The Power of Novels
During all of my college years and for most of my seminary years I believed that reading novels was a waste of time. I had more important books to read: textbooks, commentaries, theological tomes, and countless monographs. I was a snob, a bore.
But I remember my conversion. While attending Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts I worked part-time at a local library, The Magnolia Library. It was a private library open only to those who paid membership dues. One day I was sweeping the floors when a woman I respected very much returned the novel Jaws by Peter Benchley. She could not say enough about how much the book had been fun to read. She noticed me and said to me that I simply must read the thriller. I was nearing the completion of my second master’s degree and was a bit weary to do any kind of reading, let alone novels. I was weary of Barth, Bultmann, and Bruce. And so, in what I thought at the time was a moment of weakness, I checked the book out. I returned to the cottage where Marilyn and I were staying and when I began the book that evening, I could not put it down. In fact, I read the work that night. Thus began my practice of reading at least forty to fifty works of fiction a year.
Since that Spring of 1975 I have lost count of all the novels I have read. Hundreds I should imagine. This summer I have read several: The Steel Wave (a historical novel about D-Day) by Jeff Shaara, Dean Koontz’s most recent novel about one of his most delightful characters, Odd Thomas–Odd Hours, Daniel Silva’s latest volume on the Israeli agent Gabriel Allon and his never-ending battle against terrorists, Moscow Rules, and Stephen King’s powerful book on the depravity of the human heart, Needful Things (the ghost of the demonic character of Leland Gaunt still brings a shudder to me), to mention just a few.
There is a page that I have photocopied from a novel by Steven Pressfield, Killing Rommel. The book is about a crack British band of soldiers sent out into the desert to assassinate Germany’s beloved General, Erwin Rommel. The key fictional character in the book is R. Lawrence Chapman, Chap to his friends. At the end Chap is memorialized in a service. After the war Chap’s literature became Chap’s religion. He believed in the written word, in the soul-to-soul communion between writer and reader that takes place in the silence between the covers of a book. A portion of the eulogy reads (see p. 289):
Chap venerated the novel. To him fiction was not merely a medium of amusement or diversion, though he set considerable store by those, but a field upon which the experience of a single individual could be made accessible to others with a power and immediacy that no other medium could reproduce. Chap saw in the novel a universality–a level pitch upon which disparate human beings, entering via the imagination into the experiences and consciousnesses of others, could discover a commonality across the divisions of tribe, race, nation, even time.
The words sum up the value of reading novels. A few days ago my son and I were discussing one of the most significant novels we have ever read, John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany. I defy anyone to read the opening line on the first page and the closing lines and not be drawn into it. Universality. Empathy. And of course, amusement or diversion. These qualities I adore in novels.
What are the qualities that you adore? What characters have touched your life?
Related posts:
I, too, need good characters, a good story, and good language. I read a lot of Charles Dickens while in college and Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities has always stayed with me. At your suggestion, I read–and loved–A Prayer for Owen Meany several years ago. Walter Wangerin’s The Book of the Dun Cow and The Book of Sorrows are wonderful and will appeal to those who enjoy The Chronicles of Narnia. Wangerin is a gifted writer and can turn a phrase like few others.
When i was in junior high or high school i began reading Louis L’amour westerns. I had seen my grandpa read these, and my mother worked at a book seller and would pick up these novels out of the “damaged” bin. I haven’t read everyone, but the majority. What i liked most was the fact that L’amour’s hero was always a hero…he was always a “good guy.” Some probably think L’amour’s novels are all the same, just different characters, and there is truth in that, but i always felt the lead character was someone to look up to…he only fired when fired upon, never initiated fights, always rescued the heroin, etc.
I once started a Zane Grey novel thinking they would be similar, but it wasn’t…i put it down after about a chapter…didn’t keep my interest the same way.
Ah, Jason, there is, in my opinion, no finer Western writer than L’Amour. You can see his influence even though he has been dead for nearly twenty years. Publishers will proclaim about some author: “The Louis L’Amour of our day” but I am always disappointed. Frankly, Zane Grey’s works bore me. Something must be wrong with me because his writings are so loved by many people I respect. L’Amour wrote about characters who reminded me of Roy Rogers, my childhood hero.
On the other hand, if you have never read the Lonesome Dove series by Larry McMurtry, they are worth the time. The first one is the best, I believe. But the others are enjoyable but not just as much.
You’ll do to ride the trail with. And so I end: Happy Trails!
Bob,
Many years ago I mentioned during a sermon that Roy Rogers had always been a hero and role model in my life.
Not long after, on my birthday, I received a present from a woman who had heard that sermon. It was an old, black and white, autographed picture of Roy and Trigger!
Today that picture is proudly displayed in my office.
Happy trails, my friend!
Bob,
A Prayer for Owen Meany (and its screen version Simon Birch), should be required reading for humanity. I have used it countless times to inspire and motivate children and youth workers. It has never failed to elicite a passion for all that is good and right even when life (and sometimes the church) deals you garbage. I will never tire of this book or movie. I also enjoy the works of Chaim Potok – The Chosen, as well as several others. They provide a trip into a world that I have never been to in person but find exceedingly intriguing. Some of the best books I have read are children’s books, I frequently utilize them in groups settings to initiate discussion. It seems everyone can relate to childrens literature. It is amazing how people connect with the child character(s), they become their champions. Great novels and stories expand our world in a way that nothing else can do. Think about it, to be able to read, to imagine, to dream, and to find respite from the tough times – all in the pages of a book. The ability to do so a tremendous gift from the author of life. Gotta Go – I hear a book calling my name!
I too refrained from novels for many years and have just of late ventured (slowly) therein. I particularly enjoy historical novels by Jack Cavanaugh. Only in the last two years have I discovered the richness of the Narnia series and this summer I have even started the Anne of Green Gables series. Have you read The Shack? If so what was your reaction. Given some of the problems it has, nevertheless Phyllis and I enjoyed it immensely last week.
I remember listening to a John Maxwell leadership lesson one time and hearing him say that he doesn’t read fiction because it’s not a good use of time (he only reads non-fiction). I thought that was a shame.
I love to read; my home and college offices are filled with books. I don’t get to a lot of novels because of so much ministry-related material I need to read. The most frustrating problem is that I’m a slow reader. Any tips for how you get through so much material?