Recently read The Chosen by Ted Dekker

[Thebigguy]

I've never read anything by him, He's not my favorite but what I like about his work is that it appeals to everyone. I don't find you have to be a Christian to understand it, not that I'm bashing books like that it's just not my forte if you like. Has anyone else read anything by him? If so what did you think? !thumbsup!

[Thebigguy]

Whoops, sorry about the Icon's I really wasn't meaning to put an upper or downer on Ted Dekker I'm more middle of the road.

[ProfessorAlan]

I liked his Circle Trilogy quite a bit, but have been less impressed with each passing book. Thr3e is nigh on inexcusable.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I love his books but House isn't so great, nor is Skin.

Ted Dekker doesn't appeal to prarie-romance readers and soccer mums. *wink*

Prof. Alan, how was Thr3e inexcusable?
Some of his dialogue sucks and pacing is at times an issue but you can't argue that he has a gift for out-of-the-box storytelling.

[whitehawke]

I found your thread in the writers lounge and figured you might have placed it there by mistake. I hope that this is where you wanted it.

[Tarin]

I loved Thr3e, didn't like The Circle trilogy, hated Saint, and gave up after that. :rolleyes:

[airboss]

I liked his Circle Trilogy quite a bit, but have been less impressed with each passing book. Thr3e is nigh on inexcusable.

Could you elaborate your thoughts on Thr3e a little more.

[Xenia]

I have to agree with the professor on this one... LOVED the Circle Trilogy (will read again one day). I thought Thr3e was just so so... I was expecting a Christian fiction but it's just a regular ole fiction in my estimation.

[ProfessorAlan]

Sure, I'll elaborate. The main problem I had with Thr3e is that the plot is both unbelievable and silly, and even if you just think of it as a psychological thriller, I don't think it holds together.

And it's not just me that thinks that -- When screenwriter Charlie Kaufman was looking for an unbelievable/silly/unworkable plot idea for one of his characters in Adaptation, the idea that his bad, hack writer character comes up with was called "The Three" ... and has the exact plot twist as Dekker's Thr3e.

And since I had seen Adaptation before reading Thr3e, when the "dramatic plot revelation" happened, a) I feared/knew it was coming 50+ pages before; and 2) couldn't stop laughing, because this exact plot scenario was considered the epitome of the silly, nonsensical thriller plot. Not exactly "out of the box," as you had described it, W4J.

I agreed with Kaufman's opinion about this plot device when watching Adaptation, and still agree with his opinion about this plot device.

[airboss]

Thanks ProfessorAlan for your elaboration. Thr3e was my first Dekker book. While it was not an all time favorite of mine, I thought it was pretty good.

I agree with Xenia's thoughts about it being "Christian fiction". It was not what I thought it would be.

[wardog25]

If you like Christian authors who don't have much Christianity in their books, he might be a good choice. I prefer Christian authors to have some sort of Christian morality or reason for the book.

I enjoyed some of Dekker's early books. I liked Blessed Child and A Man Called Blessed (Bill Bright's ideas written by Dekker). I also enjoyed Blink and Thr3e. Skin kept my interest, but I thought it was strange when I finished reading it. I can't say I can get into Dekker's obsession with psychos, murderers, and serial killers. I fail to see the Christian meaning in most of his recent books, if there is any.

[CarolineW]

I'm an absolute Ted Dekker addict! I'm reading Blink for the second time, and I've gotten my mom and my brother hooked.

While his books are not obviously Christian, they all have very deep messages. The Circle trilogy, along with Chosen and Infidel, is my favorite, because it makes Christ's love seem so real, and it really shows how Christians appear to outsiders. All of his books have deep struggles of good vs. evil, and they're all immensely thought-provoking.

[Daniel]

I'm an absolute Ted Dekker addict! I'm reading Blink for the second time, and I've gotten my mom and my brother hooked.

While his books are not obviously Christian, they all have very deep messages. The Circle trilogy, along with Chosen and Infidel, is my favorite, because it makes Christ's love seem so real, and it really shows how Christians appear to outsiders. All of his books have deep struggles of good vs. evil, and they're all immensely thought-provoking.

What do you mean by "it really shows how Christians appear to outsiders"? Ted Dekker: he writes for people and wants to please the people out there, why do you think he is so popular? I had to force myself through two of his books just to see what he is like. Overly done a bit, plots are forseeable. I couldn't get past the first chapter of Saint.

[tlm]

That's the way I felt about the last two Peretti (sp?) books that I read, The Visitation and The Oath. Both were extremely predicable. I like his writing, but I guess I read enough of his books that there was no surprise left.

Sorry, to steal the thread. What I meant to say was that different writing appeals to different people.

[CarolineW]

I was referring to Infidel and Chosen. In those books, the Horde are obviously diseased, but they are blind to their situation. The Forest Dwellers can see the Horde's disease. In our world, people who do not know the Truth are blinded, diseased in a sense, to the Truth. Reading Infidel and Chosen helped make me more sensitive to non-christians.

[wardog25]

I'm an absolute Ted Dekker addict! I'm reading Blink for the second time, and I've gotten my mom and my brother hooked.

While his books are not obviously Christian, they all have very deep messages. The Circle trilogy, along with Chosen and Infidel, is my favorite, because it makes Christ's love seem so real, and it really shows how Christians appear to outsiders. All of his books have deep struggles of good vs. evil, and they're all immensely thought-provoking.

Have you read Thr3e and Skin? I'm just curious what spiritual values you found in them, because aside from a theological discussion at the beginning of Thr3e (which had little to do with the story line), I can't think of much.

I certainly didn't feel like good won out over evil in them. More like freakish, crazy occurences prevailed over both good and evil.

[Thebigguy]

Honestly a lot of Sci fi and Fantasy really all I've seen these days in teen fiction and in reg. Sci fi fantasy it very provocative or blatant Wicca or really both. These days I shop on line I can't even go into the regular book stores. Just the fact that there is books out there that kids can read that aren't smut is saying something I think.

[ProfessorAlan]

It's another branch off the topic, but I don't see that adult fiction has to be "kid friendly."

[IronWill]

I've never read anything by him, He's not my favorite but what I like about his work is that it appeals to everyone. I don't find you have to be a Christian to understand it, not that I'm bashing books like that it's just not my forte if you like. Has anyone else read anything by him? If so what did you think? !thumbsup!

Personally, not a big fan.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Good grief Wardog! Christian fiction is better when it doesn't blantantly retell the salvation story or whatever. Ted Dekker does a good job of writing entertaining fiction that makes you think and the whole underlying themes are very Christian.

[wardog25]

Good grief Wardog! Christian fiction is better when it doesn't blantantly retell the salvation story or whatever. Ted Dekker does a good job of writing entertaining fiction that makes you think and the whole underlying themes are very Christian.

I'm not asking for anything blatant. If the underlying themes of Skin and Thr3e are Christian, please point them out, because I missed them entirely.

[Narrannik]

I recently read my first Dekker, Thr3e, and while I was impressed with much of his writing (tension, involvement) much of it was predictable and much was disturbing.

Its christian content lay, unlike much modern christian writing, in the nature and discussion of sin. In many ways I think the unique perspective into sin was good, but I'm not sure it pointed solidly at Christ for the remission of the sins so interestingly presented.

Also, three positions were presented in regard to sin. Sam: good, Slater: evil, and Kevin: neutral. In the sight of God, there is no neutral. One either worships the creator or the creature, and certainly not both in the same person, no matter what creative disorder the author may have cursed him with.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Kevin was not neutral, he was the human stuck between the choices of good and evil.