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Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World
What is this World? What kind of place is it?
"The round kind. The spinning kind. The moist kind. The inhabited kind. The kind with flamingos (real and artificial). The kind where water in the sky turns into beautifully symmetrical crystal flakes sculpted by artists unable to stop themselves (in both design and quantity). The kind of place with tiny, powerfully jawed mites assigned to the carpets to eat my dead skin as it flakes off. The kind with people who kill and people who love and people who do both...
"This world is beautiful but badly broken." "I love it as it is, because it is a story, and it isn't stuck in one place. It is full of conflict and darkness like every good story, a world of surprises and questions to explore. And there's someone behind it; there are uncomfortable answers to the how's and whys and what's. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through Him were all things made...
Welcome to His poem. His play. His novel. Let the pages flick your thumbs."
"The round kind. The spinning kind. The moist kind. The inhabited kind. The kind with flamingos (real and artificial). The kind where water in the sky turns into beautifully symmetrical crystal flakes sculpted by artists unable to stop themselves (in both design and quantity). The kind of place with tiny, powerfully jawed mites assigned to the carpets to eat my dead skin as it flakes off. The kind with people who kill and people who love and people who do both...
"This world is beautiful but badly broken." "I love it as it is, because it is a story, and it isn't stuck in one place. It is full of conflict and darkness like every good story, a world of surprises and questions to explore. And there's someone behind it; there are uncomfortable answers to the how's and whys and what's. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through Him were all things made...
Welcome to His poem. His play. His novel. Let the pages flick your thumbs."
197 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 30, 2009
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February 25, 2011
Stupendous. More to follow.
I had read Notes from the Tilt a Whirl before in its various manifestations. But when it arrived in its final printed form, I was happy to sit down and go through it again, left to right. What a good book this is.
The conceit for the book is that the solar system is a ride at a carnival, with circular motions inside circular motion. Not only do we have the carnival-like motions, we have a carnival-like environment, gaudy colors and situations included. The book works through the four quadrants of one trip around the circumference, through the seasons of winter, spring, summer, autumn. Those who don't get either thrilled or sick (or both) in the ride are those who, in the name of realism, resolutely ignore everything that is going on all around them, and they ignore it all day long.
As they are on display in this book, Nate's gifts revolve around a very basic truth. He has the same ability that Chesterton had, that of making ordinary things seem extraordinary, and then with a start you realize that it is not a verbal trick -- ordinary things are extraordinary. Why don't we see that more often? I mean look at a walnut, for Pete's sake.
A metaphor is a twisted and circuitous route that goes straight to the truth. Some metaphors are so convoluted that they get there right away. This book is just crammed with them. My father is working through the book too, and his one substantive criticism was one he cited from a C.S. Lewis criticism of Rudyard Kipling -- too much brilliance, too fast, need to breathe . . . lie down for a bit. Woof. It is a reasonable criticism, but you can always pace yourself. Read it in smaller chunks. But read it.
And I just enjoyed reading it again, this time in February of 2011. It is just as good on a Kindle.
I had read Notes from the Tilt a Whirl before in its various manifestations. But when it arrived in its final printed form, I was happy to sit down and go through it again, left to right. What a good book this is.
The conceit for the book is that the solar system is a ride at a carnival, with circular motions inside circular motion. Not only do we have the carnival-like motions, we have a carnival-like environment, gaudy colors and situations included. The book works through the four quadrants of one trip around the circumference, through the seasons of winter, spring, summer, autumn. Those who don't get either thrilled or sick (or both) in the ride are those who, in the name of realism, resolutely ignore everything that is going on all around them, and they ignore it all day long.
As they are on display in this book, Nate's gifts revolve around a very basic truth. He has the same ability that Chesterton had, that of making ordinary things seem extraordinary, and then with a start you realize that it is not a verbal trick -- ordinary things are extraordinary. Why don't we see that more often? I mean look at a walnut, for Pete's sake.
A metaphor is a twisted and circuitous route that goes straight to the truth. Some metaphors are so convoluted that they get there right away. This book is just crammed with them. My father is working through the book too, and his one substantive criticism was one he cited from a C.S. Lewis criticism of Rudyard Kipling -- too much brilliance, too fast, need to breathe . . . lie down for a bit. Woof. It is a reasonable criticism, but you can always pace yourself. Read it in smaller chunks. But read it.
And I just enjoyed reading it again, this time in February of 2011. It is just as good on a Kindle.
June 11, 2012
So, on Saturday I was the lone woman sitting amongst a group of men when the subject of this book came up. I'd started to read it once before and hated it. Why? I didn't like the author. I've thought for years he was trying too hard to be like his father and never quite measuring up. Ugly, I know. But true. And I happen to think his father a right jolly old elf, with a bit of Lewis, Chesterton and Luther thrown in for good measure. Who wouldn't like THAT sort of guy, right?
