The Stranger–A Review

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agnosticism, Albert Camus, Atheism, book review, books, literature, morality, quotes, reading, religion, The Stranger

I believe the last time I read The Stranger by Albert Camus was approximately 33 years ago. It was a joy to do so again. As a writer Camus is simply interesting to read.  If you per chance have never read this work or it has been decades since you have I would strongly recommend doing so again. I think you will find it fascinating.

As you are probably aware it was a philosophical stroke of genius at the time of it’s publishing. What I did not know was even though the book and it’s author are both celebrated for their elucidation of both existentialism and nihilism, Camus eschewed them both. And yet it was Sartre who gave the book it’s greatest publicity by an essay he published.

The story is quite compelling in it’s mundane reporting of extraordinary events and the emotionless response of the narrator. We pick this up in the very first line of the book:

“Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.”

Or when Meursault’s (the protagonist) lover, Marie, asks him if he would like to marry her: “I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to.”

The reader finds the very same tone being maintained whether the subject is death, abuse, love, sex, murder, or execution. It is as if the protagonist is viewing a play about himself from a distant, objective position and has little interest in what transpires. Interestingly enough the one subject in which we see Meursault get exorcised is religion. While the atheism of the protagonist is somewhat understated throughout the novel he has nothing but disdain for the chaplain, and, as it were, explodes on him.

One might think that is what would be expected from Camus, but he did not divorce himself from the religious to the extent that one might think. Leland Ryken points out that, “in an interview on the occasion of his receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, Camus said, ‘I have only veneration and respect for the person of Christ and for his life. I do not believe in his resurrection.’” It seems this is indicative of a spiritual seeking that went on for much of his brief life.

The Stranger is a very brief book (a mere 128 pages of text) and easily read but full of material to reflect on and even possibly discuss. Remind yourself of this very important philosophical classic.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

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book sales, books, literature, reading, used books

I am sorry, but this post has nothing to do with Christmas. Not only that, but I don’t really consider it the most wonderful time of the year–but it certainly is somewhere at the top of the list.

We have an organization in our fair city that mainly caters to the needs of the senior community. Probably the thing they are best known for though is their year long collection of book donations which on the first Thursday-Saturday in May are put on  display in the huge education building of our fairgrounds for the annual used book sale. This sale will consist of approximately 100,000 books of all sorts. This time I only spent about 2 1/2 hours at the sale and came out with about $27 worth of books.

Two things that I find happening at this specific sale. First, I don’t buy everything I might possibly use in this life or any future one . I usually collect a fairly healthy pile and then end up whittling it down when I actually decide what I am going to buy–although I didn’t put as many back this year as I normally do. Second, the realization that I am a rank amateur when it comes to these kind of sales (even though I have been attending them for a very long time). People are walking past me at the entrance (and I mean a lot of people) rolling very large carts which are either full of books or soon will be. These folks take their book shopping really seriously.

So here is what I actually walked out with. Let me know if you think I got a good buy:

4 hardback volumes in excellent condition of Sherlock Holmes from The Peebles Classic Library set: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, A Study in Scarlet/The Sign of the Four

An old, green, cloth covered (in quite good condition) volume of Coleridge’s Poems

The Constitution and What It Means Today, Edward S. Corwin. What drew me to this volume is that it was written in 1924 and thus should provide some interesting contrast as to how that same document was understood then and how it is understood today.

John Maxwell’s The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. I need to confess the reason that I bought this is because I have loaned mine out and I have no idea where it is. Remember the post the other day about loaning books?

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Doris Kearns Goodwin

My last two won’t mean much to you if you don’t live in the biblical/theological world:

The Story of the Cross, Leon Morris

Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament, Fritz Rienecker & Cleon Rogers–This was in a rather strange vinyl binding and I must admit that I don’t need it. I have one in perfectly good condition. However, this is such a great language study tool and in such great shape that I had to get it. I will probably give it away–$2–imagine that. I think I must have been like the dog lover who sees a stray animal along the side of the road and must pick up the puppy to make sure it gets a good home.

$27.00–How did I do?

There are two more days of the sale. I will try my best not to go back again.

A Passion for Books

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A Passion for Books, book review, books, bookstore, library, quotes, reading, Terry W. Glaspey

Since I have been writing about books lately I thought I would highlight and/or recommend a favorite book of mine–A Passion for Books by Terry W. Glaspey. This is not necessarily meant for a simple sit down read, as much as it is meant as a “gift book,” even though it is one I really enjoy going back to again and again. The back cover gives an accurate description of the “spirit” of this volume:

“Books are our lifelong companions. Whether it’s the feel of the leather binding or the musty smell of a used bookstore, books stir our senses and enrich our lives. From memories of a favorite childhood story to thought-provoking writings that changed our perspective, books have the power to transport us to new worlds, fill us with imaginative ideas, and connect us to the wealth of human experience.”

