captivating, chapter 1

So, I said I would be objective. And I didn't try as hard as I could have for this first chapter.

One of my difficulties in reading popular Christian lit as a whole is the quality of the writing in itself. The entire genre has a tendency to be highly redundant. And, in the first chapter, I found one glaring typo and another that would be more negotiable.

And one last note on that before getting to the content: The quality of the writing is a serious concern of mine. Are we in danger of the dumbing-down of Evangelical America? (Well, probably not.) Bob Briner would not approve (read his "Roaring Lambs" -- though lambs do not roar, and the book itself is very debatable, and not incredibly well-written in itself) of the genre in the sense that it is not the highest-quality writing. Of course, not everything can be the highest-quality. But even I, knowing next to nothing, would make a few broad, simple editing suggestions that could make the whole first chapter stronger.

ANYWAY, the topic of (John and) Stasi Eldredge's book is the heart of a woman. (They) she says she will not be writing about what women should do or shouldn't do but, well, that's where it gets tricky. She writes "an invitation to become the woman you truly are." Is anyone else skeptical? That's a tall order. And vague. If you already are that woman...

If it's not a book about what women are failling to do, is it about what men are failing to do? The only thing left would be what society is failing to do, and I'm sick of books about that, regardless of their truth.

In the intro chapter, she gives the impression that women are victims of...well, femininity, society, something. Personally, I don't want to be a victim. I want someone to tell me what's wrong with me and how to fix it now.

And, it sounds like she might be bashing the "Proverbs 31" woman.

But, to add some positives (objectivity), some of the things she writes resonate with me. She says all women have three desires: "to be romanced; to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure; and to unveil beauty." I'm still not so sure about the great adventure, but the irreplaceable role is a yes. Women "desire to be captivating in the depths of who you are." Yes. The compliment I will never forget was that I was "mesmerizing," regardless of whether it was true.

Far and wide, yes, those are three things that women want. But... so what? What do we do with that? Especially if we also feel these are three things we should not want? And selfishness and vanity come into the picture? And practicality?

And, John pipes in at the end of the chapter to recap the three things men want. I wish it wasn't three things at the cores of each gender. It makes me feel Christian-marketed, i.e. the three-point sermon. Like there might have been more or less things, but they really needed three to form a nice argument.

I guess I should shut up now -- it's only been one chapter.