Christian fiction

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Hi, community.

Someone just joined this community which made me feel that I should contribute to making it a bit more active.

So here's something....I often hear Christians (me included) complaining about Christian fiction. I know what my own complaints are - often it's cheesy, portraying Christianity in a shallow way, and it seems there is a required ministry message that is almost always poorly written. Still, I read it. I like knowing the character is probably going to approach things from a Christian perspective.

I guess what I'm wondering is what would be the "right" way to write Christian fiction for those of you who don't like it? I often wonder how I would incorporate faith if I wrote a book. Sure, I can write a character who isn't Christian at all, but as a Christian it would be tempting to write from a perspective that I know and live. But how do I do that in a way that doesn't just seem silly? How does one write that in a way that can be appreciated by Christians and nonChristians alike? Does it always have to be allegory?

I suppose I'm also wondering if you have read any Christian fiction that you think was well done. If so, why do you say that?

Comments

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Since I'm one of those critics of Christian literature, I guess I should speak up. :) The problem that I have with most of it is that it's simply not very well written. It makes me ashamed because, as Christians, we should be producing higher quality work than the world. I think a lot of badly-written books get published just because they are "Christian" than because of any particular artistic merit. And like the book "Inklings" that I read a few months back - almost all the positive reviews I read of it didn't talk about the characterization or plot or writing (which were all frankly TERRIBLE), but instead raved about how great it was to read a book where the main characters were dedicated to remaining pure until marriage. Well, that's great. But should that alone excuse the fact that it was horrible writing? Why should we settle for the books of such low quality?

*cough* Okay, my rant is over. :)

But I do have some Christian fiction that I think is better quality than most. Jan Karon is good - she's very good at working her main character's faith into the books in a totally natural, non-preachy way. And both Bodie Thoene and BJ Hoff have written very well researched historical books, although I haven't read them since I was a teenager, so I wonder what I would think of the writing if I were to go back and read them again now. :) But I remember them as being very good. C.S. Lewis is, of course, amazing in both skill and content. George MacDonald is quite good for classic Christian literature, although he greatly benefits from Michael Phillip's editing. I know there are others, but right now my mind is going blank!

[augustine.livejournal.com]

I know there are others, but right now my mind is going blank!

G.K. Chesterton. :-)

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Oh thanks, I was hoping you'd respond!

To your first paragraph: well said.

Although there's a lot of bad writing that is nonChristian, too, so apparently there's always going to be a publisher for almost any quality of writing. :P

I have only read part of one Jan Karon book and didn't like it. Not that the writing was bad or anything, I just have my reasons. :) But you're right that it didn't seem preachy from what I read.

Thanks for responding!

[tingilya.livejournal.com]

I'd add J.R.R. Tolkien to the list of great Christian writers above.

I don't like it because it's so cheaply written. Everything's cutesy and tied up in a bow, and everybody's witty. Christian chick lit is no different from mainstream, except there's no bad language or sex. But I don't know anybody who lives the way those silly, vapid girls live.

I also cannot STAND how so much of it centers on Amish characters. What in the world is that all about?! It's like nobody in history ever had a compelling story who wasn't Amish. Give me an historical novel set with the Scottish Covenanters or the Puritans, and then maybe I'll read it! I don't need to read about some demure and proper girl churning butter!

Argh! :)

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they're either Amish or pioneers!

[bellawilfer.livejournal.com]

I have been reading Christian fiction for awhile now and the one thing that keeps me interested - despite the badly written books that I have read - is one thing: Christian fiction is usually clean. As a teenager, my parents were pretty darn protective of me and that transcended to what I read. I could usually pick up a Christian novel and know that I wasn't going to have to deal with language or descriptions of sex.

Some authors are definitely better than others. I really like Brock and Bodie Thoene's books - at least the Zion Chronicles and Covenant books (and Twilight of Courage, although I haven't read it in years since I can't find our copy anywhere!). Oh, and the Shiloh Trilogy.

Another recent author I rather like, but just for a light, fluffy read, really, is Rene Gutteridge. My Life as a Doormat is one of those books where it all comes together nicely in the end, pink bow and all, but it is hilarious and actually hit this introverted and non-assertive person close to home.

I've enjoyed some of Lynn Austin's books, as well as Francine Rivers. I don't like some of the preaching that The Atonement Child does (and it does end too idealistically), but I found her books fairly well written.

Other authors... George MacDonald, definitely - and I appreciate the editing that Michael Phillips did. ;-) JRR Tolkien. C.S. Lewis.

Ill-written Christian fiction has been around for YEARS. It isn't just in recent times that it's gone downhill. For instance, look at Elsie Dinsmore and all the other Victorian books that are quite melodramatic and Just Not Great Lit.

Another thing to remember is that before Janette Oke and the rest, for some time there really wasn't a Christian Fiction genre. It's still growing. We need to hold writers to a higher standard, but we do need to keep in mind that a lot of people who read it aren't looking for great literature. There's a reason why there are so many series and books about the Amish. A lot of women liked Beverly Lewis's work. Overkill now, yes, but...

[ruthieroo.livejournal.com]

Great comment, I very much agree!

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

I agree - the cleanliness is what keeps me interested, too. I can feel pretty safe picking up a Christian fiction mystery or something, whereas there might be lots more disturbing scenes in nonChristian (though not always, of course).