So when talk about this book appeared, I listened to the chatter and gave my two cents worth when the lauding increased. I said, "It's a good book for males, maybe. But not for women." Amid the loud guffaws, hearty laughter and shame-faced embarrassment (as if they shouldn't have enjoyed it as much as they did), I thought it might be expedient on my part to again "take up and read" this book I had so hastily condemned during my earlier sojourn. Who knew? I might have missed something important, like...um....the "story" itself. I don't like being the only one in the room to NOT get the joke.
I'm glad I gave it a second chance. And I'm also happy to say that the son has not only succeeded in becoming like his father; in this book, I do believe he has exceeded him if this readers tears are any measure. Doug Wilson has only made me cry once. It happened when we were at a History Conference where he was one of the principal speakers. When he spoke of King Jesus, his voice cracked. And my tear ducts quickly followed suit. In Nate's book, I cried and cried and cried again. In "Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl", Nate Wilson makes us to see God's glory by training our eyes on the shadow. You know the one. It's the one that was eliminated forever when Christ rose from the grave.
And about me resenting the son for wanting to be like his dad? That was my problem, not his. This son is a grand and glorious reflection of his father, and one in whom his father, I would imagine, takes great pride.
Although I still believe this is a book written by a man to men and for men, I also believe that every woman can and will be blessed/challenged/made to truly *see* in the beauty for ashes picture Nate paints of the world created in extravagant, living color AND in the harsh and harrowing, dark places by the Master Artist. Read it, girls, if you wish to see glory. Read it if you wish to weep. Just read it.
I'd left a bookmark in this particular book when I'd tried to read it the first time. Upon it was a quote from the great man himself, G. K. Chesterton. And what did it say? "The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children."
Thank you, Doug and Nancy, for being brave enough to live the ordinary. And thank you, Nate, for writing about it in a way that makes me *see* the majesty and the glory of our God.
So when talk about this book appeared, I listened to the chatter and gave my two cents worth when the lauding increased. I said, "It's a good book for males, maybe. But not for women." Amid the loud guffaws, hearty laughter and shame-faced embarrassment (as if they shouldn't have enjoyed it as much as they did), I thought it might be expedient on my part to again "take up and read" this book I had so hastily condemned during my earlier sojourn. Who knew? I might have missed something important, like...um....the "story" itself. I don't like being the only one in the room to NOT get the joke.
I'm glad I gave it a second chance. And I'm also happy to say that the son has not only succeeded in becoming like his father; in this book, I do believe he has exceeded him if this readers tears are any measure. Doug Wilson has only made me cry once. It happened when we were at a History Conference where he was one of the principal speakers. When he spoke of King Jesus, his voice cracked. And my tear ducts quickly followed suit. In Nate's book, I cried and cried and cried again. In "Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl", Nate Wilson makes us to see God's glory by training our eyes on the shadow. You know the one. It's the one that was eliminated forever when Christ rose from the grave.
And about me resenting the son for wanting to be like his dad? That was my problem, not his. This son is a grand and glorious reflection of his father, and one in whom his father, I would imagine, takes great pride.
Although I still believe this is a book written by a man to men and for men, I also believe that every woman can and will be blessed/challenged/made to truly *see* in the beauty for ashes picture Nate paints of the world created in extravagant, living color AND in the harsh and harrowing, dark places by the Master Artist. Read it, girls, if you wish to see glory. Read it if you wish to weep. Just read it.
I'd left a bookmark in this particular book when I'd tried to read it the first time. Upon it was a quote from the great man himself, G. K. Chesterton. And what did it say? "The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children."
Thank you, Doug and Nancy, for being brave enough to live the ordinary. And thank you, Nate, for writing about it in a way that makes me *see* the majesty and the glory of our God.
June 14, 2025
See here for a new edition with an added afterword by the author.
This book has received rave reviews (here's one), and I can see why. There's a movie too. Here (3:06–4:30), Nate explains the goofy circumstances that led him to write this statement of faith.
"Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl focuses on a way of seeing. With this book [Death by Living], the focus is on a way of living, a way of receiving life" ( Death by Living xi).
Mentioned positively here.
This book has received rave reviews (here's one), and I can see why. There's a movie too. Here (3:06–4:30), Nate explains the goofy circumstances that led him to write this statement of faith.
"Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl focuses on a way of seeing. With this book [Death by Living], the focus is on a way of living, a way of receiving life" ( Death by Living xi).
Mentioned positively here.
January 9, 2022
Let me put it this way: Notes From the Tilt-A-Whirl made me very, very happy to be alive. Wilson's writing is as compelling as always, and his wise perspective on life, God, Christianity, and the world is vision-changing.
Absolutely mind-blowing.
J. R. R. Tolkien once wrote that our purpose in life "is to increase according to our capacity our knowledge of God by all means we have, and to be moved by it to praise and thanks." This book has done that for me. It has moved me deeply. It has made me more grateful for my undeserved place in this grand epic God is writing, more cognizant of His goodness and grace, and more enraptured by and in love with the world of wonder we live in.
