Thoughts on “Blue Like Jazz”
I just finished reading Donald Miller’s book Blue Like Jazz. I enjoyed it immensely.
This is the personal story of Don’s journey from being a “Christian” - judgmental, conservative, fearful of anything not wearing a cross or a fish symbol - to being a person who really loves Jesus and enjoys loving all the people around him.
I liked this book because it was
(I know this sounds a little bit like a 4th grade book report, but…)
accessible. I picked it up and it was easy to read and I wanted to keep on reading because the tone was friendly and polite and inviting. And I liked Don’s humor. (I’m even calling him “Don” after reading his book.) There’s something very refreshing about the tone that he writes in. I find a lot of Christian books to be boring, honestly. They’re dry treatises and what to believe and why people should believe it written by people whom I’m sure really do believe it but, but… sometimes a story is better. And that’s what we have here. One person’s story. And I can compare that to my own story and start to figure some things out.
honest. He says things some Christians may not like to hear. He critiques things that are true about Christianity. And he returns to the source (Jesus) and says - “He should be our love.” And I think he’s right.
And he doesn’t pretend to be the Christian writer that has it all together. He doubts. He struggles to love other people. He struggles to love himself. He feels boxed in by the mainstream church. He wants the awe of wonder in his life. He’s selfish. In other words, he doesn’t pretend like reading his own book has fixed him all up.
- post-modern. This is his story and he’s not shoving it down anyone’s throat. He’s sharing it as his own story. Which is all you can do in a post-modern era. And his writing (and logic) reflect this. One quote captures is perfectly: > “My friend Julie from Seattle says the key to everything rests in the ability to receive love, and what she says is right because my personal experience tells me so.” And you know what? I happen to think Don is right (about the key to everything) because my personal experience tells me so, too.
[...] Posted by germanhokie on January 11, 2008 My parents gave me this book for christmas…but only because i asked for it. i don’t think they woulda got it for me any other way. i’m already readin it for the 2nd time and i love it! it’s an easy book to follow, it kept my attention the whole way through. The style of writing is more laid back and not so…shall i say discriminating as other books on the same thing. it is simply the author telling his story in a very realistic, down-to-earth way, friendly to everyone. he’s not trying to push his ideas on you, he just tells you how he sees things and gives logical and valid reasons why he sees things that way. he tells mainly from personal experience. below there is a link to show you what others think about this amazing book. http://www.nosq.com/blog/2005/03/thoughts-on-blue-like-jazz/ [...]