Ageless Classical Novels

Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, The Age of Innocence is Edith Wharton’s masterful portrait of desire and betrayal during the sumptuous Golden Age of Old New York, a time when society people “dreaded scandal more than disease.”

 

This is Newland Archer’s world as he prepares to marry the beautiful but conventional May Welland. But when the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after a disastrous marriage, Archer falls deeply in love with her. Torn between duty and passion, Archer struggles to make a decision that will either courageously define his life—or mercilessly destroy it.

I read Age of Innocence first when I was in High School. While I was fascinated by the novel and the language, I couldn’t understand the choices the people made. Why they didn’t just do what they wanted? Why they were such slaves of convention, society and public opinion? Why did Archer marry May when he was in love with Ellen? Why didn’t Ellen just divorce her horrible husband? Why everything had to be so difficult?

I read the book again, over twenty years later, and I can see the subtle critique and loving fondness to the gilded New York and social conventions. I can also see the good in those conventions.

I don’t agree with married couples not communicating and just understanding what other is thinking. As we can see in the book, it lead to many confusions. And finally Archer didn’t even know who really knew his heart, May, before she was already dead.

In my opinion we will never see a perfect world, before Heaven. But I think that perfect world will have the quality of making sacrifices and knowing to wait and do what is right that Archer possess in the book.

Not everyone in New York is as good. Not everyone in Europe is corrupted. But there is goodness in Archer, as Ellen can see, and she is right to love that goodness. And to run away from the man.

More classical novels to enjoy: 

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

This is the supreme novel of the married woman's passion for a younger man. I read Anna Karenina for the first time in High School and then later on when I was pregnant of my son. The way I saw the characters and the tragedy of Anna's life changed completely.

Leo Tolstoy’s classic story of doomed love is one of the most admired novels in world literature. Generations of readers have been enthralled by his magnificent heroine, the unhappily married Anna Karenina, and her tragic affair with dashing Count Vronsky.

In their world frivolous liaisons are commonplace, but Anna and Vronsky’s consuming passion makes them a target for scorn and leads to Anna’s increasing isolation. The heartbreaking trajectory of their relationship contrasts sharply with the colorful swirl of friends and family members who surround them, especially the newlyweds Kitty and Levin, who forge a touching bond as they struggle to make a life together. Anna Karenina is a masterpiece not only because of the unforgettable woman at its core and the stark drama of her fate, but also because it explores and illuminates the deepest questions about how to live a fulfilled life.

Emma by Jane Austen

Near impossible choice between this and Pride and Prejudice. But Emma never fails to fascinate and annoy. Who hasn't done the facepalm (even in secret) when reading about the mix up Emma manages to create in everyone's lives. And then sighed in happiness when her hero finally confesses his love to her.

'I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall.'

Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen's most flawless work. 

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

A revenge thriller set in France after Bonaparte: a masterpiece of adventure writing. I was infatuated with the book (and the hero of it) when I first read it in High School. After it I have read The Count of Monte Cristo various times and in different languages, and enjoyed it every time as much.

'On what slender threads do life and fortune hang'

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas' epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialised in the 1840s. 

 

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

This highly autobiographical novel is the one its author liked best. It is also my favorite from Charles Dickens.

David Copperfield is the story of a young man’s adventures on his journey from an unhappy & impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist. Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters he encounters are his tyrannical stepfather, Mr Murdstone; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble yet treacherous Uriah Heep; frivolous, enchanting Dora; & the magnificently impecunious Micawber, one of literature’s great comic creations.
In David Copperfield—the novel he described as his “favorite child”—Dickens drew revealingly on his own experiences to create one of his most exuberant & enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy & comedy in equal measure. 

The Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila

Teresa of Avila wrote some of the most beautiful and animated descriptions of the intricacies of the spiritual life.

Her book Interior Castle is one of the most celebrated books on mystical theology in existence. It is the most sublime and mature of Teresa of Avila's works, and expresses the full flowering of her deep experience in guiding souls toward spiritual perfection.

In addition to its profound mystical content, it is also a treasury of unforgettable maxims on such ascetic subjects as self-knowledge, humility, detachment, and suffering.

