A couple days ago, my family took a weekend vacation to go to a wedding. We went to a movie, went to a mall, walked various places, and ate at various places, and just generally enjoyed not doing anything. On our drive home, we stopped at a massive Half-Price Books. (I thought I heard it was the largest in the world, but that seems pretty ridiculous so I might be wrong.) Anyway, it was really big. No five stories or anything, just one story but it went out for a long time.
I loved going there. I walked in, and there were hundreds of books. Everywhere. New friends waiting to be met over on this side. New worlds waiting to be explored on this side. I know, I know. I sound like one of those book nuts, right? Well, that's what I am, aren't I? :D I practically went bounding through the shelves looking for anything that peeked my interest.
One section caught my eye: Christian Fiction. 'Hmm, cool! I think I'll go look at that.' So, I went over. As I do in any section, I start at one end and start scanning titles. If I title catches my interest, I pull the book out. If the cover picture and synopsis catch my interest, I write the name and author on the little notepad in my purse that I always have with me. This is to look them up on Amazon or the library when I get home, or to add to my ever growing list of 'books to read.'
Anyway, so I'm scanning through titles, and I very soon discover something. Literally fifty percent of the books in the section are Amish romances. I was immediately disappointed. I kept skimming through the section for a little while but just kept stumbling over more of the same thing, and I got discouraged and gave up. Yep, I went to the secular section with far more interesting novels.
Honestly, it disappointed me that so much of Christian fiction is Amish romances. Hey, you want to write a book about the Amish? That's cool! I'm all good with that. You want to make it a romance? Go for it! I might read it one day; who knows? But does the majority of Christian fiction have to be romance? Does it have to be Amish? Is the only way we can convey Christian theology (and I'm not saying whether the Amish have it right or not) is through showing a culture that is completely isolated from the world? Jesus calls us to go out into the world, to minister and evangelize, to try and touch every life we can for God. Can we do that if we're sitting in our special counties, trying to remain separate?
Another point, do so many of these books need to be romances? Now guys, I am as big a fan of romance novels as anybody. Not icky romance novels, no Fifty Shades of Grey or anything like it. But a good novel with a heavy enough dose to be considered in the romance genre? Let me at it. And, I'm all for Christian romances because we need some healthy romance novels on the market. Still, why do so many Christian books have to be "romances." Is that the only way we can appeal to the market?
I read a book a year or two ago called Yearbook by Allyson Braithwraite Condie. It was definitely religious fiction, but it was Mormon. I didn't chuck the book; actually, it's still on my shelf upstairs. The plot covered many different high-schoolers; all in the 15/16/17 age range, and all interconnected with the other characters. Some of the kids were dealing with moving, some with family issues, some with image problems, some with break ups, and all with religious struggles. And you know how they fixed their problems? Not by finding their inner strength or getting a gf/bf. They turned to their religion.
Granted, the intricacies of what they believe are wrong. They would quote the Bible and the Book of Mormon in the same sentence. Still, you have no idea how refreshing it was to read a book about modern kids with real problems who solve or sometimes only begin to solve (which is sometimes more realistic) all of their issues through faith! Yes, there were a few couples in the novel, but it wasn't a romance book. These kids were not closeting themselves but were trying to evangelize their friends as well as prepare for missionary-like trips. It was an excellent book, in my opinion, not from Shakespeare-like vocabulary or underlying symbolism, but because it was real. This is how religion functions in our everyday lives. Let's write a book about it.
Why can't Christian fiction writers be brave and really get books out that aren't romances? Why can't we really pack them with our beliefs and show how Christians of today interact with the Lord on an everyday and personal level? How we depend on him for our livelihood, for our joy, for our salvation? Wouldn't you want to read a book like that? I would! If I enjoyed it in a Mormon setting, I know I'd love it from an angle that I can relate to.
Being a writer, I've begun to think about how my opinions relate to myself. As a Christian, I've pondered over the question of "Should Christian writers only write Christian books?" My opinion is a no. I feel that nowhere am I required to write purely Christian fiction. I think that I am called to reach people, and if my talent is writing, than I need to reach people through writing. A lot of people can be turned off when they see a book is talking about God. So, maybe you never specify the religious relationship. Maybe the main character isn't a believer but a friend is. I mean, you can do all kinds of things.
To me, we need healthy, good, enjoyable literature out in the world for people to read. There are more people than me who want to pick up a book without worrying how much language or "smut" is contained inside. So, if I write a novel that has no mention of God, but has a strong family unit, high morals, and stuff like that...Someone could say, "Hey, that was a good book. I wonder what else she's written." And then they might find the book I've written that does go in the Christina Fiction section. And through really both books, I have reached them. (Of course, this all depends on me writing a lot of books. haha!) But still, I think you get my meaning.
Anyway, I thought about posting a facebook status about this...but as you can see it would be an eensy-weensy bit too long. So, I decided it should go up here. Feel free to comment and share your thoughts about anything in this post.
Have a great day! :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment