2005 book 30

frank peretti's this present darkness
gag. this week's assignment for popular materials was to read a work of inspirational (i.e., christian) fiction. now, let me be clear: i have nothing against works that are heavy on the christianity--i looove c.s. lewis--or that involve demons and angels--i looove good omens--as long as they're well-written. this book isn't. but kate suggested it, saying that it's what all the evangelicals were reading back when she was in college, so i figured i'd get down and dirty with a really popular evangelical work (it's been checked out from davis 108 times since 1990). anyway, basic plot summary: demons are plotting to take over a small college town and are corrupting its inhabitants, the good guys/host of heaven are plotting to prevent this, and there are also a bunch of human characters both good and bad being used as pawns/catalysts/whatever. there is also a hell of a lot of praying.

for those just tuning in, i have a master's in religion/biblical studies (NERD!), so i take this stuff pretty seriously--hence some of my (many) problems with the book. here is a brief list of some of the things that annoyed me while i was reading:

--on the first page, a carnival is described as "a wild time, a chance to get drunk, pregnant, beat up, ripped off, and sick, all in the same night." i knew right then i wasn't going to really like this book. (i happen to think carnivals are good clean fun!)

--most of the non-demon villains are professors and administrators at the town university. the main human villain is a professor who more-or-less brainwashes her students.

--one of the main characters, a good pastor, talks about "the Word" a lot. also, his catchphrase is "let's pray!" he doesn't really have much of a personality beyond that.

--i got annoyed that although the demons consisted of a warrior sort and the embodiments of bad traits (complacency, lust, sorcery--which meant drunkenness for some reason), the angels are just warrior types. why can't they have little minions running around spreading charity or goodwill or whatever? these things should be balanced. also, one of the head demons has the title ba'al--b/c of course all ancient pagan religions were actually all about demons!

--speaking of the demons and angels--peretti seems unaware that there's an established judeo-christian mythology re: the host of heaven. you should see the insane names he creates for his angelic characters. kate tells me that for evangelicals, if it's not in scripture, then it doesn't matter, so actually he probably is unaware of all the stories about angels--or knows his audience isn't aware of them, anyway.

--the villains are described as "vampirish" and mostly all have jet-black hair and/or eyes. surprise, the heroes are all blondes and redheads.

--pagans of all sorts are evil. karma and reincarnation are evil ideas. the villains here are heavily influenced by eastern thought: "It's all a con game: Eastern meditation, witchcraft, divination, Science of Mind, psychic healing, holistic education--oh, the list goes on and on . . . " (315). any non-evangelical-christian ideas are part of the villainous demonic plot. mention is made of pagan blood sacrifices on more than one occasion.

--also communism is evil--one of the evil things the villains are doing is abolishing private ownership! those bastards!

--the day is predominantly saved through praying. all the non-pastor heroes accept jesus into their hearts. the end. (i think they all end that way.)