Comments on: John Updike Is Dead

By: [seven stanzas at easter] « heady musings

[seven stanzas at easter] « heady musings — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:29:03 +0000

[...] More (and Moore) here. [...]

By: Tim Bolt

Tim Bolt — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:45:29 +0000

I agree with Timothy Paul Jones who above recommended Updike’s “In the Beauty of the Lilies.” Updike was on to something profound in that book, and I’ve seen the same thing in his other novels as well: Americans have attempted to replace the Transcendent Deity with sex–more sex, better sex, sex all the time. Semi-graphic sex fills his novels but, while distasteful, I’m not sure it is gratuitous. Updike had his twisted finger on one aspect of the pulse of the American soul.

By: TimothyPaulJones

TimothyPaulJones — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:04:35 +0000

One of my favorite lines in Updike serves, perhaps unwittingly, as an indictment of our American fascination with remaining in adolescence as long as possible: “I perceived that a man, in America, is a failed boy.”

By: Ahmad

Ahmad — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 16:50:36 +0000

Actually I enjoy Updike’s poetry, short stories and novels, I translated his “Terroist” into Arabic and forthcoming. American Literature loses one of its most significant writers.

By: Friday in the wild: January 30, 2009 « The Crustier Curmudgeon

Friday in the wild: January 30, 2009 « The Crustier Curmudgeon — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:03:38 +0000

[...] [Read John Updike is Dead] [...]

By: And Now from the Rest of the World . . . - A Smattering of Links of Interest « “For the time that is past suffices…”

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:23:13 +0000

[...] And Now from the Rest of the World . . . - A Smattering of Links of Interest I don’t usually do this, but in the last couple of days I have come across several things which I found interesting and wished to link on my blog.

By: Russell D. Moore

Russell D. Moore — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:33:39 +0000

Greg, I would recommend both of the first two novels in the Rabbit Angstrom series to get a picture of where Updike is going, and from where he’s coming. The short stories are often interesting. Some of his later works, especially The Terrorist, are cringe-worthy.

By: coffee

coffee — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:35:12 +0000

John Updike possessed a truly beautiful mind; he didn’t just write well, he wrote wisely

By: Todd Burus

Todd Burus — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:45:56 +0000

Wonderful piece. I too have been fascinated by Updike’s exposition of the depravity of men and was moved, not saddened but just emotional, in hearing about his passing. Updike, along with Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg, and Hubert Selby Jr., all stand as staples in my library. Their works are far from holy, probably too much for many Christians even to digest without sinning, and yet the revelations they give into the heart of man exemplify as best as any other writings (save the Scriptures) why it is that we are in dire need of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this with us.

By: TimothyPaulJones

TimothyPaulJones — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:11:21 +0000

I’ve read most of Updike’s novels, and the one that I still find most intriguing is his retelling (of sorts) of modern American religious history In the Beauty of the Lilies–not his finest literary production but epic in its scope and haunting in how it exposes the slide into unbelief, the yearning for faith, and the failed fulfillment of this yearning in false messiahs.

By: Items of Interest: The Battered Heart — Civitate

Items of Interest: The Battered Heart — Civitate — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:12:13 +0000

[...] Dr. Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has an interesting post at his blog on the life and writing of John Updike. [...]

By: Greg Spraul

Greg Spraul — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:47:23 +0000

Very thoughtful piece. If you could only recommend one of Updike’s novels, which one would it be?

By: John Murphy

John Murphy — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:53:40 +0000

Concur with Greg. I’ve only read one of Updike’s books, your comments make me want to read more. Thanks.

By: Greg Cochran

Greg Cochran — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:59:38 +0000

A brilliant expose of Hebrews 2:15, which I will be preaching in a few weeks and will, most likely, plagiarize from you! Thanks for such a thoughtful response to Updike’s works. Thanks also for the word from Hebrews. What an encouraging word directly from Him who has gone behind the veil, past the flaming cherubim, back to our Holy God.