Review: A Charlie Brown Religion by Stephen J Lind

A worthy instalment in the Great Comics Artist Series, A Charlie Brown Religion examines the complex spiritual life of Peanuts creator Charles M Schulz (or Sparky as he was known to his family and friends). 

Spirituality is a huge theme within the Peanuts comics, as is philosophy and the struggle of well, being human. Through themes such as the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown's struggle with the commercialisation of Christmas and the occasional mention of Christianity, the comics often had a subtle religious flavour to them. This in itself has been discussed (and perhaps misinterpreted,) in books such as The Gospel According to Peanuts. But what was Sparky's real life views on religion and how did it influence his comics?

The answer, according to A Charlie Brown Religion, is complex. Schulz was not raised in a religious family, but chose to embrace Christianity after he returned from military service in the Second World War. From there, the answers are varied and complex. Stephen J Lind examines Schulz life to paint a spirtual autobiography of sorts of a man who was complex--both quietly secure in his beliefs, whilst experiencing doubts. Lind shares numerous Peanuts comics that point to musings on religion. (Personally, I love the line I don't think God really cares who wins a golf tournament.)

Lind's writing is intelligent, knowledgable and well researched. It is written in a way that readers don't necessarily have to share his religious beliefs to find it interesting, whilst remaining one hundred percent respectful of Christianity, which I found refreshing. This is, after all, a look at someone's spiritual life, not a critique on religion itself.

Ultimately A Charlie Brown is an autobiography of man who is both spiritual yet endearingly human, and shines a light on the man who wrote one of the most famous daily comics of all time.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Peppermint Patty: I Cried and Cried and Cried

Image
Unrequited love is a common theme in the Peanuts Comics and is one that I have previously explored on this blog. We know that Lucy loves Schroeder, Sally loves Linus and Charlie Brown has a crush on the unseen, unnamed and utterly unattainable Little Redhaired Girl. But perhaps the saddest unrequited love stories from the comic is that which ran in late June 1972. It was the series of strips where the usually self-confident Peppermint Patty came face-to-face with the Little Redhaired Girl with the intention of thumping her and then something surprising happened: Here we have a usually self-confident girl, who is funny, unashamedly herself and talented at sports reduced to tears by the realisation of who she is not and never can be. I really feel for her in this series of comic strips. She knows that Charlie Brown can never love her, when he is so hung up over a girl who represents a supposedly ideal feminine beauty. Fortunately Linus, the most spiritual member of the Pean
Read more

Phrases and Idioms: Tickets on Himself

To have tickets on himself: (Australian slang.) To be conceited or vain. To have an overinflated opinion of oneself.  He's got tickets on himself if he thinks that any woman would fall for that. I was thinking about this particular bit of Australian slang the other day, after my boss said, "He's got tickets on himself," to describe the actions of a particular individual. At the time, I smiled, knowing exactly what the boss meant. Later on, I started to ponder on this unusual phrase and wondered where it might have come from. A search on google helped me find the definition, but that was about all. There are no references to it being used in pop culture or literature (if you find one, let me know,) and at the time of writing this post, Tickets on Himself was not listed on Urban Dictionary. (I tried to add it, but the fuckers rejected my definition. They probably think I have tickets on myself or something for trying to add a relatively common piece of A
Read more

Who Else Writes Like V.C. Andrews?

Image
Are there any other authors out there who write similar novels to V.C. Andrews? This is a question I see asked frequently in excellent fan run V.C. Andrews Facebook groups like Attic Secrets and The Dolls Club. In times gone by, The Complete V.C. Andrews webpage (which is no more, but the best bits are archived by Lorraine at the Attic Secrets blog,) had a comprehensive list. Today, I thought I would put forward a few of my own thoughts and recommendations. (Note: This will focus mainly on the series and novels written by the actual V.C. Andrews and not ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman, who has a distinctive writing style of his own.) The Classics This is probably the best place to start, as it is likely that some of these novels influenced V.C. Andrews herself. Andrews was a fan of Charles Dickens, mentioning the author in the prologue of her most famous novel Flowers in the Attic. I have yet to read all of Dickens novels (I've read about half,) but I can feel a slight V.C. Andrews vi
Read more