Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story

RSS
Email

0 Kudo

Author	Comment
jmarkbertrand	Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story	Lead	[-]
Posts: 971 (10/10/05 08:35:51) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None One thing I point out in my introduction to the critical analysis is the way the Conversion Story Contest colored my reading of Ezekiel's Shadow. *Quote:* As I read Ezekielâs Shadow to formulate my analysis, I also struggled through the process of writing a conversion story of my own for Daveâs contest. Was it a coincidence that Dave set the contest deadline right before the critique of Ezekielâs Shadow was scheduled, or is he an extraordinary mastermind who knew that an audience which had just slogged through the difficult task of writing a conversion story themselves would be more sympathetic toward his own efforts on that front? We may never know the answer, but that was the effect of the timing on me. I came to see Ezekielâs Shadow through the lens of the conversion narrative, and it has colored my reading of the bookâso much so that I am now convinced (as you will see) that the suspense subplot is irrelevant to the heart of the book. Iâm looking forward to discovering whether other readers will agree. In the contest, Dave asks us to struggle with the same issues that lie at the heart of his novel. So the question is, how do you think Dave handled the conversion story aspect of Ezekiel's Shadow, and how did your own work on a conversion story impact your appreciation of it? Mark www.jmarkbertrand.com Required Reading: "Holy Sonnet" - FiF Contest Entry "Midafternoon Apocalypse" at The New Pantagruel "The Inside Job" at Hardluck Stories "The Beautiful Girl" at InFuze Magazine
lindainkansas	Re: Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story	#1	[-]
Posts: 372 (10/10/05 09:43:30) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I was reading this as I was writing my story and I couldn't help but notice how he handled the conversions in the book. I thought both Ian and his wife's conversion experiences read well in the book. They were earned. With Ian, of course, it was described after the fact. But I liked how his wife (Rebecca?) came to faith -- it came as the result of the changes she saw in her husband's life, which rings true. She wasn't sure what those changes meant at first. And can you blame her? You get used to a person being one way, and even if a change is for the better, it's unsettling. And I don't know what anyone else thinks, but I rather like the way they celebrated her baptism. That rang true, as well. Linda lindaruthspot.blogspot.com
gina burgess	Re: Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story	#2	[-]
Posts: 176 (10/10/05 12:13:40) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Mark, I wrote my conversion story before I received my copy of ES in the mail. The whole time I was reading ES, I was thinking... I might have done a better job if I'd more space for the process of set up and climax. However, I thought the conversions were well done. Since I have heard so many different conversion experiences in so many different parts of the world, a person can write just about any thing and it be real life. I liked the way Ian fumbled around with his new eternal life. That was true to life. Even Paul had to undergo a 3 year tutelage. (sp?) I loved his instinctive (read that Holy Spirit guided) liking for Pete and his dislike of Norman Gruitt (sp?).
SeanSlagle	Re: Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story	#3	[-]
Posts: 53 (10/10/05 15:43:35) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I felt that this book does a very good job of showing the struggle of new Christians, especially ones that aren't being discipled. It bothered me in the beginning that Ian wasn't going to church. Then he finally mentioned that he might go, but overslept. Had Ian gone to church at that point would he have been discipled and found a new mentor or would he have been given two or three committees to serve on and asked to supervise during Vacation Bible School?
Gina Holmes	Re: Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story	#4	[-]
Posts: 36 (10/10/05 15:47:40) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I think the strongest part of this book is the theme. (2 Corinthians 5:17, if any man be in Christ,he is a new creation, the old has passed away, behold the new has come." The conversion could have been more dramatic, but more drama does not necessarily make for a truer story. I thought that aspect of the story really worked and rang true. His love for his wife was slow and steady,and his love for the Lord kinda developed the same way. It really is just that way for many folks. Good job. www.firstnoveljourney.blogspot.com
R LuElla	Re: Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story	#5	[-]
Posts: 1588 (10/10/05 16:15:44) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Mark, Without a doubt, writing a conversion short story gave me a much greater appreciation for the conversion (Rebecca's) in Ezekiel's Shadow. *Quote:* I am now convinced (as you will see) that the suspense subplot is irrelevant to the heart of the book. I completely agree and there in lies the strength AND the weakness of the book, in my opinion. I thought Ian's taking hold of his new faith and the unavoidable consequences of being changed rang true. However, even realizing at some point along the way that this was actually a "spiritual coming of age story" (for lack of a better term), I still expected the suspense frame to have more relevance, more resolution. For me, the end damaged the heart of the book. Becky Rebecca LuElla Miller Christian Fantasy
