Churchgoers Kindle Edition

Don Kurtz is a master of the particular, which is the job of a novelist after all. His book, South of the Big Four, has been my favorite American novel for years. Churchgoers wrestles with the question, really, of "What is the meaning of life?" as experienced by these particular characters in his particular, Midwestern place: an aging couple whose principal occupations are burying their dwindling circle of friends and readying to move to the retirement village where their own end will inevitably come; fervent Believers whose prayer circles and worship services aren't always enough to shield them from life's heavier blows; an academic whose years of focus through the electron microscope have caused him to lose focus on his own family, his humanity, and maybe even his mind. Kurtz's characters are all staring down the gun-barrel of their own mortality and face it in a way that seems true and honest for them.

Love this book - characters came to life for me as did the mysterious phenomenon with the scientist. But have you read South of the Big Four by this same author? That is an amazing love story!

This was difficult for me to get through, frankly. I kept waiting for the sub-plots to come together and give me a clear theme, but this is a book that makes you work and dig for it.The most poignant character, to me, was Vera. Vera takes care of herself and her husband and sees her neighbors and friends each pass away, one by one. At the beginning of the novel she is opposed to entering a retirement home, but at the end she has resigned herself to doing so. Somewhere in the middle she expresses that it's like a holocaust of sorts, to lose everyone. Later, she is the one to discover her last friend/neighbor's body and takes care of things in a very perfunctory, non-emotional way, even summing up in her bed that night that it was a good day, because she got to spend time with her granddaughter, and other neighbors (while waiting for her deceased friend's daughter to get to town).Two types of Protestant Christian leaders are portrayed, a dramatic, altar-call, rocking charismatic evangelist and a down-to-earth, low-key, constant, preacher who knows his flock and is always there for them. Although the rocker is a bit of a blowhard, he is successful at bringing people to God.I couldn't find much info on this author. I'd like to read his other book, South of the Big Four. I'd also be interested to know what type of Church he goes to, if any.