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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
I don't think I've ever read a book this honest, which made it both touching and painful to read. So many truths about Christianity spoken, ones that resonated with me and convicted me. All this done in story form, true story, biography. I think I'm headed towards greater authenticity and more real faith after digesting this one. If you aren't willing to evaluate yourself and the way you live, it isn't a book for you.
More like ***1/2
Blue Like Jazz was hard to get into at first, but I adjusted to the writer's "stream of consciousness" style and the topics progressively became more interesting. I'd randomly find myself thinking about his points, whether I fully agreed with them or not, which shows how much his ideas resonated with me.
Blue Like Jazz was hard to get into at first, but I adjusted to the writer's "stream of consciousness" style and the topics progressively became more interesting. I'd randomly find myself thinking about his points, whether I fully agreed with them or not, which shows how much his ideas resonated with me.
This is an amazing book for the religious and non-religious alike. Great insight into American Christianity. Plus, it's just a hilarious and enjoyable read. Writing style is reminiscent of Catcher in the Rye.
challenging
funny
reflective
fast-paced
I return to this book again and again for its vulnerability and humor. It’s thought provoking without shoving ideas down your throat, and leaves you with a sense of hopeful curiosity.
Eh...
As a jazz lover, the title grabbed me immediately. And I saw the book on reading lists of friends whom I respect. But the complexity, creativity, and depth of jazz music is no comparison to this book. I appreciate the revelations Miller came to in his journey, and he writes with heart. Yet, the book overall felt unchallenging to me. Perhaps it is because I have read and appreciated so many theologians who write with depth, research, and scholarly acumen, that reading this felt quite shallow. But, even if reading with the understanding that its purpose is more narrative in nature than scholarly, some of his positions were misguided, insulting even (to other religions), and reflective of a more eye rolling "magical" kind of God and Christianity than a transformative one. Belief, he argues in one passage, is like love and light which can't be proven scientifically, but by which we believe and see all things. Uh...not quite. Love and light can be evidenced in science, and biology. Arguments like that don't wow me. I felt like Miller was explaining his recovery from evangelicalism, while still leaving traces of eye-rolling evangelical fatuity in his newfound way of Christian living. He's trying to be fully recovered, but he's not quite there yet. The trendiness of claiming to be non-religious while Christian misses what religion is in a healthy community. Even the subtitle contradicts itself in Miller's writing. His thoughts are quite religious, after all.
As a jazz lover, the title grabbed me immediately. And I saw the book on reading lists of friends whom I respect. But the complexity, creativity, and depth of jazz music is no comparison to this book. I appreciate the revelations Miller came to in his journey, and he writes with heart. Yet, the book overall felt unchallenging to me. Perhaps it is because I have read and appreciated so many theologians who write with depth, research, and scholarly acumen, that reading this felt quite shallow. But, even if reading with the understanding that its purpose is more narrative in nature than scholarly, some of his positions were misguided, insulting even (to other religions), and reflective of a more eye rolling "magical" kind of God and Christianity than a transformative one. Belief, he argues in one passage, is like love and light which can't be proven scientifically, but by which we believe and see all things. Uh...not quite. Love and light can be evidenced in science, and biology. Arguments like that don't wow me. I felt like Miller was explaining his recovery from evangelicalism, while still leaving traces of eye-rolling evangelical fatuity in his newfound way of Christian living. He's trying to be fully recovered, but he's not quite there yet. The trendiness of claiming to be non-religious while Christian misses what religion is in a healthy community. Even the subtitle contradicts itself in Miller's writing. His thoughts are quite religious, after all.
I broke a cardinal rule for myself by watching this movie before reading the book. And even though the book IS different, I loved both and one didn't spoil the other for me. I liked this book of Don Miller's better than the "Million Miles..." one and found it to be deep, thoughtful, genuine, and disarming. He doesn't put up a front or tiptoe around what may be thought as taboo or scandalous. He loves. He is honest with his thoughts about God, the Bible, Christianity, and others. I think there is a lot of good to be found in simply BEING honest. Enjoyed his perspective and I think that if more Christians would truly live their love for Christ like this, more people would actually be interested in Christianity and what it really stands for: LOVE.
Really good and interesting, though the writer seemed a little arrogant, as if he knew how well it was written and he played the readers to think, "Wow, this is an inspiring book." Many times I found myself thinking, "This is very good... too bad he knows it." I sometimes think the books written by those who just want to write and it happens to be good rather than the one who knew the exact formula to inspiring work is better. I also find it interesting that so many love this book and feel inspired by it, but no one I know of who has read it has changed anything about the way they live or think. It's a book they know is supposed to be liked, yet the point was never grasped. All this aside, all the organic elements of the book were great. So many things written made me so happy that someone else had been able to articulate the way I feel so often yet cannot describe. With these things in mind, I do recommend "Blue Like Jazz".
The first half of the book had a thoughtful and cohesive feeling, and I was becoming certain that I had been mistaken by not reading it when it was first released. After the midway point, however, the writing became highly anecdotal and scattered. By the time I finished reading it I wasn't sure what his point was. I'll never know how I would have responded to it 10+ years ago, but at this stage of the game it was ended up being a let-down.
Food for the soul in different flavors and sizes. Some chapters I like better than the others, some completely powerful, and some maybe meh to me for now but I'm pretty sure this book is something I can always go back to when I forget that I am loved.
This book was a game changer for me back in college. I read it in a single day as I traveled with a group from my church to serve people impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Miller put in words what I was working through. Years later, I found out he's friends with another favorite author of mine, Bob Goff. How cool?