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Summary: Read it one night. Give it to a friend the next day.
Review: I read Room of Marvels in one night and knew right away that it was going to be a great passalong book. It's short, sweet, deep, inexpensive, creative, memorable. A couple of my friends read it as well, and we had a good time talking about its theme: what Heaven might be like and how we should live on Earth with an eternal perspective. Definitely a conversation starter. It's a special little book that I don't think I will forget.
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Summary: Random Acts Of Kindness
Review: I've read Dante and I've read Lewis; Smith is better. This is one of the most inspired works you will ever read. If you or someone you know is groping with the doubts and anger which so often accompany grief, then this novel will comfort like no other. Buy it. Read it. Give it to all your friends. And remember that your random and seemingly insignificant acts of kindness may resonate throughout all eternity. For in the end, the only true treasures you will ever know are the people you love.
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Summary: Add this to your library!
Review: James Bryan Smith has done a wonderful job of putting our fears of death to rest and reminding us that as followers of Christ we are to simply love. This book touched my soul and indeed renewed my hope. This is a book that you want to keep handy so that on those days when things seem hopeless you can be reminded that a better place awaits us all.
Rating:
Summary: Add this to your library!
Review: James Bryan Smith has done a wonderful job of putting our fears of death to rest and reminding us that as followers of Christ we are to simply love. This book touched my soul and indeed renewed my hope. This is a book that you want to keep handy so that on those days when things seem hopeless you can be reminded that a better place awaits us all.
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Summary: A Must Read
Review: James Smith writes this book for anyone who is sturggling with the death of a beloved. It takes what could be a difficult concept and presents it in an incredibly familiar venue, a dream. He shows that everything in life happens for a purpose and when we get out of our own way and allow God to be in charge, there is no end to what we can comprehend, accept, and move past. For those who are slow learners, he gives more than one example in the dream of how we start slowly and build on upon our understanding until we finally get it.
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Summary: Comfort
Review: My 44 year old brother died 3 months ago after 5 years of turmoil. This book helped me with anger at my brother, fear for my brother, and my own disappointment with myself. It was a gift that I will give others.
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Summary: Smith's small novel is the work of a big mind
Review: Several readers and reviewers have already compared James Bryan Smith's ROOM OF MARVELS to Dante's DIVINA COMMEDIA and C.S. Lewis's THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, for, like those two great thinkers and writers, Smith has attempted to give a view of Heaven less significant for its literal truth and more so for its metaphorical richness. His protagonist Tim Hudson "has finally arrived at God's address," we're told --- in other words, he's in despair. His beloved and physically challenged toddler daughter has died in a "senseless medical accident" and his closest friend in Christ, a musician, has been killed in an auto accident. Tim has thus found his way to "God's address" in time-honored fashion, through human agony. Tim is blessed enough and resourceful enough not to wind up staring at the bottom of an empty glass, or worse. Instead, he signs up for a week-long silent retreat at an Episcopal monastery in Massachusetts. When he checks in, he finds he has been assigned a spiritual director --- much to his chagrin. The lean Brother Taylor, sporting sweats and running shoes beneath his habit, rankles Tim, who thinks he can solve his problems by himself, as long as he has some time and space to think about them. But Brother Taylor not only quickly finds Tim's weakest spots --- he finds a place in Tim's subconscious, too. For one night Tim goes to bed and has a dream different from any other, in which multiple figures (from his imagination, his education and his background) lead him to places of great beauty, meaning and spirituality. A shadowy lion evokes Lewis's Aslan, from The Chronicles of Narnia; Lewis himself (here known by his earthly moniker of "Jack") brings Tim to a new level ... and so on, and so forth. A long-lost relative appears, as does his dead mother --- all of which sounds very kitschy and schtick-y. Yet it's not. Smith, who is Chaplain and Assistant Professor of Theology at Wichita's Friends University, has crafted a deceptively simple and psychologically clever read about the things --- thing, really --- that matter most to Christian faith. Those devoted to denominational dogma and humdrum should check their baggage at Tim's bedside since, like the pre-Protestant Dante Alighieri and the confirmed Anglican Clive Staples Lewis, Smith also cares more about the Christ-centered than the church-centered. Every object, character and sensation Tim encounters during his lucid dream revolves around love: love given, taken, rejected, fulfilled. Smith's small novel is the work of a big mind. If the comparisons to Dante and Lewis are a bit overblown on the literary front, they may not be on the theological front. There are many sincere Christians who believe that "apologetics" is wrong-minded, either as a defense of a faith (its common definition) or as over-intellectualization of what should come to us from the Holy Spirit. But in the hands of a mature Christian, when apologetics shows one fine person's struggle from the depths of despair back to firm knowledge of God's abiding presence and love --- well, it's a marvelous thing indeed. --- Reviewed by Bethanne Kelly Patrick
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Summary: The only book I have ever read through in one sitting.
Review: Smith makes heaven look like a magical world that every person would dream of going to. The picture that he paints of heaven is so beautiful it makes you feel all warm inside. The way he describes the music of heaven is what any musician would hope heaven could be like. His true love for his family makes you want to call everyone you love and tell them you love them. I read the book and I cried and cried with joy and happiness. This book will change your life forever in a wonderful way. And remember to take off your mask and love!
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Summary: Room of Marvels is a new classic and great comfort
Review: The two most famous works that have given the world a peak into an enlightened mind's vision of heaven, Dante's Divine Comedy and C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce, are now joined by a third - James Bryan Smith's Room of Marvels. More inspiring than Dante and more touching and personal than Lewis, Smith's writing draws readers into his heaven and makes them never want to leave. Room of Marvels is a perfect combination of scripture-based theology and a powerful, semi-autobiographical story to which every reader can relate. This book is enjoyable, enlightening, and an invaluable comfort and guide for anyone who is currently struggling through or has ever struggled through the grieving process. An inspired and life-changing book that everyone must experience.
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Summary: A Book of Marvels
Review: This book is amazing!! Smith is an incredible writer with a huge gift! I was sucked in by the first page and literally could NOT put it down until I was done! Reading this book really helped me realize how much God loves me...enough that He has ALREADY created a space for me in heaven. While reading this book I laughed and I cried. It's a must read.
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