Great literature is like a spiritual informant, helping readers derive meaning out of the best of times and the worst of times. In Speak What We Feel, novelist and preacher Frederick Buechner pays homage to the worst of times, examining the life and writings of four esteemed writers and how they each came to terms with despair on the page. The title, Speak What We Feel, alludes to the bravery of William Shakespeare, Gerald Manley Hopkins, Mark Twain, and G.K. Chesterton--all of whom opened the veins to their hearts and let their emotions bleed upon the page. "Vein-opening writers are putting not just themselves into their books, but themselves at their nakedest and most vulnerable," writes Buechner. Not all writers do it all the time, he notes, and many writers never do it at all. "But for the four writers these pages are about, each did it at least once, and that is the most important single thing they have in common."

Writers who are fascinated with the process of creativity will find these essays particularly satisfying, especially the musings on Mark Twain, in which Buechner explains the internal angst that brought Huck Finn to life. Be warned that readers will probably glean more pleasure from this lovingly rendered (but occasionally dry) book if they already possess an appreciation and familiarity with the works of the writers. --Gail Hudson


From Publishers Weekly
rolific storyteller, memoirist and poet Buechner (The Son of Laughter; Telling the Truth) offers up a set of four uninspiring meditations on the powerful ways in which literature reveals the depths of human vulnerability as well as humankind's constant search to give meaning to the ambiguities of life. He uses a simplistic and rather vague formula to show that our greatest literature has come from writers who poured their life's blood into their work and unveiled their own shortcomings to us. Buechner then selects particular works of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Mark Twain, G.K. Chesterton and William Shakespeare as examples of the artist's attempt to articulate forthrightly his own deep struggles with sadness, lonesomeness, guilt or the absence of God. Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, for example, succeeds in staving off the novelist's loneliness and in "piloting a course around both the darkness of the past and the darkness that he knew awaited him not much further downstream." Similarly, the struggle between good and evil central to Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday simply reflects his own struggle with the "black despair" of depression. By mistakenly reading biography as the foundation for the literature, Buechner fails to grapple with the beauties and the difficulties of the works themselves. It is also hard to understand why he narrowed his selections to these four writers when, given his formula, he could just as easily have chosen Dostoyevsky, Emily Dickinson, Dante or Milton. Not one of Buechner's best. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Spiritual writer, novelist, and Presbyterian minister Buechner (The Magnificent Defeat) considers four authors and the works that, in his view, each wrote in his own blood about the darkness of life: Gerard Manley Hopkins's late sonnets, Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, and Shakespeare's King Lear. He brings a Christian perspective to these works, suggesting, for example, that Shakespeare's Fool becomes a Fool for Christ's sake, sacrificing himself for his friend. Buechner's work is not one of literary criticism. Instead, he uses these works as sources for a meditation on suffering and the literary process, and he shows how the four writers wrestle, either directly or obliquely, with the meaning of Christianity. In an afterword, he reflects on the role of personal sadness in his own writing and suggests that these works might offer a lesson in how each of us could deal with sadness in our lives. This book will appeal to readers interested in either the purgative value of the literary process or the spiritual side of literature. Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, NJ Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
In the personal creed of Christian novelist and Presbyterian minister Buechner, faith requires a harrowing encounter with darkness. Buechner has probed the meaning of tragedy and evil in his own fiction, but here he writes as an appreciative critic of four other writers who have confronted death and malignity, hopelessness and grief, with unflinching integrity: Shakespeare in King Lear, Hopkins in his "terrible sonnets," Twain in Huck Finn, and Chesterton in The Man Who Was Thursday. Although an obvious choice on this theme, Lear yields unexpected insights into Buechner's careful reading, which follows the deranged king to the brink of unbearable absurdity. And by deploying the tools of biographical scholarship, Buechner fills in the shadows of bereavement and guilt that enshrouded Mark Twain and pieces together the poignant hidden narrative that united Hopkins' stark poems of despair. That Chesterton is included in this group comes as a surprise, but Buechner has recovered a neglected gem, a haunting narrative that exposes mysterious connections between the darkest elements in life and the most radiant. An honest and disturbing meditation on the deepest questions in literature. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Philip Yancey, author of What's So Amazing About Grace and Reaching for the Invisible God
I look to Frederick Buechner as a mentor in literature and faith, and this book marvelously combines both.


Dallas Willard, author of The Divine Conspiracy
A hauntingly terrifying and beautiful book about the depths of human existence.


