Book Forty: Peculiar Treasures--A Biblical Who's Who by Frederick Buechner

Nobody claims there's a chuckle on every page, but laughter's what the whole Bible is really about. -- Frederick Buechner

As a Christian I'm as dismayed as many at the lack of joy we sometimes find in our own faith. As a Catholic living in a Reformed Church of America community, I'm fully aware of the sinfulness of all of us. I was raised in a Protestant church (Methodist) which was light on sin, but far too serious for a growing boy. As a Catholic I found joy in the Mass, but cannot deny it was the seriousness of theology which attracted me to the Church. But seriously, we Christians need a good laugh now and then (with an emphasis on the now).

Frederick Buechner offers us that option without the guilt of slipping from the faith. I reviewed Buechner's The Storm two months ago, and this week I returned to Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who's Who a book I read a couple of years ago and have given as a gift several times. Buechner is a Union Theological trained minister who studied theology after becoming a novelist. Peculiar Treasures shows a writer as comfortable with the ugly stories in the Bible as he is with the humor. This is a laugh-out-loud book which can make you reexamine your own faith at the same time.

Buechner takes on subjects big and small, and finds something worth celebrating everywhere. And he writes in a vernacular which pulls in the present as a way to explain the past. In discussing the prophet Elisha he chooses a story in which the prophet stops to get rest "when a boy scout troop broke ranks and surrounded him. They threw bottle caps at him and they made rude gestures...'Skin-head' and 'Chrome-Dome' and 'Curly' they called him till finally the old man had enough. He made a few passes at them, muttered a few words, and within seconds a couple of she-bears lumbered out from the trees...and mauled some of the slower members of the troop." Buechner notes that this "is not the most edifying story in the Old Testament" but says we realize that "the Lord does not call everyone to be Mister Rogers." He does not soften the tougher stories, but he sees in them something worth pondering. It may be that as novelist Buechner recognizes that there is more truth in the narrative than in fact. 

Biblical literalists are too focused on the "word," as opposed to John's "Word." The truth is not in the words, but in the stories and lessons they communicate to us. When I teach Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried in class we talk a lot about this truth. O'Brien knows that a factual retelling of his time in Vietnam would simply be masquerading as the the truth. The truth is in the narrative, the story that reaches into us, grabs us, and forces us to look it in the face. Why else would Jesus tell stories? He knows that stories are what connect us and have a way of communicating the truth which is larger than the sum of the words. Buechner uses this as a way to imagine what some of the Biblical folks are thinking which may not be "factual," but are likely closer to the truth.

His discussions both of Mary, mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene are touching in his focus. For Mary it is on how her son called her "woman" and seemed to have no time for her, until dying on the cross he gives another disciple to be her son -- the son she never had. Mary Magdalene is, of course, the person  Jesus chooses to first appear to after rising on Easter morning. When she goes back to the disciples who never really knew what to make of her, she tells them "I have seen the Lord" and Buechner says "whatever dark doubts they might have had on the subject earlier, one look at her face was enough to melt them all away like morning mist."

Much of Buechner's thought may be found in his summary of Sarah. He tells the story of how Sarah and Abraham laugh when the angel tells the old couple that Sarah is going to have a baby. Sarah laughs so hard she has to go in the tent so as to not insult the angel. But Buechner says they are not laughing at the message the angel carries. "The reason they laughed was that it suddenly dawned on them that the wildest dreams they'd ever had hadn't been half wild enough."

That is when laughter and joy become one.

Book 40B--I finally finished one of my bedtime reads, Walter Mosley's Six Easy Pieces. No lengthy review here. Mosley is almost always enjoyable and Easy Rawlins one of his best characters. This collection puts together six stories (and a 7th unrelated one) which were published one-by-one at the back of some reissues of Rawlins novels. A decent story, but because they appeared separately we get a lot of repeated information to set up the stories. The extra stories in the reissues was a ploy to get past readers to buy new editions -- hey, if it works, fine. But before putting them together they should have been edited to form one of Mosely's usually strong novels. If you have not read Mosley, start elsewhere.

 

Up Next

Well, I was going to read the John Marshall book, but that is going to take some time to get through. So I'll pick that off in smaller segments and as a whole focus this week on Caron McCullers' The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. This is one of those classics always left unread on my list, so this week I read it! I'm also reading The Lightening Thief along with my 10-year-old; once we finish we'll go see the movie.

