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November 24, 2003
Essentials - Kent d Curry
In a society saturated with choices, sometimes it's nice to
receive some knowledgeable recommendations.
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Many people consider the phrase "Christian literature" an
oxymoron. These titles prove otherwise. You can exhibit the Christian
virtues (purity, courage, consequences to actions), as well as offer insight,
action, and/or serious awareness of spiritual principalities overseen by a
loving, just deity, and still find your titles in the canon.
But remember, in our current world of saccharine Christian
romances and adventure stories, literature often involves the unsettling endings
of a real-world twist that blunts your expectations while leaving you
emboldened.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
War and Peace is better
known, its every word smoldering with a passion for truth, but this fascinating
epic of two honest people (one a country bumpkin, the other an adulteress) in a
hypocritical society offers insights to every situation of the heart (love
versus lust, the perils of forgiveness, differing shades of Christianity, a
spiritual awakening), and the flesh (love versus lust, horse races, career
reversals, marriage and children). This book was written while the author
himself was undergoing a spiritual transformation and it shows. Tolstoy,
history's finest prose writer, could do it all and Anna Karenina proves
it. Warning: Don't settle for another translation when you can read this one.
Pevear and Volokhonsky are peerless.
The Quiet American by Graham
Greene
This is a tale tightly told, an intriguing murder mystery centering upon only
three characters (a European, an American, and a Vienamese mistress) as 1950s
French Vietnam falls and the United States slowly steps in. Eerily prescient
concerning America's upcoming disaster, while also an early warning of current
U.S.-European relations, in truth this is a thoughtful meditation on the
consequences of belief in something (in God, in country, in ideology) versus a
belief in nothing.
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.
Tolkein
Yes, this series is grievously overhyped at the moment. Yes, it's fantasy. Yes,
it's not a novel, but a tale, often winding and windy, archaic and odd. (Hey, it
was written by a professor who thought English literature peaked with Chaucer
and that everyone who followed, Shakespeare and company, were pretenders.)
Still, this is a heroic story that highlights compassion toward enemies,
courage, loyalty, and bravery, while perfect love casts out fear throughout the
multi-tiered adventures. After all, sometimes the world is all about good
versus evil.
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
Recently released in trade paperback, this is a story of murder and miracles in
1962 Minnesota, told through the eyes of 11 year-old Reuben Land. Every moment
the asthmatic Reuben must struggle with his breathing, yet his Bible-believing
father can apparently perform genuine miracles of healing on almost everyone
else. This story is gracefully written, at once building your faith and making
you rethink the purpose of godly miracles, even as the family races to evade the
FBI. As Reuben's sister Swede says, "People fear miracles because they fear
being changed--though ignoring them will change you also." She adds, "No miracle
happens without a witness. Someone to declare, Here's what I saw. Here's how it
went. Make of it what you will." This book will make the same claim on you.
Mystery and Manners by Flannery
O'Connor
O'Connor is justly praised for her short stories of belief through the lens of
the grotesque in the Deep South. However, this collection of essays is a
thoughtful meditation on the responsibilities of the Christian writer, on how
and where belief fits in an unbelieving society, and why "moments of grace" are
integral to exposing non-believers to God. A must for anyone who loves Christian
literature or hopes to write fiction someday.
ninetyandnine.com
© 2003, Kent d Curry
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Kent d Curry is an executive editor of
ninetyandnine.com.
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