Book Discussion

Ever an emotional person, I laugh or cry when I try to speak of things close to my heart. And I feel things deeply. I don't want to be seen when I read a book because I might cry and maybe even really sob, like head-in-my-hands kind of sobbing. Especially when children are hurt. Reading these books has been painful.

On Tuesday I read 

And it's been haunting me ever since. How could such atrocities take place? Why were the adults in his life who witnessed his mistreatment silent and absent? Why were the other children in his life not horrified enough to tell someone? Why was everyone so accepting of the evil? What enticed his mother to be so cruel?

A month ago I read this one

And I was horrified again at the injustice shown to blacks. I always hate to read books where the whites are allowed to do evil and blame it on the blacks. The story line was rich enough that I didn't feel suffocated by the evil. I started to read Uncle Tom's Cabin once but I wasn't very far along until I got that feeling of panic. That book will have to wait until my spirit is strong.

This morning I finished this one

And it kept me on edge a lot (panicky). As in, To Kill A Mockingbird, blacks are mistreated and in this case young adults. White adults stand by and watch; as well as encourage the mistreatment. There were a very few white people in Melba's life who stood by her. Otherwise her Grandmother was a source of strength to her, encouraging her to write out her thoughts to God. 

How can people get so warped that they encourage their children to mistreat another human being? Why did hundreds of people buy the lie that Negroes were animals? I admire the attitude of many black people as they awaited their deliverance. They put their faith and trust in God even if they never saw the longed-for equality. Many of them were examples of Christ to the white people around them.

Grandma told Melba to change up the game. Instead of allowing her tormentors to see how sad and terrified they made her, she turned to thanking them for their cruelties. It took the oomph out of their pranks and gave her a strength she didn't know was possible. 

Grandma believed Melba was born to the kingdom for just such a time and could be the "warrior" that God needed to effect change in the world. 

One more book this week

(And yes, or no, I didn't get much cleaning done! Sometimes one needs to Read! Read! Read!)

This book had me suffocating in another way. It was a story of wars and defeat. Spain controlled the Netherlands and was determined to eradicate Protestants. Because of their personal pride the Dutch couldn't get their act together to rid themselves of Spain.

Okay, I don't think we should go to war but if someone is going to fight, I mean they should get off their high horses and band together for the common good. Not one city was strong enough to throw off the incredible strength of Spain but they kept trying to do it on their own. 

When someone could get an army together they seldom knew how to work together to accomplish anything. So you see why I felt panicked? Thousands upon thousands of people dying by war or famine (in sieges) and Spain continuing to commit monstrous atrocities in the name of Catholicism.

G. A. Henty's books are in the public domain and are available for free on Kindle. He wrote a lot of historical fiction, bringing life to the stories of ancient (or not so ancient) times.

Both Henty and Melba speak of tolerance. They both speak of fighting intolerance. One group was using guns and swords while the other was moving forward non-violently (mostly), doing what was right to do. What will I do? 

These books invoked more thoughts that I may be able to write about at a later date. The subject this time was cruelty, injustice and intolerance. There are good things to speak of as well.