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Antigone

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I don't think everything you produce has to leave a message, if only because, as a reader, it's not always easy to filter out the message.

I've read The Handmaid's Tale several times and I don't think it's anti-Christianity. I think it's anti-fundamentalism. I think it exposes the lenghts to which people will go to get their ideologies or religions to fit their worldview. I've always thought this was very clear yet plenty of people disagree with me and say the book is blatantly anti-Christian, so apparently even the clearest message can get muddled up.

One of my favorite books from the past few years is David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas (read it if you haven't; it is absolutely, positively, stunningly beautiful). It's not a book that sends a clear message yet you walk away with a very clear picture of right, wrong, and the grey area in between.

Or one of my other favorites, Lolita, which is about a paedophile describing his love for a child, yet in no way do you walk away with the message that paedophilia is okay.
 
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Fantine

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The Shack...which you liked was very preachy.

I liked certain aspects of "The Shack," but overall it was way too fundamentalist for me.

I liked the portrayal of God as a motherly woman cooking pancakes at the stove, and I liked the author's recognition that troubled relationships with God can stem from troubled relationships (or abandonment issues) with one's earthly father.

I liked the way God--in all three persons--related to the grieving father in such an informal, conversational, gentle way.

But it's not on my top ten list of spiritual classics. Like most fundamentalist books, it had the intellectual content of a Dick and Jane reader.
 
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Michie

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I liked certain aspects of "The Shack," but overall it was way too fundamentalist for me.

I liked the portrayal of God as a motherly woman cooking pancakes at the stove, and I liked the author's recognition that troubled relationships with God can stem from troubled relationships (or abandonment issues) with one's earthly father.

I liked the way God--in all three persons--related to the grieving father in such an informal, conversational, gentle way.

But it's not on my top ten list of spiritual classics. Like most fundamentalist books, it had the intellectual content of a Dick and Jane reader.

I agree. I felt like author was smoking doobies while writing.
 
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Gwendolyn

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I've read The Handmaid's Tale several times and I don't think it's anti-Christianity. I think it's anti-fundamentalism. I think it exposes the lenghts to which people will go to get their ideologies or religions to fit their worldview. I've always thought this was very clear yet plenty of people disagree with me and say the book is blatantly anti-Christian, so apparently even the clearest message can get muddled up.

I felt the same way about The Handmaid's Tale.
 
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Rebekka

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Or one of my other favorites, Lolita, which is about a paedophile describing his love for a child, yet in no way do you walk away with the message that paedophilia is okay.
When people bring up morality and literature in one sentence, I always think of Nabokov, and how much he detested being put into a box, being read from an ideologic or moralistic point of view. He wrote literature for literature's sake, which was more than enough, it was everything.
Oh the love that I feel when reading Nabokov's words - only because he cared so much for words, for style, for details. There is no moral, and hardly a bigger picture - because life is too complicated to reduce it to a system.
Nabokov sees literature as a sublime game, he teases his readers all the time, fiction is fun.
You reminded me - I should finish Ada. (brother and sister are lovers, yet in no way do you walk away with the message that incest is wrong. ;) and still it's great literature)
 
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Rebekka

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What I mean by mass produced is the majority of them out there creating things our of ego instead of creativity & actual talent. They are trying to produce what they consider edgy or offensive for all the wrong reasons.
That sure is annoying. I hate mediocrity and lack of intelligence.

Why would you critcize God in a perfect world?
Precisely. But the ability to criticize is one that I value.

Thats like saying we need evil to determine what is good.
I think so, yes.
I don't see how an imperfect world could be any more interesting than a perfect one where everything would be limitless.
Well that's a difference between you and me then.
 
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Davidnic

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There is a responsibility for a writer to not cause scandal. But, if they are writing about real world loss of faith or the dangers of extremism or flaws in some religious mindsets...these are real issues that need to be addressed.

Make your writing real. Write from the heart with good developed characters.

If someone sets out with an agenda to bash the Church that is a different issue. But that is not what you are asking really.

All good stories have a dimension of the human condition that reflects the great story in some way. Either by the human interaction or the conflict...or in some fashion reflecting who people are.

A good story that raises reflection on difficult issues will not necessarily cause scandal, it could serve as a great tool for honest thought.

And sometimes stories have nothing to do with scandal and are neutral in such rearguards.
 
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Michie

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That sure is annoying. I hate mediocrity and lack of intelligence.

Yes. But thats what happens in pack mentalties. Who can be the most rebellious? Who plays the devil's advocate the best? Who can be the most outrageous? They all think they are unique. You know, like rebels with tattoos...everyone has one. Everyone thinks they are intelligent. And most are in various ways. Unless you are conducting a Mensa test for that very purpose, nobody is the judge of another's intelligence unless it just makes them feel smarter to do so.


Precisely. But the ability to criticize is one that I value.

I look at it differently. I don't feel the need to criticize everything to find interest. I like to contribute. Thats where I find my interest & creativity.


I think so, yes.

Evil is not something I think we need. It's one thing to know what evil is. Another to say it is needed. We don't need it to make the world more fascinating for ourselves. And at what cost? Does not seem worth it to me.

Well that's a difference between you and me then.
You bet it is. I don't find constant states of angst all that attractive or interesting. But thats just me.
 
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