A Passion for Books is broken up into 8 brief chapters, “A Love Affair with Books,” “A Place to Read,” “Our Childhood Companions,” “No Place Like a Bookstore,” “The Lure of Libraries,” “Happiness is a Bound Book,” “Friends for Life,” and “Books as Spiritual Companions.” Each section is generously peppered with anecdotes and quotations and wonderful illustrations. If you have favorite quotes regarding books and reading they are sure to be included. The one I shared yesterday regarding the loaning of books came from these pages.

Since it was published in 1998 the subject of an ebook would be far from the author’s mind. It would be of great interest to know how that would affect, for good or ill, some of what is communicated here. So if you are a book hound this is a small book that you will find quite enjoyable. Let me leave you with some of my favorite statements from the abundance of what is offered:

“If the crowns of all the kingdoms of Europe were laid down at my feet in exchange for my books and my love of reading, I would spurn them all.” (Francois Fenelon)

“A home without books is like a room without windows. . . A little library, growing every year, is an honorable part of a man’s history. It is a man’s duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life.” (Henry Ward Beecher)

“My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read.” (Abraham Lincoln)

“Only three things are necessary to make life happy: the blessing of God, books, and a friend.” (Lacordaire)

“Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?” (Henry Ward Beecher)

On Being in the World

Yesterday’s post on Christians reading the classics prompted some important responses, among which was the struggle that some find themselves in as they make choices between what “should” be imbibed as a follower of Jesus. The difficulty is usually couched in biblical constraints such as “come out from among them and be separate” and that we are commanded to “be in the world, but not of it.” Alongside that is the reality that one of the main complaints the religious leaders in Jesus’ day had against Him was that He was a “friend of sinners.” And then when we see Paul on Mars Hill engaging the philosophers in debate, part of his apologetic tactic is quoting from some of their own literature.

As we translate into more contemporary issues with which we live, Christians find themselves questioning what kind of literature should they be reading, movies they should be watching, music they should be listening to, events they should be attending, people they should be spending time with, etc. I will suggest there are at least two ways of addressing this. The first necessitates being honest with yourself. While we can sound very “spiritual” about some of our motivations, we know our own hearts and we know the truth. If I am listening to obscenity-laced, over-sexualized music because I like listening to it–that is a problem. There is no justification. The same can be said of what I read, watch, etc. To be honest this is not where most Christians struggle.

The actual problem comes via a poor understanding of a biblical teaching which we errantly translate into a false dichotomy–it is what I call “Christian vs. Secular.” For the person who is operating within this description then whatever is specifically Christian (usually means it must be tagged with the name of Jesus) is good and everything else is bad (at worst) or useless (at best). Therefore we only read overtly Christian books, listen to overtly Christian music, watch overtly Christian movies, and hang out with only overtly Christian people. It is my hope that we are already beginning to see the problem. First, books, movies, and/or music cannot be Christian–they can be written or performed by Christians or for Christians and can even communicate biblical themes–but only people can be Christians. Secondly, if you are only hanging out with Christian people then there is clearly ways in which we are not modeling the ministry of Christ. Thirdly, we have deeply curtailed much which brings glory to God or witnesses to His work in the world.

Can the arts signify the glory of God? We have seen interpretive dance, paintings, photography, and such which speak volumes of the greatness and majesty of God without speaking a word. I have a friend whose wonderful photography highlights the beauty of the created order. Is God honored in that? How about the great works of orchestral music? Does it have to be signed “Soli Deo Gloria” before it can be an act of worship? How about a novel that points out both the depravity of humanity and the redemptive nature of the Cross–without the gospel ever being mentioned?

And then there is the other side of this argument. If I am in the world and I want to bring the gospel to bear upon an unchristian society is it incumbent upon to me to understand philosophies and worldviews? Should I understand things like existentialism, nihilism, post-modernism, and naturalism not to mention pantheism, skepticism, and atheism. If the musicians and the moviemakers are our modern poets and philosophers should I be conversant with their message(s)?

Can I and should I be glorigying God in all I do? Whether that be eating, drinking, or anything else. My fear is that we are far too comfortable in our Christian conclave/subculture, speaking our own language, and identifying with “our own type.” While I don’t mean to be offensive this is one of my problems with the little directory that lists many of the Christian businesses in a specific area. It is very reminiscent of a song by a very “unique” artist back in the 80′s by the name of Steve Taylor. In his song “Guilt by Association” he sang these words,

So you need a new car?
Let your fingers take a walk
Through the business guide for the “born again” flock
You’ll be keeping all your money
In the kingdom now
And you’ll only drink milk from a Christian cow

Maybe you’ll enjoy the whole thing

So what do you think?

