Well, I told you how eager I was to read Boneman's Daughters and I finished it just before we left for Nashville. I wanted to finish reading it before I met Ted Dekker because if I had the chance I wanted to talk to him about it, considering my personal connection to the story.
It's interesting how hard this book was for me to read, although it wasn't really any more violent than any other books I've read, it felt much more real. I thought the hardest thing would be to read the father's view point of losing his daughter, and it was very moving, but I actually thought it was harder to read about his action to remedy the situation. I felt the same angonizing division as the father did because he felt he couldn't do what he was required to do to save his daughter, yet he couldn't NOT do it. Sometimes I am just too wrapped up in my thinking 'I can't hurt somebody else' that I overlook the hurt I'm inflicting on myself. I can't hurt somebody else but I can't keep hurting myself.
The other thing that really got me about this book was the ending. I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to read it, but it is not an ending you can apply in real life. I was expecting something a little more 'applicable' to my situation, since I thought he may have put his own 'wishful thinking' into the resolution, having experienced a real life Boneman as well. But alas, I received no such insight and in fact I was perplexed. Why would he put in such a unattainable ending? I was hoping to have a chance to ask him at the Gathering, but because of time constraints I wasn't able to. Then it dawned on me, as I was thinking about the question, Ted wasn't only writing about a human father's attempt to save his child, he's writing about our heavenly Father's attempt to save us as well. God is a lot more just than us, His judgement and execution of that judgement is perfect, AND has nothing to do with us, but with the Boneman's own relationship with Him. So, it turns out I answered my own question, but I still would have loved to have a dialogue with Ted about it.
I did enjoy the book, despite what it may sound like here : ), but it was an enjoyment that came from making discoveries about myself through a very well told story, rather than the normal enjoyment I get from my typical 'lose myself in them' fiction books. And this discovery of self through reading was then even more confirmed when Ted took the time to talk about the purpose of stories, whether writing or reading them, the purpose of a story is to discover our own story, and discover our place in the greatest story, God's story.
And another piece falls into place.
1 comment:
I just finished the book and I loved it, like usual. I was very moved by the the fathers love, no matter what. I loved how he kept tying it into God's love for us and it made my cry, again like usual, because so often I don't accept that unconditional love. I liked how you answered your own question. I was wondering that too, and that really makes sense.
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