Prepare to be awakened to awe by the Notes From the Tilt-A-Whirl.
Absolutely mind-blowing.
J. R. R. Tolkien once wrote that our purpose in life "is to increase according to our capacity our knowledge of God by all means we have, and to be moved by it to praise and thanks." This book has done that for me. It has moved me deeply. It has made me more grateful for my undeserved place in this grand epic God is writing, more cognizant of His goodness and grace, and more enraptured by and in love with the world of wonder we live in.
Prepare to be awakened to awe by the Notes From the Tilt-A-Whirl.
September 27, 2022
More like 3.5 stars for now, I think. There are some beautifully profound sections in this book, but other parts left me scratching my head. I’m trying to decide if the author was brilliant in his wording choices or if I entirely dislike them.
It’s difficult to say. It’s N.D. Wilson, so of course there’s brilliance to it. But I think this merits a slow reread in the future so I can ponder each chapter, idea, and line of phrasing more thoroughly.
Yet it really does make you screech to a halt, lift your head, and smell the wild winds of this beautifully paradoxical life with which God has so richly blessed us
It’s difficult to say. It’s N.D. Wilson, so of course there’s brilliance to it. But I think this merits a slow reread in the future so I can ponder each chapter, idea, and line of phrasing more thoroughly.
Yet it really does make you screech to a halt, lift your head, and smell the wild winds of this beautifully paradoxical life with which God has so richly blessed us
July 11, 2016
This was a refreshing, honest and very personal book about faith...from one man's perceptive. He doesn't seem to be trying to convince anyone about anything (well maybe in a couple of places...not totally sure). He just expressed how he saw the world through faith.
His style was kind of like reading Robin Williams teaching Sunday School or maybe talking with his fellow theologians down at the pub. It took a page or two to get into, but I enjoyed the style.
This is not one of those get pumped up, I can do all things kind of book. It is a honost look at the world as it really is and seeing God in the ugly and the beautiful.
Try the kindle sample and see if your not hooked.
His style was kind of like reading Robin Williams teaching Sunday School or maybe talking with his fellow theologians down at the pub. It took a page or two to get into, but I enjoyed the style.
This is not one of those get pumped up, I can do all things kind of book. It is a honost look at the world as it really is and seeing God in the ugly and the beautiful.
Try the kindle sample and see if your not hooked.
March 30, 2011
Breathtaking. Hilarious. Scathing. Fiercely jolly. If you ever want to read about poetry, ants, creation, thunderstorms, evil, Hamlet, eternity, snow, hell, pain and death all rolled into one ecstatic ball, then read this book. It will sprawl you, wind you, pick you up, and push you on your way even as you hold out both arms to stop the world from rocking. It will blind you with beauty and insist that you see.
I read this in one dizzy three-hour sitting in June 2009, then again (much slower) in March 2011.
I read this in one dizzy three-hour sitting in June 2009, then again (much slower) in March 2011.
Read
June 14, 2008I like Nate.
January 4, 2018
Fantástico! Genial!
Esse livro é sobre cosmovisão. Isso, "cosmovisão" no singular. Não é um livro discutindo sobre as diversas cosmovisões existentes, embora ele fale superficialmente de algumas. Nesse livro Nathan, de forma magistral, nos apresenta uma cosmovisão singular, uma que enxerga esse mundo além de simples taxonomia e estações climáticas, que te deslumbra com a beleza desse mundo que, na verdade, é obra de um grande Artista.
Nathan fala sobre moralidade, céu, inferno, morte, vida, ressurreição, sobre o famigerado problema do mal, misturando tudo com detalhes sobre a primavera, borboletas e formigas. Tudo isso enquanto cita C.S. Lewis, Agostinho e expõe a tolice de Nietzsche, Platão, Hume e Kant (como esse livro poderia ser ruim?).
Para mim, foi como entrar numa xícara maluca.
No primeiro capítulo achei sensacional. A primeira volta é sempre "só alegria".
Mas quando a xícara girou demais e o autor começou a falar de quarks, o enjoo bateu e quase abandonei o brinquedo. Mas com tanta gente boa falando bem desse livro, eu deveria persistir. E foi esplendido. Depois que acaba fica aquele gostinho de que foi um dos melhores brinquedos que você já viu. Quem já foi na sensacional montanha russa com simulador do Harry Potter, que os parques Island of Adventure e Universal proporcionam em Orlando, sabem do que estou falando.
Enfim, leia esse livro. Se espante e se maravilhe com o Criador e sua arte.
Observe esse mundo que é só para os crescidinhos mas que ninguém checa altura nem identidade na entrada. Se espante com as sombras e com o inverno. Se maravilhe com a primavera. Se maravilhe porque no final "haverá borboletas", afinal.... "histórias não terminam com a morte".
