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revdorothyl at 12:45pm on 03/02/2006
revdorothyl at 12:45pm on 03/02/2006One of the college chaplains on my campus ministry mailing list sent out an "S.O.S." this week, saying he'd been tagged to teach a course (for the first time in at least ten years) on "Religion and Literature" and needed some recent novel suggestions for the reading list, since he hadn't kept up with contemporary fiction over the past decade. He wrote,
"What suggestions can you offer of spiritually relevant contemporary fiction that might engage 'typical' undergraduates for whom this might be their first religion course? I am familiar with some of the classics, such as the works of Graham Greene, Flannery O'Connor, John Updike, and Ann Tyler. Are there more recent novels you would recommend?"
Naturally, I had a suggestion or two to make, but I was surprised by how many other chaplains and clergy on the mailing list immediately stepped forward with suggestions. Some of them were things I'd never heard of, and some were far from recent, but it was still an encouragingly long list.
It made me wonder what new delights or old reliables my Friends List might come up with, in response to a similar request for recommendations of "Spiritually Relevant Contemporary Fiction".
Anybody got any good ones to suggest, just in case I ever get the chance to teach such a course?
Meanwhile, here's the list from the chaplains, so far:
---"Definitely include a novel or two by Walker Percy. His first, The Moviegoer, is a tour de force of Roman Catholic spirituality focusing on an Ash Wednesday plus a few days journey through a young man's search for himself. Then, look at Second Coming, again by Percy, as a discussion of issues of God-awareness/consciousness in middle life and the rediscovery of love."
---"I took a class (several years ago) in seminary and in addition to the authors you suggested we read My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok (GREAT book! Really interesting to talk about art and the crucifixion and such) - and I think maybe both The Color Purple and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I'm slowly making my way through Gilead, but I'm not sure college students would enjoy it."
---"For sure have them read The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews."
---"Try one of Salley Vickers' novels: Mr. Golightly's Holiday has to do with [the book of] Job and Miss Garnet's Angel has to do with [the book of] Tobit, sort of. I like Mr. Golightly, but it may disturb some students.
"Lee Smith's Saving Grace is about the daughter of a snake-handling preacher.
"Frederick Buechner: The Book of Bebb, Son of Laughter, a couple about early Celtic saints - I can't bring the names to mind at the moment.
"Someting darker, more disturbing - Pullman's His Dark Materials series, of which I have read only the first volume.
"Try Michael Eisner's The Crusader."
---"In our senior ethics course, we use an excellent novel, Saints and Villains, by Denise Giardina. It's a fictionalized version of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life, is very well written and always a favorite of the students. Has tons of material to talk about in religion and lit. "
---"Gilead is popular these days. It won the Pulitzer prize last year. I bought it last week but haven't started it yet. Some favor the writing of Sue Miller--she is the daughter of an ordained minister. Also popular is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. My favorite in this category is probably Modern Baptists. Apparently the author has also written sequels.
"A faculty member at the University where I served put together a collection of spirituality-related short stories. It includes lots of the famous ones--'Conversion of the Jews,' 'Cathedral,' etc. ... It's called A Celestial Omnibus. ..."
---"If you're not averse to the science fiction and fantasy genres, I'd strongly recommend taking a look at Lois McMaster Bujold's novel The Curse of Chalion (2001, or thereabouts, with two sequels so far, each focused on a different person of the godhead, as God is known in that imaginary world).
"...Everyone I've talked to who's read Chalion (from fellow clergywomen to friendly agnostics) has been eager to discuss its implications for the meaning of sainthood, redemptive sacrifice, and the incarnation. ..."
---"You should consider Atonement by Ian McEwan."
---"...Of course it always depends on what you mean by 'religious', but if you don't know the works of Laurie R. King, please check out her web site. She's a mystery writer (created a female companion for Sherlock Holmes, etc.) I was about 15 pages into the first Laurie King book I'd ever read when I had to stop and research her -- to find out if she had a theological degree (she does). Strongly feminist, exquisitely articulate, intense. Additionally, her web site invites you to write to her --"
---"I second the Laurie R. King recommendation: a friend sent me King's second Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell novel, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, because it was so chock-full of issues of biblical interpretation and women's leadership in the church in the early 20th century, with quotes from Early Church Fathers and assorted theologians at the start of every chapter. Even without having read the first novel, I was instantly hooked. Just the pairing of atheist Sherlock Holmes with a Jewish female apprentice who's studying both Theology and Chemistry at Oxford makes for interesting reading in the entire series."
---[Added from the mailing list on 2/4/06] "I say you can't beat Harry Potter. I teach classes on evil in American history and culture, and I always put the quote, "There is no good or evil, only power, and those too weak to take it." on the board the first class and promise them a quarter if they can tell me where it is from. Nobody ever gets it. Voldemort says it to Harry in The Sorcerer's Stone.
