Sign in with FacebookMike (the Paladin)'s Reviews > White: The Great Pursuit
White: The Great Pursuit (The Circle, #3)
by Ted Dekker (Goodreads Author), Rob Lamont
by Ted Dekker (Goodreads Author), Rob Lamont
Well...I finished the trilogy (though now a book titled Green is out so I guess it's no longer a trilogy, even though this one ties up the existing story line.). This one is (in my opinion)better than the second in the series and I give it a good solid "not bad". There is however a "but".
But.....these books could have been far better than they are. The way they are plotted the way the characters are presented even the way the story is told, all are a bit stilted. In an effort to be, I suppose meaningful and to tie the experiences of the characters together there is, for example, a scene here that is word for word the same scene as we find in "Red" except that it happens to the female protagonist so the name and pronouns are different and in the end the "third party" involved didn't "make it"... To some this may be a "strong point" to me it was just repetitive, I find it just annoyed me. A lot of things in the book simply annoyed me. It was like looking at something that could have been great...but ended up just "okay". The story exposition,the lay out, even what we are expected to accept is going on just so often doesn't really work. And I'm a fantasy fan, I love fantasy.
There is throughout the trilogy a use of Biblical symbology, rather heavy handed use. That in itself doesn't bother me. C.S.Lewis was accused (by among others J.R.R.Tolkien) of being heavy handed in his use of biblical symbols and you'll find I rate most of his books 5 stars. The heavy handedness doesn't bother me, but it's not done well. I wanted to like these books but in so many ways they just aren't done well.
I am a Christian, and I mean a practicing Christian and I'd like to rate these higher, I know many people love them. I wanted to like them. As lessons even as allegory they work fairly well... but as novels they just aren't that good. This one is, as I said in the opening of this review, a bit better than (in my opinion) the second and it's a good solid "not bad" but it could be so much better. I'd say try them yourself. Maybe try book 1 and see how you like the author's voice and style. Maybe a lot of this is me. But, my final evaluation is, "not bad, but could have been a lot better".
But.....these books could have been far better than they are. The way they are plotted the way the characters are presented even the way the story is told, all are a bit stilted. In an effort to be, I suppose meaningful and to tie the experiences of the characters together there is, for example, a scene here that is word for word the same scene as we find in "Red" except that it happens to the female protagonist so the name and pronouns are different and in the end the "third party" involved didn't "make it"... To some this may be a "strong point" to me it was just repetitive, I find it just annoyed me. A lot of things in the book simply annoyed me. It was like looking at something that could have been great...but ended up just "okay". The story exposition,the lay out, even what we are expected to accept is going on just so often doesn't really work. And I'm a fantasy fan, I love fantasy.
There is throughout the trilogy a use of Biblical symbology, rather heavy handed use. That in itself doesn't bother me. C.S.Lewis was accused (by among others J.R.R.Tolkien) of being heavy handed in his use of biblical symbols and you'll find I rate most of his books 5 stars. The heavy handedness doesn't bother me, but it's not done well. I wanted to like these books but in so many ways they just aren't done well.
I am a Christian, and I mean a practicing Christian and I'd like to rate these higher, I know many people love them. I wanted to like them. As lessons even as allegory they work fairly well... but as novels they just aren't that good. This one is, as I said in the opening of this review, a bit better than (in my opinion) the second and it's a good solid "not bad" but it could be so much better. I'd say try them yourself. Maybe try book 1 and see how you like the author's voice and style. Maybe a lot of this is me. But, my final evaluation is, "not bad, but could have been a lot better".
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read White.
sign in »
Comments (showing 1-4 of 4) (4 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Lisianna
(new)
-
added it
May 07, 2012 10:22am
I wish I had read your comments before I started the quadrilogy (?) . I'm reading White now it is taking me longer to read it than the other two, and I really think it's because I feel I pretty much know how it will end now since the parallel to the Bible is becoming so, as you say, "heat handed." I'm a Christian as well, and I like stories that remind me of the Bible or show great concepts from the Bible, but this was ajoke little too much like the stories of Jesus in the New Testament by the time you get tohave White. Black started off with so much promise too...
reply
|
flag
*
I completely agree with you. So many people told me that I had to read these books because they were "amazing", and, like you, I wanted to like them. But I don't, for all the reasons you listed and one more. As I feel with all of Ted Dekker's books that I have read, he gets the devestation of sin perfectly and even portays God's love beautifully as well, but Dekker almost ALWAYS misses the mark completely when he gets to the redemption part of the story. For some reason, the power of God to completely redeem and make something beautiful out of something ugly always seems to play second fiddle to the power of sin to destroy our lives.
