Have you read any hope-filled books lately?

Last updated on: April 11, 2011 at 11:14 am by Amy Julia Becker

Have you read any hope-filled books lately? 2011-04-11T11:14:06-04:00 Amy Julia Becker

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What books are you reading lately? Are they hopeful and truthful at the same time?

I ask because a friend who reads this blog wrote me last week with the following comments:

“I’ve been thinking lately about fiction and Christian writers. With my recent book choices I’ve read some really well-written, disturbing books, and I am searching for stories with hope. Stories that I think Christians (or at least someone with a religious perspective) would write. I just can’t seem to find good literature that isn’t “haunting” “disturbing” etc. Why does every story about a married couple include infidelity? Why is violence so present in these stories? Can’t there be good literature that is not violent — isn’t a marriage that is hard and long and not broken interesting?”

In response, I would say that a lot of good literature is grim. And a lot of “hopeful” literature is filled with saccharine. With that said, books that come to mind for me that are both truthful about human nature and hopeful for God’s presence and redemption in this world include Jayber Crow, Hannah Coulter, and Fidelity (stories) by Wendell Berry; Peace Like a River by Leif Enger; Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner, Gilead and Home by Marilynne Robinson… I also just read The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Burbery. I found it slow-going until about page 120, but then it took off. It by no means offers a Christian view of redemption, but I found it hopeful nonetheless.

How about you? Do you look for hope/redemption in fiction? Can you find hope and redemption outside of your religious tradition (whether Christianity or otherwise)? If so, where have you found it?

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