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Amazon.co.uk Review
A kind of "mongrel litter" by way of Pascal, Voltaire and Ambrose Bierce, this theological run through the alphabet goes from Abraham and Agnostic straight through to YWHW and Zaccheus--the tax collector who shimmied up the tree on Palm Sunday to get a good look at Jesus. In between we get a heady brew of humour and wisdom. On Anger, for example, Buechner writes: "Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun ... In many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you". Or this, on wine: "Unfermented grape juice is a bland and pleasant drink ... [but] it is a ghastly symbol of the life blood of Jesus Christ, especially when served in individual antiseptic, thimble-sized glasses. Wine is booze, which means it is dangerous and drunk-making. It makes the timid brave and the reserved amorous. It loosens the tongue and breaks the ice especially when served in a loving cup. It kills germs. As symbols go, it is a rather splendid one".
And the book's title? Find it under "W": "Christianity is mainly wishful thinking ... Sometimes wishing is the wings the truth comes on. Sometimes the truth is what sets us wishing for it". --Doug Thorpe
Product Description
In Wishful Thinking, the first book in his much-loved lexical trilogy, Frederick Buechner puts the language of God, the universe, and the human spirit under his wry linguistic microscope. In his often ironic and always keen-sighted reflections on such terms as agnostic, envy, love, and sin, he invited us to look at theses everyday words in new and enlightening ways. Freshly revised and expanded for this edition, Wishful Thinking is a beguiling adventure in language for the restless believer, the doubter, and all who love words.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is definitely one of my favorites. It isn't the kind you sit down and read cover to cover, although you could of course. I occasionally pick it up and read a definition or two and then need some time to digest it, because that is what I believe the author intends for you to do. His use of language is rich and I am left longing for more food for thought. Truly a treasure.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There are few books I can say I've read twice and probably none I've read 3 times. I've read this book at least 10 times, not always straight through, but in its entirety. Buechner is thoughtful, poignant, and funny. If this book doesn't make you reflect on life and religion, you need help. I carry with me quotes like, "reading the bible as literature is like reading Moby Dick as a whaling manual" or "an agnostic is someone who's not quite sure about the existence of God; that is, some of us all of the time and all of us some of the time. Doubt is the ants in the pants of religion." Buy this book now!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The best way to describe Frederick Buechner's Wishful Thinking is to say that it is a dictionary of thought. The book can be read through from cover to cover but this reader thinks the best way to read the book is to randomly open the pages and start reading. It begins with Abraham and immediately takes you to a discourse on Faith beginning on page 29. The book ends with Zacchaeus. In the author's own words "The fact that his name begins with Z is only one reason why Zacchaeus makes a good place to stop." This book is full of wisdom and has application in all of our lives.
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