Obrigado Nathan, por esse divertidíssimo passeio.
Esse livro é sobre cosmovisão. Isso, "cosmovisão" no singular. Não é um livro discutindo sobre as diversas cosmovisões existentes, embora ele fale superficialmente de algumas. Nesse livro Nathan, de forma magistral, nos apresenta uma cosmovisão singular, uma que enxerga esse mundo além de simples taxonomia e estações climáticas, que te deslumbra com a beleza desse mundo que, na verdade, é obra de um grande Artista.
Nathan fala sobre moralidade, céu, inferno, morte, vida, ressurreição, sobre o famigerado problema do mal, misturando tudo com detalhes sobre a primavera, borboletas e formigas. Tudo isso enquanto cita C.S. Lewis, Agostinho e expõe a tolice de Nietzsche, Platão, Hume e Kant (como esse livro poderia ser ruim?).
Para mim, foi como entrar numa xícara maluca.
No primeiro capítulo achei sensacional. A primeira volta é sempre "só alegria".
Mas quando a xícara girou demais e o autor começou a falar de quarks, o enjoo bateu e quase abandonei o brinquedo. Mas com tanta gente boa falando bem desse livro, eu deveria persistir. E foi esplendido. Depois que acaba fica aquele gostinho de que foi um dos melhores brinquedos que você já viu. Quem já foi na sensacional montanha russa com simulador do Harry Potter, que os parques Island of Adventure e Universal proporcionam em Orlando, sabem do que estou falando.
Enfim, leia esse livro. Se espante e se maravilhe com o Criador e sua arte.
Observe esse mundo que é só para os crescidinhos mas que ninguém checa altura nem identidade na entrada. Se espante com as sombras e com o inverno. Se maravilhe com a primavera. Se maravilhe porque no final "haverá borboletas", afinal.... "histórias não terminam com a morte".
Obrigado Nathan, por esse divertidíssimo passeio.
April 1, 2019
Own.
This is one of those books that's hard to rate because I read it over more than a year setting it down and picking it up. I think it was best read in small batches, actually, as the essays - and I use that term somewhat loosely - are based on the seasons as the earth - ahem "tilt-a-whirl" - revolves around the sun.
I like much -most- of what Wilson has to say about God (Father, Son, and Spirit), Creation, and the interplay with man. I like the way he holds things up in the culture, church, science, philosophy, natural world, and history and twists and turns them around and upside down. He is not only on a tilt-a-whirl, but acting as a tilt-a-whirl looking for the facets on the gemstone. I sometimes tire of the this-close-to-pretentious "know it all" tone. There are places, too, where it felt like trying too hard to make the observations fit the observed.
I can understand why some readers love this book and why some readers don't. I'm in the mostly really, really enjoyed and profited from it, thus 4 stars.
I've recently decided to have a "Sunday" book - this was the first that I just dedicated to being read on Sundays as time allowed. It was a good one to challenge me to think about both the immensity of God and the immediacy of God.
This is one of those books that's hard to rate because I read it over more than a year setting it down and picking it up. I think it was best read in small batches, actually, as the essays - and I use that term somewhat loosely - are based on the seasons as the earth - ahem "tilt-a-whirl" - revolves around the sun.
I like much -most- of what Wilson has to say about God (Father, Son, and Spirit), Creation, and the interplay with man. I like the way he holds things up in the culture, church, science, philosophy, natural world, and history and twists and turns them around and upside down. He is not only on a tilt-a-whirl, but acting as a tilt-a-whirl looking for the facets on the gemstone. I sometimes tire of the this-close-to-pretentious "know it all" tone. There are places, too, where it felt like trying too hard to make the observations fit the observed.
I can understand why some readers love this book and why some readers don't. I'm in the mostly really, really enjoyed and profited from it, thus 4 stars.
I've recently decided to have a "Sunday" book - this was the first that I just dedicated to being read on Sundays as time allowed. It was a good one to challenge me to think about both the immensity of God and the immediacy of God.
September 8, 2013
The peaks of this book were higher than almost any book I have read in recent years. Wilson has a genuinely unique voice and a gift for seeing the world and the greatness of its minutiae. If you want an exploration of God's kingdom and reality in a fresh way, this is the book.
December 25, 2009
N.D. Wilson's book is peculiar. I set out reading this not having a clue what to expect; and to the author's credit, I got a good handle on what I was in for after reading the introduction. Wilson's style is distinct. He is very self reflective and loooooves metaphors. This I do not mind. But it is also no guarantee of a good read.
This book has problems. It is a compilation of random personal reflections capped off by one powerhouse chapter concerning hell towards the end of the book. The writing is flowery, but not flowery like Dickens' prose, flowery like write whatever comes to mind and let it go without proofing because it is more raw and beautiful if it isn't messed with. Wilson sounds poetic enough, but halfway through the book I didn't have a clue what he was actually trying to say. This book is about God's creation, but there is absolutely no structure. Wilson would have been better off splitting up all of his paragraphs into poems and releasing a poetry journal.
