Customer Reviews

Something That Lasts

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
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I picked up this book with mixed emotion. I want so badly to see reality portrayed through Christian fiction. I don't mind happy endings, and I love to see God's hand shown in people's lives, but I want all this to be shown alongside the heartache and questions that most of us experience in our lives.

That said, my opinion of this book was filtered through a very personal reality: my own father did the same thing as Pastor Parst, losing his marriage and church due to an adulterous relationship. I was 18 at the time, while my brother and sister were closer to Jack's age. Perhaps my own experiences make a fair judgment of this book impossible. I'll admit that. On the other hand, I loved Francine Rivers' portrayal of a similar subject in "And the Shofar Blew."

This book just didn't work for me, on a number of levels. The writing is decent, and the characters seem credible enough, even if the dialogue isn't always believable. (I especially tripped over the mother's insistence early on that her son not say "freaks me out." What?! This is the type of stuff that really causes problems for pastor's kids.) I appreciated that Jordan tackled difficult issues, from sin and disease, to unforgiveness and death, but I needed to see a few hurdles overcome along the way. For example, the pastor's simple move into continued ministry came with no show of repentance to his previously betrayed congregation.

All in all, if the idea of this book interests you, I believe you'll find it worth your time. For those of us who have struggled through the darkest hours of such things, it comes off without enough grit to seem fully credible. But like I said, I'm coming from a skewed perspective.

I don't read much fiction. Somehow I tend to feel that I need to "learn a lesson" to make reading worth while. If I had held to that silly idea, it would have been my loss. This is an enormously compelling book! Mr. Jordan's realistic portrayal of deep struggles of the heart will give all but the most casual reader reason to take a penetrating look inside. This is a story of the invisible but, very real and protracted war for people's hearts; it is about the battle for a heart willing to both give and receive grace and forgiveness, something that for me seems to come by the inch rather than by the mile.

Although some of the characters' circumstances were more spectacular than I have experienced, their struggles of dealing with deep pain took me to places in my own heart I often prefer to avoid. Ultimately, however, it is both a book about the grace and forgiveness found only in God and, a reminder that only as we receive those gifts from Him we can give them to others and ourselves.

If you are looking for some light entertainment, this is not the book for you. But if you start it, you'll not want to put it down until you're finished. Unless it's to probe your own heart with God's light.

In the beginning, I found myself staying up till the wee hours in the morning unable to put the book down. It became a movie in my mind and the writing brought me through the emotions of anger, disappointments, tears, and ultimately joy. If you have experienced the devastation caused by adultery (the bitterness) and its effect upon the children, read this book. At times, the emotional anguish was recreated in me and I had to put the book down; still I felt compelled to find out what would happen next. The writer helps you heal though the actions of the characters in the book. It opened my mind and gave me a new perspective. This book changed me. My thanks to the author for being brave enough to remind us that Christians make mistakes and forgiveness is the answer and Christ will never leave or forsake us. In a hurting world, we need more books like this one.

I admit I was initially dubious that I could become deeply involved in this story, and nervous about how heavy-handed the Christian themes might be presented. How wonderful that I was quickly swept away by a compelling, beautifully articulated, clever narrative, so consumed in fact that I forgot I was reading a book. It was hard to tear myself away, reading late into the wee hours to find out what would become of characters I suddenly cared very much for. Perhaps the characters could be fleshed out more thoroughly, but even so I readily empathized with each of them as they struggled through crises that profoundly affect relationships and family. I was moved to tears a few times. When it was time for me to return to my own mundane reality, I was surprised how frequently the characters and themes of the book persisted in my thoughts as if they were real and immediate.

I admire the author's skill in tackling such difficult subjects - death, adultery, estrangement, the fallibility/humanness of family/heroes/leaders (religious or otherwise), loss of faith - with apparent ease, grace and clarity. Mr. Jordan's book gives the reader a lot to think about, forcing a self-awareness that is so evidently missing from the mainstream. And he conveys a positive, hopeful message without ever becoming cloying or beating the reader over the head. The book speaks to anyone - not just Christians - who has a family, who cares about doing the right thing, who struggles with relationships, faith, and the meaning of existence.

