Alive Day is the story of Brendan McCarthy, a psychiatrist who had lost his sight a few years before and who takes on a pro bono case for the local Veteran's hospital. Antwone Carver is a Marine who has been paralyzed during the Iraq war and is now hopeless about his future and his marriage. Through Brendon's help - not to mention the assistance and actions of Brendon's guide dog Nelson - the Marine is eventually able to find a new way of living, and Brendon has his own series of personal epiphanies. Parts of the novel were definitely interesting: the description (and occasionally the point-of-view) of the leader dog (the author, Tom Sullivan, is himself blind), a section on talking about disabilities to children, the introduction to post traumatic stress syndrome, and a section about wheelchair basketball. But mostly, the story is predictable, the characters don't stray far from their stock types, and the feel-good message is about as light as popcorn. It's not badly written, but it is pulp fiction for the Christian who wants to pretend that a little faith fixes everything.

Alive Day is not the kind of book I'd normally be drawn to, i.e. general fiction published by the conservative religious publisher Thomas Nelson. However, the topic of the book and the fact that it had been a while since I read something in this genre made it intriguing enough to consider. In the past, the fiction I've read from Christian publishers has typically left me with the impression that the authors simply wrote a book, then sprinkled in a few non-threatening faith-related paragraphs. A basic prayer, a generic statement about being able to get through struggles with the help of Christ, and a Bible verse or two seem to be substitutes for the depths that could be explored within a novel like this one. Admittedly, the six or eight "Christian novels" I've read are hardly a statistical sample, but the disappointment I've generally felt after each one has been great enough that I've had little interest in returning to the genre.

So, here's my request, friends: post a comment on our blog with one or more faith-related works of fiction that you loved and would recommend to other progressive persons of faith. For each book you recommend, I'll enter your name in a drawing for a free copy of my favorite faith-related novel (Gospel, by Wilton Barnhardt. Entries accepted until 12:00 PM CST on Sept. 2, 2009.) We'll be sure to put the list in a future email and will post it on the web for you to share with your congregation members or reading groups. After all, life's too short to read "inspirational" fiction that fails to truly inspire.

~ by Tim Gossett