This was the kind of read where you're getting through it and the writing is pretty enough but you realize that after one hundred and fifty pages the author hasn't actually said anything. As noted before, there is a chapter on hell later in the book that has some structure and hits the reader with what Wilson may actually believe concerning the Creator who he has spent the last 6 chapters talking about but not actually given any insight on. He presents man's attitude towards eternity in a different light and it made me think. I don't think I agree with him at all, but he gets credit for doing in this chapter what he should have been doing from the start. I recommend that people read the hell chapter; you'll get out of that twice what you would get out of everything else. It saved Wilson from a more brutal rating in my book.
This book has problems. It is a compilation of random personal reflections capped off by one powerhouse chapter concerning hell towards the end of the book. The writing is flowery, but not flowery like Dickens' prose, flowery like write whatever comes to mind and let it go without proofing because it is more raw and beautiful if it isn't messed with. Wilson sounds poetic enough, but halfway through the book I didn't have a clue what he was actually trying to say. This book is about God's creation, but there is absolutely no structure. Wilson would have been better off splitting up all of his paragraphs into poems and releasing a poetry journal.
This was the kind of read where you're getting through it and the writing is pretty enough but you realize that after one hundred and fifty pages the author hasn't actually said anything. As noted before, there is a chapter on hell later in the book that has some structure and hits the reader with what Wilson may actually believe concerning the Creator who he has spent the last 6 chapters talking about but not actually given any insight on. He presents man's attitude towards eternity in a different light and it made me think. I don't think I agree with him at all, but he gets credit for doing in this chapter what he should have been doing from the start. I recommend that people read the hell chapter; you'll get out of that twice what you would get out of everything else. It saved Wilson from a more brutal rating in my book.
June 12, 2011
I really wanted to like this book. But holy cow, reading it was like stabbing myself in the ear with a toothpick.
There were a few lines and paragraphs I enjoyed. I loved the entire chapter on Hell. But the rest of the book I found painful. It reminded me of "one thousand gifts" by Ann Voskamp, another very flowery, Christian book that goes on and on without ever coming to a point.
Actually, Wilson does make a point in his book. He makes several. But I found him condescending, repetitive, and irritating. The low point was in the chapter about "Beautiful and Cute," and his attitude toward inspirational posters. Honestly dude? Get over it. I understood where he was coming from, but by this point in the book I was so sick of him and his writing that I started to really hate him. He just came off so snotty and... argh. Yikes.
So. Do you like flowery to the point of painful prose? Then this is your book. Otherwise, flee for your lives.
There were a few lines and paragraphs I enjoyed. I loved the entire chapter on Hell. But the rest of the book I found painful. It reminded me of "one thousand gifts" by Ann Voskamp, another very flowery, Christian book that goes on and on without ever coming to a point.
Actually, Wilson does make a point in his book. He makes several. But I found him condescending, repetitive, and irritating. The low point was in the chapter about "Beautiful and Cute," and his attitude toward inspirational posters. Honestly dude? Get over it. I understood where he was coming from, but by this point in the book I was so sick of him and his writing that I started to really hate him. He just came off so snotty and... argh. Yikes.
So. Do you like flowery to the point of painful prose? Then this is your book. Otherwise, flee for your lives.
July 24, 2020
The Wilson family probably share Chestertonian blood. In an insightful and poignant way, N.D. Wilson dismantles the academic skepticism of the secular, evolutionist by his sharp, sometimes crass, wit. Without God, without the Divine Storyteller, life is meaningless, we are a drift and alone in this vast cosmos. Wilson paints for us what it would look like to be amazed at the story that God is writing with our universe. This world and everything in it is being spoken by God like a master novelist, and we find ourselves as actors inside this grand play. Who will our character be? Will he be the grumpy, frustrated kind who never catches a break so he takes it out on his family? What will we do with the story God has given us? N.D. Wilson masterfully writes to open dull eyes (like my own) to the wonder and amazement of the world we live in, and invites us to enjoy the ride.
January 7, 2022
oh, to be made in the image of God. to see the stars and understand them. to have studied matter down to the space between atoms. to see the ocean. to feel the sun.
yes, there are mysteries in this life. how we came to be is not one of them. why we are here is not one of them.
i am grateful that my eyes are open, and that i see beautiful and lovely things.
for nothing is as beautiful in appearance as the knowledge of Truth.
-2022
I love these words. I love this world. I love this life. And the Artist—the Artist is best of all.
-2018
yes, there are mysteries in this life. how we came to be is not one of them. why we are here is not one of them.
i am grateful that my eyes are open, and that i see beautiful and lovely things.
for nothing is as beautiful in appearance as the knowledge of Truth.
-2022
I love these words. I love this world. I love this life. And the Artist—the Artist is best of all.
