Wisdom IN Literature

As long-time readers will know, I’m what we call a ‘bookish’ person. That means that not only do I love to read, but also that I love to talk about books, think about the books I read, and better understand why I love the books I love.

I think that you can tell a lot about someone from the types of books (and media more broadly, but I’m going to focus on books here) that they love. Someone who reads widely across different genres is likely to either have a rather different temperament, or be going through rather different life circumstances, than someone who keeps to one genre — say who only reads fantasy or only reads ‘serious’ literary fiction. Even within a genre, especially one designed to elicit a strong emotional response like romance, seeing what really works and what doesn’t for a particular reader is pretty insightful. I’m increasingly convinced that the difference between a 3-star romance novel and 5-star one generally lies more in the reader more than the text. What excites, what what makes someone swoon, what makes someone want to throw the book across the room in disgust, can be a real window into someone’s mind and heart.

With this in mind, I have undertaken two series on the blog looking at some of my favourite novels that deal with sacred themes.

Introduction: Wisdom IN Literature

Purple Hibiscus and a Growth-Oriented Faith

The Color Purple on the Power of Beauty in an Ugly World

A Tale for the Time Being on Waking Up to the Present

Children of God on the Nature of Liberation

A Gentleman in Moscow on Living the Life You Have

Ordinary Grace on Grief, Loss, and Moving On

Astonishing the Gods on Loving without Illusion

The Brothers Karamazov on Two Spiritual Paths

BONUS: Some Thoughts on Literary Bible Retellings

The Lost Gospel of Lazarus on Wonder and Mystery