The 2024 Review

One book, one film, and one album I enjoyed this year

Well, another year has come and gone. Cue Auld Lang Syne and pour yourself something good for you and someone you love.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been inspired by my wife and others to make an “end-of-the-year review.” While we are off for Christmas, my wife and I take time to reflect. We look over pictures taken during the year and remind ourselves of all the highlights and trials. We also consider all the books we read, movies and television shows we watched, and music we listened to. We then make a physical object (a zine or a small book commemorating everything that stood out to us over the year) and send it to friends and family. I thought for this month’s article, I’d share the book, film, and album that stood out to me the most this year.

Let’s dive in!

One Notable Book

Jonathan Eig attempted the impossible with his new biography of Martin Luther King Jr. In King: A Life, Eig attempts to correct America’s sentimental and simplified understanding of Dr. King. While conducting research for his Muhammad Ali biography, Eig became fascinated with King whose quotes have been decontextualized and claimed by conservatives, liberals, and everyone else in between. The last full-length King biography (Bearing the Cross by David J. Garrow, 1986) won the Pulitzer, so Eig had quite the task set before him. Eig’s book (published 2023) won the Pulitzer for biography this year and has become the new standard King biography (Garrow even admitted as much).

This book taught me that historical figures aren’t preserved in amber like the mosquitoes of Jurassic Park. Historical figures, and our understanding of them, are fluid, not static. Eig had access to all sorts of resources that Garrow didn’t have. Eig had new technologies to aid him in his research. He had access to recently declassified FBI documents, and even found an unpublished autobiography by Dr. King’s father. These new resources and the confusion of our own times demanded a reprisal of Dr. King’s life. Eig’s book is biographical writing at its finest. It is lively, contextualizing, and aware of the immense import of its subject without losing any of his humanity. I was able to attend an illuminating talk Eig gave in Louisville; I shook his hand and had him sign my copy of his book. My wife and I attended the talk with our pastor, his wife, and some friends. Reading the book was a pleasure and attending the talk with so many great people was a delight.

“At the age of twenty-six. . . King found his voice, preaching a mixture of political agitation and gospel, making the radical seem reasonable, perhaps inevitable. The world would change. All men would be free. Their time had come. He promised.”

– Jonathan Eig

One Notable Film

2024 saw the release of father-daughter duo Ethan and Maya Hawke’s Wildcat. The film centers on Flannery O’Connor as she struggles to write her first novel. The film blends biographical elements with infamous scenes from O’Connor’s fiction. Maya does a phenomenal job playing O’Connor who strives to be a good Christian while creating her specific brand of dark and transgressive fiction while also suffering from a debilitating illness during what should have been the prime of her life. It is not the best film of the year. Some scenes that should be serious come across as humorous or awkward. Some performances don’t quite work while others soar. Yet, I thought about this film probably more than any other this year. This fixation is partially due to the fact that I wrote a review for the film which was published on The Gospel Coalition’s website.

In anticipation of the film, I read as much Flannery O’Connor as I could. The film also has a local appeal since it was shot in Louisville and Lexington, KY. (Ethan frequented Pizza Lupo and apparently he and Maya were in a Sunergos Coffee shop on at least one occasion). While I never saw a Hawke in the wild, I did have the pleasure of attending a screening of the film at Speed Cinema where Ethan was present for a Q+A. Though Ethan is older than I am, I feel like I’ve grown up with him. I yearned to live creatively and courageously with him in Dead Poets Society; I was an angsty writer and a hopeless romantic with him in Before Sunrise; and I have often fallen into cynicism with him in First Reformed. He is easily one of my favorite actors. The man has never not been relevant. The fact that he and his daughter made a movie about this deeply devout writer (thereby giving me and others an excuse to read O’Connor) is very cool and meaningful to me.

Is your writing honest? Is your conscience clear? Then, the rest is God’s business.
– Liam Neeson’s character in Wildcat

One Notable Album

I put off becoming a Chris Renzema fan for far too long. I was aware of Renzema and listened to a few of his songs over the years but nothing of his really gripped me. Then I listened to his song “Square One” and repented of my lukewarm heart toward this gem of a Christian songwriter. That song led to me to Renzema’s album Manna, which came out March 2024. The record was easily one of my favorites that came out this year and probably one of my favorites of the last several years. To me, the record is Renzema’s response to deconstructionism, the rash of recent moral failures by Christian leaders, and the air of defeatism pervading Christian culture. The album reminded me that though persisting in the faith can feel lonely, we are never alone. That when faith feels mundane and uninspired, it still remains otherworldly, miraculous, and nourishing for the day. Renzema’s album lives in an extended metaphor of Israel wandering the desert after being delivered from Egypt but before inheriting the promised land. This difficult liminal space recorded in Scripture proves to be an enlightening example for us today.

My wife and I saw Renzema perform in Lexington, KY on his Campus Nights Tour. We weren’t ready for how young the audience was. Held on UK’s campus, the crowd was almost exclusively undergraduate students. These students were equal parts endearing and annoying to me. At some point, a campus ministry director got on stage and invited everyone to walk over to the Baptist ministry HQ for pancakes at midnight. Quintessential college ministry stuff. Nevertheless, I had my own Elijah moment where the Lord reminded me that I am not the last Christian. God has saved a remnant for himself and this remnant includes overly excited UK kids. The whole concert felt like an embodied answer to Renzema’s album.

I will walk wherever you’re leadin’
cloud by day, and a fire by evenin’
you’re the lamp that’s guidin’ my feet
so I can see where I am goin’

– Chris Renezma, “Narrow Road”

In Conclusion

Thanks for reading. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably read some or all of my other posts this year and, seriously, thank you for that. It means a lot to me. If you haven’t read my other Substack posts, consider scrolling through the articles I’ve published and see if anything stands out to you. One of my goals this year was to publish one article every month. I was late a time or two but I pretty much achieved that goal. I’m proud of what I’ve done and looking forward to next year. Hopefully, this encourages you to pursue your goals in 2025.

Best,
Jonathon