The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan

I recently read The Raging Quiet, by Sherryl Jordan. (I posted on another book by Jordan, earlier this year.)

Although Jordan is known as a writer of fantastic literature, I didn't find anything particularly fantastic about the book. It is set in a time when people were too eager to believe in witches, and that is a prominent feature, but there is no episode of real witchcraft in The Raging Quiet.

I won't give away the plot -- you can find out more about it by using the first link in this post, I believe. I do want to muse briefly about a couple of items in the book.

Much of the book is about deafness. The leading character discovers that another character is deaf, and not an idiot -- which the local villagers, even the good priest who has helped the boy, have believed. The leading character, Marnie, a teenager, works with Raven, as she calls this boy, developing a sophisticated sign language. That causes her to be accused of witchcraft.

There is, as I said, a good priest. Priests, and Christians in general, are often portrayed as evil, stupid, or both, and, of course, we often are, or at least people who claim to be Christians are often evil. It is refreshing to read a book where a character who claims to be a Christian is kind, generous, tolerant, understanding, hardworking, and stands up against evil and ignorance. Father Brannan is such a character. It is hard to imagine a more selfless one. He does have flaws -- he gets angry when he shouldn't. But he sees, in Marnie, an intelligent person, one with some deep spiritual insight, in spite of the fact that she can't read or write.

A warning, for those who care about such matters -- although the book is written for young adults, whoever they are, Jordan has included some sexual activity -- not explicit. It is handled tastefully, and without explicitness or salaciousness. Some of it is between married people, but one such episode isn't. Father Brannan doesn't rebuke the couple -- he marries them. I guess Jesus might have handled the situation in the same way.

Jordan is a good writer. I confess that I went to the end before I got half through, and found out how it came out. Then I eagerly finished the book in the more linear way.

Thanks for reading.

The Hunting of the Last Dragon

I recently read The Hunting of the Last Dragon, by Sherryl Jordan. I discovered it because it won a South Carolina Junior Book Award for 2004. I'm not sure anyone save school librarians pays attention to such awards, or at least I wonder if the Juniors do. I did, and it is a good book.

There are several interesting features, besides what, from the title, would seem obvious.

One of those is the narrative structure. Almost the entirety of the book was ostensibly dictated to a monk, who wrote everything that Jude of Doran said, in his presence, with goose quill pens, on parchment, in 1356 AD, in England. Jude was a peasant boy, perhaps 15 or 16 years old during the time of the narrative.

Another is the presence of Chinese characters in a book set in 14th century England. The author doesn't seem to know whether or not that really happened at that time, but it is a central feature of the book, in several ways, and certainly adds interest. One thing I can tell you, without giving away anything essential, is that footbinding, an ancient Chinese practice, plays an important role.

The third feature is that, perforce, a fair amount of the book, although not the main action, takes place in a monastery. Although monastery life is not seen through rose-colored glasses, Jordan presents it respectfully. She treats the death of a monk, and his promotion to God's presence, as if it were true.

Finally, the book is a love story, although Jude doesn't realize it until the end.

Here's a quotation that I found interesting:
"Ambrose always said that fear was faith in one's enemy . . . " Sherryl Jordan, The Hunting of the Last Dragon, New York: HarperCollins, 2002, p. 87. (Ambrose does not appear in the book.)

I see what Jordan is saying. In a sense, fear is faith in one's enemy, be it a dragon, or Satan, or tornadoes, or our own nature and appetites. But that's not the whole story. Christ told us that there are some things that we should fear:

Luke 12:4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! (ESV)

Thanks for reading!