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Today's Topic
I love Christian fiction. Lately I've been realizing my favorite kind of book is a book that deals with faith in all of its reality..doubt, wonder, joy, and pain. Unfortunately, I find these books are too few and far between. Even with so much fantastic Christian fiction, the books that dig into the deepest parts of faith seem hard to come by.
I was reading a review on a general review blog of a Christian fiction title. The reviewer was frustrated by the ease with which complicated situations were resolved. It reminded me of several reviews of another title I love that is Christian fiction that had an ambiguous ending. Many people were frustrated and I read some reviewers say they just wanted a happy ending.
Which brings me to today's question...is Christian fiction too often characterized by escapism? And if it is..do you think it's truly healthy for Christians to constantly take in messages of faith that are light or too easily resolved? Is it okay to have a less than happy ending in a Christian fiction book?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts!!!!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Faith 'n' Fiction Saturday: Christian fiction--escapism?
Posted by Amy at 8:23 PM
Labels: Faith 'n Fiction Saturdays
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5 comments:
Hi Amy. I came across your Faith 'n Fiction topic for this week thanks to my friend Rel (Relz Reviewz). Interesting topic!!!! I'm not even sure whether Rel and I share the exact view on the subject this week...but I wanted to take it up, knowing that she's got too much swirling around her right now.
I think there's nothing wrong with less than happy endings, but I prefer happy endings...for any genre. However, I like knowing that when I pick up a Christian fiction title that things will end happily even if it's a very difficult journey there.
I think Christian books should be realistic, and some people's problems/circumstances do not have a "happy ending." And that's ok. God does intervene on some occasions and not in others. It sometimes spoils the book when I know at the beginning of the book that a happy ending is going to end the novel. Doesn't always happen that way.
O.K., so I don't read much Christian fiction. But I would be annoyed if ANY book ended without much effort, decision-making, or brain-power on the part of the characters. Whether it is because of a fairy godmother, the power of prayer, or dumb luck, if there is no action (and with it, perhaps risk?) on the part of the characters, then what is the point?
And like I said, I don't read much Christian fiction, but I'm reminded of this story that my Mother-in-law told me about interviewing babysitters when they lived in Oklahoma. She asked one college student what she would do if she suddenly couldn't find one of the children. The student (who went to, I believe, Oral Roberts University), said she would sit down and pray. Needless to say, she didn't get the babysitting job. So, yeah, if in Christian fiction a character were to say, pray for something and it comes true, (as opposed to say, getting strength from prayer and going after something), I'd be disappointed.
I'm not sure I answered your question, but there it is.
I don't always need a happy ending, but I do like there to be a hopeful ending. This applies whether I am reading a secular book, a Christian book, or watching a TV show or movie. For instance, I just finished a Christian fiction title and one of the characters had been beaten and fell into a coma. There wasn't anything active the characters could do but pray and talk to the injured man in hopes of keeping his mind active. At the end, he did come out of the coma, but all of his injuries didn't miraculously disappear. If he had been walking and back to work by the end of the book, I think I would have been disappointed. As I said, I want there to be hope but I'm not expecting a fairy-tale ending unless I'm reading a book with witches and fairies in it :-).
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