-2018
May 30, 2017
I didn't love it quite as much as Death by Living, but that doesn't really mean anything because it was still incredible and beautiful and sparkly.
October 6, 2011
I succumbed to the buzz the year this came out; I read it, and I'm glad. It's not quite like any other book I've encountered. If it's a little too self-conscious at times of its witty uniqueness, it's equally full of insights and great little stories—like the toddler and the butterfly. The great John Frame says that theology should be written in many genres; Wilson seems almost to have created a new one. A good book to savor a bit at a time.
April 9, 2025
The Greeks were right. Live in fear of a grinding end and a dank hereafter.
Unless you know a bigger God, or better yet, are related to Him by blood.
Reread 2025: Yes. I like this one even more now. When I didn't understand any philosophy, I thought it was great; when I understood a little, I thought it was aiming too far and not succeeding (at taking down Kant, Hume, Leibniz, Plato, Descartes, Nietzsche, etc. in one little volume). Now that I know enough to know how much I don't know, I think it's doing a pretty fantastic job at doing what it's trying to do,* which is take the reader on a Lewisian, Chestertonian, wild ride of sheer wonder at the gritty beauty of the world. And it does that at a level that can be appreciated by the nerdiest of nerds (me) and also the average reader of weird nonfiction. (And he's also, mostly, right about the philosophers. I love his response to Nietzsche actually.) Highly recommended.
I have mild quibbles with the attempt to solve the problem of evil and explain Hell, but that's how I feel reading any theodicy, and Wilson at least gets at my deep anguish and grief and doesn't try to deny it even while pointing to Christ through it all.
*except for the part where he suggests that Plato was a gnostic. Lewis would strongly disagree with NDW's takes on Plato. Thankfully the Kingdom is big enough for both of them.
...also a weirdly almost Catholic view of justification which doesn't mesh with the Calvinism I thought he held?
QUOTES!! I had to pick a few because this book deserves that. But what it really deserves is to be read.
The world is rated R, and no one is checking IDs. Do not try to make it G by imagining the shadows away. Do not try to hide your children from the world forever, but do not pretend there is no danger. Train them. Give them sharp eyes and bellies full of laughter. Make them dangerous. Make them yeast, and when they've grown, they will pollute the shadows.
If you want to love Him, then He has already begun giving you change. He has already begun unclenching your fists, taking your filth to be laundered on the cross. He is spitting in the dust and making mud to bathe your eyes. Your crippled soul will pick up its mat and walk. He will lead you down the path and through the whale's belly. On the other side, you will stand up straight, remade.
Come, let us grow old like fishermen. Let us sweeten the air with songs while we fade. Let us die. Winter cannot hold us. Let us go into the ground, and our faces will find the sun. Let us ride the eruption of Easter.
To hear and feel and see and taste and smell the heavy poetry of God, that is enough.
Holiness is terrible. It comes with the whirlwind. It is a purifying fire. We are not the first Christians to trivialize the cherubim. We are not the first to make things soft on our imaginations and comfortable in our dreams.
2022 reread: Rereading this five years after the first time was a good idea. I understood a lot more of the references. It's quite a wild ride, and it takes some getting used to the author's style, and I think a lot of what he has to say is summed up better in Death By Living. But I'd recommend reading this book anyway. It's a fast read. Trying to solve the problem of evil, describe Hell accurately, take down Hume and Leibniz, and explain the right way to live in about 200 pages and a breakneck trip though all four seasons is a tall task, and while NDW may not succeed in every area, his answers are worth reading and grappling with.
Unless you know a bigger God, or better yet, are related to Him by blood.
Reread 2025: Yes. I like this one even more now. When I didn't understand any philosophy, I thought it was great; when I understood a little, I thought it was aiming too far and not succeeding (at taking down Kant, Hume, Leibniz, Plato, Descartes, Nietzsche, etc. in one little volume). Now that I know enough to know how much I don't know, I think it's doing a pretty fantastic job at doing what it's trying to do,* which is take the reader on a Lewisian, Chestertonian, wild ride of sheer wonder at the gritty beauty of the world. And it does that at a level that can be appreciated by the nerdiest of nerds (me) and also the average reader of weird nonfiction. (And he's also, mostly, right about the philosophers. I love his response to Nietzsche actually.) Highly recommended.
I have mild quibbles with the attempt to solve the problem of evil and explain Hell, but that's how I feel reading any theodicy, and Wilson at least gets at my deep anguish and grief and doesn't try to deny it even while pointing to Christ through it all.
*except for the part where he suggests that Plato was a gnostic. Lewis would strongly disagree with NDW's takes on Plato. Thankfully the Kingdom is big enough for both of them.
...also a weirdly almost Catholic view of justification which doesn't mesh with the Calvinism I thought he held?
QUOTES!! I had to pick a few because this book deserves that. But what it really deserves is to be read.
