catapult magazine

Books 2004

by The *cino Community

Asterisk Award for Book in 2004: Crime and Punishment

by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

*Editor?s Note: It?s not a new book, we know, but it seemed to have an impact on our members in 2004 and we feel it?s appropriate to honor one of the most enduring art forms by giving this award to a classic.

What was the best work of fiction you read last year?

C.N.: Macbeth. Again and again and again. Macbeth is just really hard to beat. It may be my favorite again next year if you want to mark it down already.

D.A.: Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky.

A.S.: Tie between China Mieville’s The Iron Council and Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America.

J.H.: A tie between Life After God by Douglas Coupland and The Book of God by Walter Wangerin, Jr.?they?re the best works of fiction I read every year.

W.B.: Memoir from Antproof Case by Mark Helprin is hilarious and triumphant. I re-read Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky and was amazed what a powerful Christian message it has.

B.D.: Either The Good Earth, or The Namesake.

J.V.: Clive Barker’s Cold Heart Canyon. A bit on the perverse side but incredibly powerful imagery and storytelling that sucks the reader in.

K.V.: Robert Jordan?s Wheel of Time series. A group of kids who become unlikely heroes who wield incredible power but never lose their sense of being small town kids.

W.D.: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

K.M.V.: Well, I started it in 2004 and finished it in 2005, but I have to say the best fiction I read?perhaps in my whole life?was John Steinbeck?s East of Eden about the tension between universal patterns of human behavior and personal choice. Wonderful metaphors, character and story. I can?t wait to pick up more of his books.

R.R.: I finally got around to reading C.S. Lewis? Chronicles of Narnia this year and I thoroughly enjoyed each book.

What was the best work of non-fiction you read last year?

A.S.: Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone.

J.H.: Same reason as above: The Undertaking by Thomas Lynch and The John McPhee Reader.

W.B.: Between Memory and Vision by Steve Vryhof is a remarkably articulate vision of what Christian school ought to be (and sometimes is) and why it ought to be given a chance with government support (as Canada has recently done).

J.V.: The Image Of A Father by Brian Davis. A gift from my father with great wisdom on how to be a father to my children as God intended me to be.

K.V.: Calvinism in the LasVegas Airport by Richard Mouw?a great application of old theology for contemporary culture. It helped me fall in love with Reformed theology all over again.

W.D.: The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius.

K.M.V.: The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg. He doesn?t write from a faith perspective, but in his analysis of our cultural ailments, he?s right on in identifying our starvation for true community.

R.R.: I read almost exclusively non-fiction and almost everything I read was good in one way or another. If I had to pick, though, I?d probably choose Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation by Miroslav Volf. While it?s an incredibly difficult read, I?ve never read a more complete or compelling exploration of Christian reconciliation.

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Discussion: Books 2004

What would you add to the members? responses? What books, new or old, stood out for you in 2004?