I've been doing lots of reading about how to write of late, getting resources together for my band of merry writers on Tuesday (I teach a group of homeschool high schoolers Creative Writing- lucky me!). Of course, suspension of belief, is a big no-no for writer's. In other words, your writing needs to be believable.
Which leads me to a book review: The Handmaid and the Carpenter by Elizabeth Berg. I love history. I adore ancient history, and historical fiction is my fav genre. So I thought I would love this book. It's the Christmas season, it's about the Holy Family and it had a lovely cover. The book ends with Joesph confessing that he doesn't believe in the immaculate conception, he doesn't believe that he was directed by an angel to marry Mary. He marries Mary based on his own desire to possess Mary's beauty, his own lust.
My summation of this book: Blech. The author is too shallow to understand that she toys with the divine, that she has written words that slander men in general, and God's appointed earthly father to His Son in particular. Oy vey. Sad to say that this writer could not conceive of a man that would lay down his life to serve sacrificially, to love wholeheartedly. Instead she paints a picture of a family that is based on lies and deceit, lack of trust, love that is stingy and wholly about sensuality. Mary and Jesus are the ones "in the know" while Joseph is the odd one out. I'm not a therapist or anything (o.k. I am) and it would be, oh to easy, to speculate about Berg's family based on the sad story she portrays in this one. As if it was too much to hope for something more than what we often see - a family conceived by the very breathe of God.
The virgin birth is the ultimate suspension of belief in so many ways. And apparently, Berg isn't buying it- at least she's not buying that Joseph bought it. Too bad for her.
Which leads me to a book review: The Handmaid and the Carpenter by Elizabeth Berg. I love history. I adore ancient history, and historical fiction is my fav genre. So I thought I would love this book. It's the Christmas season, it's about the Holy Family and it had a lovely cover. The book ends with Joesph confessing that he doesn't believe in the immaculate conception, he doesn't believe that he was directed by an angel to marry Mary. He marries Mary based on his own desire to possess Mary's beauty, his own lust.
My summation of this book: Blech. The author is too shallow to understand that she toys with the divine, that she has written words that slander men in general, and God's appointed earthly father to His Son in particular. Oy vey. Sad to say that this writer could not conceive of a man that would lay down his life to serve sacrificially, to love wholeheartedly. Instead she paints a picture of a family that is based on lies and deceit, lack of trust, love that is stingy and wholly about sensuality. Mary and Jesus are the ones "in the know" while Joseph is the odd one out. I'm not a therapist or anything (o.k. I am) and it would be, oh to easy, to speculate about Berg's family based on the sad story she portrays in this one. As if it was too much to hope for something more than what we often see - a family conceived by the very breathe of God.
The virgin birth is the ultimate suspension of belief in so many ways. And apparently, Berg isn't buying it- at least she's not buying that Joseph bought it. Too bad for her.
3 comments:
That is so sad that the author didn't understand what they were writing about! That's just not cool at all. Hope you find some better books soon :)
Not that this has much relevance at all, but it was about immaculate conception and not the virgin birth? I know I get those mixed up from time to time--and am surprised every time I "rediscover" the difference--so I thought I'd toss this out there.
~Luke
Luke- you are right! Thanks for the help ; ).
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