Category: Uncategorized

If six years ago you were to tell me my favorite book would be an epic, philosophical, economic thriller written by an atheist, I would have assumed that you don’t know me. Nonetheless, I went through Atlas Shrugged three years in a row (2015-2017), and each read deepened my affinity for the book.

Atlas Shrugged grabbed my attention immediately with the characters. Because the story is philosophical in nature, many of the characters are idealistic, yet Ayn Rand writes intriguing backstories for these people. I often found that it was my interest in the characters that spurred me onward in the story. Let me introduce just a few of the protagonists: Continue reading “Atlas Shrugged”

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

1 Kings 19:11-12

It’s strange that I find myself drawn to water, considering that I almost drowned when I was five. I was exploring a field with my brother, took a false step, and found myself in another dimension: air was replaced by water, warmth with cold, peace with fear—I couldn’t swim. A scream goes nowhere in water; it drifts around your head in vacant bubbles. The experience left me terrified of deep waters, yet I always find myself drawn to lakes, ponds, and oceans. Fear is like water, like drowning. It slows movement and brings a unique degree of clarity to life. It shows what we love; it reveals our faith.

***

I never considered myself a fearful person. My mild arachnophobia was an acceptable trait; my acrophobia disappeared in high school, after a week on a high-ropes course; and the phantoms of my childhood hydrophobia, repressed by swimming lessons, resided only as tokens of the past. All things considered, my worries were generally healthy and relegated to practical areas of my life. The last time that panic ran rampant in my thoughts was when I stumbled across a timber rattlesnake. My mind was contemplating the dietary habits of black bass, and his senses were absorbed in basking. Our acquaintance was brief and professional. Continue reading “When I Am Afraid”

I first ran into The Count of Monte Cristo in movie form, when I was a freshman or sophomore in high school. I was living in the Philippines, my parents were out of town, and a typhoon was blowing in. As I was watching, the protagonist, Edmond, had just gotten out of prison when the power went out, and when the power went out in the Philippines, it might not turn back on for day or even weeks. I was so caught up in the story that I went outside in the middle of the typhoon and started our generator so that I could keep watching the movie.

A few years later, I was concluding my second senior year of high school (I was a particularly motivated student) and borrowed the book from the library. It took me at least a month to finish, maybe two. Reading the book wasn’t a pivotal experience and I didn’t enjoy the book the way I enjoyed the movie.

Then six or seven years later, after I’d finished my English degree and written my first book, I got the audiobook for The Count of Monte Cristo. This second time through, I realized that the book is brilliant. It was still a journey to get through—389,180 words or 1,276 pages—but I listened to it in back-to-back years. Each time I listened, I understood more and appreciated it in deeper ways. While I still like the movie, I now see it as less than a shadow of the book.

My two favorite elements to the book are its plot and its wit: Continue reading “The Count of Monte Cristo”