Triptych

by April Vinding

Faith is a container that holds a match: a puzzle, a flame, a fight. How do we make sense of God through human relationship? How do the layers of experience and theology interleave? How do the persons of the Trinity appear in the formative altars of our lives? With vivid imagery and a compelling lyric voice, Triptych grapples with the complications of the faith of incarnation and how their dimensions shift as we grow. Probing the implications of trinity, the memoir unfolds in three sections. ""Fathers"" wrestles through faith in childhood, trying to make sense of the lines of love and duty and how fathers represent a Father God. ""Sons"" chronicles blistered experiences of young adulthood: trying to find love and cope with sexuality when being faithful means a flame burns both human and divine. ""Holy Ghosts"" continues the stitching and colliding of human and divine relationships by confronting marriage and the Spirit as intimate, intervening, and intrusive. ""Poetry, says one poet, is where word and world intersect. Triptych, a poet's memoir, is such a place. In finely crafted, incisive language, the work probes the possibilities for meaning and self-acceptance in a world where neither comes easily, especially, perhaps, for a woman and a believer. That the story is sometimes unsettling is simply testimony to its honesty and insight."" --Daniel Taylor, Author, Death Comes to the Deconstructionist, In Search of Sacred Places, and Letters to My Children ""It's the author's voice--incisive, focused, and most of all, honest--that pulls us into this three-part memoir. This is a book about struggle and grace, blessings and confusion, a book that shines with the author's desire to make clear, both to readers and herself, what kind of life, what kind of faith, what kind of love is worth claiming and fighting for."" --Deborah Keenan, Author, so she had the world and From Tiger to Prayer April Vinding is an associate professor of English at Bethel University. She lives with her family in leafy, literary Minnesota.

148 pages, Hardcover

Published April 5, 2016

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an awkward review to write since I know the author. No pressure. It's especially awkward since it's a rather personal memoir. The writing is incredibly poetic and lyrical, gorgeous to the point that it takes a little bit to get into. The imagery is sharp and vivid, with crystal clear descriptions. While the imagery is perfect, the actual explanation of what's happening is often vague, forcing the reader to connect the dots and hope they understand what's happening. There's a balance in memoir—you don't want it to be too voyeuristic, but you want to know what's happening. This felt too slanted to the vague, though I also tend to want more direct writing.