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I used to have a pretentious list of "classic" books that I had read (or intended to read) on this page. After ignoring it for two years, it got too out of date to be worth keeping. So I've replaced it with this, a list of recommended books. First, some caveats:
Eventually, I'll link the book titles to Amazon (or free online editions where they exist). Here we go: C. S. Lewis C. S. Lewis is my favorite author. I regard him as my spiritual "master", the way he regarded George MacDonald. Vast portions of my spiritual and philosophical education would be absent if not for his books and the inspirations gained from them. Although I disagree with some of his positions (particularly on the historicity and inerrancy of the Old Testament) for the most part he preaches "mere Christianity"; indeed, he felt that this was his mission. I am pleased that in this age of "chronological snobbery" -- in which the books of the previous generations are left unread simply because they are old -- Lewis's books are still relatively popular. Most bookstores will have Mere Christianity, Miracles, The Problem of Pain, the Chronicles of Narnia, and the Space Trilogy in stock. Unfortunately, few bookstores, even Christian bookstores, will have any more than this. You may have to go hunting to find some of his less popular, but just as deserving, works. Mere Christianity - Mere Christianity was intended to be a simple exposition of the basic, common elements of the Christian faith. It begins with an intuitive "proof" of the existence of God, based on the shared human morality which nobody -- not even ardent moral relativists -- seems to be able to avoid. This is followed by a discussion of the major Christian virtues and vices, and the basic elements of salvation. The last section delves into the deeper matters of theology, discussing the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Atonement, and a few other topics. I have read Mere Christianity probably once every six months since I first bought my own copy. I have not yet found the "end" of it; it still teaches me now. Miracles - Lewis believed that Christianity was the one religion that could not be "desupernaturalized"; the central point of Christianity is a "grand Miracle". Miracles is a defense of the supernaturalist view in general, and a defense of the miracles of the New Testament in particular. It begins, like Mere Christianity, with a proof of the existence of God, this time based on the assumed validity of human reason. Everyone reasons, and everyone acts as if reason was capable of finding truth; hence, any philosophy which regards human reason as useless is out of court immediately, since that philosophy itself must have been reached by reasoning. But this is just what the "naturalistic" view entails: the belief that human reason is nothing more than the motions of particles in our brains, subject to natural laws, and fundamentally irrational. This is followed by a further proof that God could do miracles, if He so chose, along with a consideration for the evidence for miracles in general. The book ends with a discussion of some New Testament miracles, illustrating the proposition that miracles are not arbitrary "violations" of the laws of nature, but rather glimpses of higher laws at work. The Problem of Pain - " 'If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty, He would be able to do what he wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.' This is the problem of pain, in its simplest form." So says Lewis in the second chapter. The Problem of Pain is an attempt to answer this difficulty. The book begins, again, with a refutation of Lewis' former atheism, and then proceeds to discuss the elements of the problem. Is God almighty? Is God good? What is happiness? What is love? Why do good people suffer? These are the kinds of questions tries to answer. The chapter on Hell is painful, but essential, and the final chapter on Heaven is one of the most inspiring (and, in its homesick way, heartbreaking) pieces I have ever read. God in the Dock - God in the Dock is a collection of Lewis' essays and letters, on a wide variety of topics. The title is taken from an essay on communicating with non-Christians; "in the dock" is an expression used to refer to the accused in a trial. There are so many subjects covered that it's impossible to summarize them all. Some of the essays are forerunners to books that Lewis would later write (the beginnings of Miracles can be seen in several essays). Others are too short to warrant treatment as a full book; nonetheless, these are often extremely useful and pertinent. The Four Loves - The guiding theme of The Four Loves, also treated in fictional form in Till We Have Faces, is simply that love -- human love -- isn't enough. Lewis discusses four kinds of "love": Affection, Friendship, Eros (romantic love), and Agape. Our own society is even more "love-sick" that Lewis', hence, his treatment of the subject is vital for today. It is worth pointing out that when Christians say "God is love" most people will probably misunderstand. They will take the (incorrect) corollary, "Love is god", or proceed to translate "love" as "disinterested affection" or even "sexual desire". The Weight