Behold... the Man!

Behold... the Man!
by Charles Swindoll
Though I've heard and read the story of the Jesus' death many times over the course of many years, it's amazing how much there is still left to learn.

Swindoll hits many lesser known backgrounds and details of Jesus' final day leading up to the crucifixion. He bases most on the four gospels with some historical accounts. The book begins with the Last Supper and ends at the cross with a short Epilogue addresses the question of why it all happened. The whole book is fairly concise at only 108 pages.

Especially helpful were the included charts in chapter four on the chronology of events and on Jesus' six trials. Most fascinating was chapter five: "The Man Who Missed His Cross" (focusing on the released Barabbas).

My only criticism is merely a personal one. I've never been the biggest fan of Swindoll's writing style--it feels slightly dated. Still, the book is very readable and the content makes it a valuable piece.

Worth the read. You will never view the cross the same again.


GRADE:
_ B _ _ _
Not fantastic writing, but great (and concise) content.

Edward Elgar: Memories of a Variation

Edward Elgar: Memories of a Variation
by Dora M. Penny Powell (Mrs. Richard Powell)
Edward Elgar was either genius or crazy--and I'm leaning toward genius. The orchestra composer interwove a complex puzzle into his music that has since been left unsolved after his death.

This book recounts Elgar's life with emphasis on his second most famous musical piece, "Enigma Variations" (his first was "Pomp and Circumstance"). Enigma takes a basic theme and spins it into 14 variations, each cryptically based on a friend of Elgar.

The identity of the friends have all been discovered. (The author of the book inspired Variation 10, entitled "Dorabella Intermezzo.") But greater still is the overarching enigma. Elgar himself wrote in 1899 (recorded in the book):

"The Enigma I will not explain -- it's 'dark saying' must be left unguessed, and I warn you that the apparent connexion between the Variations and the Theme is often of the slightest texture; further, through and over the whole set another and larger theme 'goes', but is not played... the chief character is never on stage."

Enigma is the perfect word for it (and for him!).

Elgar's Enigma was never solved. Neither was his famous Dorabella Cipher, a cryptic letter to the author shown in the book appendix. Some of the world's top cryptologists have tried to solve it, but no one has... yet.

A fascinating book on a fascinating man, particularly for the puzzle-lover.


GRADE:
_ B _ _ _
The writing wasn't great, but I curved up for sheer interestingness of topic.

Giants

Giants
by Charles DeLoach
This isn't some Lord of the Rings fantasy piece. An ex-journalist with no agenda except mere fascination undertook a comprehensive combing of history books for actual accounts of giants over the ages.

The book style is A to Z reference format, but I used the Chronological Index in the back to follow their timeline--much easier. Biblical giantry is particularly well-accounted, though he also records many giants outside that era.

While most is recorded history, DeLoach also includes a slight bit of his own commentary. His "Origin of the Giants" theory is a bit far-fetched and over-extended in my opinion, but his take on "Graveyards of the Giants" is well-founded. He writes:

"Since they are people, even historians are sometimes given to exaggeration, and a few now and then even to outright lying. So can we really believe that some giants stood fourteen, seventeen, or even twenty-two feet tall? We can, for in addition to the historians' mostly reliable accounts, we have from the graveyards of the giants irrefutable evidence that some of that tremendous size once lived on earth."

Fascinating. Maybe David's Goliath story wasn't just a story after all.

For the person into historical giants, this is by far the best (and possibly only) book of its kind. Well worth reading.


GRADE:
_ B+ _ _ _
Comprehensive, but could've used a tidier format.