 
TERESA OF AVILA

Teresa of Avila was an instigator of the sixteenth-century reform of the Carmelite monastic order. She wrote several volumes that articulated her understanding of mystical union with God for the benefit of her cloistered sisters. The most notable of her books is The Interior Castle, her mature work. 

It is probable that no other books by a Spanish author have received such wide popular acclaim as the Life and Interior Castle of St. Teresa of Avila.

It is remarkable that a woman who lived in the sixteenth century, who spent most of her life in an enclosed convent, who never had any formal schooling and never aspired to any public fame, should have won such an extraordinary reputation, both among scholars and among the people.

Although some of her ideas and descriptions appear to be strange to the modern mind, her words still have something to give to this present age, an age of narcissism and selfishness.

 
THE INTERIOR CASTLE

In The Interior Castle, the obstacle to union with God for the human person is the space that exists between where the soul lives outside of itself and where God is at the soul’s center. For Teresa, this distance exists because “we do not understand ourselves, or know who we are”.

Teresa’s language, though metaphorical, suggests that the center is the destination, the place where the soul should be. And therefore the center is the place where we must travel to, through prayer, in order to experience full intimacy with our Creator.

To assist her readers on their pilgrimage toward mystical union, Teresa images the soul as a spacious translucent structure containing many mansions, in the center chamber of which lives “His Majesty,” God. The task of the contemplative is to journey inward through the soul’s many mansions until he or she can be unified with God in the soul’s most inward chamber.

How then does a person even enter one’s self or castle?

In Interior Castle, Teresa makes it clear that self-entry occurs through prayer. Prayer is the vehicle by which the soul navigates through all of its inner chambers. 

Her understanding of the role and function of prayer is one of the most complex and revealing aspects of her teaching on union because it is both something the soul does and something God does in the soul on the journey toward mutual union, and it is also, mysteriously, union itself.

TERESA’S MYSTICISM

Is Teresa’s mystical model for everyone?

In my opinion, probably not. 

The Interior Castle is an indirect telling of Teresa’s own inward journey, and as such it is unwise to set it up as an exact map for every pilgrim. She also wrote it as a guide book for the nuns of her order, people who have chosen to live in prayer and mystical contemplation of God their whole life.

Teresa says that the soul should feel at leisure to explore its own mansions, implying that not everyone will explore the same mansions on their way toward union with God. But the end is the same for all souls who enter themselves and persevere through the dynamic work of prayer.

Mystical union is a gift to be sought now, for it is by seeking and receiving that gift that the soul also becomes a gift to others, and better still, to God.

All of Grace by Charles H. Spurgeon

All of Grace is Charles Spurgeon’s best-selling book. It is a clear and simple gospel presentation seeking to introduce man to God, his Creator.

An Earnest Word with Those

Who Are Seeking Salvation

by the Lord Jesus Christ

By

C. H. Spurgeon

Charles H. Spurgeon

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was a British Particular Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations. He is still known as the "Prince of Preachers".

Spurgeon never attended theological school. By the age of twenty-one he was the most popular preacher in London.

He was a strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church in agreement with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith understanding, and opposing the liberal and pragmatic theological tendencies in the Church of his day,

Spurgeon preached to around 10,000,000 people, often up to 10 times each week at different places.

Spurgeon was the pastor of the congregation of the New Park Street Chapel (later the Metropolitan Tabernacle) in London for 38 years, despite the fact he was part of several controversies with the Baptist Union of Great Britain and later had to leave the denomination.

In 1857, he started a charity organization called Spurgeon's which now works globally, and he also founded Spurgeon's College, which was named after him posthumously.

Spurgeon was a prolific author of many types of works, including sermons, an autobiography, commentaries, books on prayer, devotionals, magazines, poetry, hymns and more.

All of Grace

"It is not the object of this book to ask anything of you, but to tell you that salvation is ALL OF GRACE, which means, free, gratis, for nothing."

Charles Spurgeon

All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon is a classic. It’s plain gospel presentation has been used to lead many people to Christ over the years since it’s publication, and has inspired generations of soulwinners.

All of Grace is a simple and eloquent presentation of basic salvation through grace alone. Spurgeon wants readers only to consume his work and ponder it, he asks nothing in return because he believes in the power of God to bring unbelievers to Him.

