When I think of favorite novels, I do not think of novels that are classics, or great stories, or even well-written works. Still, most of my favorites lay claim to one or more of those qualities. What makes a novel a favorite for me is the impact it has on my life. The very best novels do not simply entertain us or carry us off to new worlds. They change us. They leave us different than they found us.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
I can still visualize the large light blue covered (and slightly worn) hardback edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that I read as a boy. I can also remember the thrill of first seeing this book on the big screen. As a boy, I first felt my lifelong attraction to wizards. I also experienced the dread of seeing the mean lady on her bike transform into the wicked witch. It was the most frightening thing I ever experienced in a movie. All of my childhood nightmares were of witches.
I loved the magic and the wonders of this other land, so far from where I lived and so magically different. But I didn't experience the full impact of the book until I was an adult trying to come up with my own philosophy of life. It was only then that I appreciated the wisdom of the humbug wizard.
The wizard understood that it is our own beliefs and attitudes, especially our beliefs in limitation, that prevent us from fulfilling our potential. He knew that the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion already had the qualities they came so far to get from him. He simply gave them symbols to represent those qualities.
I now understand that all of us have the qualities and abilities we seek. We need only accept them, believe in them, and begin practicing them. If we like, we can procure our own symbols to represent these qualities and characteristics. Then we can begin to pretend to be who we really are.
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
J.D. Salinger is better known for his classic Catcher in the Rye, a book on most high school English teachers' reading list. The book came from two short stories, one about Franny and one about Zooey, a brother and sister in a family of smart kids.
Franny was struggling with religion. She decided that she would find enlightenment by saying the Jesus prayer constantly. By praying without ceasing, she expected to find transformation.
Her brother Zooey and other family members worried about her. Her obsession with the prayer was affecting her health and she had a bit of a nervous breakdown. Zooey tried to tell Franny that seeking treasures in heaven wasn't much better than seeking treasures on earth. It still took her away from communion with family and friends.
At the end, Franny and Zooey have an earnest conversation. The children in the family are all quite bright and all of them have had their turn on a whiz kid radio program. They have an older brother Seymour whom both looked up to. He committed suicide a few years earlier.
Zooey asks Franny if Seymour ever told her to do anything special for the radio program. Franny says that he did. He told her to smile for the fat lady. Zooey says that Seymour told him to shine his shoes for the fat lady. It didn't really make sense to either of them since they were on the radio. Still, Franny smiled and Zooey shined his shoes for the fat lady.
There is a theological punch line that Zooey delivers to his sister Franny. This is to help her to understand the futility of the Jesus prayer and to realize that religion is about connection and relationships. He tells her that the fat lady is Jesus Christ. The fat lady and all her cousins by the dozens are Jesus Christ.
This realization had a powerful impact on me and on my theology. The next book carried that forward to an important conclusion for me.
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein is one of the classic science fiction writers of our time, alongside such luminaries as Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov. Heinlein was known for his sexual experimentation, including incest. Stranger in a Strange Land became a cult favorite even outside the science fiction community, becoming a force during the hippy 60s.
The premise is that a child is shipwrecked with his parents and crew on Mars. All die but Valentine Michael Smith. He is raised by Martians and only knows Martians.
He is rescued some 20 years later and returned to earth where he must learn about human beings. He sees humanity with fresh and innocent eyes and helps us to see ourselves from a different perspective. Two things stand out for me in this book.
The first is the concept of grokking. This became part of the hippy language and some people still use the term today. To grok something means to understand it completely, on every level. It goes beyond knowledge and understanding. It is a visceral emotional emersion in some thought or idea.
The other powerful concept came from Michael's study of earth's religions. When asked what he had learned from these religions, he replied, Thou art God. This powerful statement brought me to a deep understanding of my own theology and where it was going.
It was a natural extension of the wizard's understanding that we already have what we seek and we already are who we wish to be. It moves forward from the idea that everyone is Jesus Christ to us to the final conclusion that all are God.
Meaning, Meaning Everywhere
I have been influenced by many other novels and non-fiction as well as movies and other forms of art and entertainment. It is my view that we are receiving information about who we are and where we need to go every day of our lives if we simply pay attention. It may not come in the big events or even in the powerful books we read. But every day we are nudged by our experiences toward a greater version of the self, a truer version, one more beautiful and more heroic than we normally dare to dream.
Novels can become our mighty steeds, our dragons, our space ships, or our seaworthy crafts. They do not take us to foreign shores but take us inside to worlds not yet imagined, worlds where we are the heroes and heroines, the goddesses and gods. When we open the pages, we will find that we are already inside the book just waiting for self-discovery.