ATTICUS by RON HANSEN (1996)
Being on something of a “crusade” of reading and discovering Catholic authors, I have been determined to discover as many contemporary Catholic/Christian writers of realistic fiction as possible.
Tolkien, Lewis, Sayers, O'Connor and Percy have been written about elsewhere and are generally considered to be part of the 20th Century Christian writers cannon. But has anyone carried on this tradition? Are there Catholics who still write quality fiction? And are there writers who go outside the confines of a parish or monastery or church to grapple with modern problems of living a life of faith in an increasingly secular world? Writers who are, as I like to call it, “informed by their faith”, are those who bring a Catholic Christian world view to their writing much as Grahame Green and Evelyn Waugh did in much of their writing. While rarely writing directly about the Church and their faith from the inside, nonetheless, their writing was deeply Catholic in many respects (even somewhat reluctantly so in Greene's case).
Many of the great and inspiring works of literature have been by people with a Christian value system and faith in the past. My personal experience has been that some of the most profound and moving writing I have read over the last five decades has been by people whose faith has informed their art. In our post modern world, people are still writing and creating as always, but the culture does not look to exploit a value system that is so deeply in conflict with the society of today.
It is generally felt that we in the West are in something of a downward drift. I have seen many Catholics picking up less than admirable literature to sate their desire for something beyond the secular humanist values that are so prevalent. Not to say that all out there is bad. Great talent is still writing and composing and creating. Indeed, sometimes it seems the spirit can work through even some of the most jaded and worldly of artists. However, too many Catholics and Christians, in my opinion, resort to books that are not only unorthodox, but misleading – especially when the topics are faith-related. I have no problem with these in themselves but watched as several friends and acquaintances were confused by reading books like The Da Vinci Code and the work of Gnostic writer Elaine Pagels.
ATTICUS by Ron Hansen is the second work of his that I've read. It was shortlisted for the National Book Award. The other was MARIETTE IN ECSTACY which is loosely based on the life of St. Teresé of Liseaux. I have two others remaining on my bookshelf: EXILES and THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD which are also purportedly biographical fiction about the English poet John Donne and Jesse James.
But ATTICUS is something different. I had mistakenly heard or read that it was based on the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Perhaps this was deliberate misinformation since one of the two brothers in the novel gives a weapon to the other as a gift which is eventually used in the commission of a crime (don't jump to conclusions here). But the father, Atticus Cody, is a well to do Colorado oilman and widower whose two sons are nearly polar opposites. The elder son, Frank, who is a Colorado State Senator and a second son, Scott, who lives the bohemian lifestyle of an artist in Mexico. While this set-up seems obvious and there are predictable points in the story line, the novel takes quite a few twists and turns and all is not what it seems. Surprisingly, even though the story is similar to what you will read in the New Testament, it becomes a moving portrait of Atticus' love for his wayward son who is more than just lost. It actually becomes a very concrete meditation on the love of Atticus (named after Atticus Finch in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD) for his son.
Hansen has done a brilliant job in the creation of the character of Atticus. Not only is he the father searching for his lost son, he is a concrete representation of God's love for us, the Good Shepherd searching for the lost sheep. Setting out to do this could be so contrived and predictable, but Hansen brilliantly keeps things real and credible and the character of Atticus keeps the reader engaged as he mourns for and searches for his lost son. The “lost son”, Scott, feels like someone we know and maybe is in some sense, a little like ourselves in our flakier and more lost moments. I could readily identify with aspects of Scott's personality and character both through periods of my own life and some of my siblings' and friends' experiences. We have all known these “lost souls” who are headed down paths of destruction. Scott becomes a paradigm for them and it is one reason he is so readily knowable and familiar. We've all known people like him. He is Everyman in a very modern sense and represents late 20th century Americans.
The little town of Resurrección in Mexico is where he is lost and where his father goes to find him. It is a tribute to Hansen's skill that he can take things that consciously cue us to the nature of story but make it feel so new and fresh and original. There are twists and turns and Hansen creates a portrait that fleshes out what it means to be loved unconditionally and tenderly by the Father of us all.
Ron Hansen was born in Omaha and currently holds the Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J. Chair at Santa Clara University. He was educated at Creighton University, Stanford and Iowa University. Two of his novels have been adapted to film: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (starring Brad Pitt) and Mariette in Ecstasy.
Bibliography:
Exiles: A Novel 2008
Isn't It Romantic?: An Entertainment, 2003
A Stay Against Confusion: Essays on Faith and Fiction, 2001
Hitler's Niece: A Novel, 1999
Atticus: A Novel, 1996
Mariette in Ecstasy: A Novel, 1991
Nebraska: Stories, 1989
The Shadowmaker, children's book, 1987
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: A Novel, 1983
Desperadoes: A Novel, 1979
Being on something of a “crusade” of reading and discovering Catholic authors, I have been determined to discover as many contemporary Catholic/Christian writers of realistic fiction as possible.