"I'm teaching an American Studies class later this spring on American spiritual literature, and, among many other things, I'm going to use a selection from Walter Wangerin's The Book of God."
"What suggestions can you offer of spiritually relevant contemporary fiction that might engage 'typical' undergraduates for whom this might be their first religion course? I am familiar with some of the classics, such as the works of Graham Greene, Flannery O'Connor, John Updike, and Ann Tyler. Are there more recent novels you would recommend?"
Naturally, I had a suggestion or two to make, but I was surprised by how many other chaplains and clergy on the mailing list immediately stepped forward with suggestions. Some of them were things I'd never heard of, and some were far from recent, but it was still an encouragingly long list.
It made me wonder what new delights or old reliables my Friends List might come up with, in response to a similar request for recommendations of "Spiritually Relevant Contemporary Fiction".
Anybody got any good ones to suggest, just in case I ever get the chance to teach such a course?
Meanwhile, here's the list from the chaplains, so far:
---"Definitely include a novel or two by Walker Percy. His first, The Moviegoer, is a tour de force of Roman Catholic spirituality focusing on an Ash Wednesday plus a few days journey through a young man's search for himself. Then, look at Second Coming, again by Percy, as a discussion of issues of God-awareness/consciousness in middle life and the rediscovery of love."
---"I took a class (several years ago) in seminary and in addition to the authors you suggested we read My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok (GREAT book! Really interesting to talk about art and the crucifixion and such) - and I think maybe both The Color Purple and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I'm slowly making my way through Gilead, but I'm not sure college students would enjoy it."
---"For sure have them read The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews."
---"Try one of Salley Vickers' novels: Mr. Golightly's Holiday has to do with [the book of] Job and Miss Garnet's Angel has to do with [the book of] Tobit, sort of. I like Mr. Golightly, but it may disturb some students.
"Lee Smith's Saving Grace is about the daughter of a snake-handling preacher.
"Frederick Buechner: The Book of Bebb, Son of Laughter, a couple about early Celtic saints - I can't bring the names to mind at the moment.
"Someting darker, more disturbing - Pullman's His Dark Materials series, of which I have read only the first volume.
"Try Michael Eisner's The Crusader."
---"In our senior ethics course, we use an excellent novel, Saints and Villains, by Denise Giardina. It's a fictionalized version of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life, is very well written and always a favorite of the students. Has tons of material to talk about in religion and lit. "
---"Gilead is popular these days. It won the Pulitzer prize last year. I bought it last week but haven't started it yet. Some favor the writing of Sue Miller--she is the daughter of an ordained minister. Also popular is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. My favorite in this category is probably Modern Baptists. Apparently the author has also written sequels.
"A faculty member at the University where I served put together a collection of spirituality-related short stories. It includes lots of the famous ones--'Conversion of the Jews,' 'Cathedral,' etc. ... It's called A Celestial Omnibus. ..."
---"If you're not averse to the science fiction and fantasy genres, I'd strongly recommend taking a look at Lois McMaster Bujold's novel The Curse of Chalion (2001, or thereabouts, with two sequels so far, each focused on a different person of the godhead, as God is known in that imaginary world).
"...Everyone I've talked to who's read Chalion (from fellow clergywomen to friendly agnostics) has been eager to discuss its implications for the meaning of sainthood, redemptive sacrifice, and the incarnation. ..."
---"You should consider Atonement by Ian McEwan."
---"...Of course it always depends on what you mean by 'religious', but if you don't know the works of Laurie R. King, please check out her web site. She's a mystery writer (created a female companion for Sherlock Holmes, etc.) I was about 15 pages into the first Laurie King book I'd ever read when I had to stop and research her -- to find out if she had a theological degree (she does). Strongly feminist, exquisitely articulate, intense. Additionally, her web site invites you to write to her --"
---"I second the Laurie R. King recommendation: a friend sent me King's second Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell novel, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, because it was so chock-full of issues of biblical interpretation and women's leadership in the church in the early 20th century, with quotes from Early Church Fathers and assorted theologians at the start of every chapter. Even without having read the first novel, I was instantly hooked. Just the pairing of atheist Sherlock Holmes with a Jewish female apprentice who's studying both Theology and Chemistry at Oxford makes for interesting reading in the entire series."
---[Added from the mailing list on 2/4/06] "I say you can't beat Harry Potter. I teach classes on evil in American history and culture, and I always put the quote, "There is no good or evil, only power, and those too weak to take it." on the board the first class and promise them a quarter if they can tell me where it is from. Nobody ever gets it. Voldemort says it to Harry in The Sorcerer's Stone.
"I'm teaching an American Studies class later this spring on American spiritual literature, and, among many other things, I'm going to use a selection from Walter Wangerin's The Book of God."
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