Should Christians Read the “Classics?”

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Albert Camus, books, C.S. Lewis, christianity, chronological snobbery, classics, Gospel Coalition, intellectual laziness, intellectual pride, literature, reading, The Stranger

Over on the Gospel Coalition website (http://thegospelcoalition.org) an online reading club is being organized to read through a number of classics beginning with The Stranger by Albert Camus. Now unless you visit an amazingly unique Christian bookstore you will most likely not find a copy of this one on the shelf. In response to this article a discussion ensued and this one comment especially caught my attention:

I believe that there is a certain spirit of intellectual pride that permeates through the modern American churches. Mainly, that unless a Christian has read(reads) the so-called ‘great’ literature of the world, or even, dare I say, the great theological works of the past, one is not a complete Christian, or cannot be an intelligent person.

I consider myself an intelligent and reasonable person. But I am also very discriminating in what I spend time reading. I do not feel the need to read a certain book, just so that I can claim that I have read it.

I could not help but think of Twain’s definition of a classic–”a book that everybody talks about, but nobody reads.” There is so much encapsulated in the above comment that I am not sure where to start. First, I sometimes wish I could find some “intellectual pride” in the church–because most of what I see, with some few promising exceptions, is intellectual laziness. I am afraid that reading the classics is one temptation that many of the believers that I come into contact with find quite easy to resist.

Secondly is this issue of being “well-read.” I will agree that the idea of reading a “great” book so that you can say you read this great book is a pretty sub-par motivation. However, there is also the juxtapositioned question–why would an “intelligent person” not want to read the great books? Whether those are of literary or theological merit–seemingly ignoring what it was that have made these books stand the test of time. I believe this commenter could use a healthy dose of Lewis’ “chronological snobbery.”

This individual goes on to describe himself as “intelligent,” “reasonable,” and “discriminating in what I spend time reading.” If true, those are all good things. But I am prone to wonder what, in this persons mind,  the qualifications are for those descriptors. I am left to reflect on whether this person is also a critical thinker. I then wonder who he is reading. Because if he is reading from a Christian standpoint he is most likely reading either the fluff that overpopulates most of our Christian bookstores or the modern church thinkers (Piper, Zacharias, etc.) who are heavily influenced by and quote often from the authors he is more prone to dismiss. This translates into the truth that he is letting others do the intellectual work for him.

So should a Christian spend time reading the literary and theological classics? Yes! It is important to be “well read.” And not so you can go around telling everyone how well-read you are. In fact if you have to proclaim it then you probably aren’t. It is because to be “well read” usually translates into being “well-thought.” Another reason is because the writers of the great books were obviously great writers. Thus their use of language and flow of argument helps us to think and write well also. We also need to be astute in recognizing philosophies and worldviews with which we are being confronted on a regular basis and reading primary source material is the best way to understand them.These are simply a few reasons for consuming quality fare.

While it is important to ingest a steady diet of good literature, it is also vital that we plan what we will read. Maybe reading along with the Gospel Coalition project, or checking out the reading list at the back of How to Read a Book, or one of many other lists or recommendations that are available. However you do it, my encouragement is not so much to be well-read, but to read well.

Bibliosnobbery

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bestsellers, bibliosnobbery, book buying, book snob, book suggestions, books, fiction, goodreads, literature, non fiction, pastoral library, personal library, reading

A number of years ago, when I lived in a different part of the country, I had a friend who played bass guitar and loved bluegrass. So we would often make a trek to Borders, which for us was about a 45 minute drive, where we would temporarily part ways–I would head to the books, and he to the music. But while he loved bluegrass music he would never stoop to listen to, let alone purchase, what he simply referred to as “commercial” music–only the little known and independent bands would merit a listen from him. I would often tell him, and it was in great fun, what a musical snob he was.

I write today in the spirit of confession and humble self-disclosure that I fear I have become a bibliosnob. First, allow me to explain what I do not mean. I am not decrying the need for being a critical consumer. This is best illustrated, in my own experience, by what happens to a young pastor right out of seminary. Every time an older pastor retires and offers books from his well-stocked library he/she will take everything he/she might be willing to give. They will ravage every used bookstore they can find and go on a buying spree as often as they possibly can. I would imagine this same type of behavior is true outside of the world of the clergy. What results is bookshelves lined with volumes that will never be read or referred to and that will most likely either take up needed space or will eventually be sold or given away. Hopefully as this undisciplined reader gets more literary experience under his/her belt the buying habits begin to get more refined and they begin to understand the types of books that are most useful and worthy for money to be budgeted in that direction. That is not snobbery–that is simply spacial and fiscal wisdom.

