|
Dear Reader,
Taking the advice of C. S. Lewis, we want to “keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds,” which, as he argued, “can be done only by reading old books.” For Lewis, he encouraged the rule of “after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.”
Rather than being ill-informed with hot takes and Twitter’s Outrage of the Day, sometimes the best way to get perspective and engage the issues we face today is by heeding the wisdom of the past. And sometimes, if only for sanctified sanity, we need the distance of old books to remind us what truly matters and—often more importantly—what doesn’t. Again, Lewis: “Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books.” So beginning in April, we’re relaunching our Rediscovering Forgotten Classics series, where we’ll invite various contributors to talk about an old book that speaks into our current moment.
Take a look at this past month’s book reviews below, along with links for the reading life. If you’re a new subscriber, you can reply to this email (books@thegospelcoalition.org) to say hello, comment on a favorite old book you’d like to see featured, or to let me know what you’d like to see in future editions of this newsletter.
If you’ll be at our national conference next week, make sure to leave room in your suitcase for discounted books! I’ll draw attention to two new TGC books we’re especially thrilled to release:
Happy reading!
Ivan Mesa
Editorial Director
|