eloopa	Conversion	#6	[-]
Posts: 400 (10/10/05 19:11:36) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	"So the question is, how do you think Dave handled the conversion story aspect of Ezekiel's Shadow, and how did your own work on a conversion story impact your appreciation of it?" The conversion was handled extremely well. A writer, struggling with his craft witnesses as his wife chronicles an artist's life's work as said artist grew closer to Christ. Great vehicle, I'd say, and very appropriate. Leave it to a writer to seek the meaning behind every rattling bone. Conveys a great message--how God speaks to each of us in a unique language we understand. In my own conversion story, I knew I'd have to create a character and put him in circumstances which would bring him to a place where he'd (a) be struggling with something usually familiar to him, (b) struggling with new wrench in his life, (c) have something in his past which prepared him, and (d) break him, soften his heart, and make him yearn for something better. Don't know if I did all that--could rewrite and nitpick from here to eternity, but then I do that to my own self too :-)
Gods Curmudgeon	Re: Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story	#7	[-]
Posts: 214 (10/10/05 20:47:00) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	You might be on to something. The timing of the contest was perfect. I didnt receive my copy of the book until I had finished my story. I gained deeper appreciation for what Dave accomplished in his multi-tiered conversations. There are several things about the book that fascinates me. I cant wait for further analysis. Very cool stuff. Curm The Curmudgeon's Rant
gina burgess	Re: Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story	#8	[-]
Posts: 176 (10/11/05 07:24:20) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	*Quote:* I am now convinced (as you will see) that the suspense subplot is irrelevant to the heart of the book. One thing that I noticed through out was how the stalker thing kept distracting Ian. He would be delighting in something and then boom the terror would distract. Isn't that how Satan plays in our lives? Don't we make a conscious decision to get closer to God through Bible study or going to church or prayer and then Satan comes along and distracts us, entices us to lose focus on our own "plan"? Perhaps I am reading something into this book that was not originally intended, but I do think it an excellent happenstance that it mirrors our Christian walk being strewn with the firey darts of Satan. The crux comes when we finally recognize what Satan is doing (uncover the mystery) and we can then make that conscious decision to not let him distract us.
virginia(d)	Re: Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story	#9	[-]
Posts: 70 (10/11/05 08:38:59) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I read Ezekiel's Shadow at the same time I was working on my own novel. I envied the structure because it looked easier than what I was doing. But as you say, the story must be structured on the important events, not time. Especially thrillers, for which the unexpected timing is so important.
tsbeckett	Re: Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story	#10	[-]
Posts: 1070 (10/11/05 08:56:53) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I agree with the consensus above. There may be weak points to ES, but one of them is not the conversion aspect, nor the reality of it. Blessings Marvin
skylarburris	Thoughts	#11	[-]
Posts: 60 (10/11/05 09:34:20) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I believe the conversion story was realistic, and I like the gradual elements involved. But I also felt, when reading it, that the suspense story went from being the plot to being no more than a perepherial. The suspense distracted Ian in many ways from his growth, and at other times it forced him to grow, but, for me, it still did not seem integral to the spirtual story: it seemed undeveloped, as though the novel had set out to be a suspense story with a Christian message but somehow became instead a Christian conversion story with a bit of supsense thrown in. (I know it was never intended that way from reading Dave's blog, but that's how it felt to me as a first-time reader.) Because of the long spaces between stalking events, there was no constant tension; the stalking never seemed scarry to me as a reader, so I could not feel Ian's fear. I also found the ending wrap-up of the suspense story to be a bit abrupt--and I wanted to know more about the stalker, his motives, and what the editor's role was in the whole thing. I wonder, could pretty much the same conversion story have been told without the stalking?

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

Yuku free message boards

Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story

Ezekiel's Shadow as Conversion Story

Quick Reply