However, here is where the snobbery comes into play. At least 3 times I have commenced and suspended an account on goodreads. The reason is because I get there and I realize hardly anyone is reading what I am reading. I could not stomach most of what is being read–neither morally nor quality wise. I look at bestseller lists and they are either fluff or mental junk food. As much as I think I would like to sit down and read a brainless novel on occasion just for relaxation purposes I cannot bring myself to do it. If I do possess the wherewithal to start it I will rarely finish it. Every once in a while I will get a fiction recommendation from someone whose judgment I really trust and it is possible that I might read 1 or 2 a year at tops. Because as I start to read this lighter fare I immediately think about all the good books that are waiting to be consumed.Now I might add (and this only further confirms my snobbery) that I do put the literary classics in a category other than mundane modern fiction.

So just as I was about to settle into my spirit of self-aggrandizement I came across an article that made me contemplate my almost-settled literary bias. The article was appropriately entitled, “6 Reasons You Should ‘Waste’ Your Time Reading Fiction.” (http://marccortez.com/2011/05/16/6-reasons-you-should-waste-your-time-reading-fiction/) Here are the reasons:

1. Fiction Reveals Truth

2. Fiction Strengthens the Imagination

3. Fiction Manifests Beauty

4. Fiction Expands Horizons

5. Fiction Makes Better Writers

6. Fiction is Fun

Well, after being thoroughly chastised, I may at least think about a momentary foray down “the other aisle.” Although I wonder if it is too late to teach an old reading dog new reading tricks. Just in case I might be willing to give it another try do you have any good suggestions?

Happy reading to all my fellow snobs

C.S. Lewis and the “dangers of love”

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books, C.S. Lewis, love, quotes, The Four Loves

It has been posted many times and I am sure many times today. But I am afraid that on this day I must post it again. It is such a powerful statement of the “dangers of love” by C.S. Lewis from The Four Loves:

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.

But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.

Atheist Myths

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agnosticism, Atheism, books, C.S. Lewis, christianity, Christmas, flash mob, God, literature, myth-making, mythology, myths, quotes, Tolkien, Truth

As we all know at this time of year there are a number of traditions we celebrate. One of my favorites is the one that comes in response to the fact that at Christmas there is more Jesus talk than at a Tim Tebow interview–that is of course the annual American Atheist anti-Christmas/Christian billboard campaign. Not that I enjoy their message as much as I enjoy giving it my own interpretation. If you have not seen the new one it looks like this:

When I saw this I thought about three distinct possibilities.

#1–This was one of those reverse multiple choice questions. Something akin to “Choose the one that is not the myth.” Of course the answer to that one is pretty simple.

#2–Another possibility was to maintain their obvious meaning but to edit the sign a little bit. What we could do is replace the picture of Jesus with the symbol of atheism and then replace the words at the top with “2.1 billion people in the world know myths when they see them.”

#3–Ask the question with the actual understanding of “myth.” The way we use that word on a popular level would be to describe something which is “a fable, a fiction, a widely believed untruth.” Here are the 3 definitions given in the Merriam dictionary:

A. A usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon.

B. A popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially : one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society.

C. A person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence.

I think it is pretty clear that the last definition is not only our common vernacular usage, but also the way our billboard originator has chosen to use it. But what if we employed usage A or B? You will notice that in the classic or literary use of the term myth the veracity of the story does not into play it’s use at all. In other words, the details of the myth may be factually true or they may be fictional–what is important of the myth are what truth or truths are being communicated.

Go with me now to my favorite author, C.S. Lewis. Even though Lewis, as an academic, was well versed in the old Norse myths, he spoke of myths as “lies breathed through silver.” However, while Lewis initially felt the myth concept was worthless, his very good friend was among the greatest of the modern myth-makers, J.R.R. Tolkien. What gradually happened to Lewis was first realizing that myth was a potential carrier of truth (of which Christianity was one of many competing ones) to the place where he would begin to speak of Christianity as “the one true myth.” He wrote, “The story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened.” Much of this understanding is clearly on display in The Chronicles of Narnia and his somewhat lesser known “Space Trilogy.”

