Thursday, December 10, 2009

At last a 'Christian novel' that I wanted to read

I'm not at all sure about the idea of 'Christian fiction' as a genre. Much better usually to think just of 'fiction'. What Jesus did with parables, novelists who are Christians can do with novels: attack people's hearts, invite people to explore further. And so on.

My Name is Russell Fink by Michael Snyder is perhaps an exception to this rule. It is funny, agreeably dysfunctional, and peopled with entertaining characters. To those who would avoid 'Christian fiction' because (a) it's a peculiar idea to start with and (b) it conjures up books for homemakers in the American Midwest that mention the word 'prairie' a lot, this is a mould-breaker.

You could give it to your non-Christian friends with no embarrassment. Book clubs could read and appreciate it. It is a happy, light novel of a hapless photocopier salesman finding God (and a girl), and solving the puzzle of his poisoned dog. In other words, it is completely unlike, thank goodness, The Shack. I liked it a lot. I see Amazon resellers have it for as little as £1.35; got to be worth a punt.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Then there is the Christian novel that deals with universal matters, just as any other good writer does, but is Christian because the author is a believer. That could be very different as well as interesting and entertaining. It's what I try to do in my new release, Angela 1: Staring Over. To learn more, please click on my name and follow the link to my website. I also invite you to view my blog and comment, at www.davidabedford.aegauthorblogs.com. Thanks!

Dick Davies said...

Psst.... don't tell my wife - getting her one for Christmas