This short and easy read is both a perfect introduction to salvation and an assurance of it for unbelievers and the saved alike. In the last line, Spurgeon beseeches readers to accept salvation now and "Meet me in heaven." 

You can read it in an evening, and every Christian ought to do so at least once.  It’s also a great book to give to a friend or loved one that you’ve been witnessing to.

Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown

If Hunger Games was a story for readers of Harry Potter growing up, then Red Rising is for those who have reached adulthood.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown is a luscious science fiction tale of becoming a man in a society that enslaves its sons and daughters and makes their owners to war each other – to see who is deemed more worthy.

Darrow is a red, the lowest color of all, the color of uneducated workforce, the case of slaves. The red are abused and despised by all. And he is a low red, a rusty, a worker of helium mines of Mars.

He is caught with his wife, Eo, for sneaking to a secret garden, reserved for higher colors. They are both sentenced to whipping. Then the ArchGovernor of Mars, a Peerless Scarred, one of the ruling Golds, comes to witness the whipping and record it. In defiance Eo sings a prohibited song, and is hanged.

Darrow rebels by burying her and brings death to himself. But instead of dying, he is saved by the Sons of Ares, a mysterious group of rebels that wish to cast down the Society and its order.

 "There is a flower that grows on Mars. It is red and harsh and fit for our soil. It is called haemanthus. It means "blood blossom".

Pierce Brown in Red Rising

Darrow is, again, alone and surrounded by his enemies. He has left the Institute and has been studying in the Academy, doing his best for his new sponsor, Nero Augustus the ArchGovernor of Mars, and for the Sons of Ares. Only that he has not gotten a communication from the Sons since he left the Institute.

In Golden Son Darrow’s heart is in conflict since he fell in love with Mustang, a Golden girl and the daughter of Nero Augustus, in the Institute. She has left her and her father for the Sovereign and is living in her court in Luna, the Moon.

After a defeat to his sponsor’s worst enemies, the Bellona, he is abandoned and has to choose to ally with the Jackal, his old nemesis from the Institute.

The only positive thing is that he is contacted by the Sons of Ares and finds himself together with his friends – Sevro and the Howlers.

The fight for the future of humanity begins with a rebellion and civil war. The clan Augustus and its allies war against the Sovereign and her power. How will it play out for Darrow?

"If you're a fox, play the hare.

If you're a hare, play the fox."

Lorn Au Acros - Rage Lord

Pierce Brown in Golden Son

The last book, Morning Star, promises a lot and delivers it all. For me this is the Sci-Fi book of the year and definitely the most exciting trilogy I have read in a good while. If you are going to buy one book, this is it. I really hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I have.

In the beginning of Morning Star we find a crushed Darrow. His identity as a red and Son of Ares has been revealed. He has fallen into to the hands of his worst enemy, who he taught his ally, the Jackal. And he has been tortured beyond his ability.

It takes finding his friends and family to be able to rise again. But he rises, and finds a strength that he didn’t have before the pain and suffering. He also finds a peace that he wants to bring to the whole Society. He understands that it isn’t enough to throw over the old power but there needs to be a plan for the future also.

"All that we have is that shout into the wind-

how we live. How we go. And how

we stand before we fall."

Karnus au Bellona

Pierce Brown in Morning Star

Bonhoeffer – Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas

Bonhoeffer, the man

Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer?

According to Eric Metaxas, North American writer, he was a pastor, martyr, prophet and spy.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, born in February 4, 1906, was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confession Church.

His writings on Christianity’s role in the secular world have become widely influential, and his book “The Cost of Discipleship” is a modern classic.

Bonhoeffer was also known for his staunch resistance to Nazi dictatorship. He vocally opposed Hitler’s euthanasia program and genocidal persecution of the Jews.

For these reasons, and for his participation in an attempt against Hitler’s life, he was sent to a Nazi concentration camp and executed by hanging on April 9, 1945.

Bonhoeffer was arrested in April 1943 by Gestapo and imprisioned at Tegel prison for one and a half year. During this time his family and friends could visit him and he kept in contact with them, and his fiancé, through correspondence.

From there he was transferred to Gestapo’s prison and after being associated with the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was quickly tried and executed. His death happened on the verge of the collapse of the Nazi regime.

