Drops Like Stars: A Few Thoughts on Creativity and Suffering [Hardcover]

Rob Bell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 21, 2009

We plot. We plan. We assume things are going to go a certain way. And when they don't, we find ourselves in a new place---a place we haven't been before, a place we never would have imagined on our own. It is the difficult and the unexpected, and maybe even the tragic, that opens us up and frees us to see things in new ways. Many of the most significant moments in our lives come not because it all went right but because it all fell apart. Suffering does that. It hurts, but it also creates. This book is an exploration of the complex relationship between suffering and creativity, driven by the belief that there is art in the agony.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While Bell's books Velvet Elvis and Sex God received generally strong reviews, this effort to understand the relationship between suffering and creativity feels superficial and overly self-conscious. Few readers will dispute Bell's gentle assertions: that life can be extremely difficult and capricious, that it is often difficult to find God amid suffering, that suffering has a great potential to unify disparate people, and that great bursts of creative energy can arise from pain. Bell explores these issues not by covert biblical exegesis—which was a surprising and welcome highlight of Velvet Elvis—but new-fashioned storytelling. Bell weaves inspiring stories of people who turned their suffering into something transformative, and many of these stories are memorable. They are certainly accessible: Bell draws from fiction, movies, real-life situations and his own life. These anecdotes do not make a book, however, and Bell's spare prose lacks original insights into age-old theodicy questions. Although the design and layout are first-rate, $35 is a lot of money for a 160-page book that is mostly white space. (Aug.)
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Review

While Bell's books Velvet Elvis and Sex God received generally strong reviews, this effort to understand the relationship between suffering and creativity feels superficial and overly self-conscious. Few readers will dispute Bell's gentle assertions: that life can be extremely difficult and capricious, that it is often difficult to find God amid suffering, that suffering has a great potential to unify disparate people, and that great bursts of creative energy can arise from pain. Bell explores these issues not by covert biblical exegesis---which was a surprising and welcome highlight of Velvet Elvis ---but new-fashioned storytelling. Bell weaves inspiring stories of people who turned their suffering into something transformative, and many of these stories are memorable. They are certainly accessible: Bell draws from fiction, movies, real-life situations and his own life. These anecdotes do not make a book, however, and Bell's spare prose lacks original insights into age-old theodicy questions. Although the design and layout are first-rate, $35 is a lot of money for a 160-page book that is mostly white space. (Aug.) -- Publisher's Weekly

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; 1 edition (July 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310275032
• ISBN-13: 978-0310275039
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 10.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #316,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Ministry & Church Leadership > Ministry to the Sick & Bereaved

More About the Author

Rob Bell lives with his family in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he's the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church. He also teaches in a short film format called NOOMA, and his books include Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith, Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality, and Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile written with Don Golden.

Don Golden is the co-author of Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile (with Rob Bell) and serves as senior vice president of church engagement at World Relief in Baltimore, Maryland. His passion to help churches help the poor and oppressed has taken him to more than 60 countries. Prior to his current role, he served as lead pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church from 2005 to 2008. Don and his wife, Lynn, have three daughters, Emily, Olivia, and Sophie and a dog named Buckwheat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A different book with different ideas, September 15, 2009

By 

Rawim (Palmdale, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drops Like Stars: A Few Thoughts on Creativity and Suffering (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Before getting this book I was really surprised by many of the comments and reviews I had read about it. It seemed like people were completely surprised by what this book was, what it contained and what it was about. It seemed like people didn't research or read the product description of the book before purchasing it, or that they expected something completely normal from Rob Bell.

For me, this book met my expectations and really presented some ideas that made me think. First, this is not a small little hardback book like Rob's previous works (Velvet Elvis, Sex God, and Jesus Wants to Save Christians). This is a larger hardback, 12 inch by 10 inch; basically the size of a good coffee table book. True to what others have said the book does not contain a ton of writing but rather is full of colored pages and photos/portraits of objects and scenes. The writing is interspersed in the same parsed style of short sentences and fragments that are Rob Bell's style. As far as the book and artwork go they are quite nice and do a good job of helping Rob make his points, but everything is in a matte finish, I feel the book could have benefitted from glossy sheets, but I can only guess that would have raised the price of the book significantly. Oh and no, you can't read through this book in 10 minutes as I have read some people say. If you work your way through this book in ten minutes you miss the point and I recommend you return the book, because you will get nothing more out of it.