of Glory, Christian Reflections - Two collections of essays of various topics, Christian Reflections is valuable because it contains some works that reflect Lewis' early Christian development. It also contains an essay on church music, which is as useful today as it was then. The Weight of Glory is the title of an essay about the "burden" on Christians. A Grief Observed - Lewis married late in life and his wife only lived a few years after their marriage, however, so profound was their connection that her death left Lewis completely and utterly crushed. A Grief Observed consists of shorts thoughts and notes he took during the months immediately after her death; Lewis wrote as a safeguard against "complete collapse". The result is one of the most powerful, personal, and emotionally raw books I have ever read. Anyone who has ever felt the pain of separation will gain much from this book. Surprised by Joy - Lewis' "spiritual autobiography", this book attempts to describe the role of "Joy" in Lewis' conversion. The Great Divorce - Something of an extended treatment of his thoughts on Hell from The Problem of Pain, The Great Divorce follows a bus-load of damned souls who take a vacation to Heaven. They meet old friends, lovers, and family, and through their interactions we learn about the state of Hell, and the nature of free will. The Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength - Lewis was one of the first writers to consider the idea of good aliens; previous authors had all followed H. G. Wells in considering space as evil (think of The War of the Worlds). Lewis envisions other-worldly species as unfallen, preserved in Paradisal innocence and protected by the superpowerful and immortal eldil. Out of the Silent Planet tells the story of Elwin Ransom, a philologist of Cambridge, who is kidnapped and taken to Mars. He escapes his captors and is taken in by the hrossa, the furry creatures who inhabit the valleys of Mars. Eventually he is sent to Oyarsa, the eldil overseer of Mars to give his purpose there. He and his abductors are forcibly sent back to Earth, lest they corrupt the species of Mars. (Note that the character of Ransom is actually a "portrait" of Lewis' friend J. R. R. Tolkein, just as Tolkein's Treebeard is a portrait of Lewis.) Perelandra continues with Ransom being "drafted" into going to Venus (Perelandra in the Old Solar language), with his purpose there a mystery. On Venus, he confronts his foe from the previous novel, Professor Weston. It becomes clear the Weston is only present to provide a gateway for something evil to enter Perelandra. (Perelandra is my second favorite novel; it is not less good than Till We Have Faces, however, although it can be read alone, it loses something by being taken out of context. Faces is a stand-alone work.) That Hideous Strength is probably the weakest of the trilogy, although by borrowing from the Arthurian legends it gains a different kind of power. The title is an allusion to the Tower of Babel, which, in the novel, an organization called NICE is attempting to "rebuild". Ransom has collected a "team" to fight against this evil, and the resulting confrontation destroys an entire village. The Chronicles of Narnia, consisting of:
(The books are listed above in the order originally published; Lewis said that he preferred to have them read in "internal chronological order", that is, in the order that the events in the stories take place. This involves moving The Horse and His Boy to after Lion, and moving The Magician's Nephew to the very beginning, before all the others. However, I think that the published order is better; for me, it is more interesting to "go back" with Horse and Nephew, after moving forward through all the previous books. It keeps up the suspense not having some questions about the origin of Narnia answered until later.) The Chronicles of Narnia tell the stories of several children who find their way into Narnia, a sort of parallel universe in which animals are rational and can talk, magic works, and so forth. Technically the books are intended for children, however, Lewis felt that books that weren't worth reading as an adult weren't worth reading as a child. Hence, the only difference between these and Lewis' adult novels is the somewhat simpler style: easier words, shorter sentences, etc. None of the theological depth has been sacrificed. There are too many books in the series to summarize, so I'll just give the highlights. In my opinion, the three best books in the series are Horse, Nephew and The Last Battle. The Horse and His Boy tells the story of a Narnian horse and boy who are enslaved in a foreign country. Together they try to escape back to freedom in Narnia. All of the books in the series are equally well written, but this is probably the most theologically powerful. The Magician's Nephew is a precursor to all the other Narnia tales; it describes the creation of Narnia, and it's almost-corruption by an evil witch. The Last Battle tells the end of Narnia. The talking animals are deceived and enslaved by a conniving monkey and his false Aslan, a last-ditch effort by the rightful king and those loyal to him fails, and then Aslan ends the world, taking all the good creatures to Himself while the evil creatures flee into