Book Thirty-Two: The Storm by Frederick Buechner

It takes a lot of nerve to update Shakespeare and I'm sure there have been failed attempts in the past. But Frederick Buechner takes it one step further and not only updates The Tempest, but adds a Christian element to it as well. Well, what you do you expect from a Presbyterian minister who is as comfortable with fiction as he is theology and has a sense of humor to boot.

The Storm uses Shakespeare's play as the basis, but Buechner avoids trying to recreate the scenario item by item. Considering the fantastical nature of much of the play, this is a good idea and someone unfamiliar with Shakespeare could read the book, find an interesting story, and never the connection make (or need). [Anyone wishing for a quick refresher on The Tempest could read the BBC's humorous, tabloid, 60-second version.]

Buechner's story centers around Kenzie (Prospero) who has left New York in disgrace after fathering a child with a young woman he should have been caring for (this episode alone could keep us talking for some time). His brother, Dalton (Antonio), in an effort at clarity exposes and shames not only Kenzie, but the young woman who gave birth to daughter named Bree (Miranda). It is the shame for the mother that Kenzie cannot forgive his brother. Eventually Kenzie finds himself living on an island after marrying Willow (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) who shares the house with her 40-something, wind surfing Averill (Ariel) and served by Clavert (Caliban). Dalton is called to the island by Miss Sickert (Sycorax), who owns the island and oversees much of what happens. He calls on his semi-estranged stepson, Nandy (Ferdinand), to accompany him.

Thus with all the characters assembled we have simply the action to take place, and it does. Perhaps because we know the ending already Buechner rushes this section along to quickly. It is not often I wish for a book to be longer, but the meeting of the brothers and the subsequent tempest could have been expanded. The strength of the book lies in the outset where Kenzie's wandering life as an author is pulled into focus as he begins to work with the homeless. He throws himself into this new understanding of life, even losing friends and a wife with his commitment, until finally he becomes to close to what he is learning about.

Buechner is a Christian, but this no "Jesus-in-a-box" type story. Kenzie's religious leanings are mystical rather than dogmatic, and much of what he believes is inspired by the saints he studied in writing one of his books. His new life is clearly that of a conversion, although he himself does not understand it. But he senses a greater power when describing his time in the "rich people's chapel" he notes that "[e]ven on the warmest, most breathless Sundays he sometimes felt a stirring of cool air about his nostrils. He could not make it happen although he had tried...He was not prepared to say where it came from or to what purpose, but what he took it to mean was that the weather of the world is as distinct from true weather as the sultry stillness is from the coming storm." This Prospero is no sorcerer, but he is tied into something more powerful than he is. More importantly, in a life seeking forgiveness he realizes he is already forgiven and has the power to forgive others, namely his brother. This is certainly an interpretation Shakespeare could live with.

If you are not familiar with Buechner's work he is certainly worth the effort. I've read some of his novels, and his work has been a finalist for Pulitzer and the National Book Award, so he gets the critical acclaim as well. His output is varied, but visiting the Buechner Institute is as good of starting place as any. I've read more than once and given more than once one of his non-fiction works, Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who's Who, which is hilarious, insightful, and thoughtful all at once. In looking into his life a bit lately I found that he studied at Union Theological Seminary with one of the most influential theologians in my life, Paul Tillich. This helps explains Buechner's confidence in God's message that he does not need to have an author screaming conversion every other page -- as Prospero would certainly know, God is not dependent on humanity.

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
The Tempest, 4. 1

Shakespearian Updates to Recommend?

After reading this I'm curious about what other updates of Shakespeare's work people out there have read and enjoyed. Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres is a personal favorite. I read the book when it first came out and was into it quite a ways when suddenly I realized it was King Lear, one of my favorite plays. Let me know what other ones are out there and we'll all have a list to pursue.

Reading Challenges

It was Christmas just a few days ago (Merry Christmas!) so things were busy. I again chose well since The Storm  is a short book (199 pages) and I knew Buechner was a good writer. I actually read this in a few sittings -- it was tougher getting the time to sit down and write this!

Up Next

Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji, and actually I'm a bit apprehensive. It is a coming of age story set in Iran during the 1973 revolution, and I'm hoping to get more out of the Iran part of things then a romantic story. Some reviewers warn men not to be scared off by the pinkish cover withe the rose at the forefront, so I'm taking their word that my macho sensibilities will not be offended.

Happy reading!