Favorite books of 2007 Part I

Saint Nicholas' Day is nearly upon us, so I guess that means it's time to erect the Christmas tree and think about the books that made an impression in 2007.

This is the first of three posts about the books that were my favorites or most influential or whatever for 2007. They are not necessarily new books; I just happened to read them this year. And they were not necessarily on the Drinking & Reading Society's list.

The first two are books about faith, and they could hardly be more different: What Paul Meant (2006), Garry Wills’ short, scholarly and generous reconstruction of the earliest writer about Christianity, and The End of Faith (2004), Sam Harris’s diatribe against the very idea of religion.

Wills draws upon dozens of scholars to present a strong argument that most of our current understanding of Paul is wrong – starting from the (fictitious?) tale of his conversion on the road to Damascus. Wills points out that Paul would have been angered and confused to hear his movement called Christianity. Unfortunately, I think Wills is better at telling us why what we know is wrong than he is at clearing saying what Paul actually did have to say to the 21st Century.

Harris’s argument starts from the premise that radical Islam is a threat to civilization as we know it, and, come to think of it, so are other radical religions, and come to think of it, all religions. So let’s just dispense with such irrational vestiges of our primitive past. Harris argues well and without quite the heavy dose of anger and vitriol that lace many similar books. But his task is Sisyphian. Religion seems to be as deeply embedded in our DNA as a taste for sugar or alcohol. By sticking to rational argument (although I suppose believers wouldn’t call it rational) he fails to address why religion appeals to us on an emotional level. For that I guess we have to read Franz deWaal and Jane Goodall.

The next two postings will be five books that almost made my list. Then I will get to the five books I would (and have) recommend to my best friends.