JODI COWLES: A LOOK AT HER DEBUT NOVEL
JODI COWLES:
A LOOK AT HER DEBUT NOVEL
By Forrest Wayne Schultz
A review of Jodi Cowles The Minor Protection Act, (Sisters, Oregon: VMI Publishers,
2005) ISBN 19332-0411-7 V4 $14.99 286 pp
The unwarranted intrusion of the civil government into American Christian families has been going on for a long time now and has taken various forms. The book under review here is an imaginary but quite realistic story of how this intrusion could be taken to the next level. The story would be better told if more of this historical background had been included. Although the oppression of the Minor Protection Act was new, it was not unprecedented but merely the latest in “a long train of abuses”.
Cowles’ story contains good discussions of the ethical struggle forced upon Christian parents by the notorious Act but is surprisingly silent about any concern over the ethics of the plan hatched and successfully executed to escape from the Act. It is also unclear to me how realistic the plan was but I can say no more about it without giving away the story.
Like the rest of the good new Christian authors who have arrived on the scene during the past decade, Cowles presents us with interesting characters whose lives and spiritual struggles are portrayed in a realistic manner. And the story is well told, and if the phrases had not become so hackneyed by now, I would say it is a “page turner” and a “good read”, but since I am a very serious reviewer I will not lower myself to the use of such barbarisms.
One of most common failings in today’s writing is the use of fallacious metaphors. Of all of these fallacious metaphors, perhaps the one which is most frequently seen today is “meteoric rise”: it is fallacious because meteors do not rise; they fall. I am sorry to report that this malapropos term is found on page 90 of Cowles’s otherwise well written book. Hopefully she will expunge it in the second edition. I would like also to suggest that she refer, at the end of the book, to President Farmer’s “meteoric fall”.
On page 103 she refers to an organization called the “Mission Airmen’s Fellowship”. Although this could be a fictional creation of hers, it looks like it was intended to refer to the real organization called the “Missionary Aviation Fellowship”, which is commonly referred to by its initials MAF, which Cowles does.
Information on Cowles is available on her website www.as4me.com.
This Review Was Written Under The Auspices Of Active Christian Media.
Forrest Wayne Schultz has degrees in engineering and theology. Most of his writing in the past consisted of Biblical world-view research papers; most of his current writing consists of book reviews and of news releases about the arts scene in Coweta County, GA, where he resides. He can be reached at 770-583-3258 or by email at schultz_forrest@yahoo.com.
A LOOK AT HER DEBUT NOVEL
By Forrest Wayne Schultz
A review of Jodi Cowles The Minor Protection Act, (Sisters, Oregon: VMI Publishers,
2005) ISBN 19332-0411-7 V4 $14.99 286 pp
The unwarranted intrusion of the civil government into American Christian families has been going on for a long time now and has taken various forms. The book under review here is an imaginary but quite realistic story of how this intrusion could be taken to the next level. The story would be better told if more of this historical background had been included. Although the oppression of the Minor Protection Act was new, it was not unprecedented but merely the latest in “a long train of abuses”.
Cowles’ story contains good discussions of the ethical struggle forced upon Christian parents by the notorious Act but is surprisingly silent about any concern over the ethics of the plan hatched and successfully executed to escape from the Act. It is also unclear to me how realistic the plan was but I can say no more about it without giving away the story.
Like the rest of the good new Christian authors who have arrived on the scene during the past decade, Cowles presents us with interesting characters whose lives and spiritual struggles are portrayed in a realistic manner. And the story is well told, and if the phrases had not become so hackneyed by now, I would say it is a “page turner” and a “good read”, but since I am a very serious reviewer I will not lower myself to the use of such barbarisms.
One of most common failings in today’s writing is the use of fallacious metaphors. Of all of these fallacious metaphors, perhaps the one which is most frequently seen today is “meteoric rise”: it is fallacious because meteors do not rise; they fall. I am sorry to report that this malapropos term is found on page 90 of Cowles’s otherwise well written book. Hopefully she will expunge it in the second edition. I would like also to suggest that she refer, at the end of the book, to President Farmer’s “meteoric fall”.
On page 103 she refers to an organization called the “Mission Airmen’s Fellowship”. Although this could be a fictional creation of hers, it looks like it was intended to refer to the real organization called the “Missionary Aviation Fellowship”, which is commonly referred to by its initials MAF, which Cowles does.
Information on Cowles is available on her website www.as4me.com.
This Review Was Written Under The Auspices Of Active Christian Media.
Forrest Wayne Schultz has degrees in engineering and theology. Most of his writing in the past consisted of Biblical world-view research papers; most of his current writing consists of book reviews and of news releases about the arts scene in Coweta County, GA, where he resides. He can be reached at 770-583-3258 or by email at schultz_forrest@yahoo.com.
posted by Forrest Schultz @ 3:23 PM
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