I wish more novels had such an effect. A plea to the author, please publish more. The public awaits.

Author James David Jordan is a Dallas, TX attorney. He doesn't make his living as a writer. His first novel, Something That Lasts, was a labor of love, a work that took a full eight years to complete. Jordan freely admits that with his novel he wanted to "confront this prevalent fallacy which methodically lulls viewers into thinking that adultery is normal and--perhaps even more dangerously--harmless." His novel does, in fact, open with an act of adultery, one committed by an upstanding preacher who deeply values his family. The remainder of the plot centers around the decades-long fall-out from this indiscretion.

The closest parallel to Jordan's novel is the plot of a Lifetime Original movie. Jordan has a great message, but it is packaged in a supremely melodramatic form. We have a preacher who commits adultery, followed by a public suicide in church, then a wife with a life-threatening illness, not to mention the son who almost dies trying to save his puppy in a raging storm, a near-deadly car-crash, father-son estrangement, and more. The novel spans decades (three generations) in the lives of the Parst family, through the highs, lows, and strained relationships. In the end, Jordan successfully conveys his message that faith can buoy a family through tough times. Faith can serve as something that lasts.

This is a book for fans of Adriani Trigiani and Sue Monk Kidd. Pick up Kidd's The Mermaid Chair if you liked this novel.

This is the story of the Parst family. David Parst was a minister in O'Fallon, MO who seemed to have everything and then he threw it away in one night. He committed adultery. The husband of the woman he had a one night stand with commits suicide on David's church steps.

What follows is the effect that one act had on his entire family for the rest of their lives. His wife - didn't want to divorce him but couldn't live with him. Shortly after their separation she is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. His son, Jack, who at 12 learns of his father's affair in the middle of a church service where his father is giving the sermon and then sees the dead man on the front steps of the church. He is sure that the failure of his family, the man's death and then his mother's disease is all his father's fault. Can he ever forgive him? David, himself, has failed God, his family and himself. Is there forgiveness?

Something That Lasts is an excellent, well written story. It tells of the strong faith in God that Sarah and David have that carry them through more than 30 years of challenges and struggles as well as good times. Realistically it also shows the bitterness Jack carries with him towards God and his father.

The third part of the book is about Jack's life with Katie his wife and their son. It is about their tragedy and the pit that Jack falls into after losing his son. This part of the book is very emotional but also very inspirational. It is a long struggle but with his family's love and faith Jack climbs his way out of the pit of despair he has fallen into.

I highly recommend this book to everyone.

The Post-Dispatch named Reverend David Parst one of the fifty most influential leaders in the St. Louis area. David has a loving wife Sarah and a delightful twelve year old son Jack. His flock at the O'Fallon Bible Church thinks the world of him. He has everything going perfectly.

At church on Sunday David asks his congregation whether there is anything anyone had to say; a minor gesture that always resulted in accolades or silence. Not this time. Ted Balik rises and claims that David is having an affair with his wife Erika before walking out of the edifice to shoot himself. David is stunned as his wife demands he leave, his son is devastated, and the congregation fires him. Seeking redemption, David becomes pastor to a small church in Elsa, Texas.

A decade later David still needs forgiveness from his family and the Lord, but has no hopes as he keeps track of them albeit from a distance like serendipitously watching Jack play college baseball. Jack has become a corporate lawyer who abuses his wife Katie; she flees with their daughter Lynn to live with Sarah.

Though a deep Christian character study that looks closely at the impact of a major sin, the protagonist could have starred any person, regardless of religion, abusing their position of power that includes trust in the individual. Thus James David Jordan makes a strong case that a transgression involving trust can prove to be SOMETHING THAT LASTS for a lifetime (and more) as the sins of the father reappear in the offspring. Repenting and even redemption does not always erase the sin as life is not an etch a sketch; this is superior morality fiction as the key players involved with the scandal seem genuine at the time of the adultery and years later.

