The Mists of Avalon: good or bad?

[fandom_geek]

I bought The Mists of Avalon the other day after reading some positive reviews about it. But today I looked it up on Wikipedia and read some disturbing things about its religious messages. Have any of you read it, and do you think it's an ok thing for a Christian to read

Comments

[tempus_aeterna]

I read it and thought it was perfectly safe. If you are good with your faith, you can just look at it as a good fantasy read. Most fantasy books can been viewed in the light of having religious messages, but they are generally perfectly fine to read as long as you aren't taking them as serious religious commentaries on which to base your faith.

[fandom_geek]

Ok, I think I get it a little better now. I love Harry Potter also, and I couldn't tell from the description I read if The Mists of Avalon was going to be pure fantasy like that or if it was really supposed to have a religious agenda. Thanks!

[amergina]

How secure are you in your faith with Christ? Will you be thrown off the path by reading a fantasy with magic and a positive view of paganism? If yes, I don't recommend reading it. It does fall into the (now) cliche of Pagan, female run society=Good, Christianity, male run society=Not so Good that at lot of fantasy fiction from the 80's seems to fall into. Only in the 80's it wasn't as cliche...

It *is* a fantasy, though. The times portrayed in the book didn't really happen. If you find that magical fantasy does not distract you from your faith in Christ, it's a an alright book to read.

However, I much prefer Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon books for Arthurian fantasy. The writing is better and it has a much more positive view of Christianity.

My Two Cents

[forensicgirl]

I don't see any reason why you, as a Christian, shouldn't read it, if it interests you.

Quite frankly, though, I don't see how something with a feminist theme is anti-Christian. Nor should it be unacceptable to point out how (and when) Christianity has made a mistake, or treated a group of people (or an individual) badly.

[redstar826]

I have yet to see a thread in this community where people can agree on what books should or should not be read so you will probably get a range of answers.

I'm not a Christian, but I say read what you want to read.

[golodhgwath]

I am a Christian, and I say read what you want. The criterion by which I judge books is whether they are well-written or not. The idea of an adult worrying about whether content is acceptable or not seems strange to me.

[eggsnail]

Seconded. Well, the second part anyway.