Review: Little Bee, by Cleve

Honestly I don't know what people are thinking when they market books anymore. The blurb on this book would have you believe that it's not only a laugh riot -- except for the beach scene which is "horrific" -- but that it's so remarkably written and in some way so easy to spoil that it all but swears the reader to a code of silence. And in fact, it's none of those things. All those marketing ploys actually do a disservice to an excellent book and if I were the author, I'd hate it that my work was being so misrepresented.

Briefly, "Little Bee" is about a young Nigerian refugee whose very existence changes the lives of a group of English citizens in dramatic ways. It's a good story and well-written but it would be silly of me to say that I don't want to tell you more because I don't want to spoil it for you. That would feel like me saying "I have NO idea what this is about."

It's about sadness. Really. It's not funny, except perhaps in small details where you might find yourself smiling ruefully. It's a sad book filled with sad and often thoughtless people. It's about how we cover our sadness with layers of so-called civilization, wrap our fears in popular culture, and never ever have the opportunity to face any of it and learn to rise above. Little Bee knows how to rise above. She's known how to do it her whole life because there's nowhere to hide in her country. Poverty, abuse and death are common where she is from, and if you don't want them to destroy you, they must be transcended.

I read the first two chapters just waiting for the comedy to begin. I waited for the beach scene with a measure of anxiety. I waited for some enormous surprise which I would long to tell others, but would keep to myself out of a sense of reader's decency. And each time, I found the truth to be something quite different. I'm actually happy about that because, for me at least, it means I was reading a book that might not be dismissed in a year or even a month as some pop cultural flash. It's a book which should make you think about the world and your place in it, and about what we owe to one another as human beings on this increasingly small, spinning globe.

I found it profoundly moving.


Little Bee: A Novel

Review: Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions, James A. Beverly

A must-have for any serious student of comparative religion is a general guide to the religions of the world. Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions is most useful for the Christian student of comparative religion. Its author, James Beverly, is a devout Christian and admits that he views all religions through that glass.

One might expect to see a clear bias from an avowed Christian, but Beverly is adamant about approaching each subject with love and tolerance, and this approach serves his readers well. The information is set out for us, and while there is analysis based in Christian thought, it's not intrusive; use it or not as you choose. The facts he sets out are no more or less valid no matter which you choose. I found no evidence of the twisting of facts to serve an agenda which is a good signal, in my opinion. It means that Beverly believes his faith is strong enough to withstand an honest comparison with any other. I found it all quite refreshing as well as reassuring.

That said, I must admit that the section on Witchcraft was disappointing. I can't set it down to any bias on the part of the author since he is clearly trying hard to make sense of what is a difficult subject to begin with. But either he got bad information and wasn't able to work through it, or he was simply overwhelmed by the amount of often conflicting information available about Wicca, Neo-Paganism and the other religions which he seems to think are virtually interchangeable. For example, in spite of a separate chapter on Satanism, he does cite Satanism in this chapter, implying that some witches are Satanists, which is simply not true. (Satan is a Christian construct and Wicca has no roots in Christianity or even in the other two great Mid-East religions, Islam and Judaism.) He uses Witch, Wiccan and Pagan almost interchangeably, and while it's often difficult to differentiate -- ask any six Neo-pagans what they believe in or call themselves and you'll get at least twenty answers -- it's worth doing so if you're trying to be fair to the faith.

I don't believe that the few drawbacks of this book are going to be too problematic for most readers. What is critical is that for the most part Beverly has done his homework, and he has been consistent in presenting his information fairly. That makes this a valuable reference.

Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Religions of the World