Saturday, May 31, 2008
The most wretched of Quaker bloggers am I, having neglected posting here for as long as I have. God bless Robert Hopper for posting here most recently. I have also been reading various religious tomes, purchased on the cheap from a used bookstore that opened up down the street from my old house.
I may post my thoughts -- which will be much briefer and more visceral than Robert's very thorough review below -- on a number of these books. But in the immediate term, wanted to share some quick thoughts on a piece of pop religious fiction I bolted through in the last couple of days.
Judging from book sales figures, I may be one of the last people around to read Joshua, A Parable for Today by Joseph Girzone. I have to admit that the writing was a bit stiff and hackneyed, but since the central character was in fact a modern-day incarnation of Jesus, the book does have a certain appeal that pulled me through the text. I also understand the book has been made into a movie.
Girzone's work has received its share of criticism, some from those who criticize the Joshua character's opposition to religious authority. Indeed, I found myself thinking of George Fox regularly when reading this book, and felt that Quakers reading the Joshua books may see this character as a Fox surrogate. Lutherans may find him to be a stand-in for Martin Luther
While I do not want to be a spoiler, I will say I found the ending of this book anti-climactic. Moreover, I detected a strong anti-Catholic bias in the book. To those reading this book, it should come as no surprise that Girzone is a former Catholic priest.
I may pick up others of the Joshua series -- most certainly if they come up in the inventory of the used bookstore down I patronize. This is fiction, and is not the stuff of deep works that are to be meditated upon. But if they make us more mindful of our relationship with God and cause us to contemplate the role of Christ in our daily lives, these books are certainly preferable to other literature.
I may post my thoughts -- which will be much briefer and more visceral than Robert's very thorough review below -- on a number of these books. But in the immediate term, wanted to share some quick thoughts on a piece of pop religious fiction I bolted through in the last couple of days.
Judging from book sales figures, I may be one of the last people around to read Joshua, A Parable for Today by Joseph Girzone. I have to admit that the writing was a bit stiff and hackneyed, but since the central character was in fact a modern-day incarnation of Jesus, the book does have a certain appeal that pulled me through the text. I also understand the book has been made into a movie.
Girzone's work has received its share of criticism, some from those who criticize the Joshua character's opposition to religious authority. Indeed, I found myself thinking of George Fox regularly when reading this book, and felt that Quakers reading the Joshua books may see this character as a Fox surrogate. Lutherans may find him to be a stand-in for Martin Luther
While I do not want to be a spoiler, I will say I found the ending of this book anti-climactic. Moreover, I detected a strong anti-Catholic bias in the book. To those reading this book, it should come as no surprise that Girzone is a former Catholic priest.
I may pick up others of the Joshua series -- most certainly if they come up in the inventory of the used bookstore down I patronize. This is fiction, and is not the stuff of deep works that are to be meditated upon. But if they make us more mindful of our relationship with God and cause us to contemplate the role of Christ in our daily lives, these books are certainly preferable to other literature.
Labels: girzone joshua quaker fiction review
