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The De-Conversion of Kit Lamb
Kit Lamb, as a troubled teenager, has been drawn into a Charismatic Christian church, where he feels "saved" not only by his new religion but by his fatherly pastor, Ezra. Now, at twenty-one, he travels to Guatemala to learn Spanish and fit himself for life as a missionary. In 1983, Guatemala is ruled by born-again, bible-believing dictator, Efraín Ríos Montt, a real historical figure admired by Ronald Reagan and many U.S. evangelicals but condemned by human rights organizations as a genocidal tyrant. Kit meets and is drawn to Colleen-the first link in his de-conversion. Critical of his religious beliefs, which include support for the regime, Colleen reluctantly helps Kit exchange his dollars and find his way to his school in Antigua. Kit begins to notice that the government's treatment of the impoverished Indians is not as benign as it is purported to be. Hearing one of Ríos Montt's famous Sunday sermons, in which the dictator vows to crush the opposition insurgency, branding it as communist and satanic, Kit finds Ríos Montt ruthless and intimidating. The cynical insinuations of a CIA operative at his school and the mysterious mission that Colleen seems to be pursuing lead Kit to the Pacific Coast where he falls victim to "la violencia" perpetrated by Ríos Montt's theocratic dictatorship. In the end, Kit must decide whether to hold on to the comfort of his fundamentalism or accept the truth of his own experience.
- GenresFiction
352 pages, Paperback
First published November 14, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 20, 2017
Full disclosure: Kate is a friend. Even so, I was a little apprehensive about reading a novel that starts out with a protagonist who is full on Christian and a young male at that. But I was engaged, curious. I wanted to know what was going to happen to this guy. He's sincere, and I couldn't help cringing for him as he constantly faces people who are put off by his proselytizing (like I would be if I met him). He soon sets off on an adventure as he goes to Guatemala alone to learn Spanish. This is very much a coming of age story, but it is also a suspense novel and the tension builds and builds all the way to the end. As the title promises, Kit (our proselytizing Lamb) does get de-converted by some ugly and shocking facts of life. How he deals with these life-threatening obstacles will keep you on the edge of your chair.
January 10, 2011
This is my first posted book review. Having known the author since college, I would have bought and read this book whatever its subject, but this book succeeds on its own with no need for me to equivocate.
First, it is beautifully written. The writing is vivid and clear without any hint of pretension or showing off the author's erudition. Since I generally read for entertainment rather than enlightenment or self-improvement, I sometimes avoid reading acclaimed books if I view them as too violent or depressing. Nevertheless, this book was both entertaining and enlightening. It raised my consciousness and reminded me of the disturbingly violent, corrupt, yet complex politics in Guatemala in the early 1980's without being either preachy or patronizing. Perhaps more importantly, the characters were not only plausible and complex, but also engaging, despite their flaws. The title character, Kit Lamb, is believably naive, but portrayed sympathetically, rather than with condescension as he tries to learn Spanish and figure out how to get along in a country where families and the social order are torn apart by political instability and violence. As Kit learns about life and people in Guatemala, he begins to question his impetus to pursue his religious mission. He's young, earnest and inexperienced. Despite his internal struggles and lack of confidence, he gradually develops more understanding of the world, and of himself. Similarly, Colleen, whom he meets on the flight to Guatemala, confuses him with her mercurial behavior. Though she is clearly put off by his religious zeal, she alternately provides him with help he so clearly needs upon arrival, and then rebuffs both his attempts to preach, and to get to know her. Early on, Colleen warns Kit not to talk politics, and to trust no one, advice which he recalls after failing to heed it on several occasions, and which, in any case becomes impossible to follow entirely. The situation, like the characters, becomes increasingly complicated, forcing Kit to adapt and react with neither time nor outside guidance. In spite of my own squeamishness, I was not repelled by the book's realistic descriptions of disturbing situations. Kit's naivete mixed up with his religious zeal, guilt over being attracted to Colleen, and almost laughable innocence, made me sympathize with him, contrary to my initial inclinations. Caring about what happened to the main characters made the last part of the book hard to stop reading. This is one of those books that I kept reading to the end, despite not getting there until 3 a.m., and I'm getting too old to stay up that late. What I most admire is that the main characters, especially Kit and Colleen, were emphatically not stereotypes. Instead there was a tone of respect and affection for them, regardless of their limitations. I don't pretend to know whether the historical facts were all correct, though it certainly rang true to me, but this book was a thought-provoking, good read.
