The traditional Christian season of Lent isn't generally observed across the board in the 21st century, but I like to keep the time of year on my radar not by a sustained fasting period from anything, but by adding a book or two which fits my category of reflective or devotional fiction classics. This year, Lent begins today. What better than a re-read of this Pulitzer prizewinner. I sadly lost or misplaced the secondhand copy I purchased back in 2017. I can only assume I might have lent it to somebody, and now I'll be looking out for a replacement copy. I borrowed this one from the library and was re-wowed.
NOTE: My initial review from back then is here. And during the coming weeks and months, I intend to also read and review all four books in the Gilead series so look out for them.
MY THOUGHTS:
First a quick recap. The elderly Reverend John Ames has been told his days are likely numbered. As he prioritises writing a heartfelt collection of letters for his young son, he is blindsided by the homecoming of his prodigal namesake. Jack Boughton is his best friend's son, who has always been a great disappointment to his family. Reverend Ames intends to keep a disapproving distance, but his memoir project gets hijacked by his encounters with Jack, this baffling godson who has always challenged and horrified him. Reverend Ames even grapples with the dilemma of whether to warn his wife and son that Jack is a bad egg, for he certainly hates to imagine the ne'er-do-well wreaking more mischief once he is dead and out of the way.
When the past is gradually excavated, the a-ha moment packs quite a punch. A crucial reason for John's antipathy to Jack reveals a fact about himself that he'd prefer not to admit. How can a man help resentment when he sees somebody else squander a gift that he himself would have treasured with all his heart; one which he once had within his grasp but tragically lost. I think the fact that it was done by the boy who bore his own name seems like a particularly cruel twist. It's as if John is taunted by a tantalizing glimpse of a life he might have had, but sees it stomped on with apparent indifference.
Although Jack's major scandal as a very young man wasn't personally directed at John Ames, old Ames can't help taking it personally. Jack's situation stirs up a well of covetousness that John would prefer to leave un-rippled. Since his position among the clergy denies him the outlet of blaming the Almighty, it is easier to hold a grudge, however suppressed, against young Jack.
Ouch! Robert Boughton's profoundly loving gesture, of dedicating his newborn son to his best friend all those years earlier, seems to have backfired badly!
But this novel is all about grace! What takes place quietly between these two families in this nondescript, humble town is a powerful example of practical holiness. John and Jack are both wonderfully nuanced characters, and the change of heart is subtle and touching. I love Reverend John, whose depths of compassion turn out to be bottomless after all, and I love Jack, whose personal soul-searching, and quest for authentic answers, is so honest and raw. When John finally tells his dying old friend Boughton, 'I love your boy the way you always meant me to,' I just had to stop reading and sit still for a while.
This story is what all devotional fiction should be like.
Of course this will automatically make it onto my list of the year's best reads, for I'd go so far as to call it one of my best reads ever.
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