01/18/2023
Here’s a good reason to start reading fiction according to Joel C. Rosenberg in one of his recent newsletters.
“I love how really well-written novels and nonfiction books can transport me out of my own world, my own culture, my own time, and into one so different, so foreign, and so compelling.
My wife’s favorite novel is Exodus by Leon Uris. She reads it once every year or two. After years of being way too busy, I finally read it and absolutely loved it as well. A classic work of historical fiction, Exodus swept me away from my twenty-first-century life here in Israel back to the days after World War II, after the horrors of the Holocaust, as Jews are streaming into what was then known as the British Mandate for Palestine. Forging compelling characters and writing with vivid, colorful language, Uris transports me into a world where the nation-state of Israel is being prophetically reborn. It’s a world of terror, political intrigue, outright war—and one of the best love stories I’ve ever read. Sure, I’ve read lots of history books about the re-creation of the Jewish state, but Exodus was so much more fun and compelling than any of them because I got to feel like I was really there.”
It doesn’t have to be historic or a thriller, it can be about “ordinary” life or life based on a biblical character. You can experience a character as they face the struggles of life similar to what you experience and see how their growing faith or new faith guides them through. If you haven’t read Christian fiction, give it a try - I bet you will be hooked. B. Moss