Dick Van Dyke

Book Review: Faith, Hope and Hilarity

/ Kristi / 2 Comments

Faith, Hope and Hilarity
by Dick Van Dyke

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Humor

Kind of a religious “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” I found this old book at a thrift store and thought I’d give it a try, since I’ve always liked Dick Van Dyke. It’s basically a collection of funny things kids think and say about various religious matters. Though the heavy focus is on Christianity/Catholicism, there are a few bits about kids in the Jewish faith as well. Van Dyke inserts his own thoughts about religion and its importance here and there, which I don’t really know how to reconcile with what he says in his much-more-recent book, Keep Moving, that basically no one can really know the truth about God. He seems a lot more certain about the truth about God in this book. Though I question some of the theology in the book. Note, most of it is information “presented” by kids and not meant to present theology, but there are still some clear statements made. For example, the one that really baffled me, is the statement that a kid got a question wrong on a quiz when she answered that God created light first. Since He did create light first, I’m not sure how that could have been a wrong answer.

Van Dyke’s personal faith aside, the book suffers from being out of date. Some references made are lost on me, due to not being around until over a decade after it was published (1970), and I found myself wishing he’d give just a little bit of context now and then. The topics of the stories are organized a little weirdly, and transitions are awkward. The illustrations provide a little extra humor now and then, but they’re pretty cartoonish and not necessarily needed in a book for adults. Overall, it’s a quick, amusing read, but nothing outstanding or hilarious and didn’t age well.

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Book Review: Keep Moving

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Keep Moving: And Other Tips and Truths about Aging
by Dick Van Dyke
Read by the author

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Memoir

Part memoir, part book of advice, I chose to listen to the audiobook, which Dick Van Dyke reads himself. Though I’m a few years younger than the book’s primary audience, I still enjoyed the advice, humor, and sections about Van Dyke’s life. As can often happen when you don’t already know much (if anything) about an actor’s real self and tend to conflate his/her on-screen appearances with real life, it was a bit jarring to hear some of the things about his life. However, I’ve read reviews for the full memoir he wrote a few years before this, and it sounds like this is pretty tame in comparison. I had planned to read that too, but I think I’ll leave it at this.

Some of my favorite parts involved Van Dyke’s brother Jerry Van Dyke, who seems to have a considerably different (and quite humorous) outlook on getting older. I was particularly surprised to learn that Van Dyke has never had any formal dance training; I am one, apparently of many, who always assumed he had. I appreciate parts of his outlook on life, while some of his take on politics and religion left me shaking my head. When he basically says that no one can really know the truth about God, I think to myself, “Is that the truth?” It’s an age-old argument that probably never solves anything, though. In the end, I mostly enjoyed this book, and if you plan to read it, I highly recommend the audiobook.

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