters act as if they are their own gods.  The characters determine for themselves what they will do and how they will act and only pray to the Creator when they need help.

The books by R.A. Salvatore are a great compilation of fantasy novels that are action packed with a minimum of sexual vulgarity and crude language they make a wonderful read.  The protagonist of the series is an elf by the name of Drizzt Do’Urden.  This unique dark elf is one of a kind, literally.  He is a descendant of a race of evil elves that are the epitome of everything that is wrong with life.  R.A. Salvatore uses this elf’s life experience to pose questions for society of today.  Mostly the issues that are dealt with are those of racism and religion.  The primary view that is portrayed by Salvatore would mostly fall into a category of new age pantheism.  There are many gods and some are good and others are bad, however if one serves a good god then they are a blessing.  The service one gives to a god however is very unlike contemporary religions.  The god one serves is dependent upon the spirit that resides with in a man.  Serving a god is not a choice necessarily. According to Salvatore one must find what god we are orientated with and then carry on life being true to ourselves and in that way we are being true to our god.  There are many references to self empowerment and meditation and of course being a fantasy novel magic.  

--Joshua R-Y

The DaVinci Code, written by Dan Brown, is a fascinating thriller based on the age-old mystery of the Holy Grail and Jesus the Nazarene.  Spiritually controversial and masterfully written, this book has received a lot of attention and has been followed by numerous books approving, disproving and discussing the ideas and myths presented in this novel.  As thrilling as any murder mystery, the ultimate riddles and giftedness of the author make it a good read for anyone. 

     The story begins with a murder, and we see that a secret is about to be lost.  The story then follows a symbologist and a cryptographer as they run to save their lives, as well as a secret that has been left for them to find.  As pieces fall into place, the story takes an unexpected turn.  The more that is revealed, the stranger the novel becomes.  Yet the believability of the secret is given more ground as the history of people and events is told in a new and convincing way.  The secret of the DaVinci Code is hidden in Leonardo DaVinci’s art, sketches and coded writings.  In DaVinci’s day this information would have been pronounced heresy, and he could have lost his life, so he transmitted his secrets across the centuries through hidden messages.

     The amount of symbology, metaphors, hidden clues and history—whether true or not—builds toward a powerful novel.  So why do Christians seem so worried about it?  The answer is in the impact that it’s having today.  Having just come out in 2003, it exploded on the ratings within weeks and is still at the top of the charts with more than eight million copies in print.  This is a religious novel, and its impact continues to reverberate most loudly in the religious sector. 

     One sect/cult that has a large part in the novel is Opus Dei, an actual sect of Catholicism, which is a subject of controversy because of reports of brain-washing, coercion, and “corporal mortification”.  One of the men chasing this book’s hero and heroine is a member of this sect, and as this assassin gets closer and closer, we see more of “The Way.” One of the most astonishing of its practices, called “The Discipline”, is a form of penance for sin, and is willingly self-administered by the Opus Dei members when a sin has been committed.  They believe that it brings healing and cleansing for wrongs that have been done, using “the end justifies the means” rationale.  This cult is always portrayed in a demeaning way in the story, and the members of it are hypocritical, power-hungry, and misled, using murder and deception to find the grail. 

     Another cult that plays a large role in the story is the Priory of Sion.  It, too, is an actrual society, started by Godefroi Boullion, a French king who conquered Jerusalem in 1099.  Legend has it that his family had kept a secret since the time of Christ.  No one knows exactly what that secret is, but it supposedly includes the Holy Grail and secret documents that reveal the true nature of the grail.  The location of these documents and the truth of the Holy Grail are known only by the top four members of the Priory to this day.

     The trail of clues that Robert Langdon and Sophie follow lead from questioning the holiness of the Bible, the deity of Christ, and the fundamental beliefs of the church, to proposing that Jesus was married and had a child, beginning a bloodline that continues to this day.   These and other issues surrounding the book were brought up on an edition of 20/20 this summer with some interesting comments made by theologians and the author himself.  Dan Brown stated that he started out as a skeptic, but through research was convinced of the accuracy and truthfulness of this alternative history. 

     The story of the life of Christ as told by Robert Langdon and Professor Teabing is very different from the account we find in the Bible.  As Robert Langdon states, the theory presented in this novel is as confirmable as the Bible. 

