The Problem of Pain
- Author: C.S. Lewis
Published in 1940, The Problem of Pain – the first in a popular series of six volumes on Christian doctrine written by C.S. Lewis – is a short, 157-page book that packs a major philosophical punch. For a patient, curious reader - - not normally your humble reviewer -- The Problem is a smoothly articulated, intuitive journey through the mind of a brilliant academic, one who reverted back to his faith in his early thirties after an intense period of informed and thoughtful atheism. Born in Belfast in 1898, Clive Staples Lewis demonstrated a penchant for independent thinking early, insisting on changing his name to Jack - a name that obviously did not stick - when he was only four years old. If there is any doubt about his superior brainpower, his illustrious career - teaching at Oxford University for more than thirty years, then at Cambridge for ten more until his death in 1963 - should stamp it out completely.
Things that Matter
- Author: Charles Krauthammer
Some books are winners the instant they are published by virtue of their authors. Charles Krauthammer’s latest title, Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics, is one such winner. Still, the book is a let down in two small but significant ways: as a collection of Krauthammer’s commentaries, a good portion of it is a re-read; and his essay on Jewish destiny is just plain wrong. More on this latter minor irritant later. Krauthammer, the most influential political commentator in America – so says the Financial Times – is one busy, high achieving conservative pundit. A Pulitzer Prize- winning writer and Harvard-trained medical doctor, Krauthammer – from his permanent wheelchair – pens a wildly popular weekly column syndicated to more than 400 newspapers worldwide.
Truth about Trudeau, The
- Author: Bob Plamondon
Want to know a secret? Former Canadian Prime Minister, the late Honorable Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was far from the great statesman and effective leader Canadians have been constantly told about. His flaws were many, and the extensive damage he did to Canada’s armed services, economy and international standing is too much to measure.
For those who admire intellectual prowess and charisma in their politicians, Trudeau did not disappoint. But for any Canadian who takes pride in the country’s political history, economic strength, world-wide reputation or military accomplishments, Trudeau was a total failure. For the first time since Canada’s fifteenth prime minister left office, permanently, in 1984, his flaws and immaturity are stringently outlined by Globe and Mail best selling writer Bob Plamondon in The Truth About Trudeau.
War and Peace
- Author: Leo Tolstoy
The book War and Peace, when it is talked about at all these days, it seems to me anyway, is referred to because it is so long. It’s often used as a joke to denounce someone’s long- windedness: “Hey, we’re just your lawyers, so you don’t have to give us War and Peace when you summarize your marital problems for these divorce proceedings”, or, “Hey, I’m expecting a brief history of the Nigerian Civil War for this essay assignment; War and Peace has already been written.”