What is this guy thinking?!

Then it dawned on me.

He knows.

Nick knows.

Go back to the first line of this post. See that? Yeah. Umm…I guess I have some explaining to do.

Nick. We had a good run, dude. The first book of yours that I read was Message in a Bottle, which I picked up on a whim off a shelf at Wal-mart. You had me from the get-go. You were there for me when I was 15 and lonely and the only person in the world I could relate to was Jamie Sullivan (A Walk to Remember) and her plain Jane, Bible-toting ways. Honestly, as melodramatic as it may sound, that little novel helped make me see that it was okay to just be who I was and not care so much about not fitting the mold that I saw so many girls trying to slip into. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me. Because the novel was so open-ended and I had opted for the more positive of the two outcomes, Jamie’s death in the film slayed me. But I didn’t blame you for that. As a writer you let your babies go out into the world and live. And when you sell them to the highest bidder your babies end up tattooed and with mangled faces from the prison fights they got into. I don’t think that metaphor worked, but whatever.

When I read The Notebook something kinda clicked though. Your stories were starting to sound…familiar. Not in the way that makes a story relatable and not in the way that someone is taking what they know of your life and writing some trash piece of work in a creative writing course; just plain repetitive. And so I finished The Notebook and got started on a list of books that I felt like I needed to read before I went to college. Between me and my mom, I was still building a collection of your works, though to this day I have not read another one since The Notebook during (I believe) my sophomore year of high school. Still, I chose to go meet you because I thought that some day I would return and you would welcome me into the loving arms of one of your books.

Then along came Cormac. We met when I was in college and unlike many of the relationships I formed during those years, this one stuck. His voice was gravely and masculine. His words vivid and colorful. His pen a veritable brush against the canvas, making the dust and deep sunsets I’d grown up surrounded by seem so much more beautiful.

Since reading your words the other day I have wondered what it could be that led you to say such critical things about a fellow writer and in public. While this post was intended as a bit of a satire (I know very well that your little public breakdown and verbal vomit about how you are greater than the greats is not fueled by the fact that you are no longer my favorite author), however, I am as serious as can be in questioning — where has your southern sense of decorum gone? I’m not a proponent of using harsh words against someone or their work at any time, but couldn’t you have had the decency to keep your opinion to yourself? Simply saying, “I’m not a fan” would have been sufficient in letting the interviewer know that they weren’t going to get much out of that line of questioning. Instead you took the bait and ran without, making us all privy to your innermost thoughts on Mr. McCarthy and his novel.

I am guessing the truth behind the feelings we see expressed in the interview lies in jealousy. It is understandable that you would be covetous of the talent of a writer, whose own works when set to film produce Academy Award winning pictures. But, sir…please. Remember the things your parents taught you. Use a little grace.

No one likes a whiner.

No one likes a bad sport.

No one likes a narcissist.

And you, sir, have placed yourself squarely in each of those camps.

P.S., There’s very little chance I’ll be reading any of your novels or seeing any films based on your work again. And really, we know that’s what cuts the deepest.

I’d love to give you more credit than just your name, so if you’re reading this, please let me know!

1) I’ve read and heard enough from Mclaren.

2) Most American Pastors now refer to themselves as “followers of Christ”. Mclaren considers himself a “follower of Christ”. Ghandi considered himself a “follower of Christ”. The Dali Lama considers himself a follower of Christ.None of the latter three speak as to the ATONEMENT and the BLOOD of Christ. Myself? I follow the Chicago Cubs.

2) It’s ridiculous for McLaren or anyone else to use “the American Church” as a political pawn the way he does. As much as 80% of American Christians are “people who said a prayer” not in fact Born Again Christians. So it’s pathetic to say that American Christianity represents Jesus in the first place. A LONG time ago evangelism became a NUMBERS game. We are a people who create “experiences ” and manipulate peoples emotions… they say a prayer before they even think about the COSTS… we chalk one more up and they walk away ever battling doubts confident in the prayer they said.

3) The Holy Spirit represents Jesus. MANY in the Church (Pastors included) are Lost as can be… their lives are not led by the Spirit. Look around… our worship services are about the FLESH. The senses MUST be addressed because an emotional experience has replaced solid Bible teaching and discipleship, Godly sorrow and Repentance. WORKS and Social Justice are the fillers for opiating the carnal conscience.

4) Our creativity, our innovations, our “vision casting” our egos and our cleverness have replaced the cornerstone. We’ve become a people of self promotion. We aren’t broken and humble, we are smooth, we are slick, we are successful, we are appealing to the flesh. We are approved by the World. The pale echoes of the martyrs haunt us.

-Jud

* * *

Okay, I’m almost done with the first one and here’s what I think so far…

• Yes, it is engaging. If you want a romance that requires little thought, this is it.
• The writing is juvenile, but probably does well to appeal to the target audience (only speaking for the first book here).
• The magnetic pull that Bella feels for Edward is incredibly disturbing to me and I will go into that later.
• Bella calls Edward her “savior” at least once and says that she would rather die than be without him…I don’t like that.

Here’s the deal. By the time all of this stuff is going on they have known each other for a few months, but have had about a dozen kind of probing conversations. And she’s “unconditionally and irrevocably” in love with him. I understand this is fiction, but what really upsets me is that there are teens and tweens out there reading this stuff and setting up some really ridiculous expectations for relationships. Bella does not question Edward (so far) on anything. He tells her time and time again that he is dangerous and that she needs to stay away from him. Bella feels no fear whatsoever in his presence and her chief concern from about 100 pages or so into this thing is him, how he feels, and what he is thinking. It is an all-consuming, obsessive “love” she feels for him (I’m sorry, but at this point there is nothing that makes me feel like there is love between them, at least nothing more than either A. the puppy variety or B. some supernatural hold he has on her that rids her of her senses in his presence).

This is a problem for me. And it’s a problem because it’s young girls reading it who don’t know the difference, who don’t know that this is NOT REAL. I’m not even talking about the vampire aspect. I’m saying that Meyer is selling some cooked up version of “love” to a generation of females who are going to understand how sadly mistaken (and misled) they were when they realize that this isn’t the way things happen and that ultimately your feelings are NOT what you need to be trusting. I feel like I can say this pretty well-informed at this point, since I have a few cousins that have been obsessed with these books since the first one came out (they were all around 12/13 at the time), who have CLEARLY had their views on relationships affected by this. Can’t even go there right now.

I won’t lie, it’s been an enjoyable, easy-to-read (if you can get past all of the CHAGRIN!!!) distraction that conjures up the butterfly feelings of crushes. I just can’t see it being beneficial for younger ladies. This is exactly the sort of thing I would have jumped into when I was in middle/high school and it was NOT what I needed back then.