P.D. James is one of my favorite contemporary writers. She's an octagenarian English woman who primarily writes detective novels. But anyone who's ever read a P.D. James book knows that she's not just another Stuart Woods or Michael Connelly. Her books are literature in the finest sense. She is also a Christian, a fact that any reader of her novels can discern.
But her most explicitly Christian novel was not a crime story. It was an unlikely sci-fi tale called The Children of Men
Friday, July 28, 2006
Children of Men
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4 comments:
I recall starting to read this many yrs. ago, but never got very far (don't remember why, but it certainly was NOT because it was boring, by any means!) I think at the time I sensed almost a prophetic theme to her prose. Now, I wonder how close she really was to predicting the "the last of the children of men".
WOW. To hear you say this story (and, hopefully the resulting movie) has an explicitly Christian message blows my mind. I had watched the trailer yesterday (I know nothing about the story or it's author) and the movie gave me the impression that it was a story with an objectivist, Ayn Rand "Atlas Shrugged" kind of point of view. I anticipated it to have a message about man needing to become his own God. That's not the case? Please tell us a bit more.
Darrell, It's been a few years so I don't recall too many details. It is an apocalyptic dystopia story that deals with the questions of the value of human life. I remember it as a profoundly pro-life book. And it has many overt theological considerations as well. I recall also that the book questions theological liberlaism's ability to address life and death questions satisfactorily. Without giving away key plot elements, there are also numerous messianic parallels. I need to re-read the book before saying much more. And I just hope the film does it justice.
Thanks for the rundown on the book. I am now officially going to comb half.com and try to grab a paperback. It sounds like my kind of book. On the rare occasion that I read fiction, I like to read allegorical stuff... and, unfortunately, CS Lewis only wrote a limited amount of fiction and a guy can only read "The Last Battle" so many times! ;) Total change of topic, but congrats on the Concordia Theological Seminary. I can't help but be sure that this is the beginning of wonderful things for you and your family.
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