FILM REVIEW

The Way Back (PG-13) tells the harrowing story of inmates at a Siberian gulag in 1942 who escape and walk 4,000 miles overland to freedom in India, though some die on the way. The landscapes are stunning and the acting fine. The problem is that it’s based on a memoir by Slavomir Rawicz that was found to be false. Nevertheless, it draws attention to the evil practices of the Soviet regime, which unjustly imprisoned thousands of people.—Gordon Houser

BOOK REVIEWS

The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (Paraclete Press, 2010, $14.99) offers a much-needed correction to our tendency to look for the greener grass elsewhere. Wilson-Hartgrove, a leader in the new monastic movement, writes that “in a culture that is characterized by unprecedented mobility and speed, … the most important thing most of us can do to grow spiritually is to stay in the place where we are. He draws on various sources—from the desert fathers and mothers to contemporary writers and relates stories from his own community in Durham, N.C.—gh

Razing Hell: Rethinking Everything You’ve Been Taught about God’s Wrath and Judgment by Sharon L. Baker (Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, $17) tackles a topic head-on that few are willing to address: the doctrine of hell. Baker calls for reading the Bible with a “Jesus lens” that helps us see that “God in Christ interrupted the cycle of violence with divine love, seeking to reconcile and restore rather than punish and retaliate.” She strives for a popular style and mostly succeeds, but her appendix on references and commentary is helpful.—gh