As far as content goes, I think Rob came up with the idea of this being an "Art Book" hence the chapter's titles: "The Art of Disruption", "The Art of Honesty", "The Art of the Ache", "The Art of Solidarity", "The Art of Elimination" and "The Art of Failure". And I think by reading those chapter titles you can get an idea of where Rob is taking the reader. And an interesting note the table of contents is at the rear of the book rather than the front, an interesting idea that gets the reader right into the book without any presuppositions.

Overall I found the book to be thought provoking and it made me think about subjects like disruption, ache, and failure in ways I had not before. This book doesn't delve into deep theology, hermeneutics, or psychology but rather it explores what it means to be human and what we all experience. I benefited from reading this book and I pray you may too.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Bell's best, September 17, 2009

By 

Living it up (Peach State) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Drops Like Stars: A Few Thoughts on Creativity and Suffering (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Confession: Love Rob Bell's improv teaching style, love the cadence of his voice and the way he is able to so frequently make a person THINK creatively.

Confession: Never have cared much for the NOOMA DVDs because they feel so contrived in their design to capture their target audience (however, I believe he actually does a great job at capturing that audience and growing their faith).

With those confessions out of the way I can say that I love/hate this book. I love the feel of the paper (good quality), love the artwork, love the free-flowing prose, love that it isn't heavy, love that for me the "white spaces" (the blank pages) easily lead me to reflect on what I've read. I hate that the paper that I love is so incredibly wasteful (especially in the book of a man who is so supportive of good stewardship of the earth's resources), hate that ths book on suffering would probably be thrown in the trash by a street-weary, worn-out, addicted homeless person (and they should be considered the experts, the ultimate target audience on suffering). I hate that this book feels even more contrived than the NOOMA videos and most contemporary worship services at the churches made up of this target audience. I hate the waste of the blank pages. Lastly, I REALLY hate the price!

This wasn't a life-changing book. I happen to be in the midst of loss and suffering and this is not even on the top 20 list of books I'd turn to for comfort, enlightenment, or spiritual direction.

Still love Bell, still think he's a man with a mission and message.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed at first . . . then I actually sat down with it., December 12, 2009

By 

Suburban Pilgrim (Seattle, Wa USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drops Like Stars: A Few Thoughts on Creativity and Suffering (Hardcover)

When I first picked up this book I was very disappointed. I thought that Rob Bell had let fame go to his head, that he was trying to be uberhip. It appeared that he had spread a 12-page book over about 150 pages. The format was as simple as a child's picture book. I skimmed through it and thought it was an over-priced waste of paper. So I set the book aside.

Then, a couple days ago, I had an evening with no urgent priorities, so I sat down with the book and started going through it page by page. I found that the fact that Rob spread things out caused me to slow down and take time with the concepts, letting the words evoke thoughts, feelings, and memories from my own life. I began to read it experientially rather than intellectually. Of course my staunch Calvinist friends would immediately decry this approach as a total waste of time, but I found myself immersed in a time of serious reflection before God. As one who almost turned his back on his faith because of the pain of addiction, a brain tumor, cancer, unemployment, injustice, and death in my immediate world, this book touched me. In the book, Rob says that suffering makes us bitter or better. I've spent time on both paths. When I was on the former path I would have merely sneered at this book. Now I rejoice that God brought this reminder of His presence and His character into my life at this point. God can redeem our pain. The description of God in the book is perfectly apropos: "The God who wastes nothing."

Others may or may not find this book to be of value. From my perspective, it's a matter of expectations. It all depends on how you approach it. It is certainly very different from his previous books. The reason I give it four stars is because I believe the appeal of this book is very narrow. I suspect it might have been designed to be a catalyst for a meaningful spiritual experience, hence the unusual pace of delivery. When I approached it with an open, contemplative spirit, I found this this book to be a thoughtful, heartfelt gift from a sensitive writer. If I had insisted on another book with Rob's brand of theology, or even some sort of quasi-missional manifesto, it would have remained a mere overpriced, uberhip piece of crap.