Explore the connections found in nature in this simply stunning picture book that explores the idea of change, both big and small.
This sky is
the same sky that was blue,
and now is
spilling down in drips and drops…
until rainclouds pass…
Over the course of one day, a small child experiences the way the natural world changes from sun to rain and from day to night as things transform from is to was in this breathtaking book.
Narrator, explaining what happened to the uncle when all the animals started surrounding them: For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are. (p. 136....chapter 10)
Digory and the Witch (who represents evil):
"Foolish boy," said the Witch. "Why do you run from me? I mean you no harm. If you do not stop and listen to me now, you will some some knowledge that would have made you happy all your life." (p. 175 ...chapter 13)
"What has the Lion ever done for you that you should be his slave?" said the Witch. "What can he do to you once you are back in your own world? And what would your Mother think if he knew that you could have taken her pain away and given her back her life and saved your Father's heart from being broken, and that you wouldn't - that you'd rather run messages for a wild animal in a strange world that is no business of yours?" (p. 176 ...chapter 13)
Why friends matter: The meanness of the suggestions that he should leave Polly behind suddenly made all the other things the Witch had been saying to him sound false and hollow. And even in the midst of all his misery, his head suddenly cleared, and he said (in a different and much louder voice):
"Look here; where do you come into all this? Why are you so precious and fond of my Mother all of a sudden? What's it got to do with you? What's your game? (Digory to the Witch)
later, she continues to try to create a sense of urgency to follow her:
"Go then, Fools," called the Witch. "Think of me, Boy, when you lie old and weak and dying, and remember how you threw away the chance of endless youth! It won't be offered you again." (p. 178 ...chapter 13)
On seeing people's beauty on the inside:
All the sharpness and cunning and quarrelsomeness which he had picked up as a London cabby seemed to have been washed away, and the courage and kindness which he had always had were easier to see. Perhaps it was the air of the young world that had done it, or talking with Aslan, or both. (p. 181 chapter 14 the cabby and his wife once they're made King and Queen of Narnia)
On the fruit from the tree:
Aslan: That is what happens to those who pluck and eat fruits at the wrong time and in the wrong way. The fruit is good, but they loathe it ever after.
"Oh I see," said Polly. "And I suppose because she took it in the wrong way it won't work for her. I mean it won't make her always young and all that?"
"Alas, said Aslan, shaking his head. "It will. Things always work according to their nature. She has won her heart's desire; she has un-wearying strength and endless days like a goddess. But length of days with an evil heart is only length of misery and already she begins to know it. All get what they want; they do not always like it." (p. 190 ...chapter 14)
Goodreads says:
When Digory and Polly are tricked by Digory's peculiar Uncle Andrew into becoming part of an experiment, they set off on the adventure of a lifetime. What happens to the children when they touch Uncle Andrew's magic rings is far beyond anything even the old magician could have imagined.
Hurtled into the Wood between the Worlds, the children soon find that they can enter many worlds through the mysterious pools there. In one world they encounter the evil Queen Jadis, who wreaks havoc in the streets of London when she is accidentally brought back with them. When they finally manage to pull her out of London, unintentionally taking along Uncle Andrew and a coachman with his horse, they find themselves in what will come to be known as the land of Narnia.
This is a book that makes you sit back and think. While Donald Trump is a big player in the story, it isn't really about him. It's about American racism. It looks at the big picture, rather than the close day by stories we see on the news. It's well re-searched (100 books/articles are listed in the references section in case you are looking for a bit more reading on the topic) and well-written.
She says that Donald is someone with a gaping wound where his soul should be (p. 87). Because of that, the whole world has been affected.
The first chapter of this book is a brutal look at the history of racism in the US. It surmises that racism is the basis of the problem. It starts off with a terrible story about a community that lynched a man who had killed his owner. They didn't just hang this man though. They hunted him and his wife down for hours, finally capturing him, and then tore his body apart, first his fingers, then his ears, then his legs and arms and threw the bits to the crowd as souvenirs. I think her purpose starting off with this terrible story is to shock the reader. It works. Later in the chapter, she quotes a man named Ezra Klein in 2017: "I actually think the great evil of American slavery wasn't involuntary servitude and forced labor. The true evil of American slavery was the narrative we created to justify it. They made up this ideology of white supremacy that cannot be reconciled with our Constitution, that cannot be reconciled with a commitment to fair and just treatment of all people. They made it up so they could feel comfortable."
In the chapter on covid, I never did get an answer to my question though about why he was so afraid to admit the dangers of the pandemic, of wearing masks and especially the importance of getting vaccinated, especially since he was. She talks about the terrorist attacks of September 11 and how it created a great moment of unity around the world. Covid killed more people each and every day than the September 11 attacks and yet it has become one of the most divisive tragedies in American history. It's bizarre and I don't understand why he'd be so reticent to show integrity on this issue.
So what's the answer? The racism must be addressed. It can't be swept under the carpet. It can no longer be ignored. Dismissing the pain of this racism only postpones the freedom from it. She further hypothesizes that we are in the midst of a mental health crises and we still treat it as an after thought or a moral failing. "The impact of COVID on our nation's psychological and emotional well-being underscores how dangerous it is to keep making that mistake." (p. 165) The other important issue is connection with each other.
The epilogue begins by discussing the Derek Chauvin verdict. Great quote: What this say to me is that in order to get a nominal degree of justice in this country, that a Black man has to be murdered, on air, viewed by the entire world. There would have to be a year's worth of protests, and a phalanx of other white police officers to tell one white officer he was wrong, in order to get on scintilla of justice." (Jason Johnson, a political scientist and commentator)
"In this country, American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate." - Toni Morrison
Until that changes, sadly, the problem will persist.
Goodreads says:
The instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller
America is suffering from PTSD—The Reckoning diagnoses its core causes and helps us begin the healing process.
For four years, Donald J. Trump inflicted an onslaught of overlapping and interconnected traumas upon the American people, targeting anyone he perceived as being an “other” or an enemy. Women were discounted and derided, the sick were dismissed as weak and unworthy of help, immigrants and minorities were demonized and discriminated against, and money was elevated above all else. In short, he transformed our country into a macro version of his malignantly dysfunctional family.
How can we make sense of the degree to which our institutions and leaders have let us down? How can we negotiate a world in which all sense of safety and justice seems to have been destroyed? How can we—as individuals and as a nation—confront, process, and overcome this loss of trust and the ways we have been forever altered by chaos, division, and cruelty? And when the dust finally settles, how can we begin to heal, in the midst of ongoing health and economic crises and the greatest political divide since the Civil War?
Mary L. Trump is uniquely positioned to answer these difficult questions. She holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology specializing in trauma, has herself been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and happens to be Donald J. Trump’s only niece. In The Reckoning, she applies her unique expertise to the task of helping us confront an all-encompassing trauma, one that has taken an immense toll on our nation’s health and well-being.
A new leader alone cannot fix us. Donald J. Trump is only the latest symptom of a disease that has existed within the body politic since America’s inception—from the original sin of slavery through our unceasing, organized commitment to inequality. Our failure to acknowledge this, let alone root it out, has allowed it to metastasize. Now, we are confronted with the limits of our own agency on a daily basis. Whether it manifests itself in rising levels of rage and hatred, or hopelessness and apathy, the unspeakable stress of living in a country we no longer recognize has affected all of us for a long time, in ways we may not fully understand. An enormous amount of healing must be done to rebuild our lives, our faith in leadership, and our hope for this nation. It starts with The Reckoning.
