“But dost thou love life,” Ben Franklin wrote in “The Way to Wealth,” “then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of …”
Do I squander — what a delightful word! — time? Probably, but less now than I did 60 years ago, when watching television for a couple of hours wasn’t at all unusual, though I often stood up from the chair or sofa feeling a bit dizzy and disoriented. Old age makes time more precious, and this oldster is too grateful for yet another day to waste too many minutes.
The swift passage of days and months at my age means selectivity in the books I read, which in turn means other books pile up and will remain unread. These come from friends and family, or from individuals and publishers seeking a review. Recently, for example, an advance copy of Michael Anton’s 640-page “Studies in Machiavellian Political Philosophy” arrived unrequested in the mail. With apologies to the author, this one will be going to a daughter-in-law who is earning a Ph.D. in political science.
Other books stacked on my living room table, either partially read or at least perused, deserve some nod of recognition, so here we go.
Edited by Kevin Roberts, “Higher Education in America: It’s Worse Than You Think” is a collection of articles about the state of our universities and colleges. I’ve read two of the essays, one of which, George Harne’s “The Leadership Problem,” I particularly enjoyed. Harne is the relatively new president of Christendom College, a small Catholic liberal arts school which graduated all four of my children. Getting Harne’s take on leadership in education was interesting, and his ideas seemed sound. My one complaint about the book would be the other contributors, the majority of whom come from think tanks, generally conservative, rather than from hands-on, in-the-trenches professors and college administrators.
Jared Horvath’s “The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning — and How to Help Them Thrive Again” already appeared, I believe, in a brief prior reference in this column, but I’ve since read more from it. Horvath analyzes the damage done by overreliance on tech in the classroom, yet unlike some other critics, he believes there’s room for digital learning in our schools when combined with books, paper, pencils, and pens. Teachers and parents might find this book valuable as a practical guide for creating this balance.
“The Statesman as Thinker: Portraits of Greatness, Courage, and Moderation,” by Daniel J. Mahoney, is a frequent visitor to my hands and eyes, but I’ve never read the book in its entirety. Chiefly, it has done its duty as a source of information and inspiration for some other writing. Here are portraits of politicians and statesmen like Cicero, Lincoln, and Vaclav Havel, heroic figures who in times of crisis and turmoil battled in one way or the other for liberty.
Now for a change of pace as we turn to a work of fiction. Paul Clayton’s collection of stories, “Seeing Sunny Again,” takes us to the latter half of the 20th century. The characters here are what we would today call working and middle class, with several set in Vietnam during the war. With gritty realism, Clayton captures those times, the fashions, the music, the zeitgeist, in giving us a look into the young of that time. “The Trick,” one of three stories I read featuring adolescents, is about a teenager who freaks out after being introduced to a beautiful girl who turns out to be an amputee. The story left me baffled, but raised lots of thoughts, which is a good thing. The final story, “The Trip to Chilton,” brings us one of the old men who have lived through these years and an ending which is both surprising and beautiful.
Coming in the next few weeks will be three reviews of books actually read.
First up will be Noelle Mering’s “No Contact: How a Seductive Ideology Broke Families and Friendships and How We Can Repair Them.” Out on September 8, this is one I’ve finished and will be recommending as a five-star read.
Long-time writer about tech issues and M.I.T. Professor Sherry Turkle has a book that came out in September, “Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines.” I’ve only just started this in-depth look by an expert into AI companionship and look forward to sharing Turkle’s thoughts with you.
Lance Holland’s latest book, “The Little Tennessee River: Following the Cherokee Path,” is due in my mailbox this week, with a review appearing here soon afterwards.
Keep on reading, everyone, preferably from books.
(Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust On Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning As I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” minick0301@gmail.com .)