Anne Rice's Jesus Book

I just read an article that our friend Angie sent our way from Newsweek about Anne Rice's return to faith and her upcoming book about Jesus. Should be interesting. In college, I read anything of hers I could get my hands on. She's always been a compelling, almost classic style writer with a vivid imagination and a way of drawing you deeply into the characters that she's created. I'm not necessarily endorsing the book for anybody else, but I'll be reading it.

The book brings up some interesting discussion about faith and art. Amy told me that she had looked at a few blogs that were more or less writing Rice off because once an artist becomes a Christian they spend all of their energy defending their newfound faith and the art takes a back seat. An interesting perspective, but a poor stereotype of artists of faith.

It is true in a great many cases that an artist's popularity after coming to faith is less than they experienced prior to making that declaration, but it is not always the case. Guys like Johnny Cash and C.S. Lewis seemed to do alright. I think the way artists are judged in the before/after mentality is unduly harsh. They tend to suffer the inevitable comparisons between their latter work and their former work with a pronouncement of faith as a clear dividing line. It is unfair because we are not before/after people. We are people in transition. Yes, we have defining moments, but those defining moments are most often the culmination of other moments, not a black/white encounter unrelated to all that has come before.

The before/after comparisons will certainly be the challenge that Rice faces. I've read a lot of the Vampire Chronicles, the Mayfair Witch books and a lot of her other works and this will almost certainly put her in another genre. I have a great deal of respect for her as an author and artist though and believe that her style, descriptive narrative and engaging character treatments will continue as long as she's an author. Do I think she'll still be as popular? Probably not. Do I think she'll continue to strive to make great art? Absolutely. Many artists take some time to find firm footing when changing mediums. My hope is that her effort will be rewarding for her as an artist and a sister in Christ.