This book is supposed to be about finding men for our sons to look up to as heroes. As Christians, even the idea of suggesting our sons have heroes might make us balk - we aren't really into encouraging our sons to idolize sinful men. But let's just say, you were going to pick 5 or 20 or 50 men to hold up as good examples of strong morals and strong character. If that is the goal of this book, it failed SERIOUSLY. I don't think many of us would ever advise our sons to idolize any man and especially not the ones Bennett picked for his book: past presidents, politicians, athletes, rulers/murderers, etc.
I think Bennett's goal was to find some famous men from history (some old and dead, some still alive) and display for us their thoughts and prayers. For this, Bennett could have picked ANYONE in all of history. Maybe his point is not so much that the men he picked are known for great character, but that all men can show thoughfulness from time to time or at least at some point in their lives. So Bennett focuses on showing us prayers from these men's lives.
I just felt this book is SO UNCHRISTIAN. Half these heroes are unchristian, some pagan-worshipping, money-cheating, sleezebags! Why would we want to hear about their prayers? Ugh! How can this pass for a Christian book? This is more of a worship/idolize/make heroes of your politicians/government/rulers kind of book. This book is also very pro-republican, so democrats will hate it. Bennett puts up around 5 republicans as heroes and no democrats.
This book is HUGE! So thick and so large - larger than your Bible by far! This book is for sure for the adult. And not at all made for our sons - they would have zero interest in reading it. It is long and SOOO BORING! I had to force myself through the pages. Luckily, the prayers/thoughts are short as Bennett rushes through like 500+ men's prayers and thoughts! I kept wanting to put it down and go read something else. I didn't care about these men! I don't want to know George Bush Jr's scripted prayer for the departed! I don't want to read it! He didn't write it anyway! I don't want to read his father George Bush Sr's prayer at his inaugural address either! I don't want to know what pagan-god-worshipping Alexander the Great did! I don't care about Plato's view on life! I don't want to read about their lives! Especially the sleezy politicians! Or the murderous historians! Or the jocks/athletes! Ugh! And the worst part, I truly did NOT find values, morals or good character in almost ANY of these prayers/thoughts. They added nothing to my life but wasted time reading painful thoughts.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher for this unbiased review. I am giving my honest review, as positive reviews are not required.
I've read several of William Bennett's books and have several of them as a part of my personal library including, "The Book of Virtues" and "The Moral Compass". So when I saw his new book "The Book of Man" I jumped at the chance to read and review it.
ReplyDeleteAs in his previous books, he stories, letters, poems, etc. to illustrate and bring the life the themes of the book. It's challenging and motivating. I have greatly enjoyed it and am now passing it on to my brother so he can read it as well.