Making the Dean’s List: Literary Recommendations from Baylor’s Well-Read Faculty

Spring 2016 featured dean: Gary Mortenson
Dean of the School of Music

Gilead
Marilynne Robinson

I seldom read a book more than once. This spring I’m reading Gilead for the fifth time. The story is set in the rural Midwest during the dustbowl. The narrative is in the form of a letter written by a preacher/father of advanced years (he knows he is not long for this earth) to his very young son. One might ask how a father nearing 80 years old has a child who is busy having sleepovers with friends in the backyard. Read the book.

This story resonates with me on many levels. Robinson mentions Fort Riley in the context of the influenza that spread from young soldiers training for WWI to become a pandemic taking millions globally. The flu closes the local college (Kansas State University) where I taught prior to coming to Baylor. Poor souls, of all ages, had to be buried quickly. Many babies, children, parents, and grandparents rest in Sunset Cemetery, one block from where I lived in Manhattan, Kansas.

The ideas presented in this book are beautifully articulated and require deep thought. Religion, love, introspection, frailty, mortality and forgiveness are all prominent themes. I will continue to study this book all my life.

Lincoln
David Herbert Donald

Illinois, the “Land of Lincoln,” is my home state. My most treasured possession is a bust of a youthful Lincoln given to me by my parents. A portrait of President Lincoln hangs in my study. My favorite picture of my daughters is of them standing outside Abraham Lincoln’s home on the spot where he was photographed with his son, Tad.

Hundreds of books have been written on Lincoln. Donald’s biography holds a special place worthy of the Pulitzer Prize. The author presents a compelling biography of the complex, often depressed 16th President of the United States. He examines what Lincoln knew at each crucial moment by way of self-learning and experience and how that knowledge guided and informed his decision-making.

If you are interested in knowing how the Gettysburg address came to be written (Lincoln thought he failed to strike the appropriate tone after he delivered it), and how his two inaugural addresses shaped his presidency, you’ll find thoughtful insights here. Lincoln urged his countrymen, at a crucial time in history, to find “the better angels of our nature.” This book helps us better know the poet and president that was Abraham Lincoln.

Mandela’s Way: Fifteen Lessons on Life, Love, and Courage
Richard Stengel

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison living and working in a room the size of a small closet. In the preface to this book, Mandela states: “In Africa there is a concept known as ubuntu – the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world, it will be in equal measure due to the work and achievements of others.”

Countless lessons can be drawn from Mandela’s life, several of which are explored in Stengel’s book:
• Courage is not the absence of fear.
• Advocating for justice, equality and human dignity requires a measured, steady approach.
• There is good in every human being.
• Love has genuine power to create change.
• The hope that his day would come helped Mandela persevere through his sentence.

In the end, Stengel’s book convincingly describes the character qualities and essential attitudes and beliefs that caused Nelson Mandela to change the world.