What Good is Fiction, Anyway?
Guest blog post by Ellie Gustafson
I had an
interesting conversation with a theology professor while book-selling at a conference.
He taught Bible; why would I think he’d be interested in fiction? I lined out my talking points but got nowhere. Then I grabbed
a copy of my David novel, The Stones,
and read a brief bit of the interaction between David and the prophet Nathan,
concerning the king’s lark with Bathsheba.
Nathan
stood, and an eternity passed between his leaving the seat and standing so tall
his head seemed to graze the ceiling. His swirling robe inscribed judgment on
the air; his eyes incinerated the heart of the king.
Every
hair on David’s head stood straight.
“You are the man!” Nathan thundered. “This is the
Word of the Lord.”
David
sat frozen before this furnace of wrath. The prophet’s voice came as from a
distant mountain …
“You
stole the beloved lamb of Uriah the Hittite and then killed Uriah himself with
the sword of the Ammonites.”
The
entire two-mile room began to rotate, with David at the center. Nathan was
circling, faster and faster, his words beating on David’s head.
“This
is what the Lord says: ‘Since the sword fits your hand so well, the sword will
continue as your bosom companion, never departing from your house.” . . .
The
spinning slowed, leaving David with only the thinness of his shadow to lean
against. He dropped and lay crumpled, face down with his hands protecting the
back of his head …
Was
it one hour or ten they remained that way? Neither David nor Nathan could say
afterwards. How long before sin of that magnitude is reamed out of a man’s
heart? Nathan did not interfere; he simply sat with his flame sword
sheathed—and waited.
The professor
got it. He didn’t buy a book, but he grasped the power of fiction to speak
truth.
I write
story. This is what I do. Dramatic crisis is often the stuff of life for
ordinary readers. Divorce, illness, tragedy. Story picks up these raw ingredients and offers a recipe for
healing. I write with a dual purpose in mind: I aim for page-turners that will
engage readers with the power of story because
I want them to drink in my passion for God and find help through him. The God I
know is not always predictable, not always comfortable. He is light and love and grace and mercy but is not formulaic.
I’ve been
an author a very long time. At age 5, I started making up stories, some of
which required the heroine to start having babies at age two. I couldn’t
conceive of anyone being older than 20! Not till my mid-thirties did I allow my
stories to be read, but my mother told me straight out to stick to music as a
career.
I had to
write, though, and it had to be fiction. Story is the great communicator,
helping us try on life like a coat, to learn what works and what doesn’t. Each
of us has a value system, blending religious belief, ethical principles,
societal norms, and life experience—a good system…or bad. In my stories, I can showcase
both aspects, while pointing to the God who loves and salvages sinners.
I think
one of the most satisfying reviews I ever got was a man who said, “I’m NOT a
reader—hadn’t read a book for six years—but I stayed up till 1:30 AM, then got
up at 6 to finish Dynamo.”
Having
three other men say essentially the same indicates that fiction can have pull.
For an excellent
article on the value of reading fiction, see http://www.russellmoore.com/2013/03/25/why-christians-should-read-fiction/
About Ellie:
Ellie
Gustafson writes pretty good books, having worked at it long enough to learn a
few things.
In many of
her stories, she explores the cosmic struggle between good and evil in light of
God's overarching work of redemption. She graduated from Wheaton College in
Illinois—where she met her husband while teaching horsemanship (funny story
there; you have only to ask)—and has since been actively involved in church
life as a minister's wife, teacher, musician, writer, encourager, and dispenser
of hugs. A host of other experiences, from house building to mouse wars, help
bring color and humor to her fiction. She loves to laugh.
She and
her husband live in Massachusetts, where he teaches philosophy. They travel a
fair amount, spend time with three children and eight grandchildren, and enjoy
camping at the family forest in Chester, Vermont.
Email: egus@me.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EgusEllie
Website: www.eleanorgustafson.com/
Amazon
Page: www.amazon.com/author/eleanorgustafson/
The Stones: www.amazon.com/Stones-Eleanor-Gustafson/dp/1603740791/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366735533&sr=1-1&keywords=gustafson+stones (Now available only as an ebook)
We know more of David’s life than any
other biblical person. But not nearly enough. The tangle of motives and
emotions, chaos, and charisma continue to kindle the imaginations of our best writers,
drawing us into a story in which we see every detail of our humanity against
the epic of salvation. Eleanor K. Gustafson is one of our best.
— Eugene Peterson, author of The Message
...a riveting tale,
set in a world of high-stakes horse shows and stable intrigue, and an
unflinching look at some of the best and worst in human relationships.
—Sally Wilkins, Sports and Games of Medieval Cultures
—Sally Wilkins, Sports and Games of Medieval Cultures
Dear Ellie,
ReplyDeletePerhaps, you should not refer to yourself as a writer of fiction but as a writer of enhanced story. Yes, the Biblical account of the meeting between David and Nathan contains all I need to know, but your work helps me visual the power and drama of that meeting.
Reminiscent of my life as an innkeeper, where guests would frequently as questions which were thinly veiled requests for entertainment. Typical example would be, "John, why did you become an innkeeper?" Asked with less interest in the facts than the entertainment. So I would spin a somewhat fictionalized version of My Story. A key ingredient was that I wanted to convey certain key moral decisions that faced Betty and I in the path that our former careers were taking us. In these instances, the fictional enhancements were a way to keep their attention and participation in the tale.
Hi, John, thank you so much for stopping by. You share some interesting thoughts, as well. Blessings in Him ...
DeleteEnhanced Story! That's a new--and good--idea. Thanks much!
Delete