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Thoughts on Red Tent and Thorn In My Heart at 3, O.K. 4 a.m.

I guess my friend, Kenny Parker's, not the only one up at 3:00 in the morning. I have been busy, so busy for the last 4 hours that I didn't realize that 4 hours had gone by. So, now I am just posting real quick. I was thinking about the book I just finished and realized that I don't think I usually blog about books I am reading...Whoah! I just had a crazy realization, I must be 1/2 brain dead right now! Wasn't I the one who read Grapes of Wrath last year and couldn't stop thinking or talking about it? Oh well, anyways, I just read 2 very similiar books. I began with The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, which I really enjoyed. I probably talked about it a little too much, and all the wonderful women in my book club will look down on me with pity, for thinking so highly of this book, but I don't think so, because it rocked. It was nice being familiar with the book of Genesis before reading it though. While introducing the book last month, someone who had read part of it said that I would probably equally enjoy Thorn in My Heart, by Liz Cutiz Higgs. Now, I usually don't seek out Christian authors, nor do I try and avoid them, but this was a Christian author and an excellent read. However, that is coming from someone who thinks they might really enjoy romance novels, although I've never read one. I think it's in my blood though, my Grandma Adams use to read a lot of romance novels. In digging for more Liz Curtiz Higgs, because there is a sequal to the book I just finished, I found that she has written more than once of love triangles. I did so enjoy reading about this one. Thorn, was similiar to The Red Tent in that it talks about Jacobs family and that's about it. Red Tent was set in whatever, Jacob time, A.D. in the lands talked of in Genesis, and Thorn is set in the late 1700's in Scotland. Red Tent is the story of Dinah, Jacob and Leah's daughter. It begins with the pre-Dinah history, of her 4 mothers, then comes her story as a girl, and it finishes off strongly with her story as a woman, who was in Red Tent anyways, more than a rape victim. Since none of us was there, we will never know exactly how it all went down, but Anita D. presents an interesting scenario. Thorn, covers more of the love triangle between Jamie McKie (Jacob), Leana McBride (Leah), and her sister, Rose (Rachel). Thorn ends before Dinah's story even begins. I ordered Fair Is The Rose on Ebay, because the Library didn't have a copy, although they did have a copy of the third book, Prince, (something or other) which is suppose to be according to the reviews and reader's opinions, the best of the three. Although I enjoyed both Thorn in My Heart and The Red Tent, it seemed to me that Higgs had to do quite a bit more research than Diamant. The Scottish culture, especially of two hundred years ago, must have been fun but long, hard research intensive. She appears from my limited knowledge to have done a good job, and everything seemed to be well researched and written. Beyond thinking about how much work all that reasearch must have been, I also thought of the cost she must have incured before even writing a single word. Something that I would think a Christian author would relish in is what stuck with me in the end. I was left with the thought of how Jamie didn't deserve anything, he couldn't live with the things he had done, but God loved and blessed him through it anyways, not because he deserved it, but just because. I might be doing God's will and He decides to bless me, but it doesn't have anything to do with my doing right and being rewarded. My life will definately go smoother, if I make the right choices, which is why there are rules, to protect me. However, there will be times when I'm not doing what I should be and God chooses to bless me anyways. He knows His ultimate plan for my life and that of those He will have me come in contact with. I have done nothing to deserve His love and I can do nothing to change His love for me either. How nicely Leana's love for Jamie is representive of God's love for us. Things we know, but don't think about until somebody writes a book we read, and I'm sure not by fate we think about things in light of a character we read about and relate to or try and understand.

posted by MrH @ 3:27 AM