Bonhoeffer’s legacy

Bonhoeffer lived and breathed his theology.

According to him a Christian could not worship God and accept the truths of Old and New Testament, of Israel being the chosen people of God, and support an anti-Jew regime that souk the death and destruction of God’s own people.

During his life Bonhoeffer had many opportunities to stay quiet and to quiet accept what was happening in his country. He also had opportunities to stay outside of Germany. He was offered a job as theology teacher in United States just before the start of the war.

His friends in ecumenical movement around the world actively tried to find a way for him to avoid the fate they saw happening to him for certain in Germany. The death that finally did come to him.

Bonhoeffer himself felt he couldn’t abandon his country and his fellow citizens at such a critical moment. He said it would be against his principals, his theology and his God, not to help the Jews in Germany. And not to fight against the evil incarnate – Hitler and Nazi ideology.

His place was in Germany, with his people and his church.

Bonhoeffer – Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

Eric Metaxas takes the different strands of Bonhoeffer’s life and draws them together to tell a searing story of incredible moral courage in the face of monstrous evil.

Metaxas uses previously unavailable documents, including personal letters, detailed journal entries, and firsthand personal accounts, to reveal dimensions of Bonhoeffer’s life and theology never before seen.

Metaxas presents the fullest accounting this far of Bonhoeffer’s heart-wrenching 1939 decision to leave the safe haven of America for Hitler’s Germany. He uses extended excerpts from love letters and coded messages written to and from Bonhoeffer’s Cell 92 to tell, for the first time, the full story of Bonhoeffer’s passionate and tragic romance.

The book offers fresh insight and revelations about life-changing months at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. And about Bonhoeffer’s radical position on why Christians are obliged to stand up for the Jews.

The reader will find new information on Bonhoeffer’s reaction to Kristallnach, his involvement in the famous Valkyrie plot and in “Operation 7”, the effort to smuggle Jews into neutral Switzerland.

This is a witness to one man’s extraordinary faith and to the tortured faith of the nation Bonhoeffer sought to deliver from the curse of Nazism.

On reading the book you will be brought face to face with a man determined to do the will of God. A man who is prepared to follow his faith joyfully, no matter how radical the track and how much courage it requires.

Bonhoeffer calls us to find passion for truth and a commitment to justice on behalf of those who face implacable evil. For him, that is what Christian faith is about.

By loving forces... (Original in German by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

By loving forces silently surrounded,

I feel quite soothed, secure, and filled with grace.

So I would like to live these days together,

and go with you into another year.

Still matters of the past are pressing our hearts

and evil days are weighing down on us.

Oh Lord, to our souls, so scared and sore,

give rescue, as it's that you made us for.

And when you pass to us the bitter chalice

of suffering, filled to the brim and more,

we take it, full of thanks and trembling not,

from this, your caring and beloved hand.

But if you want to please us, over and again,

with our shining sun and wondrous world,

let us muse on what is past, and then we shall,

with our lives, in all belong to you.

Warm and bright be our candles' flame today,

since into gloom you brought a gleaming light,

and lead again us, if you will, together!

We know it: you are beaming in the night.

When silence now will snow around us ev'rywhere,

so let us hear the all-embracing sound

of greater things than we can see and wider,

your world, and all your children's soaring hail.

By loving forces wonderfully sheltered,

we are awaiting fearlessly what comes.

God is with us at dusk and in the morning

and most assuredly on ev'ry day.

Translation by Hilmar H. Werner, 2010

The Amazing Grace In The Life Of William Wilberforce by John Piper

“In other words, offending God is the essential consideration, not killing man or imperiling a nation. That is what made Wilberforce tick. He was not a political pragmatist. He was a radically God-centered Christian who was a politician. And his true affections for God based on the ‘peculiar doctrines’ of Christianity were the roots of his endurance in the cause of justice” 

John Piper: The Amazing Grace In The Life Of William Wilberforce

Life of William Wilberforce (1757-1833)

Against great obstacles William Wilberforce, an evangelical Christian and a member of Parliament, fought for the abolition of the African slave trade and against slavery itself until they were both illegal in the British Empire.

William Wilberforce was an English politician who became the voice of the abolition movement in Parliament. He was a slightly built man, about five foot three in height, and suffered from bouts of bad health.