The world is rated R, and no one is checking IDs. Do not try to make it G by imagining the shadows away. Do not try to hide your children from the world forever, but do not pretend there is no danger. Train them. Give them sharp eyes and bellies full of laughter. Make them dangerous. Make them yeast, and when they've grown, they will pollute the shadows.
If you want to love Him, then He has already begun giving you change. He has already begun unclenching your fists, taking your filth to be laundered on the cross. He is spitting in the dust and making mud to bathe your eyes. Your crippled soul will pick up its mat and walk. He will lead you down the path and through the whale's belly. On the other side, you will stand up straight, remade.
Come, let us grow old like fishermen. Let us sweeten the air with songs while we fade. Let us die. Winter cannot hold us. Let us go into the ground, and our faces will find the sun. Let us ride the eruption of Easter.
To hear and feel and see and taste and smell the heavy poetry of God, that is enough.
Holiness is terrible. It comes with the whirlwind. It is a purifying fire. We are not the first Christians to trivialize the cherubim. We are not the first to make things soft on our imaginations and comfortable in our dreams.
And I move on, with the sun on my face. Clouds are growing in the west, glorious clouds piled up with rowdy care and sparked with electric life.
I fill my lungs with the world, with this life, with this gift beyond containing. There is only one thing I can say.
Thank you. And I must say it with my life. Through my life. To the end of my life.
And after.
2022 reread: Rereading this five years after the first time was a good idea. I understood a lot more of the references. It's quite a wild ride, and it takes some getting used to the author's style, and I think a lot of what he has to say is summed up better in Death By Living. But I'd recommend reading this book anyway. It's a fast read. Trying to solve the problem of evil, describe Hell accurately, take down Hume and Leibniz, and explain the right way to live in about 200 pages and a breakneck trip though all four seasons is a tall task, and while NDW may not succeed in every area, his answers are worth reading and grappling with.
May 16, 2021
Really great. Wilson does something with language that I've never experienced before. He's taken weighty topics and made them...fun? This book really does feel like a Tilt-A-Whirl. I've just finished it and feel mentally and emotionally dizzy. A bit wobbly. Could be the Jameson though.
I didn't expect this to be the apologetic work that it was. I don't think Wilson intended it to be an apologetic in the traditional sense, but the way he reasons about things like morality and Hell are done so well that his arguments just stick with you.
I honestly can't recommend this one enough. Might be my favorite read of 2021.
Now you'll have to excuse me. I need to find a bucket.
I didn't expect this to be the apologetic work that it was. I don't think Wilson intended it to be an apologetic in the traditional sense, but the way he reasons about things like morality and Hell are done so well that his arguments just stick with you.
I honestly can't recommend this one enough. Might be my favorite read of 2021.
Now you'll have to excuse me. I need to find a bucket.
February 1, 2023
2021 review:
wow.
what are words.
(shout out the Canon Press crew who handed me the feeling of flying through the roof when you handed me my Very Own Copies of this book, and DBL, after standing out chatting with me for forever, and listening to me rant & stumble through saying all the right things in all the wrong ways. shout out to Very Special People who made a rough conference week a golden memory, thanks for sitting & laughing & caring. shout out to my Big Sister and Big Trouble, Sub, and The Hannah Fairy, and many others who have written this poetry into my way of seeing the world. memories are heavy with joy. this book carries many.)
wow.
what are words.
(shout out the Canon Press crew who handed me the feeling of flying through the roof when you handed me my Very Own Copies of this book, and DBL, after standing out chatting with me for forever, and listening to me rant & stumble through saying all the right things in all the wrong ways. shout out to Very Special People who made a rough conference week a golden memory, thanks for sitting & laughing & caring. shout out to my Big Sister and Big Trouble, Sub, and The Hannah Fairy, and many others who have written this poetry into my way of seeing the world. memories are heavy with joy. this book carries many.)
November 9, 2021
I don’t think I gave it a 5 in written form. It’s just too foreign to my old brain. But listening to it and hearing it in the author’s voice added a whole new level of understanding to these words and the wonder in them for this globe we live on and God who made it all.
May 9, 2019
One of the most unusual Christian books I’ve ever read, and at that, one of the most convincing. It’s hard to put into words the way this book digs into your heart and fills it with awareness and hope. The comparisons to Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts, are, in my opinion, not accurate- Voskamp uses sentimental, poetic writing to an extreme and her theology is highly unorthodox. Wilson writes in a sporadic style with words that pop out at you and don’t sugarcoat anything. (Don’t try to tell me you’ve ever read a Christian book that said, “Ponder is crap. Get rid of it.”), and his humor is funny without being annoying or forced. Some may not be able to settle into the rhythm of the book, but if you’re able to get past the unique format, you’ll connect with the refreshing and eye-opening message of appreciating this world for what it is- this book has been described as a journey, but really, it’s just a field guide for the ultimate journey of life. Highly recommended.
