Postkiwi

Last week I had a quick read of Eoin Colfer’s novel, “Wish List“. The book, first published in 2000 by O’Brien Press in Ireland, is aimed at kids but makes a good yarn for adults.

The gist of the book is an attempt by Meg Finn, recently deceased, to have another chance to enter heaven rather than hell. In her previous life she had a troubled home life dealing with her abusive stepfather and tangling with Belch, a simple criminal teenage boy. While attempting to rob a pensioner’s flat the teenagers both die in a gas explosion. Now she’s sent back to help the pensioner make something of his life, in the process turning her aura from red to blue. She’s chased by a soul man - Belch - her former ally - who hopes to drag her down to the dark side.

This is a humorous take on the conventional after-life metaphors of heaven and hell. St Peter’s pictured coming to terms with databases and mobile phones. Beelzebub, number two below, is run around by Satan whose evil is as quirky as treacherous. God is referred to but not engaged with in the storyline.

As a conversation starter this is excellent. We get to explore the popular stereotypes of heaven and hell, along with the ideas related to being ‘more good than bad’ in an effort to go up rather than down. The cosmology is on the same level as Peter Jackson’s movie, The Frighteners.

After avoiding the topic for some time in the emerging church, I think it’s time we engaged with heaven and hell. I note that Brian McLaren has entered this conversation in his most recent novel, The Last Word and the Word After That: A Tale of Faith, Doubt, and a New Kind of Christianity. It’s on my wish list at Amazon.

It’s also an opportunity to explore the way we live while on Earth - dealing with childhood regrets, shame, fears and hopes.

The books’ been published in German, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese, French, Serbian, Finnish, Portugese, Lithuanian and Spanish.

The author, Eoin Colfer, started writing while working as a school teacher (for 10 year olds). He is now known mostly for his Artemis Fowl series:

Artemis Fowl
The Arctic Incident
The Eternity Code
The Opal Deception
The Artemis Files (Guide to the world of Artemis Fowl)

Artemis Fowl starts the series as a teenage criminal genius who encounters a hidden world of technologically advanced 21st century fairies, elves and goblins. Over the series he matures and learns to invest in the lives of others.

The Artemis Fowl books were published by Puffin in the UK and Miramax in the United States. Larry Guterman has been directing the movie which will be released some time this year. The producers are Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro.