Book Review:
Post-Rapture Radio:
Lost Writings from the Failed Revolution at the End of the Last Century
by Russell Rathbun
Published April 2005, by Jossey-Bass, An Imprint of Wiley
Russell Rathbun has just raised the bar for Christian fiction. Post-Rapture Radio is fiction - forget for a moment the adjective Christian - at its very best. It is inventive, humorous, shocking, provocative, philosophical and at times quite depressing. It's almost existential. Rathbun has a message, to be sure, and it's directed at Christians. However, unlike most "Christian novels with a message," the message does not weigh the writing down.
In the book, the narrator discovers a box containing various writings of "unknown crazy preacher" Richard Lamblove. The writings include sermons, journal entries & miscellaneous scribbled notes by this man, whose only proof of existence appears to be the documents in the box. Most of the book consists of these various writings, interspersed with notes by the narrator, who is trying to make some sense of the writings. Lamblove is at odds with what he perceives as the "Contemporary Christian Church Conspiracy" that surrounds him and it's either driving him crazy, or driving him sane. Or perhaps both.
There will be a number of people who simply "don't get" the book, which to me only shows how brilliant the book really is (all great books are not understood by the masses). Some will hate it because it pushed various buttons, and we all hate when our buttons get pushed. Many will love the book, just because it's so well-written and relevant. My reaction, however, was that I began to identify so closely with Rev. Lamblove that I experienced moments of near despair (a true existential experience).
The only shortcoming of the book, in my opinion, was that the Lamblove character is a pastor (granted, he has to be a pastor for the book to work). The way the book resolved (I won't give the ending away) was fine for Lamblove, but what about the majority of people in the church? What options are open to those trapped in their own Contemporary Christian Church Conspiracy, but without the resources and opportunities of the leadership (not that he gave any specific answers there, either)? I need to ask Rathbun ... perhaps he'll write a sequel.
Read an excerpt from the book: http://www.authorviews.com/authors/rathbun/excerpt.phpCopyright © 2005 alden swan, All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this article, in whole or in part, is expressly forbidden without prior written permission.