John Wilson, editor, Books & Culture, Best Christian Writing
Speak What We Feel is a book of uncanny insight.


Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Serves to illuminate a path through the ambiguities and complexities of human life.


Presbyterian Outlook
[Reverberates] with particular poignancy...speak[s] honestly and eloquently.


Book Description

In this compelling book, the great contemporary spiritual writer and novelist Frederick Buechner plumbs the mysteries and truths behind the literature that speaks to him most powerfully. Buechner presents the four authors who have been his greatest influences, focusing on the question that has emerged at the center of his life-how to face mortality, failure, and tragedy. Through sensitive biographical exploration and close reading of Gerard Manley Hopkins's sublime later sonnets, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, G. K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, and William Shakespeare's most powerful play, King Lear, Buechner invites readers to discover the deeper joy and purpose of reading. He shows how these writers -- by putting their passion and pain into their work -- have enabled him to bear the weight of his own grief and sadness by "speaking out from under the burden of theirs." Buechner's ruminations on their writings leads to the revelation that God accepts us for doing the best we can, even if our lives are in some ways a failure; even if we have lived a life haunted by tragedy, as Buechner's has been haunted by his father's suicide.

Buechner connects his readings to the fabric of his life and the lives of his subjects as he explores the ways in which these writers have shaped him and enhanced his faith. Buechner's insights into the power and imagination of their work resonate with his love for all that literature has given him throughout his life -- a passion he generously shares with us in Speak What We Feel.


About the Author
Frederick Buechner is the popular author of such nonfiction titles as Telling the Truth, Wishful Thinking, and Peculiar Treasures. The New York Times Book Review described his recently published memoir, The Sacred Journey, as a "beautifully successful experiment." In addition to The Final Beast, which was originally published in 1965, Mr. Buechner is the author of ten other novels, including thebestselling A Long Day's Dying and, most recently, Godric. He makes his home in Rupert, Vermont.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"In this compelling book, the great contemporary spiritual writer and novelist Frederick Buechner plumbs the mysteries and truths behind the literature that speaks to him most powerfully. Buechner presents the four authors who have been his greatest influences, focusing on the question that has emerged at the center of his life - how to face mortality, failure, and tragedy. Through sensitive biographical exploration and close reading of Gerard Manley Hopkins's sublime later sonnets, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, G. K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, and William Shakespeare's most powerful play, King Lear, Buechner invites readers to discover the deeper joy and purpose of reading. He shows how these writers - by putting their passion and pain into their work - have enabled him to bear the weight of his own grief and sadness by "speaking out from under the burden of theirs." Buechner's ruminations on their writings leads to the revelation that God accepts us for doing the best we can, even if our lives are in some ways a failure; even if we have lived a life haunted by tragedy, as Buechner's has been haunted by his father's suicide."--BOOK JACKET.

FROM THE CRITICS

Dallas Willard

A hauntingly terrifying and beautiful book about the depths of human existence.

Philip Yancey

I look to Frederick Buechner as a mentor in literature and faith, and this book marvelously combines both.

John Wilson

Hopkins and Twain? Chesterton and Shakespeare? Buechner takes these four writers, never mentioned in the same breath, and shows us a hidden affinity among them, in the process allowing us to see them as we never have before. Speak What We Feel is a book of uncanny insight.

Publishers Weekly

Prolific storyteller, memoirist and poet Buechner (The Son of Laughter; Telling the Truth) offers up a set of four uninspiring meditations on the powerful ways in which literature reveals the depths of human vulnerability as well as humankind's constant search to give meaning to the ambiguities of life. He uses a simplistic and rather vague formula to show that our greatest literature has come from writers who poured their life's blood into their work and unveiled their own shortcomings to us. Buechner then selects particular works of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Mark Twain, G.K. Chesterton and William Shakespeare as examples of the artist's attempt to articulate forthrightly his own deep struggles with sadness, lonesomeness, guilt or the absence of God. Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, for example, succeeds in staving off the novelist's loneliness and in "piloting a course around both the darkness of the past and the darkness that he knew awaited him not much further downstream." Similarly, the struggle between good and evil central to Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday simply reflects his own struggle with the "black despair" of depression. By mistakenly reading biography as the foundation for the literature, Buechner fails to grapple with the beauties and the difficulties of the works themselves. It is also hard to understand why he narrowed his selections to these four writers when, given his formula, he could just as easily have chosen Dostoyevsky, Emily Dickinson, Dante or Milton. Not one of Buechner's best. (Aug.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal