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Connie Willis and Christianity I'm a pretty big fan of Connie Willis, but I know very little about her outside of her books. So I was surprised to discover, upon reading the introduction to Miracles and Other Christmas Stories, her latest (?) short-story collection, that Willis seems to be a very enthusiastic Christian. "[A]re there any good Christmas stories out there? You bet, starting with the original. The recounting of the first Christmas (you know, the baby in the manger) has all the elements of great storytelling: drama, danger, special effects, dreams and warnings, betrayals, narrow escapes, and--combined with the Easter story--the happiest ending of all."It's the "happiest ending of all" part that really surprised me. Despite being non-religious, I will be the first to admit that the Bible spins some pretty good tales. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is one of the best, but, even though Christ rises from the dead, it's hardly a happy story for somebody who's just looking at it as a story--the betrayal is awful, as is the torture Jesus goes through, and worst of all is His foreknowledge of all this. I think the ending is really only happy if you buy into the larger implications of it: Jesus has redeemed mankind and died for our sins, etc. And that's why I get the feeling that Willis is an enthusiastic Christian from her enthusiastic endorsement of the Biblical Christmas story. Why am I surprised? Well, first, in science fiction and fantasy you don't often get a clear picture of the author's faith, since it's usually not the central subject of their work; and second, due to the subject matter (magic, or a strange theology) I tend to assume that authors are usually not strong Christians. (Shows how much I know!) In an attempt to find out more about Willis, I looked online to see if she's written anything on Christianity. Nothing obvious came up, except for this review of To Say Nothing of the Dog, which rates Willis's book "Good/Harmless" in the subject of "Christian morality." This site is very interesting for being equally committed to speculative fiction and Christianity. For instance, in its section on Marion Zimmer Bradley the site praises Bradley for her pioneering work as an editor, then heavily criticizes her novels as "pro-feminazi with a highly pagan agenda." Mists of Avalon is described as "a critical model of feminazi anti-Christianity propaganda" (and as "tedi[o]us, poorly written, and difficult to hold in one's hand," an assessment I agree with). There is also, of course, a Harry Potter bashing, though the reviewer admits the series is pretty entertaining. Fascinating stuff. With Christmas break coming up, I should get a chance to finally finish all the pending reviews, as well as read a lot more books. Needless to say I'm glad to be getting a break from school--though the fact that finals are still after Christmas, as they were for the last four years, is beginning to wear on me. |
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