Out of the Best Books, Volume 3

Out of the Best Books, Volume 3 by Bruce Budge Clark

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I just finished Volume 3 of Out of the Best Books. I love these books and the collection of classic literature/ art they contain. This Volume explores having a glad heart, honesty, patience, obedience, love, faith, and charity. New literary genres in this volume are a play and a speech. In each of these volumes, there are a few paintings and discussions of them. In this volume, I particularly liked a painting by a Mormon painter entitled, "To Them of the Last Wagon." We view a mountainous countryside with a wagon train making it's way west. In the foreground is a wagon stopped obviously for the birth of a new baby. The painting captures the spirit of the Mormon pioneers. It, appropriately, is found in the "Obedience" section.
In the "A Glad Heart" section, I enjoyed the play by Thornton Wilder, but my favorite was a poem by William Wordsworth, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud." That's probably because this poem has been set to music and I've pondered, memorized, and performed it.
In the "Honesty" section, I enjoyed a short story called "The Waltz" by Dorothy Parker. It contrasts what we "say" in social settings (in this case when asked to dance by someone who we don't care for) and what we "think" or what we'd like to say. The message being we have to temper our honesty with being kind.
In the "Patience" section, an essay by Betsey Barton was moving. Betsey, when in her mid-teens was in an automobile accident that left her with a broken back and no hope of ever walking again. The essay begins with this powerful line: "There are, it seems to me,two tragic facts in human existence: We do not appreciate what we have until we lose it. And we only advance through suffering." Lots of food for thought just in that!
The section on "Obedience" included a discussion of "A Man For All Seasons." At the time of the writing of this volume, the movie of this same title was released and was wildly popular- receiving many academy awards. The author/compiler of this book obviously loved the book/ movie and discusses the lessons learned. After reading it, I added "A Man For All Seasons" to my netflix queue.
The highlight of the "Loving Heart" section is a collection of 32 of the best "love poems" every written, exploring all different kinds of love. So, if you need a good love poem, this is the place to go. Several of them really spoke to my heart.
Next was the section on faith. I found it ironic that, by far, the most intellectual approach to a subject was this section on faith. Maybe I was in a bad mood when I read these selections, but I found this section largely uninspiring.
The section on charity, on the other hand, was full of good stuff. Two short stories of similar theme were so very thought-provoking. One called "A Christmas Guest" by Selma Lagerlof( the first woman to win the Nobel Prize) was about a very difficult to get along with man who was lonely and needed a place to go for Christmas. The battle in the hearts of the family between doing what's right and what's selfish- "this will ruin our Christmas" feelings -were so real and memorable. The book ends with a poignant short story of similar theme, "Bartleby, the Scrivener" by Herman Melville (Of Moby Dick fame.) From the point of view of a lawyer who hires a scribe or scrivener who has great needs, but is unwilling to do the work, we feel the struggle between doing what is "just" (Kick him out to fend for himself) and what is "charitable"(let him stay and care for his needs.) It is powerful and memorable, and causes the reader to look within their own hearts to see if true charity is found there.
This volume was another great collection of the best of the best literature. Now, on to Volume 4!

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