~The Curate’s Awakening – A Review

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Last November, I went out of town for nearly a week. I was traveling with a few ladies, two of which had little ones, and I was along to help watch the cuties. The mothers were going to a conference. Knowing that I would have some time when I probably wouldn’t want to write, I decided to take along a book to read during nap time or bed times. (The babies would be going to bed before me, and the conference ran late.) The first night, I was really tired from several hours riding in a car – too tired to do much writing, so I pulled out my book. It was The Curate’s Awakening by George MacDonald. It was my first time reading anything by this author and I’ll just say, it wasn’t the “easy reading” I was for some reason, expecting. I liked what I read – but that was less than a chapter because I… fell asleep!! (I never fall asleep when reading!!) When I got home, life became too busy for reading much for a few months (holidays, moving, etc…) and I actually didn’t get back to this book until about three weeks ago. This time, I nearly finished it in a day…

The Author:
George MacDonald was born in the end of 1824 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Born to a farmer, George MacDonald grew to be a minister, as well as an author and a poet. In 1851, he married Louisa Powell and together they had eleven children. Mrs. MacDonald died in 1902, after a marriage of 51 years. The author of several works, both of fantasy and regular fiction, George MacDonald was a prolific writer. A few titles include, Sir Gibbie, Far Above Rubies and The Lady’s Confession. He died in September of 1905 at 80 years of age.

Technical Details:
The Curate’s Awakening was originally published in the year 1876 by Hurst and Blackett Publishers, London, under the title: Thomas Wingfold, Curate. The book I read was republished in 1985 by Bethany House Publishers and edited by Michael R. Phillips. While I don’t usually read edited versions of books, (I would usually rather avoid them altogether), Mr. Phillips mostly, from what I understand, edited the dialect of the writing and not the actual content. A friend of mine even suggested that I read the edited versions, as opposed to the originals, since they are so difficult to read. (It helped that I don’t have any originals on hand either! ;) The book was 38 chapters in length, but only 224 pages, so that some of the chapters were quite short. I confess that I did not read Michael Phillips introduction. After the first paragraph or two, I didn’t care for what he had to say, so I skipped it. Otherwise, I read the book in its entirety.

The Story:
Thomas Wingfold, curate of the parish in Glaston, England, never really shares any of his own thoughts with his congregation. In fact, Thomas doesn’t even write his own sermons! Preaching to the sleepy congregation from the selection of sermons his Uncle left him in his will, Thomas doesn’t even have to make a decision on the topic. Each sermon is set for a specific Sunday of the year, and the curate just reads them in order. One night, while dining at the house of the former curate’s widow, George Bascombe, a nephew of that lady and a strong atheist, rebukes Thomas for preaching what no one believes. Thomas counters his argument, but George inquires whether the man himself really believes what he preaches. The curate is stunned to realize that he doesn’t have an honest answer. He took holy orders as a career, not for any reason of conviction. The story follows Thomas’ journey as he tries to discover who this LORD, whom he professes to preach, really is and if he, Thomas Wingfold, really believes in him or follows in His ways.

Helen Lingard, a member of the curate’s congregation, finds her quiet, dull way of living thrown into chaos when her beloved younger brother runs to her, professing to be a murderer. Desperate to help him, yet with no real hope or relationship with the LORD, Helen doesn’t know what to do to help the disparaging young man. Tormented by what he has done, Leopold Lingard hardly knows what to do with himself and longs for comfort. At last, Helen brings the curate to him, but can she accept the consequences for Leopold’s guilt, even when he is content? Will she ever find rest and peace in the LORD or will she follow her cousin’s atheistic philosophies, continuing to “live without hope and without God in the world”?

The Writing Style:
The writing style is old fashioned, but clear. While not easy reading, it’s not very difficult either. Some of the phrases seem a bit odd, every now and again, but they may simply be an old fashioned way of phrasing something, or an editing oddity from Michael Phillips.

Descriptions of places and things are well done, though not vivid. At times, they may be even a little bit dull, but they aren’t redundant and certainly not overused. As to the people, their descriptions are given in the beginning of their introduction, and with enough skill to give a very clear picture of character described.

The style is not dark, but neither is it light and cheerful. Bordering on the melancholy at times, Mr. MacDonald kept a serious tone throughout most of the book, which matches well with the story.

The Characters:
Besides, Thomas and Helen, this books is sprinkled liberally with characters of different backgrounds and religious beliefs. The deformed man whose faith and trust in the LORD is evident in every action of his life, the draper whose sleepy Christianity is prodded into wakefulness by the curate’s confession and awakening, the self centered woman, so stuck in her ways, that she sees nothing but fanaticism when anyone tries to hold up the Bible as completely true and authoritative. These are just a few of the well-written and strongly portrayed characters that fill up the cast for this book.

Leopold’s story-line is written more emotionally than the others, and the reader can almost feel his pain as he’s tormented with the sin of his crime. I personally think that Leopold was the best written character in the book, but Thomas with his constant struggles for belief and Helen, her heart torn with sorrow over her brother and constant jumping from the beliefs of the curate or her cousin, are well written as well.

My favorite character was either Mr. Polwarth, the man whose deformity, certainly didn’t hurt his faith, or Thomas Wingfold, the curate. Mr. Polwarth was inspiring and encouraging. Every trial that came his way, he counted joy, and praised the Lord.

A Few More Thoughts:
As much as I enjoyed The Curate’s Awakening, there were a few things that I disagreed with. For example, when Thomas realizes that he is preaching a doctrine that he doesn’t believe in, his first thought is to vacate the pulpit and leave his curacy. Mr. Polwarth encourages him to keep it as he searches for the LORD, and then to decide. He helps him to find material to preach on for a month or two, so that he is teaching the people Biblically sound sermons while he’s searching. This truly bothered me since First Timothy 3 makes it clear that an overseer of the church should not be a new convert, “so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.” Even if Mr. Wingfold becomes a true follower of the LORD (and I won’t tell you if he does), it seems that he should still be giving up his curacy following that verse. There were one or two minor things beside this, but I won’t go into detail about them right now.

Cautions:
I would suggest caution in giving this book to a young reader. Some of the themes discussed are not for children. There is mild language, the use of drugs (though condemned, it plays a vital part of the story) as well as the fact that a stricken and dying man mentions seeing the image of a dead woman, more than once. Whether it was his imagination, or was supposed to be a ghost, the author never makes perfectly clear.

Conclusion:
Despite it’s flaws, I really liked this book. In fact, I might get myself a copy for my own collection. The discussions by the characters are thought provoking in a good way. They sent me to my Bible to confirm or refine my own beliefs. I would recommend this book to a young adult and older.

To the KING be all the glory!

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