Tolkien, Lewis, Sayers, O'Connor and Percy have been written about elsewhere and are generally considered to be part of the 20th Century Christian writers cannon. But has anyone carried on this tradition? Are there Catholics who still write quality fiction? And are there writers who go outside the confines of a parish or monastery or church to grapple with modern problems of living a life of faith in an increasingly secular world? Writers who are, as I like to call it, “informed by their faith”, are those who bring a Catholic Christian world view to their writing much as Grahame Green and Evelyn Waugh did in much of their writing. While rarely writing directly about the Church and their faith from the inside, nonetheless, their writing was deeply Catholic in many respects (even somewhat reluctantly so in Greene's case).
Many of the great and inspiring works of literature have been by people with a Christian value system and faith in the past. My personal experience has been that some of the most profound and moving writing I have read over the last five decades has been by people whose faith has informed their art. In our post modern world, people are still writing and creating as always, but the culture does not look to exploit a value system that is so deeply in conflict with the society of today.
It is generally felt that we in the West are in something of a downward drift. I have seen many Catholics picking up less than admirable literature to sate their desire for something beyond the secular humanist values that are so prevalent. Not to say that all out there is bad. Great talent is still writing and composing and creating. Indeed, sometimes it seems the spirit can work through even some of the most jaded and worldly of artists. However, too many Catholics and Christians, in my opinion, resort to books that are not only unorthodox, but misleading – especially when the topics are faith-related. I have no problem with these in themselves but watched as several friends and acquaintances were confused by reading books like The Da Vinci Code and the work of Gnostic writer Elaine Pagels.
ATTICUS by Ron Hansen is the second work of his that I've read. It was shortlisted for the National Book Award. The other was MARIETTE IN ECSTACY which is loosely based on the life of St. Teresé of Liseaux. I have two others remaining on my bookshelf: EXILES and THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD which are also purportedly biographical fiction about the English poet John Donne and Jesse James.
But ATTICUS is something different. I had mistakenly heard or read that it was based on the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Perhaps this was deliberate misinformation since one of the two brothers in the novel gives a weapon to the other as a gift which is eventually used in the commission of a crime (don't jump to conclusions here). But the father, Atticus Cody, is a well to do Colorado oilman and widower whose two sons are nearly polar opposites. The elder son, Frank, who is a Colorado State Senator and a second son, Scott, who lives the bohemian lifestyle of an artist in Mexico. While this set-up seems obvious and there are predictable points in the story line, the novel takes quite a few twists and turns and all is not what it seems. Surprisingly, even though the story is similar to what you will read in the New Testament, it becomes a moving portrait of Atticus' love for his wayward son who is more than just lost. It actually becomes a very concrete meditation on the love of Atticus (named after Atticus Finch in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD) for his son.
Hansen has done a brilliant job in the creation of the character of Atticus. Not only is he the father searching for his lost son, he is a concrete representation of God's love for us, the Good Shepherd searching for the lost sheep. Setting out to do this could be so contrived and predictable, but Hansen brilliantly keeps things real and credible and the character of Atticus keeps the reader engaged as he mourns for and searches for his lost son. The “lost son”, Scott, feels like someone we know and maybe is in some sense, a little like ourselves in our flakier and more lost moments. I could readily identify with aspects of Scott's personality and character both through periods of my own life and some of my siblings' and friends' experiences. We have all known these “lost souls” who are headed down paths of destruction. Scott becomes a paradigm for them and it is one reason he is so readily knowable and familiar. We've all known people like him. He is Everyman in a very modern sense and represents late 20th century Americans.
The little town of Resurrección in Mexico is where he is lost and where his father goes to find him. It is a tribute to Hansen's skill that he can take things that consciously cue us to the nature of story but make it feel so new and fresh and original. There are twists and turns and Hansen creates a portrait that fleshes out what it means to be loved unconditionally and tenderly by the Father of us all.
Ron Hansen was born in Omaha and currently holds the Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J. Chair at Santa Clara University. He was educated at Creighton University, Stanford and Iowa University. Two of his novels have been adapted to film: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (starring Brad Pitt) and Mariette in Ecstasy.
Bibliography:
Exiles: A Novel 2008
Isn't It Romantic?: An Entertainment, 2003
A Stay Against Confusion: Essays on Faith and Fiction, 2001
Hitler's Niece: A Novel, 1999
Atticus: A Novel, 1996
Mariette in Ecstasy: A Novel, 1991
Nebraska: Stories, 1989
The Shadowmaker, children's book, 1987
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: A Novel, 1983
Desperadoes: A Novel, 1979
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