April 24, 2019
Review for 2nd read:
Still amazing. Still exactly what I needed. (Will there be a time when these words are not relevant to life?) Still my favorite book.
2018: listened to an audiobook version this time, read by the author himself. Still love these words. A lot.
2018 2.0: I gave this to a friend of mine, and I started glancing through it to remind myself of pieces and then I was like, "Forget this, I'm reading the whole thing." So I did. For the second time in a year. And the 4th time overall, apparently. I LOVE THIS BOOK.
2019: So much beauty. So much just, pointing to Jesus. These things are beautiful because He is. We are here because He speaks. We can love Him because He changes us.
This books makes me excited to grow old and sparkly.
Still amazing. Still exactly what I needed. (Will there be a time when these words are not relevant to life?) Still my favorite book.
2018: listened to an audiobook version this time, read by the author himself. Still love these words. A lot.
2018 2.0: I gave this to a friend of mine, and I started glancing through it to remind myself of pieces and then I was like, "Forget this, I'm reading the whole thing." So I did. For the second time in a year. And the 4th time overall, apparently. I LOVE THIS BOOK.
2019: So much beauty. So much just, pointing to Jesus. These things are beautiful because He is. We are here because He speaks. We can love Him because He changes us.
This books makes me excited to grow old and sparkly.
April 20, 2021
Warning: If you don't like profound, honest, nitty-gritty, so-obvious-you-missed-it, powerful observations poetically written in order to change your view of the world (and your place in it) then this just isn't your book.
Everyone else: grab you a copy.
Everyone else: grab you a copy.
You have been born into a narrative, you have been given freedom. Act, and act well until you reach your final scene.
October 12, 2014
Read October 16, 2011 and October 12, 2014.
Maybe it's something about Octobers. Even richer and more perceptive than I remember it being the first time. This is a volume of literary criticism on the biggest Art of all. I particularly recommend it to writers.
Maybe it's something about Octobers. Even richer and more perceptive than I remember it being the first time. This is a volume of literary criticism on the biggest Art of all. I particularly recommend it to writers.
July 6, 2017
Senhoras e senhores, que livraço!
Foi divertidíssimo entrar na Xícara Maluca e ver a forma biruta de ND Wilson enxergar o mundo!
Tem lugar pra mais um! Vamos?
Foi divertidíssimo entrar na Xícara Maluca e ver a forma biruta de ND Wilson enxergar o mundo!
Tem lugar pra mais um! Vamos?
September 17, 2022
Dazzling.
October 16, 2017
Hmm. This book is very interesting. I would recommend it to most people, but it did not have the same impact on me as it has had for others. This is a very mainstream Christian book that would probably land in most church and/or Christian bookstores but for the 1 swear word (kind of used in context...) and a couple misuses of the word "hell".
Personally, when I read a book that tries to get me to rethink how I think about the world, I like it to put the seemingly random pieces of the puzzle together for me. What this book does (if it reaches its goal) is to get you to marvel at each individual puzzle piece. While I see some value in that, I just don't prefer that style of writing. I can agree with most of the points the writer makes, but hey, if you're reading this review you've probably already read the book because it wasn't a 1 or 5 star review, so I bet you've already decided what you agree with and what you don't. :)
Enjoy!
Personally, when I read a book that tries to get me to rethink how I think about the world, I like it to put the seemingly random pieces of the puzzle together for me. What this book does (if it reaches its goal) is to get you to marvel at each individual puzzle piece. While I see some value in that, I just don't prefer that style of writing. I can agree with most of the points the writer makes, but hey, if you're reading this review you've probably already read the book because it wasn't a 1 or 5 star review, so I bet you've already decided what you agree with and what you don't. :)
Enjoy!
March 16, 2022
I already want to “re-read” it, although I listened through the Canon+ App!
Profoundly encouraging, existentially thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable. N.D. has a way of writing I’m always impressed and captivated by. My favorite thing about his writing is his ability to evoke the true hope of the gospel in an entertaining work of art.
Highly recommend listening to the audio or watching the video! It brings to life the poetic nature of this work.
Profoundly encouraging, existentially thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable. N.D. has a way of writing I’m always impressed and captivated by. My favorite thing about his writing is his ability to evoke the true hope of the gospel in an entertaining work of art.
Highly recommend listening to the audio or watching the video! It brings to life the poetic nature of this work.
June 24, 2024
“We are dying. We must die. The road is well traveled. We need not fear the dark, for the way is lit with Christmas lights.”
I think this is my third time through this book and it has gotten richer with each read. I love how Wilson uses the seasons of the year to shape his “argument” for God’s existence. Wilson has a unique way of helping me appreciate the crazy world we live in and inspire gratitude to the God who made it.
I think this is my third time through this book and it has gotten richer with each read. I love how Wilson uses the seasons of the year to shape his “argument” for God’s existence. Wilson has a unique way of helping me appreciate the crazy world we live in and inspire gratitude to the God who made it.
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