Winner of The Week

I was so very impressed with some of the letters from the boys and girls who sent in questions or comments. One that stood out to me as a really observant comment was this one:

Dear Joshua, I happened to find a book by Robert Ballantyne as I was organizing my books last week. I knew about him from my brother, who had read "The Young Fur Trader", but I had not read any of his books personally. I read it over the weekend, and wanted to share some thoughts.

One of the things I like about Charles Dickens' novels is the way that he "shows" the story instead of "telling" it. It is as if you are a bystander to the story; he describes a character or mimics a persons' speech impediment so clearly that you are transported into his world.

This is what jumped off the page the instant I picked up "Twice Bought". I was captivated by Mahogany Drake, the "Rose of Oregon", Gashford and Tom Brixton. I was so taken with the story that I couldn't set it down. Add to this the fact that the story is historical, and free from swearing, and many other aspects of Dickens' work which make it inappropriate for young people, and it is a wholesome experience. Add the fact that the characters show the path of salvation so clearly; and the redemptive quality of the characters' lives, and you have the ultimate novel.

One question I have is if the characters Ballantyne develops as his Christian heroes in his other stories have any weakness or ever stumble in their walk with the Lord. Does he paint a purely black and white picture, or does he show examples of Christians wrestling through temptations? I understand that the characters who are not Christians at the beginning of the story struggle with their old self, but do characters like Frank and Betty ever make the wrong choices? How does he portray the ongoing life of a mature Christian?

On the whole, I found it an engaging book and well worth my time. Thank you for putting on this website, and keep up the good work.

In Christ's Service, Isaac L

Isaac, what a great comment. I really understand what you mean about Dickens and his portrayal of the characters in his novels. As to your questions: there are a couple of examples of Ballantyne not doing the best job of putting his characters in purely Christian settings, though he tried to do his best to show a Christian world-view in the lives of his heroes and heroines. I was speaking to a friend of mine this last week and he brought to my attention the fact that some of the Ballantyne books (not yet re-published) did not have the best character portrayal in them. And in a few rare cases this is true, but even here Ballantyne shows that he is trying to make his characters grow in the Lord. This obviously was a little bit hard for him when writing about the Vikings, or Indian tribes, but you can see that for the most part his characters lives are definitely changing for the better.