darkness. Aslan commands Peter, once King of Narnia, to close the door forever on a dead and frozen world. The true Narnia lives on, incorruptible, with Aslan in Heaven. The Pilgrim's Regress - An allegory, somewhat in the style of Pilgrims Progress, the Regress is something of a fictional version of Surprised by Joy. Although the process of conversion described by Lewis is probably somewhat rare, this is still an interesting account. The Screwtape Letters - Probably one of Lewis' most famous works, Screwtape is a collection of (fictional) letters from an arch-demon to his nephew. The uncle, Screwtape, teaches his young charge the art of catching souls for Hell. The morality of the book is thus told in reverse; Screwtape describes the process of creating temptations which we should avoid. Till We Have Faces - My favorite novel, Till We Have Faces is a "retelling" of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. The story is told from the perspective of one of Psyche's sisters, left behind when Psyche is taken away to be the bride of the god. Though she says she loves Psyche, Oural is actually jealous of her, and eventually comes to hate her sister. Eventually the gods strip away her self-deception and show her the emptiness that is her "love". Other books by C. S. Lewis that I recommend include: Letters to Malcom, Chiefly on Prayer, The Dark Tower and Other Stories, Letters of C. S. Lewis, and Letters to Children. G. K. Chesterton After Lewis, G. K. Chesterton is my second favorite author. His fiction is sometimes bizarre, but always brilliant, his nonfiction is insightful, and all his work is filled with humor. Heretics - Heretics is a collection of essays written by Chesterton to point out the errors in his friends philosophies. The entries are intelligent and often hilarious. This book is especially important today, when "tolerance" has come to mean "pretending that we agree". Heretics illustrates two important and neglected concepts. The first is that the only rational intellectual course of action is to agree with the people you think right, and disagree with the people you think wrong. This obvious truth is wholly neglected in our time, when disagreement is seen as almost an insult. Instead, we have "tolerant" people, who spend their time pretending that everyone actually agrees, and vigorously silencing anyone who actually tries to publicly disagree. Second, it illustrates the idea that friends, even good friends, can disagree on major matters; most of the people addressed in Heretics were close friends of Chesterton. The interesting thing about Heretics is that it makes you want to read all the people it addresses. Orthodoxy - Orthodoxy is an answer to a challenge against Heretics. It was charged that Chesterton spent all his time criticizing everyone else's philosophy, and never presented his own. Thus, Orthodoxy was born to tell the development of Chesterton's Christian philosophy. The result is an intelligent and unconventional defense of Christianity. The Everlasting Man - Chesterton's most openly apologetic work parallels H. G. Wells' natural history books by first describing, from a Christian perspective, prehistoric man, and the development of religious thought. The second half of the book describes the difference between the before and after of Christianity. The Man Who was Thursday - A brilliant and surrealistic novel about anarchists and policemen, Thursday is only slightly below Perelandra on my list. The hero of the novel is Gabriel Syme, and undercover policeman who infiltrates the Council of Anarchists. The members of the council take their names from the days of the week; Syme holds the position of Thursday, hence the title. An oath prevents Syme from calling in the police, thus, he is forced to work against the anarchists and their plans for world destruction from the inside, alone. If this novel has one fault, it is that it tries to address too many issues. It asks the question, why do good people suffer? and, more particularly, why does suffering isolate us, cutting us off from our friends and even God? It also tries to deal with the evil of moral relativism, and throws in a few barbs against anarchism, simply. The result is that the "moral" of the story is hard to get; most editions include an afterword by Chesterton that explains many of the underlying details. Manalive - Manalive is the story of a man so good that he seems bad, or at least, insane. A number of dull, bored renters have their lives significantly enhanced by the arrival of Innocent Smith, a man who has preserved his childlike wonder and joy into adulthood. When Smith apparently attempts to shoot one of the renters, his friends hold a mock trial to decide whether to call the police. The trial brings out many details about Smith's life and past "crimes". The novel has one overlooked moral: very good and very bad intentions often lead to identical outward actions. Thus, it is not sufficient to know what a man does, you must know why. The Flying Inn - A weird and very funny novel about (and against) prohibition, The Flying Inn follows an innkeeper and his sea-captain friend as they flee across the countryside with a huge barrel of rum, a wheel of cheese, and the sign from the inn. The novel ends somewhat strangely with a