At the age of 21, Wilberforce was elected to Parliament.  He was well suited to politics, as he was an extremely eloquent speaker and very witty. In 1783, he met James Ramsay and, for the first time, discussed slavery.

Around 1784-86, he underwent a gradual but 'intense religious conversion' whilst travelling with a friend. He considered leaving Parliament but his friend and mentor, John Newton, advised him againt this; so, instead, he decided to serve God in public life. 

After his conversion to evangelical Christianity, he gave up his racehorse, gambling and attendance at clubs. His new beliefs affected his public life. Before, he had usually voted with Pitt but now he was guided by his conscience.

He and his evangelical friends were nicknamed "the Saints" by upper class circles but he won widespread respect. He championed many causes but it was the fight against the Slave Trade and slavery that he worked most tirelessly for. His interest was rekindled by a letter from Sir Charles Middleton, suggesting he should represent the cause in Parliament. William Pitt also encouraged him to take up the cause.

From 1789, Wilberforce regularly introduced bills in Parliament to ban the Slave Trade. He was fiercely opposed by those making fortunes from the trade, who used all kinds of delaying tactics.

The first time a bill was introduced, Wilberforce lost the debate by 163 votes to 88 but he never gave up. A bill to cease the trade was passed by the House of Commons in 1792 .

In his late 30's, Wilberforce married Barbara Spooner (also an evangelical Christian). He remained devoted to her throughout his life. 

Finally on 25th March, 1807, the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act abolished the Slave Trade in the British colonies. It was carried by 267 votes. The house rose to its feet and cheered wildly.

However, this was not a vote to abolish slavery as a whole throughout the Empire, just the trade in enslaved people. William Wilberforce continued to work for the abolition of all slavery within the British Colonies.

On the 26th July, 1833, the Abolition of Slavery bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons. A messenger rushed to Wilberforce's house. They told him that slavery in British colonies would finally be abolished. Just three days later, on 29th July, William Wilberforce died.

About the book

John Piper concentrates in his book “The Amazing Grace In The Life Of William Wilberforce” on the essence of Wilberforce, in the cornerstone of his being and the truth that guided his personal and political life, his faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior.

The actual events of his life are glanced through but what is found truly interesting are the reasons behind his actions.

For a person wanting to familiarize themselves with the historical events of Wilberforce’s life, his career in British Parliament or his role in the abolishment of slave trade and slavery in Britain this is not the book to do it.

This is the book for the person who wants to learn about the most important thing in Wilberforce’s life, his faith in God.

Many are aware of Wilberforce's role in bringing an end to slavery in Great Britain, but few have taken the time to examine the beliefs and motivations that spurred him on for decades.

In this concise volume, John Piper tells the story of how Wilberforce was transformed from an unbelieving, young politician into a radically God-centered Christian, and how his deep spirituality helped to change the moral outlook of a nation.

John Piper also tells us about the convictions that made Wilberforce the foremost opponent of slavery and slave trade at a moment when it was an unpopular choice and he was going against everyone else.

Even when it seemed impossible to ever happen.

In the book, Piper provides countless reports from both friends and enemies who received great encouragement from Wilberforce's company, and how his testimony of Christ was immediately evident even on his countenance.

As one of his political detractors once quipped, "His mirth is contagious, regularly transforming the devious and manipulative nature of the political environment."

Behind all his work was Wilberforce’s firm belief that God had put him into a special place in the society to be able to change it and its morals.

As he writes in his diary on Oct. 28, 1787,"God Almighty has placed before me two great objects, the Suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners [morals]." 

Wilberforce had the responsibility to fight for this change and follow the mandate God had given him.

Through his faithfulness thousands’ of people’s life was changed for better and huge injustice corrected.

"Therefore, in all our zeal today for racial harmony, or the sanctity of human life, or the building of a moral culture, let us not forget these lessons: Never minimize the central place of God-centered, Christ-exalting doctrine; labor to be indomitably joyful in all that God is for us in Christ by trusting his great finished work; and never be idle in doing good--that men may see our good deeds and give glory to our Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:16)."

John Piper in last paragraph of “The Amazing Grace In The Life Of William Wilberforce”