The Soul Of A Bishop: H.G. Wells

[poliphilo]

This is the book I've been reading on my e-book reader.  An Anglican bishop has drug induced visions and leaves the church to preach a non-sectarian gospel. When it's being a novel- dealing with its characters' foibles and relationships and social background- it's good; when it starts preaching less so. Novelists almost always come a cropper when they put their own views in their characters' mouths.  Wells is excellent on ecclesiastical politics and Christian doctrine (as always I'm amazed how much he knows) but his "new" gospel of God the King is feeble. 

Comments

[wolfshift.livejournal.com]

This is the trouble I have with Tom Robbins, for example. There are some (few) novelists, though, who manage it well, probably because they don't preach through their characters' mouths so much as make those views integral to characterisation, plot, and setting. The novel conveys a message, but the message is contained in the novel rather than dragging the novel along with it.

Rushdie comes to mind; I'd say Kim Scott managed it in Benang; even J. K. Rowling manages to make certain moral points without having to interrupt the plot with windy philosophical tracts.

Of course, a novel whose protagonist is literally preaching is going to have a hard time avoiding windy philosophy, let alone doing it well.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Too much preaching breaks the illusion. It's as if there was a stage direction "Enter novelist. There are ways round it I think. One is to be absolutely brazen, with the novelist standing up and saying, "look, this is me, preaching, so sue me", another is to have other characters with opposing views give the preacher a hard time. A nice trick is to make the character with the opposing views twice as charming and eloquent as the preacher. This is one G.B. Shaw routinely pulled off.

[unbleachedbrun.livejournal.com]

How do you feel about the gospel of inclusion movement?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'd never heard of it before today. I've looked it up on wikipedia and- as far as I can tell- it seems to be a good thing.