From: ajw@cbnews.cb.att.com (andrew.j.whitman)
Newsgroups: rec.music.christian
Subject: Re: Madeleine L'Engle question
Date: 29 Jul 92 13:17:11 GMT
Organization: AT&T

In article <1992Jul29.014713.9884@ucsu.Colorado.EDU> hill@spot.Colorado.EDU (Michael Hill) writes:
>In article <1992Jul27.020112.3683@techbook.com> kim@techbook.com (Kim Larsen)
>writes:
>>
>>Was/is not Madeleine L'Engle also involved with L'Abri?  (Besides the
>>similarities in name, I mean :-)
>>
>
>Speaking of Madeleine L'Engle, here's a question I've never been able to
>find the answer to.  Why have I heard so much that she was Christian, or
>that her books were?  When I read "A Wrinkle in Time", the only thing I
>was able to find was a statement that Buddha, Mohammed, Christ, et al.
>were 'great shining lights of humanity' or something like that.  Certainly
>not the message Christ preached!  (Not in the NIV, anyway.  :^)  )
>
>Any takers?

Madeleine L'Engle is a member of the Episcopal Church.  She's written 
dozens of books, about half of which are children's/young adult fiction,
and the other half are journals/meditations on theological issues and
living as a Christian in today's society.  For a good representation
of the second half, you might want to check out "The Summer of the
Great Grandfather," a wonderful, moving account of her grandfather's
physical deterioration and death, and "The Irrational Season," a 
series of meditations on the church calendar and the meaning of
various church holidays (Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Advent, Christmas, etc.).  

She's not an evangelical, and I am, so I have problems with some of
her theology.  But I'd encourage you, if at all possible, to not let
that get in the way of the superb writing and the striking insights
that she can provide.  I find that I have to pick and choose what 
I'm going to hold on to, but I don't mind that.  "The Irrational
Season," in particular, is one of those books that I like to read
again and again.  Imagine a book of meaty sermons, but written so
beautifully that you find yourself being as grateful for the use of
the language as the content itself.  The woman can write.

I have the same kinds of reactions to people like Annie Dillard and
Flannery O'Connor (my second daughter was almost a Flannery, but
my wife, in a fit of good sense, dissuaded me).  I don't see the
world in quite the same way that they do, but I've sure been blessed
by their slightly skewed perspectives.  

Does anyone else here know and like these folks?  Or have any
similar recommendations for Christian fiction and/or poetry?
Don't tell me about Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, Peretti, Lawhead, et 
al.  That's okay, but I'm looking for something besides tracts
disguised as fantasy novels (no, that doesn't really apply to
C.S., J.R.R., and Charles, but Peretti and Lawhead bore me to
tears).  Just to help you out some, the contemporary writers that
I esteem most highly are Dillard, O'Connor, John Updike, Gabriel
Garcia Marquez, Milan Kundera, Thomas Pynchon, and Graham Green.  
Anybody willing to recommend something else along those lines?

>			--Michael
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Michael Hill   <><  Isaiah 9:6 | "Don't you forget now that Somebody died for
>hill@spot.Colorado.EDU         |  you/ I'm tellin' you the truth, man, I ain't
>Ball Aerospace Systems Group & |  gonna lie to you/ Good guys, bad boys, we're
>University of Colorado@Boulder |  all the same/ Saved by grace is the name of
>$ mv net.flames /dev/null      |  the game."            --Allies, "Burden Down"
>-------------------------My boss is a Jewish carpenter!------------------------
>Did you ever notice that everybody in favor of abortion has already been born?!

Andy Whitman
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio
att!cblpn!ajw  or
ajw@cblpn.att.com