rebellion and an unsuccessful invasion of England by Muslim forces. The various drinking songs in the book are marvelous; if I ever have time I'll set them to music. The Napoleon of Notting Hill - In the future (1984, to be exact), England will be exactly as it was in Chesterton's day. The only difference is in the government: the king is given complete power and is chosen essentially at random. When a borderline-lunatic is chosen to be king, he breaks London into city-states (each with flag, standing army, etc.) as a joke. Only one man takes him seriously, and really does treat Notting Hill as if it were his beloved home country. The resulting patriotic fervor spills over into a tremendous bloody battle between states. Grand fun, I tell you. The Ball and the Cross - None of that wimpy can't-we-all-get-along nonsense here, The Ball and The Cross tells the (mis)adventures of an Irish Catholic and an English Atheist who decide to settle their philosophical differences by fighting a duel to the death. The only problem is that no one will let them; the idea the anyone would take religion that seriously is considered as a sign of insanity by the authorities. They meet a wide variety of characters, from the Tolstoyan pacifist who forbids them to fight but can't do anything to stop them, to the Devil himself. Also recommended are the various Father Brown mysteries, and Chesterton's other collections of essays. H. G. Wells I freely admit to being a fan of science fiction, good science fiction that is. Wells is probably the father of the genre. Most of us probably had to read one or more of his novels in school; I read The Time Machine. The brilliant thing about Wells' best works is that they are enjoyable even if you don't get the "moral". Too many books don't make sense unless you can understand the "message" behind them; others preach so hard that if you disagree with the message, the book isn't any fun (the works of Robert Heinlein fall into this category). Wells preaches, but he usually does so in such a way that the story is still good, even if you don't get or don't like the sermon. I didn't know that The Time Machine was about the future of social classes when I first read it; it was about time travel, and that was good enough. The best of Well's novels are probably fairly well known. The only novels I don't like are those in which the message comes before the story, for example, In the Days of the Comet. However, not many people know that Wells also prolifically wrote short stories. The stories have been in and out of print since they were first published. At present, there is a compilation of all the stories, called The Complete Short Stories of H. G. Wells, available in the U.K. Almost all the stories are worth reading; I'll highlight a few of the best. "The Door in the Wall" - The "Door" is an example of a story where I'm not sure about the moral: is Wells professing a belief in a life after death, or satirizing such a belief? However, this uncertainty does not diminish the beauty of the story. It tells the tale of a man who as a child found his way through a door into an Eden-like garden of happiness. The rest of his life he is haunted by visions of the door, but never in such a time or place as he can conveniently go through it! "The Crystal Egg" - Pure science fiction, "The Crystal Egg" is about a strange gem that when looked into acts like a long-distance close-circuit television monitor, displaying a scene on Mars. Its owners spend several weeks watching the Martian landscape until the crystal is lost. "The New Accelerator" - A man invents a substance that, when consumed, enables people to move much, much faster than normal; so fast that everyone else appears to be standing still. "A Dream of Armageddon" - "Dream" is an example of the second class of stories, in which I disagree with the moral. "Dream" is a hauntingly beautiful story of the end of the world, told by a man who dreamed the whole thing. In the dream, the man had been a figure of importance, but left everything to live a life of happiness with his (we assume) mistress. His replacement in the government makes some rash decisions that lead to war, but the man refuses to go back to remedy the situation. Eventually the war spreads to his island paradise, forcing him and his lover to flee, seeking freedom which is not to be found. (From here on, there generally aren't enough books by a single author to justify grouping them. Thus, book titles are given in bold underlined italics so you won't miss them.) Phantastes and Lilith, George MacDonald - Phantastes was the unconscious beginning of C. S. Lewis' return to faith. Both novels are strange, mythical fairy tales. To given any elements of the plots would probably ruin the books. Both are filled with a kind of supernatural wonder. Lilith is probably the better of the two, in my opinion. MacDonald's other fairy stories are also good, and the Unspoken Sermons are sometimes useful (although you have to be careful; they are overly mystical at times). A Voyage to Arcturus, David Lindsay - There is no other novel, anywhere, like Voyage. The closest description I can give would be to say that it is a negative, despairing version of MacDonald's fantasies. In Voyage, Maskull is taken to the planet Arcturus. While