This Classical Life

I expected great things from Housekeeping and Marilynne Robinson did not disappoint. I read her second novel, Gilead, last year and thoroughly enjoyed it but Housekeeping surpassed it by its gratifying use of language and description. Robinson has an breathtaking ability to write in a way that is plain but wonderful, in the true sense of the word.

If you prefer novels with gripping plots, you might find Housekeeping plodding. It’s a coming of age story about two sisters, narrated by the older of the two, that centers on loneliness and loss, two centerpieces of the human condition. Despite its themes and dreary setting, I didn’t find it to be a depressing book, likely because of the thoughtful, interesting prose and the way the story drew me into Ruthie’s world and made me see things from her perspective as the very best novels do.

The exceptional beauty of this book restored my faith in contemporary literature and gave me hope that great fiction is still being written, but it wasn’t lofty or condescending. The sparse simplicity made me want to write, to use the English language, to edit and edit again until I could find a small bit of beauty in my labor and Marilynne Robinson has created on every page. (10/10, from the library.)

Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith is the first book by Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids and featured speaker in the NOOMA videos.  I read straight through it today and was genuinely surprised at how much I liked the book.  It is an excellent call for Christians to think outside the box of cafeteria evangelicalism and to live a life that fully embraces God in all its aspects.

My prejudice against the book was based on my limited exposure to Bell.  I saw one NOOMA and I wasn’t that impressed and I recall hearing faint rumors about his “bad theology.”  Honestly, I didn’t find his theology to be bad upon reading.  Arminian at points, but certainly within the bounds of orthodoxy and also more precise than most emerging writers.  (The statement of faith of his church can be found here.)

Velvet Elvis is not a memoir.  It does include a lot of personal stories and has a personal tone, but it has a flow and purpose.  It’s a book that wonders about the vastness of God, how little we can understand.  It’s a book that encourages readers to reflect about their own faith.  It discusses the main points of the Christian faith in a way engaging to a postmodern generation, particularly those who grew up in the church, both the accepting and the cynical. 

Rob Bell is not a messianic Jew, but he has a healthy obsession with setting the Bible in its original context.  I think many readers will glean interesting insights from what he writes about Jesus’ world.  Bell certainly wants to be relevant, but he also demonstrates a commitment to the truth.  Personally, I enjoyed his endnotes because I love seeing what books authors like enough to cite, Bell certainly passed my test in that department.

I wouldn’t say Velvet Elvis was life-changing for me, I’ve read enough from the emerging church that I am over that bubble in some respects, but I certainly think it is helpful and would recommend it to people who are curious about the emergent church, suddenly aware of their obsession with systematics and apologetics and also young people who are wondering about the faith they grew up with and the culture they are discovering in the rest of the world.  (8/10, borrowed from my sister Janelle.)