So in closing I would simply like to wish you a joyful and meaningful celebration of “the one true myth.” I have included a link that I was just sent of a flash mob doing some myth-worship of their own–enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Jack

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birthday, books, C.S. Lewis, christianity, Inklings, literature, quotes, reading list

Born on November 29, 1898 and died just prior to this 65th birthday on November 22, 1963 was my literary hero–Clive Staples Lewis, or Jack, as his friends called him. So today we celebrate the 113th anniversary of his birth. And what a giant he was. While he is certainly best known for The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity he wrote far outside the realms of both children’s literature and Christian apologetics–philosophy, education, literary criticism, allegory, poetry, grief, etc. You are probably aware that his “day job” was as a fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford and a professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University.

While being a professed atheist as a young man, he began an eventual move to theism and finally to Christianity in 1931. He came to the point of understanding that while there were many competing myths in the world, Christianity was the one true myth (his terminology). When he finally surrendered his life to Christ he called himself the most reluctant convert in all of England.

Lewis has been one of the most important voices that has spoken into my life. I was first introduced to him in a serious way in 1978 as a freshman in college when I took a course on the “Oxford Christians.” We studied Lewis, Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Dorothy Sayers. That was 33 years ago when I got the Lewis “bug” and I have yet to recover. I have read everything I could get my hands on by “Jack” and about him–which is a lot. My children were hearing “Narnia” long before they were able to read it themselves–which they have done numerous times since then. I was constantly amazed at his ability to connect with so many people on so many levels. He has so deeply impacted my literary, intellectual, and spiritual life for which I am so grateful.

While there is so much about this man and his life that could be written, I will conclude with two of my favorite quotes from the many there are to choose from.

#1–This comes from his celebrated essay, “The Weight of Glory.”–“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

#2–This one comes from the end of the seventh volume in The Chronicles of Narnia entitled The Last Battle. In this scene the world has ended and the multitudes are entering “Aslan’s Country,” Lewis’ picture of heaven. “Then Aslan turned to them [the three Pevensie children] and said: ‘You do not look so happy as I mean you to be.’ Lucy said, ‘We’re afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often.’ ‘No fear of that,’ said Aslan. ‘Have you not guessed?’ Their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them. ‘There was a real railway accident,’ said Aslan softly. ‘Your father and mother and all of you are–as you used to call it in the Shadowlands–dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.’”

Happy Birthday to a gifted writer and wonderful mentor from a very appreciative student.

You might be interested in sharing some of your favorite Lewis quotes–there are so, so many valuable gems.

If you have not seen my Lewis reading list and are interested it can be found at http://pastorjeffcma.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/c-s-lewis-reading-list/

Are you reading that again!?!

Tags

books, C.S. Lewis, evolution, literature, old books, quotes, re-reading, reading, reading lists

“Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?”  (Henry Ward Beecher)

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”  (Oscar Wilde)

“The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones”  (Joseph Joubert)

“I can’t imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.”  (C.S. Lewis)

Warning–this post is for a very selective audience. If you are someone who reads a book occasionally  or talks about reading books but doesn’t really do it then this is not a post you will appreciate. Today I am writing for the reader–the real reader. This is the person who can spend hours browsing a bookstore (especially a good used bookstore) for the sheer joy of it. The person who realizes that having a stack of unread books would never prohibit them from buying new ones–the book lover.

Unless you are amazingly disciplined (and this rarely goes hand in hand with the true bibliophile) you have a stack of “to be read” books. For some of us that stack grows increasingly larger week by week. We normally have to prioritize it in some way. Normally, the newer the purchase the higher on the stack it goes. Some of the titles on my “to be read” shelf are Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcey, Is God A Moral Monster? by Paul Copan, Should Christians Embrace Evolution? edited by Norman C. Nevin and We Still Hold These Truths by Matthew Spalding. As I am sure you can imagine the list is actually much longer. I would be interested in knowing some of your “to be read.”

However, the question I am really interested in concerns going to the next step. As intriguing as it is knowing what books others consider worth reading, what is more fascinating to me would be the titles that have impacted you on a deeper level. Is there a book(s) that has profoundly affected you? Have you changed your thinking or believing on the basis of a specific title or author? There is a story that G.K. Chesterton was once asked that if he were stranded on a deserted island and was only allowed one book, what would it be? He answered, “Thompson’s Practical Guide to Shipbuilding.”

Or to put it another way–do you have any books on your “to be re-read list?” We all realize (I hope) that most of what appears on current bestseller lists are throw-away books–they might make for a quick albeit interesting read–but that is about it. The books I am talking about have lasting value. Books like Mere Christianity (and just about anything else Lewis wrote), The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, The Civil War (3 vol.) by Shelby Foote, The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, The God Who Is There/He Is There and He Is Not Silent/Escape from Reason (among others) by Francis Schaeffer, The Knowledge of the Holy and The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.  Those are some of my titles. What books would you have put on your list?