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Product Description:
In this compelling book, the great contemporary spiritual writer and novelist Frederick Buechner plumbs the mysteries and truths behind the literature that speaks to him most powerfully. Buechner presents the four authors who have been his greatest influences, focusing on the question that has emerged at the center of his life-how to face mortality, failure, and tragedy. Through sensitive biographical exploration and close reading of Gerard Manley Hopkins's sublime later sonnets, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, G. K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, and William Shakespeare's most powerful play, King Lear, Buechner invites readers to discover the deeper joy and purpose of reading. He shows how these writers -- by putting their passion and pain into their work -- have enabled him to bear the weight of his own grief and sadness by "speaking out from under the burden of theirs." Buechner's ruminations on their writings leads to the revelation that God accepts us for doing the best we can, even if our lives are in some ways a failure; even if we have lived a life haunted by tragedy, as Buechner's has been haunted by his father's suicide. Buechner connects his readings to the fabric of his life and the lives of his subjects as he explores the ways in which these writers have shaped him and enhanced his faith. Buechner's insights into the power and imagination of their work resonate with his love for all that literature has given him throughout his life -- a passion he generously shares with us in Speak What We Feel.
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Amazon.com Review:
Great literature is like a spiritual informant, helping readers derive meaning out of the best of times and the worst of times. In Speak What We Feel, novelist and preacher Frederick Buechner pays homage to the worst of times, examining the life and writings of four esteemed writers and how they each came to terms with despair on the page. The title, Speak What We Feel, alludes to the bravery of William Shakespeare, Gerald Manley Hopkins, Mark Twain, and G.K. Chesterton--all of whom opened the veins to their hearts and let their emotions bleed upon the page. "Vein-opening writers are putting not just themselves into their books, but themselves at their nakedest and most vulnerable," writes Buechner. Not all writers do it all the time, he notes, and many writers never do it at all. "But for the four writers these pages are about, each did it at least once, and that is the most important single thing they have in common." Writers who are fascinated with the process of creativity will find these essays particularly satisfying, especially the musings on Mark Twain, in which Buechner explains the internal angst that brought Huck Finn to life. Be warned that readers will probably glean more pleasure from this lovingly rendered (but occasionally dry) book if they already possess an appreciation and familiarity with the works of the writers. --Gail Hudson
Buy Speak What We Feel : Not What We Ought to Say (Buechner, Frederick) Free Shipping. Save up to 60% Find Speak What We Feel : Not What We Ought to Say (Buechner, Frederick) Prices at $16.96 Free Shipping New! Latest styles for the Season.
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