Groothuis on Blue Like Jazz

UPDATE: GROOTHUIS HAS REMOVED HIS REVIEW

I enjoy reading Dr. Groothuis' blog. However, I'm not so sure I enjoyed the delight he took here yesterday in lambasting Donald Miller's book, Blue Like Jazz. Donald Miller didn't die for my sins, so I'm not trying to draw attention to this book review because I think Groothuis has blasphemed my Savior. I'm not even drawing attention to this review because I don't necessarily agree with Dr. Groothuis' point at the end of the day. I do however believe that this is one of most glaring examples of a complete lack of charity that I have seen in some time-- and I'm not certain Dr. Groothuis even cares.

Miller isn't as smart as Groothuis-- and now, thanks to this bitter verbiage, we can all know that. Miller isn't a lot of things. He is just a story teller. Some find him a great story teller; others find him a lousy one. Personally, I just like, as one of my friends says, how "he writes with an extremely dull pencil." I like the imagery he conjures up in my mind (especially in Through Painted Deserts when he drives through my hometown in Oklahoma), and how he voices things that many of us have thought and been ashamed to say.

But, however we find him, I'm not sure it does anyone justice to crucify him with well crafted phrases.

I will let you judge for yourselves and comment on Dr. Groothuis' blog if you have opinions.

Comments

[Kevin Cawley]

and, yeah Pete-- I stole this picture from your blog.

[Steve McCoy]

Wow. Good catch KC, and I agree with your take.

[Kevin Cawley]

In case you haven't read the comments at Dr. G's blog-- you might want to check out the great work Bob Hyatt is doing over there. Well done Bob!

[Bob Hyatt]

I'm so curmudgeonly... DId I spell that right? Or am I an idiot? :)

Thanks for the shout out, Kevin!
Good call on the article... I'll bow out at this point- I've said all I can.

All I really want to know is-

Can't we all just get along???

[petew]

wild...with nary a word. btw, those colo[u]rs are brutal.

[Kevin Cawley]

Pete...happy?

Yeah, I wished he would comment as to why he took it down-- he felt the spirit of it was wrong, or whatever reason. As it stands, it looks like he was just annoyed with the comments on it. I'm not sure what the final total was, but they were piling up.

[Kevin Cawley]

Groothuis has posted an explanation of why he removed the post. Seems quite surly and childish, but he's posted an explanation.

[Bob Hyatt]

Well... he has been in a bad mood since 1998...

[petew]

huh. the link you gave doesn't work and I can only find the first line or two when I do a search on "removal" on his blog...did he remove the removal post?

[Kevin Cawley]

Yeah-- he removed the removal post. Steve added a great comment-- kind, respectful, etc-- which he removed, and then he removed the removal. He replaced all the removals with this post, and nobody dares comment on it for fear of being removed.

Key word = Removal.

[Bob Hyatt]

dang!
Look away for an afternoon and see what you miss...
I've never met Dr. Groothuis, but he seems a bit of a high strung kind of fellow, ill-suited to the world of blogging. :)

Perhaps he might want to just give in entirely to his curmudgeonly impulses and turn off comments and publish whatever he wants without the dialogue piece...

Cause honestly, unless someone said something ugly after the last time I looked at the Don Miller thread, it seems as though knickers are getting unduly twisted...

Doug! There's beauty in the tension... just let it be! Embrace it...

Maybe he's reading this and will now remove the removal of the removal post? But you have to give him props for getting in a plug for one of his books as he does it! Classy! :D

[Michael]

I stopped reading that blog a month or two ago because I didn't like the "tone" and it seems on many of his post he presents a very incomplete take on whatever issue. Very frustrating.

[Kevin Cawley]

I want all of these comments to stop now-- or I will remove this post.

[Bob Hyatt]

But here's the question... how nasty would we have to get to make you take down your whole blog???
:D

[Darryn Wiebe]

This is all Dan Weber's fault. (Maybe Dan will call you and ask you to remove this post from your blog.)

[grace]

In like manner, I have added a "Philosophy of this Weblog" to my site.

[Bob Hyatt]

Hey! They're at it again! :)

But this time at least, they're being nicer...