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

[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))