I haven’t read The Shack. I think I will now that you’ve confessed that you couldn’t put it down. (I have begun — slowly — to read Twilight for many of the reasons you give. Painful.)

What is good literature and why does it matter? Orson Scott Card’s comments are astute and practical. I would add that like the justice who defined pornography with “I know it when I see it,” once we have trained our senses with an eye toward criticism of whatever the culture presents, and when we eat the good often enough so as to acquire the “taste,” we’ll know it when we read it. And as Hopkins says, “And know why.”

Why does literary/art criticism matter? Without being too Lewis-like, if we believe that the world is a place where the forces of good and evil are actually in conflict, and if we want to subdue evil and influence for good whatever circles we occupy, we have to include culture outside our churches. I may not fight an actual demon today (so far so good) but I may encounter a discussion on what good literature is and so on. So I need to be equipped to do what is required as I have opportunity. Education and training in cultural criticism are essential for this and (sadly as in your case) most neglected skills.

Quality fiction is a source of pleasure that lasts a lifetime and is relatively cheap as pleasures go. But you have to “get it.” One problem in the educational system today is that we give great literature to unprepared students who aren’t mature enough to appreciate what is happening in the text. Were sixteen to eighteen year olds more capable of reading higher order material a century or two ago? I suspect so. I don’t know how to fix this, as studies show that many adults don’t read “classics” after high school if they ever did.

On the other hand, junk food (fries) literature is not always a bad thing either. But the more gourmet our tastes, the less enticing will be the paper bag of oil-soaked, salty potatoes given that one has other options. True in so many areas. (One of my journalism students on a field trip where we had stopped to eat at a place which offered “gourmet fresh French fries” exclaimed in despair, “Hey, these fries taste like potatoes!”

What to read? I’ve written a few syllabi and am doing so now. It’s one of my favorite occupations. So many good choices! Lists abound. Good ones include the Great Books program, college syllabi and reading lists, “most influential” lists, and of course, the recommendations of our fellows, family, and friends like you.

Sinatra sang “that’s why the lady is a tramp.” She didn’t like some of the things her friends did. As we discuss art, we identify the worldview and remark on merits and establish value, but then we have to allow for individual taste and preference. I like spicy food, you don’t, etc. Doesn’t mean it isn’t “good as a food.”

So your bookshelf need not look like mine. In fact, I know it doesn’t based on your list. But those you list are Great Books to be sure.

We shouldn’t feel dispirited when we read a good (highly regarded) book and don’t like it: there are plenty more out there as varied as the authors themselves.

I have to get back to the story of the teenage vampire and the girl he makes out with but stops short of sex. Hurrah!It’s being called a “Christian” novel, I hear.

Thanks for the links to good sites to visit — all new ones to me.

Just a few things I was reminded of while reading that may be somewhat relevant:

People don’t make choices and develop worldviews based on rational thinking and assessment, but rather on storytelling – what story they accept and what roles in the story they see themselves playing. Marketing people understand this foundationally; beer commercials don’t present the health benefits or technical merits of a particular brew, but rather just tell the story of sexy people having fun with other sexy people while drinking brand XXX. Cultures that have been much longer-lived than our own understand this as well, and pass down their values through stories that invite hearers to take up the hero’s role and virtues.

I don’t think it’s easy to either condemn or acquit some of these controversial novels, as many seem to wish to do. It may not even always be necessary. I think it’s more important to evaluate the story the author of such a novel wants readers to buy into rather than to scrutinize the facts of his theology (although the two may be related). Then, the Church needs to produce powerful storytellers of its own. Where “Christian” art has often failed is when it has tried to just co-opt the stories the secular world is telling and clean them up with characters and verbiage that doesn’t fit them.

I’ve not personally read The Shack, only a few third-party reviews/plot summaries, and so I’m not able to evaluate it at all. If I had, I would be asking what affect its narrative has with regard to Truth. Does it clarify/solidify/ease acceptance of real Truth, or does it offer counterfeits, deception, or confusion? (I try to stay away from loaded words and phrases like “dangerous ideas” and “heresy.”) I think it’s quite possible for a novel to do either, whether the theological premises are precisely correct or not. You mentioned the Chronicles of Narnia, and I would submit that most Christians I’ve encountered find reinforcement of Truth in that story without feeling they must accept Jesus as a talking lion or Satan as a bitch from an alternate dimension.

Thanks, Garrett – I enjoyed the essay and appreciated the encouragement toward better literature in general. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.