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Subject: Re: Chapter 25 Author: khms [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 16:34:39 02/07/10 Sun In reply to: kzin 's message, "Chapter 25" on 00:04:05 01/27/10 Wed >I have to say I very much did not enjoy the turn the >story takes here. It seems as if it is pulling out all >the worst Sunday School cliches at once. To be >somewhat fair, Nanci is exactly the kind of person who >makes a splashy "conversion": someone with a long >history of bad decisions and a desperate need to >signal repentance to family, friends (if any) and >strangers alike. I can only hope the story goes on to >show that "coming to Jesus" does not automatically >make everything all better for Nanci. As for Crystal, >well, when a gal sets her sights on a guy, a little >thing like religion is not going to get in her way. I have to mostly agree here. Of all the stories here, to me, this one seems the weakest by a significant amount, and the main reason for that is the way it is completely awash in religion. (The other is that the story is almost exclusively happening in conversations.) To be completely frank, if this had been the first story of Wes I had seen, I would not have come back for more. As far as I can tell, I've been an atheist all my life (in the sense that religious concepts never seemed reasonable); while I know that religion is important to some people, it's not something I can really understand, and definitely not something I am at all comfortable with. To me, it's just fundamentally wrong. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

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[> [> Subject: Re: Chapter 25 Author: Arthur Keith [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 18:44:20 02/07/10 Sun >>I have to say I very much did not enjoy the turn the >>story takes here. It seems as if it is pulling out all >>the worst Sunday School cliches at once. To be >>somewhat fair, Nanci is exactly the kind of person who >>makes a splashy "conversion": someone with a long >>history of bad decisions and a desperate need to >>signal repentance to family, friends (if any) and >>strangers alike. I can only hope the story goes on to >>show that "coming to Jesus" does not automatically >>make everything all better for Nanci. As for Crystal, >>well, when a gal sets her sights on a guy, a little >>thing like religion is not going to get in her way. > >I have to mostly agree here. Of all the stories here, >to me, this one seems the weakest by a significant >amount, and the main reason for that is the way it is >completely awash in religion. (The other is that the >story is almost exclusively happening in >conversations.) > >To be completely frank, if this had been the first >story of Wes I had seen, I would not have come back >for more. > >As far as I can tell, I've been an atheist all my life >(in the sense that religious concepts never seemed >reasonable); while I know that religion is important >to some people, it's not something I can really >understand, and definitely not something I am at all >comfortable with. To me, it's just fundamentally wrong. That is great for you but understand that it is not the same for everyone. Many others, me included, enjoyed the story and looked forward each time to a new chapter. In my classrooms I had my students read Hemingway. Many enjoyed it while others hated it. That is the way we are made. It is impossible for any writer to write prose that everyone will like all the time.

[> [> Subject: Re: Chapter 25 Author: kzin [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 19:13:22 02/09/10 Tue There were parts of "Canyon Fires" that I enjoyed but having read all the previous stories, a lot of it seemed to me to be repeating previous Grand Canyon trip stories and tying up minor loose ends from previous stories. Nanci's part of the story actually makes sense to me, even if I don't buy into the mythology, the cultural significance of her "finding Jesus" is real. But having several other characters, some with already well established spiritual sides, suddenly buying into a very vanilla religious scheme, I have to wonder if that isn't saccharin added to the story to cover up the taste of stale ingredients. Lots of people like the flavor of vanilla + saccharin. Still, I'm looking forward to reading the next story. Just a little worried, as I was not before this, that it is going to bring back bad memories of Sunday School at some point.

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Chapter 25 Author: GeorgeTheCar [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 20:17:36 02/09/10 Tue As a person raised in a very religious home and currently self described as a LC (Lapsed Catholic) I can see both isdes of the issue. One thing as yet mentioned. Religious activists are watching for people such as Nanci when they have a need. I remain unconvinced that many of the unconnected would be as quick to throw a life line to a person striving to find a new way to live their life. Even her family kept some distance and waited to see if Nanci was a recidivist as she had been many times in the past. In the real world I might be more skeptical but while it did not make the story neither did it ruin it.

[> [> [> [> Subject: Re: Chapter 25 Author: Arthur Keith [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 20:31:59 02/09/10 Tue >As a person raised in a very religious home and >currently self described as a LC (Lapsed Catholic) I >can see both isdes of the issue. > >One thing as yet mentioned. Religious activists are >watching for people such as Nanci when they have a >need. > >I remain unconvinced that many of the unconnected >would be as quick to throw a life line to a person >striving to find a new way to live their life. Even >her family kept some distance and waited to see if >Nanci was a recidivist as she had been many times in >the past. > >In the real world I might be more skeptical but while >it did not make the story neither did it ruin it. When you wrote about the "bad memories of Sunday School," you did stike a nerve with me. I grew up in The Netherlands in a very strict Calvinistic family. Every Sunday we would walk to church, often in the middle of the road so that the heathens could not drive any faster than we walked. And I had to go to Sunday School. Which was often only the retelling of the stories of the Old Testament. I learned early on that God was angry and that if I made any mistakes he would definetely punish me. Thunderstorms were the worst since I knew that god could sent one of those lightingbolds up my rear. Scary for a small child.