Book Review and Highlights:
“The Truth and Beauty,” by Andrew Klaven
Andrew Klavan's "The Truth and Beauty" dives into the intersection of faith and literature, exploring how England's Romantic Era poets built their works upon the foundational truths shared by Jesus. But beyond being just a history, Klaven weaves in the personal from his own faith journey--victories, defeats, breakthroughs and breakdowns. The result is a truly unique and engaging story, expertly written with a flourish of which I think the books’ subjects would have approved.
That would have been enough to make this book excellent. But Klaven went deeper, using the book as a lens to understand our current age.
It was a time when society had trouble agreeing on truth and a common set of facts. At the same time, behavioral norms were being tested and altered, causing cultural rifts and disagreement about what was moral, right, and correct.
Sounds familiar.
Klavan wrote:
“The present age, our age, from around 1960, say, to this moment, looks uncannily like theirs, the age of the English Romantics, from about 1770 to around 1850.” ”
Five Key Ideas from “The Truth and Beauty”
Klaven delivers plenty of insight in the book. What’s different is the they come from two sources, thanks to the unique structure of the book. Some come from his look back at the Romantic Era. Others come from his own journey to Christianity.
Christian influence is inescapable
Christianity is the foundation for all of western culture.
“For a Westerner, there is no walking away from the Christian mindset. It is the skin we wear, the air we breathe, a world that travels with us.”
And more:
“Even in his unbelief, Western man sees through the eyes of a believer.”
History rhymes
Klaven draws parallels between the French Revolution and our modern era — but mostly as a warning.
“As the social revolution of the 1960s sought to usher in a utopia of universal peace and love, so the French Revolution... became a search for utopian liberty, equality, and brotherhood.”
The perils of “living your truth”
When there is no objective reality, no commonly agreed upon set of facts, individuals and societies become unmoored and unstable.
“Without some sort of standard of perception, some kind of received gospel truth, there can be no truth at all that goes unquestioned, no truth we hold self-evident, no axioms of morality, no way to determine what is objectively right and wrong.”
Most of what we argue about, politically, is etherial and of little lasting value
“John Stuart Mill, ‘Suppose that all your objects in life were realized; that all the changes in institutions and opinions which you are looking forward to, could be completely effected at this very instant: would this be a great joy and happiness to you?’ The answer came back to him: no. With that, the entire purpose and foundation of his life collapsed.”
The siloed, sheltered information silos we consume from today prevent our intellectual and spiritual growth
“John Stuart Mill, ‘Suppose that all your objects in life were realized; that all the changes in institutions and opinions which you are looking forward to, could be completely effected at this very instant: would this be a great joy and happiness to you?’ The answer came back to him: no. With that, the entire purpose and foundation of his life collapsed.”