there, he undergoes various physical changes, growing new organs to suit the environment. He learns of Crystalman, the presumed deity of Arcturus, and Surtur, his enemy. Eventually Maskull is forced to confront the truth behind all existence. I agree with C. S. Lewis that the philosophy behind Voyage is "detestable", with its blend of asceticism, gnosticism, and total depravity. However, the book is so unique and incredible that it still amazes me. It takes what is essentially a philosophical allegory and wraps it in imagery so vivid, it's beyond any realistic novel. Confessions, St. Augustine - Many "confessions" are pretentious accounts of how the authors "found" truth, thinly veiling the moral that we ought to be in awe of them for having done so. (Think of Tolstoy.) Augustine's Confessions is the complete antithesis of this position. The entire work is addressed to God; Augustine asks God for help in remembering the past, and still repents of his past sins. The book is intensely personal, and often quite moving. The second half of the book is more theological in nature, but still retains the "Help me, O Lord" position of the first half. This makes it unique among theological works. Pensées, Blaise Pascal - Pensées was intended to be a grand defense of Christianity, but was left uncompleted by Pascal's death. What was completed is a kind of comprehensive outline or sketch, with some sections filled in and others represented only by a few sentences or phrases. Fortunately for us, the essential ideas behind the work are fully formed, even if the expression of them is not. Perhaps the greatest strength of the work is Pascal's sense of balance; he knows that virtues and vices tend to come in opposite pairs, and that we are likely to fall to one side or the other. Hence the often-neglected need to encourage us to both opposites of virtue, and warn us against both opposite kinds of sin. If he says, "Thou shalt not X" he is also careful to say, "Thou shalt also not Y, its opposite". Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor martyred by the Gestapo during World War II. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest theological minds of the twentieth century; all of his works, except, perhaps, Letters and Papers from Prison, are considered "deep". Unfortunately, there are a few problems with his works that make them more difficult than they need to be.
The Cost of Discipleship - The Cost of Discipleship is Bonhoeffer's answer to the "cheap grace" of liberal theology. In contrast to a view which distorts "free grace" into "free-to-do-whatever-you-want grace" Bonhoeffer says that Christianity is about discipleship. If God is really trying to turn us into something other than ourselves, then the process is bound to involve sacrifice and pain. However, Bonhoeffer is not endorsing the doctrine of salvation by works; he is simply describing the effects or symptoms, if you will, of faith. He does not say, "If you want to be saved, do this", but rather, "If you are saved, you will want to do this." Life Together - Life Together is one of two books that anyone involved in church management should read (the other is Baxter's Reformed Pastor). In it he presents the "ideal" church. I should point out that for anyone who is still trying to find -- or worse yet, create -- the "perfect church", this book will be quite disillusioning. There is no perfect church, there is no safety, there is no home this side of death. Those who aim to build a heaven on Earth end with a hell. The Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter. The Reformed Pastor is Baxter's address to the pastors in England and dealing with the problems in their churches. Unlike many other "church leadership" books which focus on how to "lead" the people ("tell them to do this, make them do that..."), Baxter spend half of the book pointing out the necessity of pastors "leading" themselves. Pastors must be good and humble themselves before they can hope to lead the people. The rest is devoted to a discussion of catechizing; not the rote memorization of answers to a few questions, but rather the practice of talking with parishioners, one-on-one, to find out whether they really grasp the principles of faith. Few books more strongly endorse the view of the pastor as one who will have to give an account, for each person under his care. (Indeed, Baxter uses this doctrine as an argument against "mega churches": who would want to be responsible for a larger flock than could actually be ministered to?) Although the book is aimed at Reformed pastors, there is very little in it that is particular to the Reformed tradition, or even to Protestantism in general. Lectures to My Students, C. H. Spurgeon. Spurgeon's writings for the public (like his Sermons) are fire and brimstone throughout. However, the Lectures are laced with humor, and are sometimes hilarious. Spurgeon covers every topic of concern to beginning pastors, from the manner of preaching (including acceptable and unacceptable gestures) to the duties of the pastor in events like funerals. Religious Affections; Jonathan Edwards. Most of us have a natural desire to attach ourselves to "spiritual" people. We look for individuals who perhaps pray fervently, who constantly quote Scripture, who