The Sangreal Documents (part of the DaVinci secret) simply tell the other side of the Christ story.  In the end which side of the story you believe becomes a matter of faith and personal exploration, but at least the information has survived.

     So what worldview is this novel portraying?  There is some theism (Opus Dei), and the secret of the Holy Grail is following the life of Christ, so it looks like it could be a Christian novel.  Even though it stems from the life of Jesus and the writings of the Bible and other books of the apostles, it is different from the beliefs of Christianity in some major areas. The Priory of Sion and the alternate story of Jesus that this cult supports is emphasized throughout the book.  Almost all of the characters agree with its beliefs and that this cult has the truth about how Christianity began.  The cult itself is spiritualist because of its belief in dual godship (bi-theism) between the male and female gods, and finding harmony in nature and among humans by expressing the harmony between male and female in the sacred sexual act (yin and yang, etc.).  It may to try to pass off as a “Christian” novel, but don’t be fooled.  The themes of the “alternate” gospels are decidedly against the Bible, and lay the foundation for the Priory and its spiritualistic beliefs. 

     Overall, The DaVinci Code is a thrilling and thought-provoking novel that is worth reading because it forces the reader to consider what s/he believes because it is all about faith.

--Liz

Ayn Rand wrote Atlas Shrugged in 1957. You may ask why I have decided to review a book over fifty years after its publication. Outside of the Bible, Atlas Shrugged has been the single greatest influence in shaping my worldview, which is ironic because the Objectivism that it embodies sets it staunchly against Christianity in almost every critical area. Atlas Shrugged is composed of heroes who hold to a vantage that is thoroughly modernistic, atheistic naturalism vantage point. This comes to light in both their speech and actions, and is praised throughout the book by Rand’s plot advancements.

For half a century now this novel has been key in shaping the thinkers of America. Rand coined her own philosophy Objectivism, which has been both subtly and overtly influencing peoples’ reasoning and values. Among other things, objectivism purports, “It is true that freedom, rights, and capitalism are selfish. It is also true that selfishness, properly defined, is the good,” according to the Ayn Rand Institute.

Commenting on the book, Rand herself states:
Man—every man—is an end in himself, not a means to the ends of others; he must live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself; he must work for his rational self-interest, with the achievement of his own happiness as the highest moral purpose of his life.

I was drawn in by the storyline—a very successful woman, Dagny Taggart, must battle an American society determined to leech off her efforts. She, her former lover, and his cohort John Galt recognize that society in its current state must be killed in order to gain a free society. She comes to the gripping realization that her over-optimism and over-confidence are prolonging the incurable problem in American society.

Craftily embedded within an intriguing storyline is the thought-provoking reasoning of the philosophers found therein. These well-developed arguments echo in the reader’s mind long after the closing lines have been read. I found myself listening to the characters in Atlas Shrugged as I thought through some of my own views on social action.

But there is something even more troubling—when Rand presents assumptions and opinions stated as fact. The many incremental logical steps, taken individually, may never raise a flag in the reader’s mind. But after 1100 pages, he or she can be lulled into being convinced of the credibility of the entire philosophy, despite having never consciously making such a choice. (My father pointed out one such inconsistency after hearing my impassioned parroting of a normative view found in Atlas Shrugged.)

In terms of literary style and persuasive narrative, I would take this lengthy and meaty story over the hackneyed fluff-writing of most Christian authors. Contrasted with most of the religious fiction genre, Atlas Shrugged is a story of which I could not grasp in all its nuances on a first or even second reading. The writing is superbly crafted and the topics discussed are as relevant today as they were fifty-plus years ago when Rand set down to write this tale. Whether or not the reader agrees with Rand’s philosophy, this is a story worth reading and probably reading again.

--Joi

This story begins with an elderly man, Eddie, living out the last hour of his life unbeknownst to him.  He dies a tragic, sacrificial death and then is transported to heaven where the real journey of the story begins.  In heaven he moves from one world to the next meeting different people and learning a lesson from each person he meets. He is able to see things that he never knew about himself and others, and also he is able to forgive, love, and heal. The end of the story brings startling facts to light and then leaves us watching Eddie wait in his ideal heaven or “home” until it is his turn to be one of the five people.

