I'm currently looking around for a part-time job, and (God help us all) I'm doing it online, so prayers and encouragement are appreciated.
You know, it's been half a year (or a little over half) since a church I had been attending for 6 years disbanded--and during that time, I was an avid fan of the Left Behind book series (you know, the book series that outlined, in detail, what Christians (or some Christians) believe will happen at the end of the world?). Since my deprogramming from the cultural and religious ideologies of the Christian Right, however, I have come to see these books as not only exploitative (i.e. playing on religious fears and fixations for profit) but also, in my mind, a tad dangerous. And as my current church is now engaging in a deconstruction of The Da Vinci Code, I suppose I should probably engage in a similar deconstruction of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' trademark synopsis of the end of the world.
Left Behind
The eignature book in the series, Left Behind is also the worst-written book in the series (the others don't get much better). Needless repetition, pointless dialogue (in particular a conversation about abortion that goes nowhere and has nothing to do with the book's plot), and character development that is at times faulty mar what otherwise is an intriguing look at a future in which the charismatic pre-Tribulation rapture actually happens. Of particular interest here, however, is the premise (quite openly articulated) that a person's claim of Christianity does not necessarily imply his/her belief in Christianity.
Tribulation Force
At the end of Left Behind, three men and one woman come together to form a sort of spiritual (and psychological) resistance group against the forces of darkness which are gathering in the wake of the pre-Tribulation rapture that has left the entire human race paralyzed and in desperate need for leadership--any leadership. However, as the book progresses, it becomes clear to the reader that much of their "suffering" is quite tame (demotion, sudden threat of unemployment, etc.), and in some cases (for example, Rayford's ex-lover's campaign of terror against his family) self-inflicted. Moreover, as the book progresses, it becomes harder and harder to dislike the character who, by this point, has become the signature "bad guy" of the series--Nicolae Carpathia. After all, aside from a double murder (of victims who, it seems, desperately deserved it) and occultic brainwashing of the men and women who will become his lieutenants, Carpathia doesn't seem to be doing anything all that bad. (By contrast, God doesn't seem to be coming off too well here and in the previous book--turning an entire world into a living nightmare by zapping his people away from their loved ones, sending two emissaries of doom who breathe fire on their enemies and mar a historic move toward world peace, and allowing a world war that destroys London, Washington D.C., and New York.)
However, this book does have its good points--most notably, the love story between Cameron and Chloe and the heart-breaking story of Ben-judah's transformation and the terrible cost it brings to him in terms of isolation from his community and nation.
Nicolae
For those of you who, at the end of Tribulation Force were wondering what the hell was so off-putting about the protagonists' arch-enemy, Nicolae Carpathia, this book definitely serves as answer. Not only do we learn that he apparently orchestrated and incited World War III in a bid for power, but between his endorsement of mandatory euthenasia for the "defective," his creation of a global secret police force aimed at enforcing "pure thought," and his callous dismissal of Hattie Durham, his (and Rayford's) ex-lover (also pregnant with his child), Carpathia lives up to the name "antichrist"--and becomes the villain we all love to hate. :)
The writing gets better here, although there is some rather pointless repetition of things that happen in the preceding novels and a lengthy (and tedious) digression regarding church architecture and DSL installation. Also, the conversations about abortion seem a little too heavy-handed to me. (Isn't it convenient that Hattie Durham becomes the signature pro-abortion advocate, while the "good guys" are the pro-lifers? Personally, if I found out someone I knew was carrying the child of the antichrist, I would at least try to understand her trepidation about giving birth to that child. :))
At the end of this novel, God (again) doesn't come off very well, and the earthquake that destroys so much of the world seems rather callous and brutal--almost as if it were part of some sort of egomaniacal pissing contest between God and the antichrist to see which of them can do more damage to the world one of them created . . .
(analysis to be continued)
You know, it's been half a year (or a little over half) since a church I had been attending for 6 years disbanded--and during that time, I was an avid fan of the Left Behind book series (you know, the book series that outlined, in detail, what Christians (or some Christians) believe will happen at the end of the world?). Since my deprogramming from the cultural and religious ideologies of the Christian Right, however, I have come to see these books as not only exploitative (i.e. playing on religious fears and fixations for profit) but also, in my mind, a tad dangerous. And as my current church is now engaging in a deconstruction of The Da Vinci Code, I suppose I should probably engage in a similar deconstruction of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' trademark synopsis of the end of the world.
Left Behind
The eignature book in the series, Left Behind is also the worst-written book in the series (the others don't get much better). Needless repetition, pointless dialogue (in particular a conversation about abortion that goes nowhere and has nothing to do with the book's plot), and character development that is at times faulty mar what otherwise is an intriguing look at a future in which the charismatic pre-Tribulation rapture actually happens. Of particular interest here, however, is the premise (quite openly articulated) that a person's claim of Christianity does not necessarily imply his/her belief in Christianity.
Tribulation Force
At the end of Left Behind, three men and one woman come together to form a sort of spiritual (and psychological) resistance group against the forces of darkness which are gathering in the wake of the pre-Tribulation rapture that has left the entire human race paralyzed and in desperate need for leadership--any leadership. However, as the book progresses, it becomes clear to the reader that much of their "suffering" is quite tame (demotion, sudden threat of unemployment, etc.), and in some cases (for example, Rayford's ex-lover's campaign of terror against his family) self-inflicted. Moreover, as the book progresses, it becomes harder and harder to dislike the character who, by this point, has become the signature "bad guy" of the series--Nicolae Carpathia. After all, aside from a double murder (of victims who, it seems, desperately deserved it) and occultic brainwashing of the men and women who will become his lieutenants, Carpathia doesn't seem to be doing anything all that bad. (By contrast, God doesn't seem to be coming off too well here and in the previous book--turning an entire world into a living nightmare by zapping his people away from their loved ones, sending two emissaries of doom who breathe fire on their enemies and mar a historic move toward world peace, and allowing a world war that destroys London, Washington D.C., and New York.)
However, this book does have its good points--most notably, the love story between Cameron and Chloe and the heart-breaking story of Ben-judah's transformation and the terrible cost it brings to him in terms of isolation from his community and nation.
Nicolae
For those of you who, at the end of Tribulation Force were wondering what the hell was so off-putting about the protagonists' arch-enemy, Nicolae Carpathia, this book definitely serves as answer. Not only do we learn that he apparently orchestrated and incited World War III in a bid for power, but between his endorsement of mandatory euthenasia for the "defective," his creation of a global secret police force aimed at enforcing "pure thought," and his callous dismissal of Hattie Durham, his (and Rayford's) ex-lover (also pregnant with his child), Carpathia lives up to the name "antichrist"--and becomes the villain we all love to hate. :)
The writing gets better here, although there is some rather pointless repetition of things that happen in the preceding novels and a lengthy (and tedious) digression regarding church architecture and DSL installation. Also, the conversations about abortion seem a little too heavy-handed to me. (Isn't it convenient that Hattie Durham becomes the signature pro-abortion advocate, while the "good guys" are the pro-lifers? Personally, if I found out someone I knew was carrying the child of the antichrist, I would at least try to understand her trepidation about giving birth to that child. :))
At the end of this novel, God (again) doesn't come off very well, and the earthquake that destroys so much of the world seems rather callous and brutal--almost as if it were part of some sort of egomaniacal pissing contest between God and the antichrist to see which of them can do more damage to the world one of them created . . .
(analysis to be continued)
posted by Brian Bly at 10:35 AM
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