First, it is beautifully written. The writing is vivid and clear without any hint of pretension or showing off the author's erudition. Since I generally read for entertainment rather than enlightenment or self-improvement, I sometimes avoid reading acclaimed books if I view them as too violent or depressing. Nevertheless, this book was both entertaining and enlightening. It raised my consciousness and reminded me of the disturbingly violent, corrupt, yet complex politics in Guatemala in the early 1980's without being either preachy or patronizing. Perhaps more importantly, the characters were not only plausible and complex, but also engaging, despite their flaws. The title character, Kit Lamb, is believably naive, but portrayed sympathetically, rather than with condescension as he tries to learn Spanish and figure out how to get along in a country where families and the social order are torn apart by political instability and violence. As Kit learns about life and people in Guatemala, he begins to question his impetus to pursue his religious mission. He's young, earnest and inexperienced. Despite his internal struggles and lack of confidence, he gradually develops more understanding of the world, and of himself. Similarly, Colleen, whom he meets on the flight to Guatemala, confuses him with her mercurial behavior. Though she is clearly put off by his religious zeal, she alternately provides him with help he so clearly needs upon arrival, and then rebuffs both his attempts to preach, and to get to know her. Early on, Colleen warns Kit not to talk politics, and to trust no one, advice which he recalls after failing to heed it on several occasions, and which, in any case becomes impossible to follow entirely. The situation, like the characters, becomes increasingly complicated, forcing Kit to adapt and react with neither time nor outside guidance. In spite of my own squeamishness, I was not repelled by the book's realistic descriptions of disturbing situations. Kit's naivete mixed up with his religious zeal, guilt over being attracted to Colleen, and almost laughable innocence, made me sympathize with him, contrary to my initial inclinations. Caring about what happened to the main characters made the last part of the book hard to stop reading. This is one of those books that I kept reading to the end, despite not getting there until 3 a.m., and I'm getting too old to stay up that late. What I most admire is that the main characters, especially Kit and Colleen, were emphatically not stereotypes. Instead there was a tone of respect and affection for them, regardless of their limitations. I don't pretend to know whether the historical facts were all correct, though it certainly rang true to me, but this book was a thought-provoking, good read.
January 6, 2011
I should say right up front that I know the author, who was my wife's roommate in college, so you have grounds for expecting some favorable prejudice in my review. But I should also say that initially my prejudices were all the other way--I was uninspired by the title, and the plot summary on the back led me to suspect that the book would first trivialize evangelical Christianity, second equate it with Christianity in general, and third dismiss it all. I quickly learned how wrong I was. This book trivializes nothing and presents what seems to me to be "real life" with amazing verisimilitude. Kit Lamb has a real and sympathetically described conversion experience when he is born again, and he only very reluctantly gives up part of what that experience means to him when he is confronted with the evils of the evangelical government in 1980s Guatemala. To some extent the author is preaching to the choir in my case, since I entirely agree with the last sentence of her afterword: "Guatemala's story should serve as an object lesson today for those who think theocracy leads to peace and justice." But simply agreeing with the intellectual proposition did not lead me to expect such real characters, such a quality of lived experience, such a beautifully constructed plot, and such moral complexity. One character remarks that in Guatemala, whatever you do or don't do, you end up betraying someone; and the book vividly and unforgettably elucidates that view. The story begins very leisurely, but it picks up speed, and the last half of the book is very hard to put down. You really care about these characters, and the tension is unrelenting until virtually the last page. Both heroism and betrayal come from unexpected places, and none of it squares very easily with Kit's rigid theology. Even though he finally rejects at least part of that theology, his honest and sincere minister is given plenty of room to argue him (and love him) out of his new position and welcome him back into the fold. But finally, having experienced a little torture and witnessed far worse, Kit can not reconcile eternal torture in hell with the concept of a loving God. His minister is too wrapped up in his theological system really to feel what that means. I was reminded of C.S. Lewis' comment that early puritans were about as troubled by the prospect of eternal damnation as young Marxists were by the coming liquidation of the bourgeoisie. It was a failure of imagination, and this memorable book is definitely not that.
June 2, 2016
Full disclosure: Kate is a friend. Even so, I was a little apprehensive about reading a novel that starts out with a protagonist who is full on Christian and a young male at that. But I was engaged, curious. I wanted to know what was going to happen to this guy. He's sincere, and I couldn't help cringing for him as he constantly faces people who are put off by his proselytizing (like I would be if I met him). He soon sets off on an adventure as he goes to Guatemala alone to learn Spanish. This is very much a coming of age story, but it is also a suspense novel and the tension builds and builds all the way to the end. As the title promises, Kit (our proselytizing Lamb) does get de-converted by some ugly and shocking facts of life. How he deals with these life-threatening obstacles will keep you on the edge of your chair.
July 25, 2012
Review posted at the Iowa Cityscapes blog.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews