Author John Updike, 76, has passed away. I remember a college friend reading the Run, Rabbit, Run and having conflict with himself over whether to recommend it to any of us. He liked so much but hated so much of it that he could only talk about it in a tongue-tied fashion. Updike is certainly an important author, but I wonder if his work exemplifies one of the major problem with modern literature. He wrote realistically and too much about sex.
But I should stop talking about this. Bloomberg has the facts.
I don’t think I ever read any of his books. I know that some people consider him a Christian author, in some sense.
I read through the entire “Rabbit” series years ago. As I recall, each of the “Rabbit” books was spot-on in its depiction of middle and upper middle class American life and the cultural upheavals we went through in each of the decades since the 60s. You can’t confuse Updike with Jan Karon and the “Mitford” series though.
Jared likes him.
How about, he was an author, who was a Christian, Mr. Walker? You get that impression from some of his poetry–and his fiction, which at times is shot through with theology, including quotes and thinking from some prominent Christian thinkers.
His “Seven Stanzas at Easter” is stupendous.
Justin Taylor likes him: http://theologica.blogspot.com/
A neat Updike poem, as well.
You beat me to it, Loren!
I knew Jared liked him, but I couldn’t get to his blog at the time of the post. I would have linked to it if I had been able to. I’ve read a little of Updike and always liked what I read. His style seemed to spin around the characters, showing you the whole every time. His Christian allusions or his faith or whatever it should be called were the thing my friend liked so much in Run, Rabbit, Run. I don’t think my small society, my limited culture, would support that type of Christian author though.
But we are not all the same, are we?
The NY Times gets Updike just right: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/books/28appr.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
Gene Veith has a link to a good article where Updike discusses his Christian faith: http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/14156.htm