Rating: 6
April 11, 2007
This book almost didn’t make the recommended list. Let me start with what I hated: the literary form of the first four chapters — a priest’s letters to his superior — felt completely artificial. Is the priest that good a writer — or so ahead of his times — that he would be able to record dialogue with a narrator’s voice? It took sheer discipline to stay with the book.
But once you hit the fifth chapter (about half way through), the author thankfully discards the literary device, and the writing becomes more lucid and powerful. He’s asking fundamental questions: if you had to recant your faith to save others, would you do it? What is left of the Christian message if you rid from it its European cultural trappings? It’s ultimately a book about faith and culture, and the questions are haunting.
So read this if you have a little patience, and don’t mind stewing over what you would do in the same dilemma.
You can view its Amazon detail page by clicking the image above.
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