I read this book for the first time last year and was floored by it. I didn’t know much about Alan Patton, so I appreciated your background information. He lived a life that feels very Tolkien-that there are some tasks you must undertake regardless of the potential for success and failure, because it is right and just to do so, and it is what you have been called to.
It reminds me of the Bob Dylan lyric, “I’m glad we fought, I only wish we’d won.” In Paton’s case, he did ultimately win—but after his death. Still, as you say, the point wasn’t primarily to win; it was to do the right thing. Powerful example.
I’ve heard about it for years but never had much interest. When I announced this 2023 fiction goal, an Anglican priest I know recommended it. I’m glad he did. It’s exceptional.
I quite appreciate his idea that hopeless endeavors most be undertaken largely because they are hopeless. There are people whose duty it is to accept that burden of failure so that a thing can succeed, usually after they're gone. That's a really beautiful, human, eternal notion that can't help but offer a little consolation to anyone struggling through their own hopeless undertaking. Really wonderful review that has made me interested in a book I never would have otherwise considered.
I agree wholeheartedly. If it weren’t for people like Paton who put it all on the line, few things would change in this world. Also: I’m delighted to hear the review piqued your interest in the book. It’s a devastating and beautiful book. Certainly the most moving novel I’ve read so far this year.
Books that are devastating and well told are an important chunk of my collection. Speaking of which, you said you're reading Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter. Are you familiar with her Master of Hestviken series? That's the Undset I read as a child, but I haven't encountered others who've read it.
I’ve got no familiarity with her work. It was suggested to me as I was building out my list for my 2023 classic fiction goal. I’d heard about the Lavransdatter series, but that’s where my familiarity with Undset ends. People rave about her.
I've only read the Hestviken series and Gunnar's Daughter, which is quite a heavy tale. Anyway, I look forward to your thoughts on Lavransdatter. I've always wondered if I should read that one.
This idea of fighting a hopeless battle in Paton’s own life and not seeing its triumphant result, and of descending into the belly of the beast in Kumalo’s, reminds me of the recent Star Wars show Andor (which is exceptional). One of the main characters, Luthen Rael, is the primary individual responsible for catalyzing the Rebellion against the Empire. A double-agent underling accuses him of not appreciating their sacrifice in service to Luthen and the Rebel cause, and asks what he has sacrificed that could possibly match or outweigh his own. Luthen has this to say in response.
“Calm. Kindness, kinship. Love. I’ve given up all chance at inner peace, I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion: I’m damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they’ve set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost, and by the time I looked down, there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.
What is... what is my sacrifice? I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life, to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. No, the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror, or an audience, or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice?
Everything.”
I think Jesus says “blessed are the peacemakers” because, while we don’t necessarily have to be “meaner than evil” as John Dutton instructed one of his children to be in the show Yellowstone, we do have to endure pains and sorrows not our own in service to the world’s healing. We wouldn’t be the Body of Christ if we didn’t also incarnate His wounded hands, feet, side, and head.
I read this book for the first time last year and was floored by it. I didn’t know much about Alan Patton, so I appreciated your background information. He lived a life that feels very Tolkien-that there are some tasks you must undertake regardless of the potential for success and failure, because it is right and just to do so, and it is what you have been called to.
It reminds me of the Bob Dylan lyric, “I’m glad we fought, I only wish we’d won.” In Paton’s case, he did ultimately win—but after his death. Still, as you say, the point wasn’t primarily to win; it was to do the right thing. Powerful example.
I've always intended to read this book. This has whetted my appetite again. Thank you for an excellent review.
I’ve heard about it for years but never had much interest. When I announced this 2023 fiction goal, an Anglican priest I know recommended it. I’m glad he did. It’s exceptional.
I quite appreciate his idea that hopeless endeavors most be undertaken largely because they are hopeless. There are people whose duty it is to accept that burden of failure so that a thing can succeed, usually after they're gone. That's a really beautiful, human, eternal notion that can't help but offer a little consolation to anyone struggling through their own hopeless undertaking. Really wonderful review that has made me interested in a book I never would have otherwise considered.
I agree wholeheartedly. If it weren’t for people like Paton who put it all on the line, few things would change in this world. Also: I’m delighted to hear the review piqued your interest in the book. It’s a devastating and beautiful book. Certainly the most moving novel I’ve read so far this year.
Books that are devastating and well told are an important chunk of my collection. Speaking of which, you said you're reading Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter. Are you familiar with her Master of Hestviken series? That's the Undset I read as a child, but I haven't encountered others who've read it.
I’ve got no familiarity with her work. It was suggested to me as I was building out my list for my 2023 classic fiction goal. I’d heard about the Lavransdatter series, but that’s where my familiarity with Undset ends. People rave about her.
I've only read the Hestviken series and Gunnar's Daughter, which is quite a heavy tale. Anyway, I look forward to your thoughts on Lavransdatter. I've always wondered if I should read that one.
This idea of fighting a hopeless battle in Paton’s own life and not seeing its triumphant result, and of descending into the belly of the beast in Kumalo’s, reminds me of the recent Star Wars show Andor (which is exceptional). One of the main characters, Luthen Rael, is the primary individual responsible for catalyzing the Rebellion against the Empire. A double-agent underling accuses him of not appreciating their sacrifice in service to Luthen and the Rebel cause, and asks what he has sacrificed that could possibly match or outweigh his own. Luthen has this to say in response.
“Calm. Kindness, kinship. Love. I’ve given up all chance at inner peace, I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion: I’m damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they’ve set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost, and by the time I looked down, there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.
What is... what is my sacrifice? I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life, to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. No, the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror, or an audience, or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice?
Everything.”
I think Jesus says “blessed are the peacemakers” because, while we don’t necessarily have to be “meaner than evil” as John Dutton instructed one of his children to be in the show Yellowstone, we do have to endure pains and sorrows not our own in service to the world’s healing. We wouldn’t be the Body of Christ if we didn’t also incarnate His wounded hands, feet, side, and head.
This is a great review, Joel. Thank you for it.
A humbling reminder: “We wouldn’t be the Body of Christ if we didn’t also incarnate His wounded hands, feet, side, and head.“ Thanks for that.