Re: cclit

[Drew Johnson <djohnson at snowplow_org>]

On Thu, 3 Apr 2003, l. harnish wrote:

>
> >Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 15:51:07 -0800 (PST)
> >From: Aaron Edwards <edwardsaaron2000 at yahoo_com>
> >Subject: Re: ripped off a C-Stone
>
> >I don't think that Tim Lahaye has the literary
> >capacity to be ironic. Ooipsy, did I just bad mouth
> >Left Behind and the John Grisham of Christian
> >fiction?
> >sorry, I'm an English major, with a major chip on my
> >shoulder about certain (or rather most) Christian
> >fiction authors.
>
> okay, mr. chipped English major--this statement
> implies that some Christian authors (albeit, few) are
> decent. who?
>
> genuinely curious and not being facitious,
> lindsey h
>

Really, the thing about the whole endeavor of 'Christian fiction' is that
it _usually_ translates into 'people who couldn't sell their books to the
rest of the world.'  That being said, however, the three that always come
to my head - as a s/f fan - are:

Ursula LeGuin
Madeleine L'Engle
Stephen Lawhead has his moments

However, what are you looking for?  Authors that happen to be Christians?
Folks who somehow ran the gauntlet of the Christian Booksellers
Association?  There are glimpses of God's grace everywhere - like our old
buddy Gerard Manley Hopkins says, "The world is charged with the grandeur
of God.  It will flame out, like shining from shook foil..."

(and Lindsay, I'm not trying to be at all harsh here or at any point
in this epistle...)

What about Kevin Smith's comics, a nice Catholic boy who's so into Jesus
that he made a film that explained his understanding of it all in a way
that some of his stoner friends would get it?

Or Wes Craven...do his movies count?  He went to Wheaton College, after
all, and recently spoke there.

Or that great old Catholic, JRR Tolkien and his buddies like CS Lewis?

It's a weird world out there, and I think it's more difficult than ever to
label anything as 'Christian fiction', at least if it's not sold by
Zondervan or Ye Olde Christian Kitsche Store.

There are wonderful glimpses of God's workings in a recent book by Naomi
Kritzer called "Fires of the Faithful" - and Naomi is Jewish - while a
book that Sherry read on stillness and meditation by a 'Christian' author
seemed to be little more than a cathartic exercise to figure out why the
author isn't as messed up as she used to be - God is kind of off to the
side, despite the fact that the book is supposed to be all about
connecting to God in silence.

-Drew J

O Drew Johnson - djohnson at snowplow_org - Ld Robert Bartholomew, SCA  )   ^ ^
O    I also have the garlic powder. - Diablo - 10/4/98, goats.com    X  (_|_)
O            Check out rft.melm.org - Radio Free Tomorrow.           | (bunny)

---------------
Unsubscribe by going to http://www.actwin.com/OtR/