Customer Reviews

Speak What We Feel: Not What We Ought to Say (Buechner, Frederick)

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I recently got this book out of the library in order to teach a poem on Gerard Manley Hopkins, one of the writers Buechner discusses in the text. I was astonished at Buechner's incredible diction, phrasing, and word pictures. I had not read anything else of his before, but now I want to buy this book! His writing has an incredibly mysitcal quality, which he uses to broaden our knowledge of ability to enjoy four notable authors, while showcasing his own unique vision and humility. The book is moving and gritty - it put me in tears on several occasions, and I do not cry easily. If you are at all a fan of Hopkins, Twain, Chesterton, or Shakeapeare you must read this book!

In this book, Buechner describes the lives and discusses some of the literary works of four well-known writers.

Each of the four has incorporated into his writing clues to some of the lessons learnt from the harsh realities of life. Buechner has always been a strong advocate of "telling it like it is", in contrast to a tendency in parts of the Christian Church to "say what we ought to say".

If you're looking for a writer who's prepared to face up to the sometimes very difficult aspects of life, but who maintains an active faith, this book (and Buechner's other books as well) should prove richly rewarding.

Strongly recommended!

If you love Fredrick Buechner's writing, and you love literature in more than just an analytical (though he is wonderful at that too) way... then this book is for you.

It changed my life, my perspective on literature and story and writing (and I'm a literature and theology major). It is a beautiful and moving piece of writing, like all his works.

I've read this book a couple times over, picking it up when I'm looking for something enjoyable to re-read. Chapter by chapter, Buechner takes four writers and their stories (Gerard Manley Hopkins' later sonnets, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, and William Shakespeare's King Lear) and weaves a discussion around their lives and works, showing how part of the lasting value of these stories comes from the way in which the authors spoke out of the dark parts of their lives.

I highly recommend this book as a life-giving reflection on the challenges of life and literature.