Sign in with Facebook
Debbie Petersen's Reviews > A Severe Mercy: A Story of Faith, Tragedy and Triumph
A Severe Mercy: A Story of Faith, Tragedy and Triumph
by Sheldon Vanauken, C.S. Lewis
by Sheldon Vanauken, C.S. Lewis
** spoiler alert **
In Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris tells of a time he was at a movie with his partner, Hugh. They were watching The End of the Affair, and Hugh was completely taken by the drama and was weeping. David, bored, whispered, "I can't wait until she dies." Hugh was aghast.
I had heard that A Severe Mercy was about a married couple, madly in love, and that thier faith and marriage are tested by the wife (Davy) converting to Christianity and therefore loving God more than her husband, and her subsequent illness and death. I personally did not find their initial love story endearing, I thought it stifling. They decide that they would spend all of their time together, and if one had interests that the other did not share, the uninterested party had to go along and take part anyway so that there would be no secrets. They write each other annoying poems and call each other cutesy names, ad nauseum, and then they decide to both explore Christianity together and start by reading C. S. Lewis' books. The husband finishes one of the books and writes a letter to Lewis, who writes back. On that point I am wild with envy. Davy is far ahead on the spiritual walk and eventually leaves the husband behind, who makes a profession of faith of sorts shortly after. Now their annoying story includes going to church, holding Bible studies and singing hymns in the night. At this point in the story I invoked David Sedaris, paging ahead to when she will become sick and die, since I was hoping at that point the story would become more interesting. It did not. If anything, it became even more trite and maudlin. After she finally dies, Sheldon imagines what would have happened had Davy lived, and surmises that either their love would have died, or he with his lesser faith would have dragged Davy down and made her less of a believer. Therefore, God showed his "severe mercy" in taking Davy, thereby preserving their love for all eternity and also calling Davy home while her faith is strong. HUH?
Am I the only person on Goodreads who found this book to be a complete disappointment, despite the fact that letters from C. S. Lewis are included in the narrative?
I had heard that A Severe Mercy was about a married couple, madly in love, and that thier faith and marriage are tested by the wife (Davy) converting to Christianity and therefore loving God more than her husband, and her subsequent illness and death. I personally did not find their initial love story endearing, I thought it stifling. They decide that they would spend all of their time together, and if one had interests that the other did not share, the uninterested party had to go along and take part anyway so that there would be no secrets. They write each other annoying poems and call each other cutesy names, ad nauseum, and then they decide to both explore Christianity together and start by reading C. S. Lewis' books. The husband finishes one of the books and writes a letter to Lewis, who writes back. On that point I am wild with envy. Davy is far ahead on the spiritual walk and eventually leaves the husband behind, who makes a profession of faith of sorts shortly after. Now their annoying story includes going to church, holding Bible studies and singing hymns in the night. At this point in the story I invoked David Sedaris, paging ahead to when she will become sick and die, since I was hoping at that point the story would become more interesting. It did not. If anything, it became even more trite and maudlin. After she finally dies, Sheldon imagines what would have happened had Davy lived, and surmises that either their love would have died, or he with his lesser faith would have dragged Davy down and made her less of a believer. Therefore, God showed his "severe mercy" in taking Davy, thereby preserving their love for all eternity and also calling Davy home while her faith is strong. HUH?
Am I the only person on Goodreads who found this book to be a complete disappointment, despite the fact that letters from C. S. Lewis are included in the narrative?
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
A Severe Mercy.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
| 05/08/2016 | marked as: | read | ||
Comments (showing 1-9 of 9) (9 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Eileen
(last edited Aug 19, 2008 07:12AM)
(new)
Aug 19, 2008 07:11AM
HUH, indeed. Loving God increases love for others, it doesn't decrease it. It also tends to make relationships more mature and healthy, which may be what the husband was resisting.
reply
|
flag
*
I thought so too, Eileen! It almost seemed to me that he went along with her and was playing "church," so as not to be left behind in the relationship. They do reach a deeper level of their love for each other when she falls ill, but his reasoning for why he thinks this terrible thing happened to her does not really ring true for me.
There is no doubt that Davy still loved Sheldon, the problem was that Sheldon was jealous of God for "stealing away Davy." Davy's death being a severe mercy was, in addition to God's taking her at a time when she was strongest in faith, God's way of bringing about Sheldon's conversion. I think this is only able to be understood if you accept that our purpose in life is to serve God. If you understand this, you understand that all these events happened in the characters' best interest.
I think the interesting thing about this is not that it necessarily has to ring true to anybody, but that this is what he experienced. This is a true story, whether you feel it is nauseating or not. I think there is always something to be learned from the experience of others, and that their intense love and they way they approach it in general is interesting despite the particulars of how they do it. I think the principles of actively and engagingly protecting your marriage from anything that might attack it is very noble, even if I disagree with some of the particular ways they chose to do that. I also enjoyed watching the development of their relationship into a more mature love. I wonder if their marriage would have survived some of the changes and events that felt more difficult for Vanauken if they had not chosen a particular foundation on which to build their relationship in the first place, and then allowed it to change as they grew. When you have lost a spouse (whether to divorce or death), I think the message that he gives about taking her at the height of their love is very poignant. The are, indeed, worse and more painful ways to lose someone you love.
No Debbie, you aren't alone. It made me feel very uneasy too. I read it many years ago as a student when all my Christian friends were raving about it and I always felt SV was slightly mad. I agree with the lady above, the more you love, the more love you have to offer. Many people discover this through having children, but there are other ways.He does certainly write powerfully, but there's something self-indulgent about the exercise that bothers me. Nevertheless, I'll be reviewing this book as part of my kind of autobiographical project on the books that shaped me. I think it's important to include the books that didn't necessarily shape you in a benign way.
"Am I the only person on Goodreads who found this book to be a complete disappointment, despite the fact that letters from C. S. Lewis are included in the narrative?"Perhaps but there is no crime in it. I'll be reading it again (for a lot of reasons).
I remember it almost with anger and wrote a small, negative review of it. I fully concur with your assessment
I completely agree with you. This book exemplified the relationship my ex wanted us to have (minus the actual religious stuff! He's never been religious, while I have always been a practicing Catholic.) Stifling, indeed.
I just thought your review was a bit rude, seeing as how this was a memoir. If you had reviewed the writing style or narrative style or something along more literary lines, I could respect that. But your pretentious tone was a bit much. You reference people's real lives as an "annoying story." If your review was on a work of fiction, I wouldn't take the time to write this comment. It's just that you are so flippantly talking about people's lives as if they are part of a fictional story. I would think you might feel a little sad (angry/frustrated) if someone said your life was an "annoying story."