Harriet Klausner

Reverend David Parst has it all: a devoted wife, a loving son, a successful church and community esteem. But all is not enough for David - he wants more. Rather than getting what he wants, however, David loses everything when a member of the congregation reveals David's adulterous affair with his wife, then commits suicide on the church steps.

David's adultery shatters his family. David moves south while his wife and son, Sarah and Jack, move north. David eventually constructs a cordial long-distance relationship with Sarah. His bond with Jack, however, remains broken for thirty years. In the meantime, David's only connection to Jack comes when he skulks in the stands to watch his son play baseball. David and Jack finally reconnect, tenuously, when David is on the brink of death and Jack's marriage is on the verge of collapse. Shortly before David dies, Jack gains the strength, wisdom and faith, most of it imparted by his long-estranged father, to pick up the pieces of his own marriage and avoid repeating the errors committed by his father. Thus, the book closes with David's failure being redeemed by his son's renewed commitment to his family.

In his debut novel, James David Jordan poignantly conveys that adultery never involves just two people. In this case, one disastrous affair resulted in two destroyed marriages, a tragic death and the long-term impairment of family relationships.

The story is well paced and the characters are compelling. They are not perfect but they are basically good people trying to live good, honest lives. Several of them are sincerely religious but they are neither fanatical nor stereotypical. The reader can't resist hoping that all of them will find happiness and success in their lives.

Mr. Jordan does a good job exploring the complexities of David's relationship with Jack. Jack's rejection of his father is plausible, as is David's desire to reconnect with his son. One cannot help pitying David as he hides in the stands, aching to let Jack know he's there. The notion that it could take thirty years to rebuild their connection is not far-fetched. Some severed relationships take even longer to rebuild. And sadly, some severed relationships never rebuild. In this case, the relationship is restored but fragile when David dies.

Mr. Jordan's handling of David and Sarah's relationship is less convincing. Their first encounter after the affair's disclosure is powerful. David is repentant. Sarah is angry. Not only is she angry, she is thoroughly repulsed by David, so much so that she cannot tolerate the feel of his hand on her shoulder. The next time David and Sarah interact, however, they have reached a rather amicable relationship. The reader cannot help wondering how the relationship progressed, magically it seems, from revulsion to amiability. Throughout the book there is very little interaction between these two. The relationship frequently is portrayed through third-person accounts rather than actual dialogue between the two characters. Even though David is estranged from Jack throughout most of the book, there is actually far more dialogue between them in the last few months of David's life than there is between David and Sarah over a thirty-year span.

Mr. Jordan's apparent desire to explore the complexities of strained or broken father-son relationships is admirable. It's certainly a topic that needs sensitive examination. In a book in which the act of adultery sets the story's central background, however, it seems reasonable to expect more examination of the marital relationship than is undertaken here. David and Sarah's relationship raises many questions and leaves them unanswered. Mr. Jordan's failure to explore these questions is the book's greatest weakness.

I highly recommend Something That Lasts to readers who are interested in topics related to family life, particularly the topic of fatherhood. Readers interested in Christian literature that avoids cliché characters will find this book refreshing and inspiring. Be forewarned: the story is incredibly moving; keep a box of tissues handy.

This book was absolutely fabulous! The book grabs your attention from the get go. I simply could not put it down. This is a tear jerking story about the trials and tribulations of a family and the awesome power of forgiveness. I loved the underlying message that faith in God is what truly matters. I've given this book to several people who lost family members and I believe it to be very healing. I recommend this to everyone!

Encore! Encore!

This story about the need for faith is nicely told. The author doesn't insist on God's reality; characters do. As someone with longstanding doubts, I responded to this approach. And the story line, interweaving several kinds of personal loss, tapped into fears that I imagine are common to all husbands, fathers, and sons.

This is a serious book but not a heavy one. I enjoyed every page. I think most readers will too.