speak in tongues, and so forth. Yet most such "signs" can be faked. What Edwards tries to determine what are the true signs of faith, and what are the false signs of faith. (Not false meaning that they a signs of false faith, but simply that they could exist in both true and false Christians, and thus are useless as "signs".) Religio Medici, Thomas Browne. Browne combines a liberal (in the old sense of "friendly") skepticism with strong Christian orthodoxy. This book is very hard to find, however, it is one of the wisest I have seen. The only problem is perhaps Browne's language; he writes in a heavily personalized 15th century English. Good editions will have several footnotes on every page, explaining unfamiliar words and expressions. The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene. The story of a "whiskey priest" in Mexico during the oppression, The Power and the Glory owes certain elements to T. S. Elliot's poem "The Hollow Men". The title is an allusion to the poem, in which some men try to remember what comes after "for Thine is the kingdom" in the Lord's Prayer. The priest (we never learn his name) is the last in his area; if he leaves, there will be no one to minister to the people. On the other hand, if he stays and is caught, he will be executed by the authorities (priests were given the option of either marrying or being shot). Although the people want him to stay, he is well aware of his unworthiness: he drinks, he has an illegitimate child. The conflict between the desire to flee and the obligation of duty wreaks havoc on his soul. Life of Johnson, James Boswell. Samuel Johnson was one of the greatest writers of his time and probably one of the greatest personalities of all time. Boswell's biography captures the nuances of Johnson, the man, better than any other biography. An eminently "chatty" book, the Life is the sort of work you can open anywhere and find something absorbing. Systematic Theology, Dr. Norman Geisler. Some people may read this list and assume that I prefer "old" books to modern ones; these people would be right. However, there are some contemporary books that are just as useful as any of the classics. Geisler's Systematic Theology is an attempt to produce a systematic evangelical Christian theology. A set of four books (of which two have been completed), this should be regarded as a necessity for any evangelical theologian, amateur or otherwise. Geisler does an excellent job of presenting the prerequisites and elements of the Christian faith. Although these book are not easy (or short), they provide an answer to the wishy-washy theology so popular today. The only downside is that the set isn't finished. Isaac Asimov Although I have never managed to get into his longer works, I have long been a fan of Asimov's short stories. There are several different collections, so you might have to go hunting to find the stories I mention. I'll only cover my favorites. "Profession" - In the future, a complete education can be had in a few minutes, by simply feeding the knowledge directly into the minds of the students. There's only one problem: students educated this way are incapable of learning anything else, or of thinking creatively. (A large span of time should be inserted here, as I picked up the collection containing "Profession" and couldn't stop reading.) "All the troubles of the world" - The computer that manages society gets depressed by all our problems. "The ugly little boy" - A time travel experiment brings a prehistoric child to the present where he is cared for by a gentle nurse. "Jokester" - A computer technician tries to find out why people think jokes are funny. "The immortal bard" - A time-travel experiment brings Shakespeare to the present. He is enrolled in a Shakespearean literature class, and flunks. The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkein. I don't think I need to say anything, except perhaps to point out that Tolkein intended for The Lord of the Rings to be one book, not three books. The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkein, edited by Christopher Tolkein. Some people say that Tolkein's son did a hack-job putting together The Silmarillion. Seeing as how only a few Tolkein scholars have access to the original manuscripts, I don't see how any normal person could make that judgment; we simply don't have the evidence. Anyway, the Silmarillion is a collection of several extended stories giving the "pre-history" of Middle Earth, before the events recorded in The Lord of the Rings. The added details really help flesh out the world of Middle Earth. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley. Lots of people read 1984 and draw the moral that repressed sexuality is bad, and will be the downfall of free society. "See, that's what you get when you repress normal, healthy desires," they say. Brave New World is the answer to these people. In the future, everyone sleeps with everyone else; free "love" is the norm, and the nuclear family is unnecessary and illegal. The result is a society that is completely pacified; the people are happy, so they don't care that their lives (and even thoughts) are completely controlled. (Stay tuned for more.) |
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Copyright © 2000 Andy Clifton