After the completion of Mitch Albom’s book titled The Five People You Meet in Heaven, I walked away with a feeling of uncertainty and forced happiness. The lessons taught to the main character, Eddie, through the five people that he either knew or was associated with on earth, in some way, shape or form, left me pondering what life was about but not of what heaven will be like. I think this was Albom’s point too. 

Throughout the story Albom constantly is making statements through his characters that I believe present his worldview about the purpose of life here on earth and an imaginative picture of what “heaven” will be like.  The gist of the story is put at the very end and stated as the “secret of heaven.” The narrator says, “…the secret of heaven: that each affects the other and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one” (196).  We are all interconnected and not one of us is separate from another. How we live and breathe is going to affect one person and ultimately everyone whether or not we accept that fate.

Another interesting statement made by the first person Eddie meets in heaven is “Each of us was in your life for a reason. You may not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth” (35).  The same character then explains that understanding your life is the greatest gift that God can give and that is what heaven is all about.  One critic said that the book “explores the unexpected connections of our lives, and the idea that heaven is more than a place, it’s an answer…”

God is mentioned around four times in the book but as a very far away distant figure of superiority (Deism). He is not involved in the process of learning, and the only thing he says in the whole book is “Home” when Eddie reaches his heaven after he is done visiting the five people’s heavens. The book as a whole is very creative, captivating, and a good read.  However, the twist comes in when people start adopting this view of eternity and the purpose of life: there is an afterlife, a heaven that reveals all about the mysteries of life on earth, and everyone goes to heaven to meet their five people and then become one for someone else.  After reading this, I felt that Albom was saying that we cannot know or understand anything while we are here on earth and that’s ok. We shouldn’t worry about it because it will all be explained to us when we get to heaven.

The website for the book opens with a flash media of the following statements: “Each person is in your life for a reason….all endings are beginnings…there are five people you meet in heaven…life has to end, love doesn’t.”

http://www.albomfivepeople.com

--Laurie

When painter Paul Gauguin entitled his masterpiece Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, he identified some of the precise questions raised by John Whitehead in this study.  Whitehead, a civil liberties attorney and editor of the magazine Gadfly, very capably presents an interdisciplinary investigation which traces the interplay of history, philosophy, literature, art, science, music, film, and culture.

Written immediately at the close of the millennium, Whitehead offers a history of 20th Century culture-where we've been, what it means to be human, and where we are going-all as viewed from the perspective of one clearly adhering to a biblical theistic worldview.

He provides an historical context for the 20th century by backing up into the 1700's and the philosophical and artistic movements which gave impetus to the movements and styles of the last century.  Against the backdrop of Voltaire and Rousseau, Oscar Wilde and Arthur Rimbaud, he traces contemporary culture through to computers, MTV, and cloning.

Along the way he provides a fascinating tour of the styles, techniques, and messages of the artists and figures which have so shaped contemporary society.  With 32 color plates in addition to over 50 black and white photos, this book is a literary scrapbook of 20th century politics (McCarthy, JFK, Watergate, Reagan), philosophy (Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus), social science (Freud, Jung, Margaret Mead), music (Chuck Berry, Elvis, Dylan, the Beatles, John Cage, Springsteen, Cobain, Madonna, Spears), literature (Huxley, Kafka, Elliot, Fitzgerald, Orwell, Hemingway, Ginsberg), art (Picasso, Goya, Dali, Warhol), film (Hitchcock, James Dean, Clockwork Orange, Apocalypse Now, Forrest Gump, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Fight Club), television (I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone, All in the Family, The Simpsons),  social activists (Margaret Sanger, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jane Fonda, Abbie Hoffman, SDS, Betty Friedan), and other notable figures (Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Hugh Heffner, Marshall McLuhan).

While necessarily selective (for example, his focus is clearly upon Western and especially American developments), this book is superbly suited as a general introduction to the symbiotic relationship between the arts and culture at large.  I would highly recommend it to those seeking to understand how those in the 20th century sought to understand the meaning of life.

For those who would rather "wait for the movie," there is good news.  Whitehead has also produced a 7-part video series by the same name which has won several awards.

[written by] Ray Lubeck