Hm, I'm intrigued by the Gutteridge book. I'll have to add that to my list. :)

[augustine.livejournal.com]

I suppose I'm also wondering if you have read any Christian fiction that you think was well done.

Yes, G.K. Chesterton's. :-)

If so, why do you say that?

To use the words that Martin Gardner (a non-Christian) used in describing Chesterton's novel The Ball and the Cross, and which can be applied to GKC's fiction in general, I:

"...enjoy reading it for its colorful style, with its constant alliteration, amusing puns and clever paradoxes; for its purple passages about sunsets, dawns and silver moonlight; and for the humor and melodrama of its crazy plot."

Speaking of which, you can read a great deal of Chesterton's fiction (and non-fiction as well) on the following website:

G.K. Chesterton's Works on the Web (http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/index.html)

(Though some of the books which are in the public domain in the UK, where the owner of that site lives, are not in the public domain in the US. I believe the key date for the US is 1923. But I believe most of the work is in the public domain in both places).

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Are you C.K. Chesterton's agent? :)

[augustine.livejournal.com]

No, I'm not C.K. Chesterton's agent.

But I *do* dream of being G.K. Chesterton's agent! Heh. :-)

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

:) Okay.

[sheeri.livejournal.com]

I'm very interested reading the comments to this post. I do appreciate Christian fiction for its cleanliness...but haven't read that much of it, especially since fantasy isn't my favorite genre. So yeah, eavesdropping here! :)

[augustine.livejournal.com]

Well, here's some Christian fiction books that I liked that are not fantasy, just in case you're interested (some famous, others not so much):

Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz
The Robe by Lloyd Douglas
The Miracle of the Bells by Russell Janney
Pontius Pilate and The Flames of Rome, both by Paul Maier
The Spear, The Restless Flame, and The Living Wood, all by Louis de Wohl

...and I'm sure there's more that I cannot remember at the moment. :-)

The first four of those books were later turned into movies (though I had only known about the first two being made into movies before reading them; the other two I didn't find out they were made into movies until afterwards).

but haven't read that much of it, especially since fantasy isn't my favorite genre

OK, back to being GKC's agent again (Heh):

By any chance do you like detective stories? If so, there's always G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories, which are a classic of the genre.

And I also noticed that your profile says you like Charles Dickens. While not fiction, have you read Chesterton's biography Charles Dickens? It has been considered by many people the best book ever written on Dickens (including by President Theodore Roosevelt, George Bernard Shaw, T.S. Eliot, William James, etc.). And, while I don't know if she considered it the best book on Dickens or not, one person who certainly liked the book in any case was a daughter of Dickens.

OK, I'm done now. :-)

[sheeri.livejournal.com]

Ah, excellent suggestions! I have read 'The Robe' and enjoyed it very much, so I might like the others too. (Oo...especially that Dickens biography....) Thank you! :D

[augustine.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. :-)

BTW, you can read the Dickens biography online here:

Charles Dickens (http://www.classicliterature.net/g.k.-chesterton/charles-dickens-(1906))

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Yeah I'm not into fantasy either!

[bellawilfer.livejournal.com]

There's actually a lot of Christian fic. out there that isn't fantasy. Historical fiction suggestions: Brock and Bodie Thoene, Lynn Austin. Older fiction? George MacDonald's adult novels, none of which are fantasy. I would recommend Sir Gibbie (republished and edited as "The Baronet's Song") and the sequel, Donal Grant (republished and edited as "The Shepherd's Castle"). Judith Pella and Michael Phillips wrote a fairly decent series together, the Stonewycke books.

But I do NOT recommend Gilbert Morris who appears to think that writing a 30+ long series of books beginning with the Mayflower Pilgrims up until fairly recent time periods, but with the same consistant plotline - Guy likes Girl, Girl not worthy of him, some sort of love triange, Guy gets Worthy Girl in the End and it turns out that they were each other's match as made in heaven...

Honestly. The seven books by Gilbert Morris that I've read were ALL like that. Consistently the same story-line, just with different characters. Blech.

If you want Christian children's fic, I highly recommend Robert Elmer's Young Underground series and Promise of Zion series. I love those books, even now that I'm grown up. :-) Young Underground takes place during and slightly post-WWII. Promise of Zion takes place in Israel as it became a state. I personally found them fairly well-written and not overly preachy. The characters felt real to me. Robert Elmer also wrote a series that takes place in Australia, "Adventures Down Under," but it felt less believable to me than YU & PoZ. His most recent trilogy that takes place in Communist Germany wasn't as well-written in my opinon, but I think they were intended for a slightly younger reader than the Young Underground.

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Well, this is my experience as someone who has tried to write regular fiction from a Christian perspective. I took a creative writing class my last semester in college, and the other people in class were always commenting (but not in a mean way) about how "innocent" and young-seeming my characters were. I didn't set out to write a Christian story, I just wrote what seemed normal and natural to me. That's how I'm approaching my NaNo story and any other writing that I do in the future. I think it's possible to write Christian, or at least moral, fiction without beating people over the head with a literary altar call. You can show people going to church and living cleanly without delving into the hows and whys at every turn. I try to let my life be my witness, so there's no reason why I can't write the same way. Then again, I may be wrong. I haven't had enough experience to really know.

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

I think that's a good approach and good information. You're right. I'll use that thinking if I ever would write down some story!

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

DO IT!!!

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Haha.. it should be my 2009 goal. I've been such a procrastinator!