Title: O’ Darkness, Darkness! My Son Shall Pass
Author: Carlton Jordan
Publisher: WestBow Press
ISBN: 978-1490890777
Pages: 273
Genre: Spirituality & Literature
Reviewed by: Jason Lulos
Hollywood Book Reviews
What does it mean to be tested by God? How are we to converse with God and interpret His (sometimes) cryptic messages and directives? What does it mean to be a truly spiritual person? How deep does the contemplation go? In O’ Darkness, Darkness! My Son Shall Pass, author Carlton Jordan delves deeply into these historically and eternally challenging questions. Through his main character, Max, Jordan illustrates how deep the contemplation can and should go. He leaves the reader with a deeper understanding of what it means to be Christian but also, with great articulation, addresses the age-old question: Why do bad things happen to good people?
Max, his wife Sylvia, and their children, Mark and Sarah, have a seemingly charmed life. They are successful people and are notably active in their church and community. Model citizens and Christians. But as the story unfolds, we learn that even the most devout are not immune to the temptation of dark forces. When Sylvia is drawn into the darkness, Max’s faith is fundamentally challenged as his plight devolves into a modern-day Book of Job.
Max, a literary man, draws on Biblical wisdom, but also frequently refers to the words of writers such as Alexander Pope and Thomas Carlyle. And thus, he has an acute spiritual and philosophical ability to articulate the tragedies which befall him. This thoughtfulness allows him to understand the deeper spiritual significance of it all. Hope springs eternal from Max’s deeper understanding in this way. Max knows that while every material thing can be taken away, his faith is always his. His faith and willingness to deeply contemplate things even in his most tragic hours are his salvations.
In this novel, the spiritual forces at war are real. In literary or stylistic terms, this aspect of the novel is impressive. Call it Spiritual Realism rather than Magical Realism. It’s a perfect stylistic component to the omnipresent Biblical themes and the occasional literary echoes with C. S. Lewis perhaps being the most significant. When Max realizes that dark forces are targeting his entire church and the general sanctity of marriage in modern times, he knows that the spiritual warfare has dispersed well beyond his own marriage. He thinks, prays, maybe even deconstructs, and waits. He uses mantras such as (paraphrasing): Don’t be darkened by the temporal; put your faith in the eternal. When Max is at his lowest, he hears the voice of God: “This level of adversity shapes a prophet that I have chosen to honor with revelations. One who will not be puffed up by the mysteries I reveal.”
This is a beautifully written story with literary sophistication you don’t often see in overtly religious novels. It is profound and poetic at times, and overall realistic. The “spiritual realism” connects the temporal with the eternal seamlessly. This will appeal to readers who like a story with literary and philosophical aspects in general. And in particular, it is a must for Christian readers.