Capsule Reviews: Thomas Sowell’s Intellectuals and Society; Tolkien’s The Silmarillion
Here are short reviews of two interesting books I’ve read recently. Enjoy!Intellectuals and Society by Thomas Sowell. This could be a very short review: Read this book.
Sowell opens the book with the statement, “Intellect is not wisdom.” Just by itself, that is worth closing the book, sitting down, and reflecting for quite a while. We celebrate the accumulation of knowledge in the form of college degrees, regardless of whether the degree is really needed for a particular job, we reflexively defer to ‘experts’ on a variety of topics (even when they lack the firsthand knowledge that we have on a subject), and we seem willing to allow a few hyper-educated elites to make decisions for vast numbers of people. Where is wisdom in all of this? Relegated to backstage, or to the nursing home, since we seldom recognize our elders
as sources of wisdom any more.
Sowell’s larger argument is that intellectuals, specifically defined as those whose work “begins and ends with ideas,” are not in our culture held accountable for their ideas in practice – but the ideas are often put into place anyway by a ruling elite who affirm each other in their existing ideas, independent of reality. The result is a dangerous situation in which the intellectual elite, with no feedback from reality, have an outsized effect on our government and society – not through any deliberate conspiracy or power grab, but by the workings of policy and the shaping of public opinion, especially in the media and academia. And yes, this is a very dangerous situation indeed – which is why you should buy this book, and read it, very carefully.
The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien. On what was probably my fourth try in the past 20 years, I finally finished The Silmarillion! Hooray! What’s even better is that I really enjoyed it.
As many a Lord of the Rings fan has discovered, The Silmarillion is nothing like The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. It is the mythic backstory to Middle Earth, the tale of the epic events that happened in the first, second, and third ages before the time of the Fellowship of the Ring. It is the tale primarily of the Elves, with human characters coming in only late in the story. Tolkien’s style here is epic; he is quite successfully modeling the stories after the great Norse and Germanic epics, with their sweep and grandeur.
One of the reasons I enjoyed The Silmarillion this time around is, I think, that I have been reading the Bible. I recognized the echoes of Genesis, and the themes of rebellion, sin, and redemption that are woven into the story. Tolkien is not trying to tell a Christian story directly – he is far too good a storyteller to do that – but the story overall is imbued at its deepest level with a Christian ethos. The echoes are good echoes, ones that cause the themes and ideas to resonate at a deeper level in the imagination; that is precisely what Tolkien, master fantasist, was best at. Not a quick or easy read, but in the end, deeply satisfying.
Thoughts?
Related posts:
- Meditating on the Apostles’ Creed: Part 1
- The Gift of Time
- Starting Fresh Every Day
- New Year’s Resolution for a Perfectionist
3 Responses to “Capsule Reviews: Thomas Sowell’s Intellectuals and Society; Tolkien’s The Silmarillion”
Dr Holly Ordway came to Christ through reason, in the pursuit of truth. "In your hearts honor Christ as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 15).
Her book, "Not God's Type: A Rational Academic Finds a Radical Faith," is forthcoming from Moody Publishers in May 2010.
The first book definitely looks like a book I am going to check out. I have worked in a university setting, and I know many intellectuals who are not very wise. This book will give me something to ponder.
Tolkien has always been hard for me to read. I guess reading The Hobbit in eighth grade was not the best way to start off with his books. I know so many people love his writing, but I am not as interested in fantasy writing. For the same reason, I have a hard time with Lewis’s fantasy works though I enjoy his apologetic writings. In fact, I enjoy Lewis much more than Chesterton to whom I know he owes a great debt.
PS I bought Rites of Spring because I saw it on your side post. A close friend of mine who knows a lot about history has heard of this book as well. I am looking forward to this book, and I hope you post about it.
I’ll be interested to see what you think about Rites of Spring! I’ve only just begun it but I’m excited about reading it. My senior pastor recommended it to me, saying that it was one of the most important history books that he has ever read. It focuses on the idea of a culture embracing “theater” in preference to reality, and the consequences thereof.