Categories: uncategorized
Date: 14 August 2007 19:21:35
Last Friday I met a contact in Leeds Station, not knowing what to say, we greeted each other politely, and I was handed a heavy, plain sports bag containing 13 books. The whole Left Behind series.
It took me months to track the series down. Even my evangelical friends looked at me as though I was insane when I asked if they had a copy - or knew anyone who did. It seems that the fans of the books have ended up being veiwed as fundementalist nutters by most evangelicals. I evenually tracked them down by standing up at church during notices and asking if anyone had them. Luckily a random bloke from church had a friend who had a friend who had the books. So I've now got them.
I've read the series (or most of it) before. The first time I read it as an evangelical christian, I read it with a bible next to me, checking the biblical accuracy of the books. Since then my faith has evolved - I'm now a backslidden Liberal as my involvement with SCM has shown.
Day 1
The book starts with introductions to the characters, Rayford, Hattie and Buck are all on a flight when suddenly people dissapear leaving their clothes lying on the seats. They try to get home. People have vanished, they work out it's the rapture. They've been left behind.
I'm only nine chapters in but it's all-ready a painful to read. The characters are shallow, two-dimensional and cliched - all of the Christians are clean-living good people, all of the non-Christians are evil sinners. The worst bit for me is the cold war politics. Despite the fall of the Soviet Empire four years before the books were written the writers are suck in the paranoia of the Cold War era.
Day 4
I've finally finished the first of the books.
I remember reading the books about 3 years ago whilst working at a Christian cafe - they were the only books in the staff room. At the time I described them as 'car crash novels' - bad writing, worse theology - but strangely compelling. My assessment has now changed. I'm a reader by nature. I read anything that stays still long enough. I've even read one of my sisters Mils and Boon books. Left Behind was worse.
I expected to begin to loose the will to live after a few books, but started to loose it after a few pages. I have to learn to say no to things.